Issue 15

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MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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12th FEBURARY 2018 / ISSUE 15

UCU strike sparks student outrage

The University of Manchester is amongst 61 UK Universities to be hit in February Amy Wei Deputy News Editor Manchester University students are demanding refunds for the possible cancellation of three weeks’ worth of classes, when teaching staff are going on strike.

The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) are planning to take strike action starting on Thursday the 22nd of February through to Friday the 16th of March, across 61 universities.

The UCU voted to take strike action on Monday the 22nd of January after talks with Universities UK (UUK) over the future of staff pensions ended without an agreement. An open letter authored by University of Manchester students states: “we demand that the University negotiate with the UCU and staff on strike, or pay each student a full refund for the contact time missed.”

The open letter claims if the strikes go ahead, the lost contact time for home students will be worth approximately £1200 in paid tuition and up to £2000 for international students.

The letter, written by student representatives for the English Literature course, has gained 316 signatures in 24 hours.

Another petition is demanding “a minimum of £300 of compensation for every student who loses contact time due to the upcoming strike action,” which 449 students signed within 24 hours of going live.

A university spokesperson responded to the students’ refund requests by stating: “since we charge a composite fee for our courses, we cannot reimburse for specific elements of missed teaching and assessment.”

Multiple students told The Mancunion they are sending emails directly to relevant university figures to insist upon personal refunds.

“I’m paying to get an education, not to have to teach myself all the material,” one student said.

“I was finally beginning to enjoy my lectures and now I’m stressed about failing this year because I’m not getting the support I need.”

Other students strongly oppose their peers’ refund demands.

Matthew Caine, a second year PPE student, called the petitions “a shameless, shameless cash grab.”

“How can one be in support of the strike but then demand financial compensation, an action which directly undermines those that are striking? Maybe those in support of this [petition] should redirect their efforts towards reverting the commodification of uni education.”

Louisa Rae Reddin, a third year Philosophy and Politics student, lobbied students to show their support for the UCU’s strike to the university. She wrote in a Facebook post: “The fault lies with university management, who have failed to properly negotiate with the UCU, and have ignored previous shorter strikes by the UCU.” 88 per cent of UCU members voted to back the strike action, which will disrupt all Russell Group universities established before 1992.

At Manchester University, 90 percent of members backed strike action.

Under their current pension scheme, the UCU estimates that lecturers at pre-92 universities are left £385,000 worse off than lecturers at post-92 universities.

The student representatives’ open letter also berates the University management: “The fact that our

Emmeline Pankhurst statue unveiled

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tutors have to resort to such drastic action suggests a complete disregard for their interests and highlights the bureaucratic nature of management.

“We completely support their right to strike.”

Cara Thompson, who is currently studying on a semester abroad, says she is “livid” on behalf of her former teachers and course mates. “This is the second time in two years our department’s experienced strikes as a result of staff dissatisfaction/ injustices, and I feel like the UoM big dogs need to realise when they fail UoM staff they’re simultaneously failing UoM students too.”

Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell showed her support for the UCU strikes by cancelling a lecture she planned to deliver at the University of Manchester on Thursday the 22nd of February, the first day UCU members go on strike.

In a public statement, Powell declared: “I don’t cross picket lines.”

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt responded: “We welcome Lucy Powell’s decision to cancel her appearance at the University of Manchester as a show of support for striking staff.

“This is yet another disruption to university life which could be avoided if the employers step back from their damaging proposals.

It’s time Universities UK listened to the many voices urging them to commit to meaningful negotiations.”

Some students, however, refused to support the UCU’s actions.

First year Caleb McCulloch said: “The fault lies with the UCU, which has failed to properly negotiate with university management and has already harmed our studies with previous shorter strikes.”

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Tech company creates 80 jobs in MediaCity

Why should we engage with the union? read on page 10

Manchester University denies houmous removal is victory for BDS campaign The BDS campaign claim that the brand is manufactured in a region that “is complicit in human rights violations” Cameron Broome Head News Editor The University of Manchester’s has shot down claims that their decision to no longer stock a particular brand of houmous in its campus shop is the result of student activism.

The Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) campaign at the University of Manchester described the decision as a “triumph” and believed it was a result of their campaigning.

Over 500 people had signed a petition calling for the University to no longer stock Sabra houmous, alleging that the “brand of hummus [is] manufactured in the occupied West Bank that is complicit in human rights violations in occupied Palestine” and that stocking the houmous “actively endorses Israel’s illegal occupation and human rights violations”.

In response to BDS’ claim, a University spokesperson said: “Sabra products are

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available from a wide range of shops in the UK and the decision to remove this product from the University shop was made by a new member of staff who was not aware of the correct procedure for making these choices.

“Coincidentally, and unconnected to the student representations, the shop has recently moved to a new supplier which does not have this product in its range.

The decision to go with another supplier is in no way related to the student campaign.”

Sabra is a brand owned by PepsiCo and Strauss Group.

BDS claim that Strauss “invests in and financially supports the Golani Brigade of the Israeli armed forces”, who they allege “has carried out merciless human rights violations against Palestinians including arbitrary murders, assaults, incarcerations, evictions, and arrests of children, as well as the use of chemical weapons such as white phosphorus.”

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Can psychadelics cure depression?

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News

ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Last week to stand in the Exec Elections Hana Jafar News Reporter This week is the last week to stand as a Students’ Union Exec Officer candidate for the 2018-2019 academic year.

The Students’ Union is encouraging people to put themselves or a friend forward as a candidate in the Students’ Union exec officer elections.

The deadline to stand is 5 pm this Friday the 16th of February. Eight elected, fulltime paid positions will be available, including General Secretary, Education, Campaigns, Community and Citizenship, Liberation and Access, Welfare, Women’s and International Student Officer.

Students interested in becoming an officer can fill in the ‘stand’ form on the Students’ Union website, in the ‘student voice’ section, and upload a manifesto. They can also suggest a friend on the website, who will then be contacted by the elections

Highlights

team with guidance about campaigning, running, and the role.

Exec officers are paid £19,000 a year, and represent students, lead campaigns, and vote on policies to improve student life.

According to the Union website, candidates will receive support from the elections team before voting opens for a week on the 1st of March.

Officer roles will begin on the 1st of July 2018.

Activities Officer: Pangaea does not cater foar whole student body

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Interview: Nightmares on Wax

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Food and Drink p22 Pancake day in Manchester

asked.

When asked why she thought the losses were so high, she responded vaguely that there “are a number of reasons why Pangaea has lost money in the past”, and also pointed out that the union is a in a strong enough financial position to support it.

The festival has already had indications of it being eased out, with the January instalment

UCU strikes

Second year Jasmine Ketch-Neumann expressed concern that the strikes will “alienate and anger the students who would otherwise be standing with their tutors.

“While I have the greatest respect for all my lecturers and will always defend their right to fair pay and pension, I sincerely hope this strike is called off.”

Certain groups of students feel particularly targeted through strike action. Language students complained that missing oral classes would hugely impact on their grades, and added to their anger at their teachers’ jobs “already being threatened.”

International students are also outraged at the potential three weeks of lost contact time. Hana Jafar, a student representative, emailed Vice-Chancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell directly, stating: “It is abhorrent that someone who is paying £15,500 a year should have to miss such a substantial chunk of valuable contact time.”

A University spokesperson sought to reassure students: “It is the University’s intention to endeavour to maintain normal operations during industrial action in order to safeguard the interests of our students.

“At this stage we do not know what the impacts of the strike will be as those on strike only need to inform us after they have taken strike action. However we are seeking to contain any disruption as best we can.

“We will therefore consider the impact and consequences of the industrial action for each student retrospectively and take any necessary corrective action where possible.

“Further information will be communicated to students as it becomes available.”

Contact us Editor-in-Chief: Kirstie O’Mahony editor@mancunion.com Deputy Editor: Tristan Parsons deputyed@mancunion.com News Editor: Cameron Broome Deputy Editors: Rosa Simonet and Amy Wei E: news@mancunion.com

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Podcasts to enrich your life

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recently being cancelled, bringing its usual total of festivals down from three to two over the course of the academic year.

Staff at the students’ union have impressed upon The Mancunion the value of student experience, and the fact that students can get involved with the creation of the festival, as well as attending on the night.

Houmous removal BDS at the University of Manchester said: “We are delighted to hear that the university will no longer be financially supporting human rights violators like the Golani Brigade through their sale of Sabra products.

“However, the university still holds financial and institutional ties to Israel and its war crimes, which does not comply with their socially responsible investment policy. The university continues to aid Israel’s apartheid regime through its multi-million dollar investments in complicit companies such as Caterpillar, whose speciallymodified armed bulldozers are used to demolish homes, schools, olive groves and communities in Palestine.”

Several students have questioned the significance of the product removal and were critical of the campaign’s description of their “triumph”.

Lawrence Rosenberg, a Jewish thirdyear History and Politics student, said: “The University has stated time and again it’s [sic] opposition to the

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Final year students encouraged to boycott NSS

It is the second year running that the Students’ Union have endorsed the boycott of the survey

She also thinks that many reasons could factor into its recently revealed financial losses Kirstie O’Mahony Editor-in-Chief Following from The Mancunion’s recent exposé of Pangaea’s astronomical financial losses, Acitvities Officer Kitty Bartlett has admitted that its financial situation is “not ideal” and that the festival polarises oapinion as it “does not cater for all students”.

The Mancunion revealed that Pangaea had racked up losses of over £120,000 since at least June 2016, and various members of staff at the SU attributed this to lack of financial tracking combined with a decreased level of interest in the festival.

This is something Kitty denies, however. She told The Mancunion that “we still have a large group of students that care about Pangaea and who are working towards making the next edition amazing”, however conceded that opinions would differ depending on who we

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ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

BDS movement and has put out a statement affirming to students that it’s never a policy they could, nor would, adopt. It doesn’t surprise me therefore in the slightest that they’ve taken to trying to remove a single product from the shelves of a university shop in an attempt to try and blow wind into their sails.

“There is no context given to this little ‘who-ha’, it doesn’t make any sense to remove a single product from the shelves of a single store when the University of Manchester is legally obliged to not comply with their discriminatory movement.

“I’m not concerned about this, nor should anyone else be. Virtual signalling at it’s [sic] finest once again from everybody’s least favourite discriinatory movement.”

The BDS campaign group at the University of Manchester will protest on the 21st of February from 2 to 4 PM outside Whitworth Arch calling for “full divestment now”.

Sabra were contacted for comment but have yet to respond.

Nicole Wootton-Cane Deputy News Editor The University of Manchester’s Students’ Union (SU) is discouraging final year University of Manchester students from completing the National Student Survey.

This is the second year in a row that the SU have endorsed the boycott, along with other UK universities’ students’ unions including Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick and University College London.

The National Student Survey is sent to all undergraduate final year students to ask them about their experience at university.

It is then used as part of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in order to rank teaching at universities as Bronze, Silver or Gold.

The TEF’s original aim was to link Gold and Silver status with raising tuition fees. Following strong student opposition from the NSS boycott, the House of Lords demanded that the link between the TEF and tuition fees should be severed. However, the link still exists and has simply been delayed until 2020 when tuition fees could be unfrozen.

Students’ Union Education Officer Emma Atkins told The Mancunion: “We would be failing as an SU if we didn’t make sure students had all the information about the NSS and how it is going to be used. People are free to choose whether to fill it in or not, but we want to make sure it is an informed choice.

“Personally I would not fill it in because I don’t believe student feedback should be used to rank universities Gold, Silver, and Bronze and then to decide their fee levels. I also don’t want don’t want universities to act like businesses and treat students like customers - and that is what the current government changes and the TEF is doing, and I would boycott

the NSS as it is intrinsically linked to all of that”. that Manchester’s reopening of the survey this A university spokesperson said: “The year is financially driven rather than based National Student Survey is an on student demand. It’s something that I important and useful tool that helps know me and my friends are actively the University to collect feedback engaged with, and it’s really which we use to take positive important to us that tuition fees action and improve services remain fair for everyone”. for all our students”.

An alternative survey has The Students’ Union been created so that students argues that despite the can still give feedback to fact tuition fees are the university. currently frozen, the TEF The Manchester Student uses a 3-year-average Survey (MSS) is open to all of NSS data to make students rather than just ranking decisions, and final year students and therefore if you fill the can be found on the SU NSS in this year your website. data could still be used in There are opportunities 2020 when fees could be to win Pangaea tickets and unfrozen. food vouchers upon the In addition to this, the completion of the MSS. SU feels that the NSS does In the academic year 2016not adequately measure 2017, the survey gathered teaching quality and that 2974 responses and the SU ran the boycott needs to continue three Faculty workshops with in order to maintain pressure on over 100 student reps to delve into Photo: Emma Atkins the government as part of a broader the data and come up with student-led campaign against the TEF and HIE reforms. recommendations and commendations for Third-year English Literature and American each School.

Studies student Olivia Wieliczko commented: “I think it’s If students want more information about the NSS boycott, great that we can do something to actively protest the rising visit the SU website or get in touch with education officer of tuition fees that the NSS is associated with, and also show Emma Atkins at emma.atkins@manchester.ac.uk.

Food waste from Biko Street to be donated to homeless Rough sleeping in Greater Manchester rose by 41 per cent in the last year according to latest figures Hana Jafar News Reporter Food waste from the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union food outlet, Biko Street, is be donated to the homeless, shelters and food banks.

The policy passed through Students’ Union Senate on the 8th of February with 100 per cent voting in favour of the motion.

A policy that did not pass was a motion seeking to ban single-use water bottles from the Students’ Union shop submitted by student Sarah Hodgson. She added that she also supported a policy looking to instead sell reusable water bottles as an alternative, as tap water is available for free at the Union bar, and food outlets.

Some members of Senate felt that this would significantly affect cash flow, as the Union is a charity and in “a precarious financial posit”, according to one speaker.

Majid Ahmed, a postgraduate officer, questioned whether banning the sale of water bottles would be

stripping choice away from students. The vote eventually did not pass, despite one impassioned speaker from the floor adding “We have to start putting our environment first because otherwise there might not be a world to live in [sic]”.

A policy to release exam dates sooner passed with 91 per cent of the vote.

NUS Parents and Carers rep Deej Malik-Johnson added that students with caring responsibilities are particularly affected by this and that he had to choose between an exam and caring for his daughter.

Some policies discussed evoked significant and contentious discussion, including a new staffing and pay review policy.

There was a discussion that ‘and pay’ should be removed from the policy, with working-class rep Joseph Clough saying “I believe that UCU and the workers have it right.

They believe they have better clout at the negotiation table when they do it nationally rather than a policy like

this that breaks every University into separate chunks where they’re all isolated and fighting for themselves.”

However, the policy was voted on with pay included, as the amendment did not pass. Alex Tayler, SU General Secretary added that it was important to look at pay, particularly as junior staff pay was not dealt with on a National Level.

Other policies passed include a motion to improve the Students’ Union policy webpage to make policy more accessible, a motion to have a ‘sexual assault advice page’ on the SU website and a policy that states that the Union should commit to only running on renewable energy resources by 2022.

Among motions included in the agenda that were not discussed was a policy submitted by SU General Secretary Alex Tayler that all policies should be referenced and fact-checked by the Steering Committee, and a policy about advertising graduate entrepreneur schemes for international students.

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Crackdown on ‘contract cheating’ launched by British universities

The University of Manchester has warned cases of academic malpractice will be treated seriously by the university

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Many students receive ‘paltry returns’ for their studies

Hannah Vallance Political News Reporter In a bid to eradicate “contract cheating”, universities are set to launch new sophisticated plagiarism software that will analyse students’ writing styles.

TurnItIn, the popular provider of plagiarismdetection software for British universities, will now also include a new program, coined Authorship Investigation, that will record and monitor the wording, phraseology and style of students’ writing.

This follows after the UK government announced harsher measures for those who are believed to be “paying their way” to a top degree, opting for ‘essay mills’ to churn out assessments.

This is amidst speculative reports that one in three university tutors believed their students had handed in papers that were written by a third party.

Currently, TurnItIn can only detect plagiarism whereby students lift from author’s work without permission.

Under proposed measures, Authorship Investigation will be able to identify significant differentiations in writing styles between pieces of assessment.

As serious academic malpractice, this could

have major implications for those students caught outsourcing assessments.

Last year, The Daily Telegraph exposed the sheer popularity of essay mills, revealing that some 20,000 students are purchasing essays from online writing factories, with some racking up a bill of £6,500 for third-year dissertations and PhD theses.

In total, the professional essay writing industry is now estimated to be worth over £100 million.

Whilst the university standards watchdog, Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), have already urged universities to block essay cheat sites, detect ads and set up adjudication panels for those alleged of academic misconduct, TurnItIn’s CEO, Chris Caren announced: “Taking on emerging threats to academic integrity like contract cheating is a natural extension of our mission. As forms of academic misconduct evolve, so must TurnItIn’s offerings.”

Mirroring this, a spokesperson for the University of Manchester has advised: “Whether intended or not, all incidents of academic malpractice, including plagiarism, will be treated seriously by the University.”

Image: Duncan Hall @ Flickr

George Walker News Reporter

Image: Wokingham Libraries @ Pixabay

Manchester to unveil Emmeline Pankhurst statue in 2018 The statue will be unveiled in 2018, 100 years since some women first got the vote

Cameron Broome Head News Editor A statue of the one of the leading figures of the suffragette movement is to be unveiled in Manchester in 2018, the centenary year of the first women getting the right to vote.

Manchester City Council Planning Committee granted planning permission for a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst during a meeting held on 8th of February 2018.

Eleven year old Fatima Shahid, a pupil at Newall Green Primary School in Wythenshawe, spoke on behalf of the Emmeline Pankhurst statue at the meeting.

Fatima Shahid, speaking to Manchester City Council Planning Committee, said: “Having this statue in Manchester shows the rest of the country that we are a fair and modern city. I look forward to next year when I can visit the city centre and call to see Emmeline and say hello.

“Then, in years to come, I can bring my children and my grandchildren and tell them Emmeline’s story and tell them how I had a say in her statue being here. There is still lots to do to make life more equal for men and women.

“Emmeline Pankhurst made change possible. Since then, our parents, grandparents and great grandparents have been working hard to carry on her vision and her principles. And my generation will make sure we have a truly equal world.”

Andrew Simcock, Chair of the Emmeline Pankhurst Statue Campaign, said: “Emmeline Pankhurst’s statue will represent her story and use her legacy to inspire people, particularly young people, which judging by the response from schools such as Newall Green Primary is already starting to take place.

“We wanted to carry forward this spirit and break with tradition by inviting a young person to speak in the council chambers about what this project means to them and Fatima’s words captured this perfectly.”

Born in Moss Side, Greater Manchester, Pankhurst was a British political activist who led the suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote.

With the planning permission in place the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst, Rise Up Women designed by Hazel Reeves, will be unveiled on the 14 of December — the 100th anniversary of some women voting for the first time in a

UK G eneral Election.

Prior to this, during July 2018 the meeting circle on which the statue will stand will be unveiled.

This year’s Manchester Media Group’s ‘Women in Media’ conference will also celebrate the fact 2018 is 100 years since some women got the vote with its many

keynotes speeches, events and workshops dedicated to celebrating inspiring women in media careers.

The conference will take place at The People’s History Museum, Manchester on Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th of March, 2018, from 10 AM to 5 PM. Tickets can be found here.

Many graduates receive “paltry returns” for their studies, despite incurring debts which can exceed £50,000, says the chairman of the Education Select Committee.

Chairman of the Education Select Committee and Senior Conservative MP Robert Halfon is set to say in a speech on Monday the 12th of February that between a fifth and a third of graduates take non-graduate jobs, and that returns for graduates “vary wildly”.

Halfon will also assert and argue that there should be an end to “obsession” with degrees. University leaders maintain that degrees are an excellent investment.

“The ‘graduate premium’ varies wildly according to subject and institution,” Halfon said in a keynote speech at the Centre for Social Justice think tank, stating that “for many, the returns are paltry,”.

Halfon instead will call for an expansion of degree apprenticeships and will say: “we are creating a higher education system that overwhelmingly favours academic degrees, while intermediate and higher technical offerings are comparatively tiny.....the labour market does not need an ever-growing supply of academic degrees” He also suggests: “If we are going to continue to lavishly furnish universities with taxpayers’ money, we need to think about how universities can specialise in these areas.”

“Existing universities that do not provide a good return on academic courses could reinvent themselves as centres of technical excellence.”

His comments come as the latest University and College Admissions Service figures show a small percentage drop in the number of people applying to study undergraduate degrees in the UK. Last year 559,030 people applied to UK universities, the lowest number since 2014. The overall breakdown of the application fig-

ures shows a drop of 2.6 per cent to last year and that this is the second annual drop in a row.

However, the admissions service said this should be viewed in light of a 2.5 per cent decline in the overall number of 18-year-olds in the UK. Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, an umbrella organisation for universities, said: “This group makes up half of all UK applicants to universities. But the demand for courses from 18-yearolds across the UK remains strong, highlighting the continued demand for university education.”

A spokesman for the same organisation said: “Official figures are clear that, on average, university graduates continue to earn substantially more than non-graduates and are more likely to be in employment. A university degree remains an excellent investment.”

Since the opinion of the Education Select Committee was revealed, a spokesperson for the University of Manchester said: “The future prospects of our students is paramount for the University and we have an enviable reputation of producing excellent graduates that are targeted by leading employers in the UK and worldwide.”

“In the UK alone, we’re one of the most targeted universities by the nation’s top employers and our graduate destinations data shows that more than 94 per cent go straight into employment or further study after they leave Manchester.

“They then become part of the largest global alumni community of any campus-based university in the UK, with many of the 350,000 graduates we are in contact with holding top positions in every imaginable field of employment.”

The government has promised a review of Higher Education funding in England and a spokesperson for the Department of Education has said new legislation will ensure students and the taxpayer value for money.

Students’ Union launch Brexit survey The survey hopes to particularly capture students’ views on the single market

(Image: Fedo PR, Manchester

Patricia Caras News Reporter The Students’ Union at the University of Manchester has launched a comprehensive enquiry aimed at uncovering collective student consensus on the Brexit resolution.

The study is principally intended to get an insight into the student body with regards to the single market.

The campaign, “Students for the Single Market”, is a joint effort put forward by the Student Union’s Diversity Officer Riddi Viswanathan and Education Officer Emma Atkins.

A survey carried out by the NUS showed that 80 per cent of students want to remain in the single market.

The campaign aims to compile an updated report on whether the student body consensus on Brexit has altered, as well as gather insights into the expectations of those who support Brexit.

Riddi Viswanathan said: “Resources which are available nationally have been used to put together a list of questions for the survey. We have an insight manager who helps with data collection and launching.”

The survey is reportedly scheduled to be redirected campuswide mainly via student email throughout the month of February.

Additional input has been collected through events organised as Part of Global Week, which was set to run on the 9th of February. Stalls have been set up in the Foyer equipped with small post boxes where students were able to write down comments, opinion and suggestions regarding Brexit.

“We asked students to write letters addressed to MPS in regards to Brexit. We intend to pass this feedback in an attempt to help lobby the government”, said Riddi Viswanathan.

The interactive event included a photo booth where students could stick post-it notes and take pictures with their opinions regarding Brexit as well as Brexit-themed games and debates, in an effort to promote discussion, debate and raise awareness of some of the socio-economic implications of Brexit.

The data collected through the campaign is set to be published after the local elections taking place on the 3rd of March.

Image: George Hodan @ Public Domain Pictures

‘Night Owl’ scheme launch pushed to end of semester Cameron Broome Head News Editor

A scheme which will involve student volunteers being trained in first aid, well-being training and self-defence to safeguard vulnerable people is to be launched before the end of academic year.

Communities Officer Jack Houghton told The Mancunion that “that the scheme will be launched this semester and that progress is moving forward.”

Jack initially told The Mancunion that the ‘Night Owl’ scheme would be launched in early 2018, following consultations with students on the initial proposals in November and December of 2017.

Jack previously said: “We will... be setting up an office to support students whilst on a night out. For example, to track volunteer locations and to maintain contact with police and security services during patrols.

“Between now and December I will be putting on consultation sessions with students so as to gain an idea of what people want the scheme to look like and whether they agree with the Students’ Union’s plan.”

Houghton did not comment on whether any consultation sessions with students had actually taken place since making that initial statement.

The scheme initially faced strong criticism from students over its efficiency and how it would safeguard the volunteers, with one student describing the proposals as “almost offensive to anyone that’s been assaulted, threatened, stabbed or mugged”.

The main criticism from students derived from concerns that student volunteers were being used as a substitute for a greater police presence.

Responding to this criticism, Jack previously said: “You are correct that increasing police numbers would help deal with the problem and is why Manchester Students’ Union is determined to fight for an increased police presence in student areas. However, it is important to remember that police numbers are at historically low levels.”

In late 2017, a petition titled “Greater Manchester Police & Andy Burnham: help us to make Fallowfield safe for students!” received almost 10,000 signatories.

An investigation by The Mancunion into safety concerns of students suggested an increasing reliance on Facebook for anecdotal advice about staying safety information.

The volunteer ‘Night Owl’ scheme is part of the Students’ Union’s response to concerns from students about safety amidst continued reports of burglaries, attacks and assaults in South Manchester, particularly in and around Fallowfield.

Other Students’ Union student safety initiatives include increasing the number of street lights in Fallowfield, Withington, Rusholme and other areas, and working to ensure all new street lights are LED to maximise their brightness.

The Students’ Union also have a scheme with Street Cars allowing students to give a Street Cars driver their student I.D. if they have no money so they can still get a safe taxi home rather than have to walk, and their ID card can then be collected from the Students’ Union reception the next day.

The ‘Night Owl’ scheme is being organised in conjunction with other parties and institutions across Greater Manchester, and Jack has said more information on the scheme will be disseminated when all the involved parties are ready for its launch.

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Science and Tech

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100 million year old spider with tail found in fossil An international team of researchers, including University of Manchester’s Dr Russell Garwood, find a fossil that suggests spiders used to have tails Aliya Ismangil Science and Technology Editor The research team, led by Bo Wang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found a 100 million-year-old fossil in Myanmar well preserved in Burmese amber that points towards a new species of spider, Chimerarachne yingi.

The fossil dates back to the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptors walked the Earth.

The significance of this discovery was the apparent ‘whip-like’ tail. The research, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, could point towards how living species of spiders today have evolved.

It seems that the fossil is of an arachnid species appears to closely resemble the mesotheles, a primitive group of living spider species, minus the tail. Today, this group are only found in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

However, research reveals that there is no direct line of ancestry from the Chimerarachne to modern-day spiders.

Rather, it is likely that they come from an extinct species of spider-like arachnids, which may share a common ancestor to the modern species of spiders seen today.

Photo: University of Manchester

Evolutionarily speaking, spiders are incredibly successful survivors, with more than 47,000 species spanning millions of years.

To do this, they have evolved unique mechanisms, such as spinnerets for producing silk for webs, which they also use for wrapping their eggs.

As well as this, unique to each species are modified male mouthparts, which are used to transfer sperm to the female during mating, and venom for immobilizing prey.

But it is unclear whether this particular ancient species of spider found would have been venomous or not.

“Based on what we see in mesotheles, we also would have expected the common ancestor of spiders alive today to have had four pairs of spinnerets, all positioned in the middle of the underside of the abdomen.

“Chimerarachne only has two pairs of well-developed spinnerets, towards the back of the animal, and another pair that is apparently in the process of formation,” says Dr Garwood, from Manchester’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

“Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the new fossils is the fact that more than 200 million years after spiders originated, close relatives - quite unlike arachnids alive today - were still living alongside true spiders.”

Bitcoin: Flop or future?

Fiona Batchelor explains what Bitcoin really is and considers whether its bubble might be about to burst

ISSUE 15 / 12TH FEBRUARY 2017 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Science and Tech

Digital Skills Festival returns to Manchester The four-day event, which showcases and strengthens talent within the North’s tech industries, will be held in Manchester this week Photo: Manchester Digital

Meredith Sherock Science and Technology Reporter The annual festival aims to establish Manchester as a leading digital city, providing networking and training opportunities for future digital workers.

This year’s Digital Skills Festival will be hosted from the 13-16 of February at The Lowry Hotel, and is open to anyone currently involved with or interested in tech and digital industry. Sponsored by keynote businesses such as CDL, AutoTrader, and Code Nation, the festival invites professionals from successful digital businesses to train, educate, and engage with future tech insiders.

The event will open with The Digital Skills Conference. Here, industry leaders from Manchester Digital, MMU, University of Salford, BBC, InnovateHer, and more, will give talks and offer workshops on salary, rewards, inclusivity, and diversity in the field. The conference will also review the annual digital skills audit, identifying last year’s successes and failures within the industry.

Unique to this year’s lineup, the Digital Futures: Computing, Curriculum, and Careers event has been designed with educators in mind. This event will feature inspirational speakers within

tech education. Professionals will also be hosting workshops in interactive digital innovation, ed tech, and related careers.

For those interested in seeking tech jobs, the festival is hosting a Talent Day from 11 am – 3 pm on the 14th of February. As the largest digital career fair in the North, this event features representatives from over 50 digital, creative, and tech companies.

Professionals will be welcoming conversations with potential recruits in development, design, project management, digital marketing, user experience design (UX), and much more.

This event also includes panel discussions, clinics, seminars, and workshops about boosting employability in tech roles. Students may also be interested in CV clinics, placement programmes, and graduate initiatives.

A report released last year by the British Chambers of Commerce highlighted that the UK technology and business industry is experiencing a significant digital skills gap. This festival, run by Manchester Digital, a not-for-profit organisation striving to make the Manchester region the UK’s digital industry hub, hopes to contribute to closing that gap.

You can book your free ticket to The Digital Skills Festival online: www.manchesterdigital.com/ events/digital-skills-festival-2018

Indian tech company create 80 new jobs in MediaCityUK

Manchester-India Partnership will see Tech Mahindra establish an office in Manchester creating 80 new jobs, boosting trade and investment

Sophie Boyd Science and Technology Reporter Mahindra, the Mumbai-based IT and networking company will establish a new branch in MediaCityUK later this year, launching an innovation and digital office, creating 80 jobs.

The Manchester-India Partnership (MIP) is part of Greater Manchester’s Internationalisation Strategy. This partnership will boost trade and investment whilst developing business opportunities, as well as the creation of direct flights between Manchester and Indian Cities.

During the introduction of this partnership at the House of Commons, the union was described as: “make in India, innovate with Manchester.”

The CEO of Manchester Airport, Andrew Cowan, is to chair this organisation and which will have dedicated staff in Delhi, Bangalore, and Manchester. “Forging closer relationships with the world’s most important markets is key to the future prosperity of Manchester,” says Cowan.

This move parallels Manchester’s relationship with China, which also saw the introduction of flights between Manchester

and Beijing. This has already generated £138m into Manchester’s visitor economy in just one year. It is expected that the Manchester-Indian Partnership will echo this.

Direct air routes have proved to increase investment and research collaborations in Manchester. This is only set to increase, with Manchester Airport already being the sixthlargest European air link to India.

Other Indian companies have already invested in the region, including 42Gears, Hero Cycles, and HCL. Strategic partnerships with local universities have also been set up, leading to an increase in Manchester’s appeal to Indian students, tourists, and researchers.

Deputy mayor of Greater Manchester for Economic Growth and Business, Sir Richard Leese, said: “Manchester city region is famed for being at the forefront of industry, and continues to be a competitive destination for international investors.”

“There’s probably never been more attention on the economic relationship between the UK and India, as India undertakes significant market reforms and the UK prepares to leave the EU. It’s time, therefore, to put the spotlight on the huge contribution which Indian businesses make to the British economy,” says David Landsman, Chair of the CII India Business Forum.

Photo: Hilverd Reker @ Wikimedia Commons

Around the world this week...

Michael Bahrami-Hessari reports on one key story: Photo: TheDigitalArtist @ Pixabay

Fiona Batchelor Science and TechnologyReporter In the last few months, the value of Bitcoin has been dramatically fluctuating. Recently, the world has turned it’s attention to the significant decline in its price.

Plummeting from a value of approximately £15,000 in November to less than £5000 at the time of writing this article, economists and governments worldwide have expressed concern over the possible implications of the situation.

So what exactly is this ‘cryptocurrency’ that has been a common occurrence in recent headlines? How does it work, and is it worth the hype?

Bitcoin is one of many ‘cryptocurrencies’, a currency which relies on the blockchain. The best way to imagine a blockchain is a continuous sequence of blocks, lined up one after the other.

It is a distributed database, meaning sections of the chain are split between all those who are part of the database.

These figures, each containing a part of the blockchain, are the Bitcoin miners.

Each block contains information regarding a transaction that has been made with Bitcoin: who the payment is for, who is receiving it, and what the value is. This you can imagine as being in the centre of the block.

At the top and bottom of the block is an encrypted code, a hash.

An example of a hash is ‘4de1288a19eb872ff87eef6a7cba96f6’, generated using an algorithm.

The hash at the bottom of the block has to match the hash at the top of the previous one, and so on and so forth. This

means the order of the blocks is essential and impossible to forge or alter.

The evidence that this transaction occurred will exist in the blockchain forever, and if you tried to remove it, the hashes would no longer match up.

When someone wants to make a new transaction using Bitcoin, a new block of information is created, which goes to the top of the blockchain.

In order to verify it as a genuine transaction, it needs to have the correct series of hashes from the new block all the way to the start of the chain. The computing power required to check this information is enormous.

Thousands of transactions are made per day, and over time millions of blocks have been generated.

The people who verify the new transactions, allowing the new block to join the chain, are Bitcoin miners. The miners are part of the blockchain database, and use highly powerful computers to prove that the new information is genuine.

When they successfully ‘solve’ a block, it is added to the chain forever, and they receive a reward in Bitcoin (approximately 12.5 Bitcoin, for which the value can vary).

The miners can have a huge income depending on how much computing power they dedicate to mine Bitcoin.

Miners can become millionaires by verifying new blocks, and numerous companies have emerged that allow this on an industrial scale, generating vast amounts of Bitcoin.

So miners can make a lot of money from Bitcoin, but why is this such a popular technology to use amongst the public?

One reason is the irremovable evidence that a transaction has taken place. In terms of security, it’s easy to see how this is desirable. It’s impossible to argue that you haven’t been

paid, or that you’ve been given an incorrect amount.

Because the encrypted hashes require verification, it prevents people from falsifying payments or manipulating the amount of currency involved.

However, for some of the same reasons that make it so secure, Bitcoin is infamously associated with criminals. It is hugely appealing to those who would prefer their exchange of money to go under the radar.

A large proportion of Bitcoin users are those conducting illegal activity. Though there is indisputable evidence of their transaction, there are no names involved, and no reference for the transactions; only an ID of the Bitcoin ‘wallet’.

While concern about the Bitcoin bubble bursting is rife, it is still worth a lot of money. This increased worth is in part due to the fact Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency of its kind, and the hype and publicity surrounding it have added to its value.

But the recent dramatic fluctuations shows its instability and could perhaps show Bitcoin may well just be a fad.

Other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum, have genuine value and possible important uses. Ethereum blocks store contracts, rather than transactions.

Rather than being exploited for secretive criminal exchanges, this could have worthwhile applications in insurance, mortgages, and healthcare. For example, in medical research, to enable verification and sharing of patient data while protecting identity.

Although the value of Bitcoin seems ever-changing, it is only a starting point. As cryptocurrency evolves, it is not unlikely that its popularity continues to rise. In the future, this is might be how all our transactions occur.

Facebook as a platform for cyber poaching A recently-published paper by non-government organization TRAFFIC has revealed that Facebook is increasingly being used for the unregulated selling of bred and captured birds and reptiles in the Philippines.

Founded in 1976, TRAFFIC is the Cambridge-based strategic arm of the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It monitors trade of plants and animals for the mitigation of the loss of biodiversity.

The group monitored twenty online forums specializing in the trading of live pets for 17 days in February 2017. They recorded more than 700 advertisements amounting to approximately $150,000 (£107,000). These included animals like the white cockatoo, Philippine hawk-eagle and the radiated tortoise, all classified by the IUCN as either endangered or critically endangered.

Although the IUCN classified the majority of the marked animals as ones of least concern, the researchers highlighted that photos posted by the sellers showed animals in poor captive conditions and

7

oftentimes misidentified.

Some traders also reported smuggling wildlife outside the country using courier services like FedEx, despite not having any importation permits issued by the government’s Biodiversity Management Bureau.

In addition, because most of the traded animals were non-native to the country, it is feared that their unrestricted breeding could interfere with native species and contribute to the spread of animal-borne diseases like avian influenza.

Unfortunately, because of the difficulty in implementation of the country’s 2001 Wildlife Act, only six arrests were made concerning online wildlife trading in the country from May to July of last year.

The report goes on to recommend more concerted efforts between law enforcement agencies, conservation scientists and civil society. The IUCN also suggested reporting such Facebook posts to curtail their spread.

Though this may still prove challenging, as sellers can employ virtual private networks to hide their location, making an arrest even more difficult.

This is, however, not the first time such an occurrence was reported. In 2016, TRAFFIC discovered that 62 per cent of online exotic pet ads in Vietnam “potentially offered commodities illegally”, including leopard cats, the endangered Seychelles magpie-robin and green peafowl.

Rhinoceros horns, ivory tusks and elephant tails were also for sale. In Malaysia, 86 per cent of Facebook included internationally-regulated species like the sun bear, orangutan and white-handed gibbon.

Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines have been classified as biodiversity hotspots by ecologists, containing the greatest density of flora and fauna on earth, making them viable targets for the export of exotic pets.

This, compounded with the consideration that there is more than a 50 per cent penetration of the social networking site within their populations, only increases concern over such practices. Overall, the three developing countries account for ten percent of Facebook internet traffic in Asia.

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Features

ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

A trip to hell to cure depression?

Psychedelics as psychiatry, with Adam Laidler Some of his ‘visions’ may seem hard to believe...

Kizzy Bray Head Features Editor According to the research of Mind, the UK based mental health care charity, one in four Brits will suffer with at least one bought of depression in their lifetime. This statistic stands incredibly high, but to me, as a student, a friend and a consumer of terrible, daily world news, this comes as no surprise.

The World Health Organisation estimates depression as the leading cause for disability worldwide. But when faced with the “empty promises” of the Tory government’s mental health spending according to The Independent, is the UK simply ignoring the issue at hand?

After new figures revealed that “half of local NHS bodies plan to slash spending on vital services” in 2018, perhaps the government’s way of tackling this epidemic is not putting the welfare of sufferers first, and rather, it’s about what money is being spent, and what money can be made.

The pharmaceutical companies of the world have dominated the mental health industry for decades. Through constructions of healthcare guidelines such DSM-5 that are used globally — with the research within usually being funded by pharmaceutical companies themselves — the administration of “mood stabilizer” pills have become the expectation for mental health sufferers post-diagnosis. For many people, medication from pills for their depression have saved their lives, but for some, the pills are found to simply numb or blunt emotions, and aren’t the be all and end all answer.

found himself in the darkest period of his life. He decided to travel the globe, and found his path to Peru to take the drug through recommendations from various people, including someone from the counselling university course he was taking at the time.

“As my depression got worse I became more desperate for a way out” Adam told me. “After being told about ayahuasca and having researched it a bit I became more interested in it’s healing properties.”

Ayahuasca, for those who don’t know, is a powerful hallucinogenic brew that has been administered by Shamans in parts of South America for centuries as part of ritual, spiritual and medicinal exerts.

For many people the drug can take them into a dark place, with some reports — mentioned by Adam — of the psychedelic transporting it’s consumers to the depths of their own personal hell.

“When I think about it now, classing myself as not having depression anymore, it makes me really anxious to think about doing something like ayahuasca. Psychedelic drugs can be so disorientating, destabilising and they can change your worldview.

At the time I was so depressed I couldn’t feel my own anxiety, I was so numb to all my feelings that I wasn’t able to process any anxiety around taking the drug.”

The experience itself wasn’t wholly positive for Adam, as a lot aren’t. After taking the drug in the course of three ceremonies over five days, he saw visions of himself in his mother’s womb, was planted back into his toddler self in a cot and found himself

“As my depression got worse I became more desperate for a way out” Cambridge University hosted a talk last year from leading members of the Cambridge Neuroscience Society on the topic of psychedelic drugs as ways of identifying, medicating and providing therapy for various mental health disorders. Psychedelic psychiatry research projects are fairly under-funded in medicine and hold a great deal of taboo due to the illegal nature of the substances. The talks concluded with leading drug policy reformer Amanda Feilding stating that psychedelic drugs should be “conceived as non-specific medicines for a wide range of disorders”.

With these ideas in mind, I met with Adam Laidler, a motivational speaker, MCR Talks regular and self proclaimed ex-depressive.

Adam is currently under taking his masters in psychotherapy, and on Tuesday gave a talk about his experiences with his depression and the most powerful psychedelic in the world: ayahuasca.

After a series of events that lead to an extreme depression for Adam, which included his thirteen year relationship and marriage ending, the liquidation of his company due to his financial advisor defrauding the business and the sudden death of his aunt, Adam

Photo: Adam Laidler

in a dark, empty place, the only thing to see being a black tar pit with a writhing body within, being consumed by the darkness of consumerism and capitalist greed.

Adam found these experiences, though terrifying, also transformative. “It showed me a good way of living” he states.

The drug had looked into the depths of his ego and shown Adam the ways in which he was living his life that were making him depressed, including the root to his lifelong belief that he was

unlovable.

“I realised, whilst I saw visions of my grandmother holding me as a child, that my mother had been suffering from postnatal

The 100th anniversary of womens’ suffrage, with Baroness Hale Tuesday the 6th February marked the 100th anniversary of the suffragette movement gaining rights for some women. Eva Muñoz Picazo attended a speech by Baroness Hale and recalls the lessons learnt over the last 100 years

depression. We’d never talked about it before, but when I got home from my trip we discussed it and I was right.”

Adam believes he found a cure for his own depression through the drug ayahuasca. But, he stresses, for him this was a personal journey and not one to be taken lightly.

“If you are happy in your life, I would think very, very carefully before taking anything like this. It changed my worldview, and it could show you things that you aren’t ready to see.”

According to Dr Bia Labate, one of the world’s leading ayahuasca experts, quoted by BBC News, there is lots of potential for ayahuasca to be used is in medicine.

“There are currently 80 subjects in a clinical trial in Brazil looking at its impact on people with depression - it’s very rigorous and very promising. In Brazil it has helped people with depression who have been resistant to other treatments,” she says.

Ayahuasca is a potent drug that has caused severe harm and even fatalities for its consumers. It is illegal in the UK, but with leading researchers such as Cambridge University seeking to implement psychedelics further in the progression of psychiatric medicine, perhaps the drug, along with others will make it into further research. Whilst the taboo of illegal psychedelic substances remains vigilant in medical, public and media discourse, research into the properties of ketamine to treat mood disorders and legally prescribed diamorphine (heroin) having been a part of British medicine for decades, we must overcome taboo in the name of science and medicine in a controlled manner.

Then, perhaps, we will find that experiences such as Adam’s are not as rare and unbelievable as we imagine them to be.

Find more from Adam on Facebook by searching ‘Me Being Adam’.

WRITE FOR US The Mancunion Features Contributors Team 2017/18 Email: features@mancunion.com Meeting time: Mondays 6pm

was one of the driving forces of the Suffragette movement, who alongside her mother founded the Women’s Social and Political Union.

Margaret Haigh Thomas, Lady Rhondda, was a leading equalitarian feminist in her day who founded a pressure group called the Six Point Group, a feminist journal, and who went on hunger strike after being imprisoned for committing arson during her work as a militant suffragette. She also fought to obtain her wrongly denied place in the House of Lords appointed to her by her father. Moreover, Baroness Hale’s mother was part of the first generation of women who obtained the right to vote and whose hard work exemplified a generation of women who were moving away from the “expectation of dependence to beginning of independence”.

Baroness Hale then spoke on modern day sexism and the difficulty that women in the work force find between the need for positive discrimination, which attempts to decrease institutional sexism, and our desire to be “appointed on merit not a statistic”.

The talk was incredibly poignant and inspiring, and Baroness Hale is a role model to women whose job as President of the Supreme Court hopefully showcases the beginning of an end to institutional sexism.

After this excellent talk, what has become clear is that women still have a long way to go until we reach a much desired equality. Even though the last a hundred years have made a significant change, women still face discrimination in every aspect of their daily lives.

As Baroness Hale said: “the women suffrage movement knew we needed equality and we should share that conviction”.

Eva Muñoz Picazo Contributor On the 8th of February, the accomplished Baroness Hale of Richmond, President of the Supreme Court, returned to the university that she taught at from 1966 to 1984 to deliver a compelling talk on the achievements of women in the past a hundred years.

“Baroness Hale has been a “woman of many firsts”” Baroness Hale has been a “woman of many firsts”; first woman President of the Supreme Court, first woman Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, first woman to be appointed to the Law Commission, and the first person to make High Court judge as an academic and public servant rather than a practising barrister. On this occasion, she was commemorating 2018 marking the centenary of some women’s right to vote and the right of women to stand in Parliament, as well as the 90th anniversary since all women gained the right to vote.

Baroness Hale told the story of three women that inspired her: Christabel Pankhurst, Margaret Haigh Thomas and Baroness Hale’s own mother. Christabel Pankhurst, honoured in these series of talks,

Ayahuasca brewing. Photo: Apollo @ Flickr

Features 9

ISSUE 15 /12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Fallow Fight Back with Holly Ledger

With Fallowfield crime rates being so talked about in the last few months, Holly Ledger is leading the way to fighting back for student victims Ruth Squire Contributor

The rise in popularity of the Facebook Fallowfield Student Group (FSG) has made the awareness of crime in Fallowfield, and specifically the targeting of students, more evident than ever. I caught up with Holly Ledger to talk about the event Fallow Fights Back which aims to raise awareness about the increasing crime rates and to help equip students. Holly is a second-year student at the University of Manchester.

Fallow Fights Back is an event taking place at Uni place on the 14th March, 1-4pm. It is a fun interactive event with a serious message to raise awareness and to bring together a community. Many students have been left feeling distressed or facing mental health difficulties because of recent crime spikes, and Fallow Fights Back aims to counter this.

“Me and some fellow course mates are planning this event as part of our ‘Live events’ module for the second year of our events management degree” Holly tells me.

“Planning started properly in October and we have been building up to it, we attempted a flash mob which we then used as part of our promotional video. Not as many people turned up as we hoped but the video still looked good. The next month we are really going to push the event. The more people that come, the more awareness we can raise, and the more successful it can be.”

With the recent heightened crime in Fallowfield, Holly and her

course mates knew they should do something to help: “Its important topic and just feel there isn’t enough being done.” Holly states.

“Through our research, we felt that there hasn’t been anything solidly put into place especially for the mental health effects of it. The effect on mental health of these crimes is being overlooked. We have friends who have been targets of crime - including one friend who was violently beaten up at 6 am and had his nose broken.

“the university could be doing more in terms of support groups or safe hubs for students.”

“It was hard seeing how it’s really shaken him up and knowing he now has anxiety when having to go outside alone, even in the middle of the day. Uni is supposed to be a safe place. There are so many halls of residence in Fallowfield so it’s such a shame so many people feel so anxious.” With student crime, it’s easy for blame to get pushed around in terms of who should be taking responsibility to keep students safe.

Holly believes, however, that the University isn’t doing enough.

“I know there are some options for help in terms of Nightline, but this is such a big and current issue for students and the university could be doing more in terms of support groups or safe hubs for students.”

There will be stalls all around University place, with local MP Grace

Fletcher-Hackwood invited along with others that are to be confirmed.

“We are in discussion with the Owens Park security team and hoping to have them present on the day along with some talks about current security in Fallowfield. We also are going to have information about insurance for students and related freebies such as rape whistles.”

“Smart Combat is also going to be putting on free self-defence sessions for students who can learn basic skills to help them protect themselves and feel confident. We have booked out some spare rooms for this to happen in. There will be glitter and local DJs from different societies throughout the day along with glitter and face painting. Despite the serious message we wanted this event to be fun and uplifting.”

Despite their best efforts, Holly and her course mates have been met with a few challenges along the way.

“We have been really let down by the Greater Manchester police who have been very unhelpful or reluctant to get involved,” Holly tells us. “It just goes to show how much of a problem it is and how important this event is.

“It is important to have the Police on board, so it’s definitely been disheartening that they have been so hard to work with. One of the biggest things have learnt from this is the importance of bringing the community together and working together — so many people are doing some really great things.”

The event is on the 14th March 1-4pm University place.

Buy your ticket by searching ‘Fallow Fights Back’ on Facebook.

The Creative Space The Creative Space is a monthly profile showcasing the best of the University of Manchester’s original talent.

Are you a singer, songwriter, filmmaker or designer?

Do you have a poem, short story, play or illustration you’re dying to share?

Send it to us at: features@mancunion.com and we will feature the winner at the end of the month!

Opinion

10

Feminism and the F1 grid girls

The widening gap between SU Exec officers and students

On one hand is a symbolic step forward, on the other is many women left without jobs, says Opinion Contributor Sophie Marriott

They represent a 40,000-strong student body, yet many struggle to recall their names or what they do Hana Jafar Opinion Contributor You see their faces on the Students’ Union website, plastered on the walls of the Union.

Perhaps you’ve seen posters and banners hanging around campus encouraging you to vote for them, making pledges and promises in their manifestos. These are your Students’ Union officers, and as students at the University of Manchester, you have elected them as you elect them each year.

However, if I were to stand on Oxford Road and ask random students passing by if they can name at least three officers, and tell me what they do — or what they represent — I doubt that many would be able to.

The University of Manchester has eight fulltime, paid officer roles: the General Secretary, and the Community, Diversity, Education, Campaigns, Activities and Development, Wellbeing, and Women’s Officers. These individuals, usually second or third-year students when they stand to be officers, take a year out or apply to be officers after graduating.

Their jobs are to represent the interests of almost 40,000 students by organising events, campaigning, and lobbying for policies to improve student life. They meet with student groups, societies and committees, senior members of staff at the university, other university reps and officers, and even members of local government, as part of their jobs.

It sounds impressive, but if students don’t know who they are — if only 16 per cent of students are voting in the elections — there is a problem.

As I know many of the current Exec officers personally, I have them as friends on Facebook and have noticed a trend… they all seem to know each other. Not just Exec officers at the University of Manchester, but officers at other universities as well. In between campaign posts and updates,

Putin has re-directed Russia onto the path of becoming a formidable and threatening world power, says Contributor Jake Dunn It has almost been 27 years since the USSR collapsed and Russia, as we know it today, emerged onto the world scene. It was in the year 2000 that Vladimir Putin took power as president of the Russian Federation. Under his leadership, Russia has changed dramatically, and the crises that plagued Russia in the postSoviet era have been tamed to large extent.

Since coming to power, Russia has risen once more and, while it is not the superpower the USSR once was, Putin has made it, once more, a serious actor in international politics. His interventions in Syria and Crimea have shown he is willing to take risks to counter the military might of the USA and the emerging economic power of China. Putin’s actions have greater implications for us in Europe and the Western world than many of us care to admit.

Russia under Putin is a very different country to that which many commentators predicted would emerge in the post-Soviet new world order. Under Putin’s predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, Russia seemed to be heading in a pro-European and Western direction.

However, when Putin took office, though it initially seemed as if the trend would continue — Russian even seeming to tolerate NATO’s expansion in Eastern Europe —, it has become clear how wrong the world was.

Putin has made Russia more nationalistic, confrontational, and militarily aggressive. As mentioned, under Putin, Russia has become involved in numerous foreign conflicts including Crimea, Eastern Ukraine, and Syria.

their social media posts are peppered with inside jokes, tagging each other in pictures and status updates.

Although it’s great that the officers are connected, collaborating and supporting each other, and many of them are friends, a bubble begins to form. Officers remain connected to other officers, student activists, students on society committees or Union related projects, and the bubble is soon sealed.

Students who have no idea who they are or what they do are often daunted by their already established, close-knit community of more involved and active students. I speak from firsthand experience having been one of these intimidated, and disinterested students myself last year.

The only reason I know some officers is because I happened to see a post on a Facebook group looking for a student to report on the Student Union Exec election hustings for The Mancunion, which I live-blogged. It gave me insight into what exactly they were vying for and who they were.

Of the thousands of students in Manchester, a handful was present. Reporting gave me an excuse to speak to them and get to know some of them, and this connection has made me realise that more students need to care. More students need to be curious and ask questions, veering away from the disinterested, nonplussed attitude that student politics is somehow irrelevant to them.

The gap between SU Exec officers and students has created an unsettling lack of accountability.

Although internal Union committees review and scrutinise officers’ progress, including officers having to produce a 2,000-word report, very few students have direct access to officers.

Students on Senate committees do have the opportunity to channel their opinions, ideas, and questions at officers, but due to the perceived distance between students and the Union, not

Image: Vita Student @ Flickr

many volunteer to sit on these committees. The process is hardly selective, which compromises the value and extent of wider student input and engagement in the accountability process.

Simply put, fewer students care about student politics, feeling that it is disillusioned and distanced from the people, and therefore are also apathetic to the process. This compromises the value of having a democratic Student Union.

What is a democracy without the people? A bureaucracy.

Only students on ‘the inside’, those who manage to permeate the bubble, get involved in, and understand Union officer politics, roles, and decisions, are likely to have their voices heard. These insiders are more likely to run for such positions, and the bubble grows smaller.

Fewer students vote, fewer students run, fewer students care.

This happens at a larger scale too with elected representatives of the National Union of Students often being former officers who were friends of former officers, and eventually, we end up with an organisation of people who have been in student politics longer than they have been students themselves.

How then, can they sufficiently represent students? Granted, this is a generalisation — albeit one based on a lot of observation — and many seasoned and experienced officers and representatives become who they are from being

Big, bad Vlad

Photo: The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office @ Wikimedia Commons

His policies at home have entrenched his position as he controls various government institutions.

Unlike countries like the USA and the UK, whose governments faced a huge public backlash against their involvements in conflicts like Afghanistan and Iraq, Putin has, in fact, gained popularity and support from the Russian population. Russia’s annexation of Crimea on the 18th of March 2014 created a massive sense of pride and nationalistic sentiment within Russia and Putin became the figurehead for it, and further entrenched his own control over Russian society and politics.

Despite the sanctions being placed on Russia by the international community, Putin has remained a popular figure within his country. In 2015, Russia began direct military involvement in the Syrian Civil War to prop up Bashar al-Assad’s regime and as a result, Assad is likely to remain in power, whereas, at the

beginning of the uprising, he looked certain to fall.

Now, any solution to the Syrian conflict requires Assad. Again, Putin faced criticism on the international stage, but at home, his popularity has surged, and the fact is, whether you like it not, Putin has achieved his goal in Syria and has kept Assad — a close ally — in power.

The fact that Russia has probably interfered in the American presidential election in 2016 shows how much has changed under Putin. It shows Putin has confidence due to the USA’s lack of global leadership in recent years and is challenging American global dominance.

The fact that Putin is at the negotiating table in Syria’s peace talks — unlike Trump — shows how confident he is on the world stage.

Putin’s policies abroad have entrenched his position, despite Russia’s sluggish economy, and it is likely that he will win the re-election

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‘insiders’. The gap is nevertheless growing bigger, and this is increasingly worrying.

Like global politics, student politics matters.

In the past, Student Union Exec officers have successfully achieved getting the living wage and boycotting the NSS. They also campaign on safety in Fallowfield, sexual harassment on campus, supporting lecturers on strike, and improving education.

Student voices are important to make sure that these policies represent the majority, and to hold officers to account for their work. The recent Shakira Martin scandal is a perfect example of what happens when senior elected officials are not held to account.

The onus is on the Students’ Union to make sure that the word gets out there, and that their officers are actively engaging with students to promote their work, and the work of the Union.

I was surprised by a poster I saw recently, encouraging students to stand in Exec elections - emphasising the pay, and asking ‘Are you tired of being a student already?’.

You know students are disengaged when you have to wave money in their faces and make an important democratic position seem like a break from studies. More students need to be engaged, and asking who their officers are and what they do. More students need to vote. This is your university, this is your Union, and these are your officers. as president in March by a landslide — ignoring the fact he will probably rig the results anyway —, meaning that the international community will have to get used to another six years of Putin in power.

If the Russian economy further stagnates, it is likely he will take even more risky steps with his foreign policy, meaning more instability in Europe and the Middle-East.

For Europe, Russia’s return to aggression and military build-up is a worrying development.

Putin and many in Russia see the European Union as a threat to Russian interests, especially a united one under the influence Germany and France. Putin’s actions in Crimea are a message to Europe not to expand or integrate any further as Putin knows that a united European Union is the biggest threat to Russia in recent years and is probably more of a threat to Russia than the USA. Russia’s alleged funding of nationalist and anti-EU parties, like the National Front in France and the Freedom Party in Austria, are another signal of how far Putin is willing to go to block further European integration and expand its power.

Despite Putin’s famous topless photo-shoots, Vladimir Putin is not a joke. Russia’s aggressive foreign policy stance and America’s gradual withdrawal from the world stage have allowed Putin to take advantage and attempt to reestablish Russia’s foreign influence.

Russia’s interference in the US elections in 2016 and other European elections is a threat to liberal democracy across the world and Putin is threatening the Western dominance of the world from multiple angles. From Syria to Crimea, Russia’s creeping new influence and confidence are alarming many in neighbouring countries like Estonia, Finland, and Ukraine.

Putin’s Russia is a threat to the stability of Europe and we better get used to another period of Russian interference in European affairs.

The discontinuing of ‘grid girls’ from Formula 1 racing events has sparked a surprising backlash, with concerns being raised about the economic impact on those women who have now lost their livelihoods, and according to some, their occupational autonomy.

Whilst there is absolutely space for criticism of any simplistic eradication of jobs for lacking foresight and for those who feel financially victimised, this is still progress. It is progress towards a world where women’s contributions to sport are as legitimate as those of men, and just as estranged from their outfits. More broadly, it is progress towards a world where beauty is not the seen as the pinnacle of female achievement.

Given the recent spotlight on workplace sexual harassment and pay inequality, everyone should be applauding an institution as male-dominated and traditionally macho as F1 for virtually independently deciding to move with the times.

Any labour market which is solely based on the sexualisation of young women is inherently misogynistic and, especially in the midst of the ‘Me Too’ movement, completely unacceptable.

In fact, it’s quite distressing that this ‘tradition’ has survived this long. It would be easy, therefore, to claim this as a victory and move on with our chins a little higher. However, the retaliation from

numerous ex-grid girls shouldn’t be dismissed for it signifies the fracturing of modern social equality campaigns at a time when they should be more unified than ever.

It is now evident that criticism of the grid girls phenomenon ignored the individual experiences of the women and failed to account for what the loss of their positions would mean for them. Like many attempts at liberation, it has been top-down and led by a group of outraged outsiders.

No matter how legitimate or well-meaning such indignation can be, this change within F1 required support from the women it would affect as well as wider society. This is something which the ‘Me Too’ campaign should be breaking down by distilling broad movements into personal experiences and encouraging all women to engage with feminism.

It is important, though, to look at where the criticism is coming from. There is a legitimate stage for the newly unemployed women to contest their position, but when the first responses in a Google search on the subject are articles by Daily Mail contributor Rachel Johnson claiming this has taken the “glitz and glam” out of the sport, it’s hard to have as much sympathy.

Adding to this is criticism by Naomi Campbell who feels the career of being a ‘grid girl’ offers an opportunity for young women to boost their self-

Elon Musk’s launch was a good thing, here is why Lioui Benhamou Opinion Writer It is impossible that you missed it, but just in case: Elon Musk and his company, SpaceX, launched the Falcon Heavy on Tuesday.

It was popular on social media because a car

was on board the rocket and is currently being sent towards Mars. So there is now a Tesla with the message, “Don’t panic!” — a reference to Musk’s favourite series of books, ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ — written on the dashboard somewhere above our heads.

“What was the goal of this stunt?” you might wonder. Well, this kind of launch was not seen in

confidence. Perhaps it did make these women feel beautiful and appreciated, but shouldn’t that be a point for reflection, if not anger itself? That the source of female empowerment is the attention of thousands of spectators who deem your physical appearance to be of a certain calibre.

Those who have said abolishing models in sports celebrations is taking away women’s rights to choose their own career paths need to be reminded of the disparity in employment opportunities across the board that restrict women’s values to their physical appearances.

Perhaps when equity within employment opportunities is complete elsewhere it won’t seem such a kick in the teeth to have scantily

clad models parading around a victorious man in response to his sporting achievement. As yet, however, it highlights how our culture still assigns value according to a gender status quo surrounding masculine brute strength and feminine submissiveness.

These critics want to turn this into a battle between feminists and models, targeting wholesome fun because of some fabricated jealousy. Engaging with this would poison an otherwise positive event. Rather than regretting the criticism, it should be seen as a tale of caution for future equal rights campaigns to be more sensitive to the individual experiences of oppression.

Photo: ph-stop @ Wikimedia Commons

the US since the 60s, and Elon has the ambition to send humans to Mars as soon as possible.

Thus, this is the beginning of a new space age for humanity. It’s just that this time there isn’t any, you know, ominous threat of the Cold War and nuclear annihilation lingering in the background.

But telling this story in the wrong way makes for some easy criticism. We can either frame what happened as a small — and fun — step towards the exploration of space by humanity, or as the crazy idea of a billionaire spending $90m to launch a $100,000 car in space.

You might have heard this argument before. It goes like this: “There are too many problems to be

dealt with on Earth to care about space, and space exploration costs a lot of money that should be used somewhere else.”

Musk’s actions have been faced with criticism, as expected. In an article for The Guardian, for example, Nathan Robinson has argued that it would be better if we first dealt with the issue of poverty before spending $90m to launch a car into space and that the launch was indefensible.

At first sight, this criticism seems eminently plausible. It is surely morally superior to give $90m to charity than to launch a sports car towards Mars...

Continue reading at www.mancunion.com

Our love for dogs has become cruel and inhumane When did our love for man’s best friend become a bid to genetically mutilate them?

Amy Wei Opinion Contributorand Deputy News Editor We love pugs. More than 10,000 are waddling around in the UK at the moment, and the Chinese New Year of the Dog gives us admirers the perfect opportunity to show appreciation for the pug’s squashed nose and dislocated kneecaps. A celebratory pop-up Pug Cafe in Manchester has already clocked in the interest of more than 600 dog lovers on Facebook, who will no doubt flock on the day to fawn over the beauty of the pugs and profess to each other just how much they love dogs.

We love pugs so much that we’ve inbred 10,000 British pugs from a gene pool of only 50. We apparently love them so much that they suffer acute problems as a consequence of our love.

Let’s be clear: this is not love for the dog, but the fetishisation of its individual body parts.

In 2008, a BBC documentary uncovered a line of Crufts pug champions with numerous health problems characteristic of the breed: dislocated kneecaps, collapsed larynxes, elongated soft palates, narrowed nasal cavities, inward rolling of lower eyelids, and curvature of the spine. Spine abnormalities are bog-standard in pugs— in fact, they’re the breed standard. Double-corkscrews are desired in pugs’ tails, which contort pugs’ vertebrae to put their whole spinal structures at risk.

RSPCA Chief Vet Mark Evans called the Crufts show “a parade of mutants”, and, “a freakish, garish beauty pageant that has frankly nothing to do with health and welfare.”

But we love their funny looks. We love tagging friends in videos of pugs falling asleep while sitting

or standing— which they do because their airways close when they drop their heads. We love them.

We love the noises pugs make as they struggle for breath and their eyes that are too big for their sockets to contain. They’re cute; breeding is a business of cuteness, and that must be a delight.

The commodification of dogs as style items is a recent, capitalist phenomenon. The Kennel Club is less than 150 years old, and most modern dog breeds are younger than this. Before then, dogs weren’t bred in Britain for their appearance. It was when dogs made the move from the farm to the armchair that breeding for functionality was dropped to focus on fashionable aesthetics.

As a result, health was compromised to achieve deformities. The German Shepard Dog of today looks very different from its Victorian forefathers; it now also comes with a good dose of canine hip dysplasia.

The Kennel Club’s small efforts to reduce the occurrence of genetic defects are meek. They certify German Shepards whose parents are clear from hip dysplasia, but breeders easily worm round this by breeding young dogs who are less than a year old before their genetic defects start showing. And so, thousands of sick puppies get born and sold with clean certifications of health from the KC. This doesn’t even consider the uncertified puppy farms, which notoriously over-breed females in inhumane conditions. These only

Photo: (stephan)@ Flickr

arose after World War Two, and have grown into a multi-billion pound business in the UK alone.

Meanwhile, 20,000 rescue dogs are euthanised in UK shelters every year. Rather than adopt them, we shell out thousands of pounds to buy pedigree dogs from breeders, whose genetic defects cost UK dog owners over £10 million in vets’ fees each week.

On the other side of the world, in China, street dogs are beaten to death on a daily basis. In Oman, the police are ordered to shoot puppies on sight.

Romania runs state internment camps for dogs where they aren’t fed and are destroyed after 14 days. This all might seem depressing, but none of our concern over here in the UK. Shelters abroad, however, run multifarious programmes— such as Barking Mad Dog Rescue — that allow British citizens to adopt dogs from life-threatening situations around the world. This might be a more popular system if foreign-adopted dogs were as Instagrammable as their inbred cousins.

As it is, pugs are our trending fashion choice of the moment, and their lives aren’t much better than street dogs’. Pug breeding is animal cruelty, and without knowing it, we’re wooed into complicity by their big buggy eyes and asphyxiating muzzles.

It’s hard to imagine an aesthetic as sweet as the pug’s could possibly be so barbaric. That’s the first step we need to take: changing our perspective of the pug from the aesthetic to the animal.

This Chinese New Year, for the Year of the Dog, we need to each take some time to address ourselves — when we say we love dogs, do we mean it? Or do we only mean that we love how they look?

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Live Review: Anteros

Live Review

Jake Oliver reviews the newest unavoidable band

If you’ve not yet heard of Anteros, get ready, because they’re about to become unavoidable. The London four-piece have been curating a steady and dedicated following for several years now, wooing fans with their self-proclaimed “bittersweet dreampop” and have supported bands such as the mighty Two Door Cinema Club and Blaenavon.

The band members didn’t exactly make a grand entrance to the stage — shuffling through the crowd, with frontwoman Laura Hayden muttering “Excuse me!” and “Sorry!” in earnest. However, once upon that tiny stage, their less than exotic entrance was immediately overthrown by their infectious energy.

‘Cherry Drop’ opened the set, with Hayden strutting across the stage, embodying the effortless swagger that very few lead singers can capture. Not a single member of the band was static for their performance.

Bassist Josh Rumble and guitarist Jackson Couzens swing around, feeling every ounce of electricity in

Photo: Jake Oliver @ The Mancunion

the air. Even Harry Balazs up on drums was totally animated.

The highlight of the night came with ‘Bonnie’, a song that Hayden described as a tribute to girls and for embracing who they are. Beaming, she invited any ladies in the audience to join the band on stage to celebrate this, a gesture that was met with enthusiasm from all.

In an industry dominated by men, Anteros are at the forefront of challenging this notion and it’s refreshing to see. Hayden herself seems to serve as new icon for both men and women. With so few prominent female-fronted bands, her ability to inspire will not go unnoticed.

The only issue with an otherwise brilliant night was down to the venue itself. Having seen Anteros perform at a variety of other venues before, I know all too well how active the crowd can be. The band are simply no longer cut out to play in such small environments.

Nonetheless, everyone seemed to be having a great time, totally captivated by the band, with Hayden her-

Review: Justin Timberlake Superbowl 2018 Who really lost the Super Bowl in 2018… Was it New England Patriots? Or was it the Philadelphia Eagles? Who knows.

Ultimately, with a performance that was generally underwhelming, the real loser was Justin Timberlake. He has a number of hits — most of which he managed to fit into his 12 minute performance. Yet, somehow it didn’t seem enough.

This was Timberlake’s third appearance at the Super Bowl, following his 2001 performance with N-Sync and his 2004 performance with Janet Jackson (maybe you know it better as the Super Bowl ‘Nipplegate’).

The previous years included Lady Gaga in 2017, who used the platform to voice the fact that she’s an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, and Beyoncé back in 2013, using the platform to pay tribute to Black Lives Matter.

Timberlake missed the opportunity to speak up. Not only that, but he also missed a trick when deciding on guest performances. He could have brought N-Sync back together, got Jay-Z up on stage or even Timberland — any of them would have really taken the performance up a level.

He did, however, ‘sing’ with Prince — a controversial move for many. Why? Because back in 2007 Timberlake dissed Prince on ‘Give It To Me’. This, along with the fact that Timberlake famously mocked Prince’s height at the Golden Globes back in 2007, made it a questionable move.

Not only that, is this what Prince really would have wanted? It does have to be mentioned, however, that turning Minneapolis purple in honour of Prince was a nice way to honour the pop legend.

The performance began with Timberlake’s famous pal Jimmy Fallon introducing him. Maybe I’m just a little bit

Interview: Nightmares on Wax To celebrate the highly anticipated release of the new Nightmares On Wax - aka, George Evelyn - album, Shape The Future, his first studio album in half a decade, a new video for the album’s title track has been revealed. The song is especially poignant as it features George Evelyn on vocals, something of a rarity throughout his 25-year career. The marriage of soul, hip-hop, dub and timeless club sounds, that Nightmares On Wax has been mutating and perfecting for years, finds perhaps its most fluid form yet on this album.

Energised by globetrotting runs of studio sessions and DJ sets, this latest salvo is a masterpiece of contemporary and classic genre-blending, that solidifies his place as an inspirational electronic music figurehead.

George took some time out to chat to us about his new album and upcoming tour...

How have you seen the electronic scene change?

I’ve definitely seen it evolve far and wide across the globe. I was at a dance festival recently and outside on the street were some female DJs outside an art gallery, and I just thought ‘wow, that would never have happened even five years ago, let alone ten’. Obviously the underground scene still exists - there will always be an underground and overground scene - but electronic music has made it far more into the mainstream.

broadly I love Quincy Jones who just covered so many decades and crossed over so many genres. He was a big influence. My personal influence would be just the adventure of travelling and how that expands my perception of the world.

Shape The Future is out now - how does this album compare to older material?

I don’t think that’s up to me to decide - I think that’s up to people like you. I think an album is always a reflection of where you’re at and the changing environment around you. I think each album is about mastering your craft and adding another level of maturity to your work.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I’m going to give a shoutout to Acid Mondays who are making some amazing electronic music. Also Illa Jay’s Home I’m a big fan of, and a group called Bon Voyage who are making hip house. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head!

Photo: Album Artwork

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Somethings are just never meant to be. That doesn’t mean you cant feel something through.

Even after doing THE RIGHT THING it still wasn’t good enough.

If you had maybe just said something, then things would be different?

an eye out on their social media to see them live, they’re definitely worth your time.

Gus and his band came on almost sheepishly and introduced themselves to a cheering room. Synths, funky basslines, catchy guitar riffs and punchy drums filled the air for the next half hour and, I’m sure many others felt the same, I couldn’t help but smile and dance to every tune. The show felt intimate, personal and even cozy as members of the audience would interrupt Gus when he spoke between songs. He’d stop in his tracks and reply to the shouts, showing that he really cared for everyone there.

The stage was as simple as it gets. There were no screens, a couple of colour-morphing lights, the band, their instruments and amps. There was no photography pit and no security in direct view of the crowd, leaving the band, quite literally, at arm’s length from them.

Unfortunately for us, Dapperton’s discography consists of 8 songs. He played all of them, an unreleased song and two covers: first, midway through the set, ‘Let Me Love You’ by Mario and secondly, as the encore, ‘This Charming Man’ by The Smiths. Of course, the audience absolutely loved this gesture. Despite the short

show, every second of it was pleasant and dreamy. And if Gus’ Facebook page is telling the truth, he’ll be back with his band soon.

Both acts caught me off guard. My expectations were either low or nonexistent – and I mean this in the most positive sense of the word. Not expecting anything, on purpose, is a great way to see things in the purest light possible – , as I was delving into the unknown. I walked away with a whole new level of love and respect for Gus as well as the giddy happy feeling you get when discovering something new and exciting thanks to Easy Life.

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A lot of albums have the term classic labeled to them tend to be artists who have found considerable success. Acts like The Beatles, Radiohead and Pink Floyd have found much praise with their works and have been in the limelight as a result. But if you go look into the underground scene on places like Reddit and /mu/ you’ll keep seeing one album come up time and time again. The album? In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel.

The obsession with the album within the scene can seem cultish at first.

It won’t take you long before you start seeing people quote the lyrics from the album or an argument if it’s a potato or drum on the cover. On the outside it seems quite bizarre and brings with it some intrigue. What is it about this album that makes people act this way?

On initial inspection it would just seem that it is a simple folk album.

The opening track ‘The King of Carrot Flowers pt1’ is a relatively straight forward song where it is just Jeff Mangum singing while strumming chords on a guitar. Despite the simplicity, there is something quite captivating about it.

But it isn’t long before ‘The King of Carrot Flowers’ parts 2 and 3 starts to turn everything on its head. Fuzzy punching guitars, horns and more are thrown into the mix as the album starts to open its

doors.

So while it is a folk record at its core it would be a disservice to label the song writing as simple. A diverse array of instruments are all composed together in a perfect mixture. Nothing feels out of place or forced and the record knows when to tone it down or go all out.

Photo: Instagram @ Oliver.437

id imagery. They often seem nonsensical but they rarely feel off putting or distracting. It’s part of the enigma that is this album. He manages to expertly weave in an array of narratives from love & loss to rebellion. Fans have even made theories about underlying themes of the album that are still discussed to this day. It just goes to show the staying power this album has.

The final moments of In The Aeroplane have Jeff put down his guitar and walk out and while it is a fitting end for album it mirrors what actually happened. After the success of the album the band had received considerable offers and while other members were keen to capitalise, Jeff wasn’t. He was tired of performing and explaining his art so he just quit. They did reform a few years ago for a series of shows and there was rumours of a new album last year but that has faded away.

In The Aeroplane still holds up 20 years later and it’s clear to see why it’s still held in high regard in underground music. It still manages to dazzle and surprise after all this time and its influence is still felt. If for some reason you have not listened to it then, it’s a must.

There aren’t many albums like it.

“It’s clear to see why it’s held in high regard in underground music ” Songs like ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea’ demonstrate the ability to do both with a rather bare bones guitar is slowly layered with soaring horns.

Even with this it still paces it self incredibly well with much variety on show. ‘Holland 1945’ is a very driven song with blaring guitars, before cooling down with the ‘Communist Daughter’ with its noisy yet subtle atmosphere, then they strip it all down in ‘Oh Comely’ where Jeff lays it all bare. It experiments with different flavours constantly and helps the album stay fresh even to this day.

Lyrically the album shines. Jeff paints bizarre intricate worlds with very viv-

Rewind This week in music history Why do ghosts love elevators?

Because they lift their spirits!

12th February 1956, Dean Martin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Memories Are Made Of This’.

13th February 1974, David Bowie turned down an offer from the Gay Liberation group to compose ‘the world’s first Gay National Anthem.’

14th February 1999, Elton John appeared as himself in a special episode of the animated series The Simpsons shown on US TV.

20 years ago Neutral Milk Hotel released one of the most important albums in underground music, but does it still hold up today? Ciaran McLaughlin discusses

Live Review: The Amazons

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Sometimes, you don’t set high expectations for a gig. Not because you’re afraid of being disappointed but simply because you don’t know what to expect. Such was the case for Gus Dapperton.

Gus is the very definition of eccentric. He comes from a town dominated by farms, he has a bowl cut, he dresses like an art school student – to be fair, he wouldn’t look out of place wandering the streets of Manchester – he’s shy but in a charming way and has a strangely hypnotic voice. His music, for those unfamiliar with him, is best described as the perfect soundtrack to those talks about life with your mates over a six-pack of beers under the afternoon sun in mid-July.

The venue was changed from Soup Kitchen to Gorilla mere hours before the show, to the confusion of many. Despite the change, the room was packed for the evening. ‘Easy Life’ opened the set and blew us all away. Their chilled-out, trippy vibes with catchy bass lines and flashy saxophone-trumpet duets were a pleasure to experience and are indicative of great things to come.

To my disappointment, however, the band barely have 300 followers on SoundCloud and have only released one single. So, if you want to catch them, keep

After a last-minute venue change, the 20 year-old from Warwick, NY, brought his dreamy vibes from across the pond to Gorilla, writes Tobias Soar

15th February 1977, Glen Matlock was fired as bass player from the Sex Pistols, being replaced by Sid Vicious. Matlock rejoined in the 90’s when the Pistol’s reformed.

16th February 2002, Thieves broke into George Michael’s London home and stole over £100,000 ($170,000) worth of paintings, jewellery and designer clothes.

17th February 1991, Born on this day, Ed Sheeran, British singer, songwriter.

18th February 1990, Freddie Mercury made his final public appearance on stage when he joined the rest of Queen to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, held at the Dominion Theatre, London, England.

Photo: Album Artwork

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George Evelyn chats to Deputy Music Editor, Yasmin Duggal, about the joy music and travel has brought him over the years

Who is your biggest musical influence?

Most of my original influences were the old school stuff. The first records I collected were probably Scientist, the 1970s producer. More

Gus Dapperton

Record Reappraisal: Neutral Milk Hotel - ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea’

Photo: Album Artwork

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bias, and also a little in love with his new song ‘Filthy’, but the 2018 Half Time Super Bowl Performance started off great! But as soon as he left that room it seemed that, like a lot of performers these days, JT prioritised his dance moves over his vocals. This was obvious for the songs ‘Rock your Body,’ ‘Senorita,’ and ‘Suit and Tie.’ Out of all the songs he sang only two of them — ‘Filthy’ and ‘Mirrors’ — were up to the standard I’d expect from Timberlake.

All in all, the performance was good. It could have been a lot better, but at the same time, there were certain moments where he managed to somewhat pull it back.

Had N-Sync graced the stage as a unit, and had he chosen to focus more on his vocals than his dance moves, the rating would have been higher.

when a collection of songs start to have coherence, start to have a story or a message through them. This album was influenced by a lot of different parts of the world and it was definitely deep and enriching, but also very challenging.

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This song is basically the premise for Eternal Sunshine of a spotless mind but without the happy ending

Imogen Doyle reviews a disappointing third appearance at this grandest of pop stages

Ciaran Mclaughlin takes us through those soppy Valentine’s heartbreakers...

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You’ve had a long career - what’s been a particular highlight?

Gosh...I think just the mental scenarios I find myself in, and it’s music that got me to those places. You know, going to palaces like Jordan, Beirut, Sri Lanka, Beijing. It’s music that’s allowed me to go there. I couldn’t narrow it down to one particular gig, but I think just the travelling and the gratitude I have for that.

Has it been a different process for you making this record?

I find that every record is different and this one evolved overtime. I always make music sporadically and an album seems to come together

Top 5 - Break-up Songs

self proclaiming her love. In a particularly humbling moment, she paused the set to say “You know what’s great? Hearing you all singing our lyrics back to us.”

Old time fan favourite, the melancholy titular song ‘Anteros’ brought the night to a close. A slow burner that reaches a fever pitch towards the end, it really embodies what the band are all about. As it reached its climax, all members congregate around Balazs on drums, each utterly lost in sound and their unity.

Whilst their lyrics often capture heartbreak and frustration, there’s a distinct cheeriness to Anteros that has had me hooked from my first listen and is a vibe that continues to draw in more fans everyday.

A band that can combine the sweet and the sour with their music are sure to go far in a generation that always seeks to find the good in bad situations. It’s this combination of contrasts that allow Anteros to succeed and will no doubt propel them even further in the coming few months.

So, you’re back on tour as we speak. How does it feel to be getting back on the road in the UK? Well the UK tour is completely sold out which is amazing. We’ve headed to Brighton and London and then we’re heading to my hometown Leeds, Manchester etc. I think Leeds is special because I have such a strong affiliation with that place and I’ll see old friends, but the best part is seeing younger fans get into my music, and that’s everywhere, not just Leeds. Seeing a younger crowd get into the music their parents listened to is really nice.

So, you’re back with your first album in five years - why the break from the making music?

I don’t think I really have had a break. For the last few years I’ve been touring America and Europe and did the 25th Anniversary tour too. I was always making music, so I don’t feel as if I’ve been away.

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Heartbreaks can feel noisy, confusing and blurring. This song encapsulates this.

It’s Saturday night at the Albert Hall, and Reading-based band The Amazons are determined to bring a little old school rock ‘n’ roll to Manchester. Opening with upbeat single ‘Stay With Me’, they launch into a riff heavy set. The crowd immediately descends into a state of beer throwing rowdiness as teenagers, as well as a fair few enthusiastic twenty-somethings, rush to join the mosh pit.

‘Little Something’ is a highlight, with swirling guitars creating dark tension before the blistering drop. The crowd happily cooperates, singing along to the extended ending. It is welded with a cover of ‘20th Century Boy’ by T-Rex, demonstrating the band’s love for classic rock. The set also includes an old-school drum solo as Joe Emmett, the band’s drummer, is left on stage to show off his skills. ‘Black Magic’ is also a high point, blending pounding

The Amazons get Saturday night started at the Albert Hall, writes Alice Berkeley

bass and nimble guitars with a sing-along chorus, culminating in a glass-shattering ending.

Matt Thomson reflects back on the first time that they played a Manchester show – to a near empty Soup Kitchen for Dot to Dot festival. Indeed, their rise has been incredible, from playing at the Deaf Institute last April, to playing to rammed tents at Reading and Leeds, and releasing their debut album, which peaked at number 8 in the UK charts. They prove to have some old fans in the crowd, who sing along to 2016 single ‘Nightdriving’ word perfectly.

‘Palace’, the band’s most recent single is an angsty ballad which gives the moshers a rest break as Thomson sits down at a keyboard. Thomson’s vocals are strong, and Chris Alderton’s accompanying guitar is haunting, making the slightly unrefined lyrics

forgivable.

The Amazons depart the stage before the encore, leaving the audience eagerly singing the chorus of ‘Junk Food Forever’, their oldest, most well-loved single and perhaps their defining single.

The crowd descends into madness at the start of the track, each member clutching at their friends as the biting riff and stomping bass fill the building. The chorus is anthemic and, just as with ‘Little Something’ and ‘Black Magic’, the last minute or so of the song is particularly powerful.

Sure, the Amazons aren’t particularly ground breaking and they sometimes rely on their (admittedly catchy) riffs to carry them through, yet their tracks are a great soundtrack for rampaging with mates and starting a mad Saturday night.

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Music

ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Games 15

ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Album Review

Album Review: Don Broco - Technology

Photo: Album Artwork

Don Broco are back and with an absolute bang, says Music Editor, Hannah Brierley It’s been an interesting couple of years for Brit rock band, Don Broco. Since breaking on to the music scene way back in 2008, the band have massively developed and evolved their image, sound, and personalities.

Don Broco’s previous album Automatic, released back in 2015, explored more of a pop-tinged style. Finally on to their third album, the highly anticipated Technology completely personifies their musical journey that Don Broco has have endeavoured upon. No longer immature cocksure ‘cheeky chappies’ — which was apparent in their ‘Thug Workout’ days —, but rather more mature, with a much deeper, and darker, sound.

The album kicks off with title track ‘Technology’, which immediately throws you into the deep end of post-rock heartiness. Lead singer Rob Damianis’ voice never disappoints, with a rounded, deep, and sultry sound, that is almost irresistible.

There’s something quite unique about his tone which keeps you listening and dying for more.

Moving onto ‘Stay Ignorant’ — released prior to the album — it again blasts you with fuzzy and dirty rock sounds. This trend continues with ‘T-Shirt Song’ which details about going to a gig and losing their shit at the last song.

“They’re saying there’s one song left, no time for no regrets, I take my t-shirt off, swing it around my head” The album takes a slight shift in musical tone, moving towards a more techno, electronic vibe, for ‘Come Out to LA’, before hopping straight back in with ‘Pretty’, with its sexy yet sinister

undertones, before dropping absolutely intoxicating heavy drops and riffs during the choruses. Damianis’ range contrasts from the wholesome growl in some parts, almost becoming a screamer, before switching effortlessly to higher pitches during the bridges.

‘Greatness’ almost feels like Don Broco is taking another shift, with a disco intro but almost straight away drag you back into their grungy sound which they’ve incorporated cleverly. ‘Porkies’, another stand out track for me, is probably about as heavy as it gets on the album. Similarly ‘Potty Mouth’ rolls out — surprisingly enough — all of the swear words left, right, and centre, this track plays around with distortion and makes it really exciting and fun to listen to.

‘Got to Be You’ and ‘Something to Drink’ feel like they’re going to reveal a lighter tone — to begin with, at least. This is certainly the case lyrically and vocally, and yet the tracks are still underlined with strong bass lines. At some points, these tracks remind me somewhat 30 Seconds to Mars.

Technology rolls out a mighty 16 tracks, each one sing-along worthy in their own way. From loving Don Broco’s first album, Priorities, to being undecided on Automatic, this new album has really been overwhelming in all aspects — in a good way.

Don Broco have managed to hold on to the cocksure attitude that makes us love them. Still singing about being young and reckless, and all of the issues that come along with that on the way.

8/10

Libertines, Catfish and the Kendal Calling Festival Announces line-up The Bottlemen and Run DMC all set to Fan-favourite, award-winning festival Kendal Calling have announced their huge lineup for 2018. Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Libertines, Run DMC and Haçienda Classical will be headlining, with a huge supporting bill to boot. They’ll all be heading to the fields this summer for an unmissable weekend of music, arts, comedy, food and drink in the beautiful Lake District, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

With 2017 marking the 12th consecutive sell out for the festival and selling out just one week after announcing the lineup fans are encouraged to snap tickets up quickly to avoid disappointment.

Since the release of their debut album The Balcony, Catfish and the Bottlemen’s rise to the top has been nothing short of stratospheric. Sophomore effort The Ride saw them establish themselves as one of the true stars of the burgeoning British guitar scene and this summer they head back to the fields for a headline set that’s not to be missed.

True heroes of indie and a band who were sorely missed during their lengthy absence, The Libertines will be making a long overdue trip to Kendal Calling. Having reformed and re-established themselves as kings of their genre, Pete, Carl, Gary and John will be bringing anthems from their three huge albums to the fields!

The term legends is thrown around far too often, but one group to which it undoubtedly applies are hip-hop royalty Run DMC. With an arsenal of huge hits including ‘It’s Like That’, ‘My Adidas’ and ‘Its Tricky’ under their belts, it’s hard to see who could provide a bigger

headline. Music Editor, Yasmin Duggal

sing along moment at this year’s Kendal Calling.

Kicking proceedings off on the Thursday night is a special show from Haçienda Classical with the Manchester Camerata, the city’s experimental orchestra playing a new set of huge classics.

Proudly presenting an eclectic lineup year on year Kendal Calling is a place to see indie legends rub shoulders with some of the freshest new talent that the UK has to offer. James, Shed Seven, Ocean Colour Scene, The Sherlocks, White Lies, The Wailers, Declan Mckenna, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Lucy Spraggan, The Amazons, Tom Grennan, Slow Readers Club, Peter Hook & The Light, Marmozets, Pale Waves, Idles, Dub Pistols, Hollie Cook, Sam Fender, Black Honey, Pins, The Blinders, Jordan Allen, Anteros, Yonaka, Trudy & The Romance; The Romance, Bang Bang Romeo all join the lineup across the Main Stage and one stop shop for music discovery the Calling Out stage.

Set in the incredible setting of the Lake District’s Lowther Deer Park, this innovative, fan-focused, independent festival is renowned for more than just music and visitors will also enjoy 4 days of arts installations, comedy, gourmet food, kid’s entertainment and a real ale festival all within the confines of what is surely the most beautiful festival site in the UK. Last year Kendal Calling sold out completely just one week after announcing the lineup so fans are advised to snap up their tickets quickly to secure their place at this year’s festival.

Photo: Zeitgeist

Live Review

Live Review: Mogwai 2nd February 2018, Albert Hall In the case of most live gigs, even a rookie fan has a pretty good idea of the sort of show they’re going to get. Based on the band, genre, and the handful of singles you’ve heard, predicting a performance is usually straightforward. Not so with Mogwai. In a 20 year career that spans albums, soundtracks and EPs, I found it impossible to assert any expectations about how the Scottish post-rock giants would fare in a live environment. Suffice to say, I was surprised.

Not so much by the musicality of the show, as that was inevitable.

Mogwai over the decades have demonstrated an expert textural dexterity, camouflaging themselves well with a variety of instrumental staples whilst keeping their own special formula very much in tact.

Instead, I was taken aback by the brutality, the ferocity, the severity of the band’s live performance.

Jay Plent recounts the fiery performance of post-rock giants Mogwai Opening with the swirling aggression of ‘Hunted By A Freak’, Mogwai made one thing very clear from the moment they introduced themselves, stating bluntly, “We are Mogwai from Glasgow”: tonight was going to be heavy, direct, uncompromising. The sheer force with which the guitars and synths blasted from the speakers was enough to dislodge a ribcage. In moments such as the unrelenting cyclical ‘Rano Pano’, the sheer wall of sound was suffocating, though not in a bad way. There’s something very primal and very satisfying about 4 blokes thrashing as hard as they fucking can on guitars for 2 hours straight.

And yet proceedings remained weirdly hypnotic. The looping, repetitive nature of Mogwai’s material, the way it builds layers upon layers like a deranged infinite cheesecake is immensely captivating. No matter how heavy it got, the mood was oddly calm. However, the unstoppable object of Mogwai’s distortion did, after a while, grate a little.

The set lacked variety, there was little room for the band’s tense quiet moments amidst the pure ecstasy of thick grunge, which made the show occasionally feel flat. That’s not to say the subtlety was lost completely, but the setlist needed more hills and valleys to both punctuate the really loud stuff, and give the audience a bit of an emotional tug.

Having said that, the fiery set list seemed to go down well, so perhaps it’s a matter of preference. What’s more, the band was a joy visually, silhouetted against illuminated pirate sails inter cut with bright flashes of light. And the drums, oh my. The drumming was the rumble of God’s martini shaker, utterly filthy, hugely entertaining. As I look back on the evening, I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting a musically formidable thrash fest from Mogwai, but that’s what I got, and it was, for the most part, formidably enjoyable.

7/10

Album Review

Album: Awolnation - Here Come the Runts Seven years on from the release of their debut album, Megalithic Symphony, and their smash-hit ‘Sail’, Awolnation have proven themselves capable of keeping up with the times. Here Come the Runts, their third album to date, is marked by a deep dive into modern indie pop and indie rock.

This may be in part due to the fact that Aaron Bruno, or “AWOL”, is the only constant member of the band.

The rest of the band changes on an almost yearly basis; the band features a new keyboardist for Here Come the Runts, with drummer Isaac Carpenter and guitarist Zach Irons joining shortly before the band’s 2015 release, Run. Stylistically, the album — at first — seems to lack one common theme. It goes from crunchy pop-rock ballads such as ‘Handyman,’ to high-pitched rhythmic pop stylings á la Portugal. The Man, on ‘Sound Witness System’, to dance-inspired indie on ‘Jealous Buffoon’.

The underlying theme here, however, is that the album sounds absolutely contemporary; a tour de force of the current indie and popular rock landscape.

The album feels very well produced, and despite the frequency of stylistic changes, feels very deliberate and snappy. The production is clean, and every track is nice to listen to. Even the occasional ‘glitch’ sounds on ‘Miracle Man’ are not unpleasant to hear.

The album’s title track experiments with interesting changes in tempo, combining these with sudden drum fills and overdriven guitars, and it’s this, combined with the relatable, modern themes, that makes Here Come the Runts a very listenable and very well-thought-out album, even if it does not appear so at first.

‘Table for One’ feels a little overcooked, however, almost as if Bruno was trying to make the song sound as comically dramatic as possible – the chorus features

With a razor-sharp focus on “The Now”, Awolnation offer something for everyone with their latest offering says Callum Lunn

a little too much wailing for my taste.

The hit tracks from Megalithic Symphony are emblematic of their time; featuring robotic melodies, overtly electronic influences in instrumentation, and distorted voices. The standout tracks from Here Come the Runts may not be worldwide hits, but they are definitely emblematic of their time; clean vocals, with electronic sounds being used alongside real instruments, rather than replacing them entirely.

With the massive variety of tracks in this 14-track album, which of those are standout tracks will vary from person to person. This, to me, is the album’s greatest strength: providing something for — almost — everyone, without compromising on quality of song production or songwriting.

7.5/10

Photo: Album Artwork

Opinion Album

From £50 to free: the truth about monthly games How monthly bundles are showing us that time really is money

Danny Jones Reporter Not so long ago, I wrote a piece about ‘Remastering and Boxsetting’, which touched upon the value of individual games when stacked up against a bundle, such as Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection , or Halo: The Masterchief Collection, for instance.

Well, when turning on my PS4 a couple of weeks ago and jumping on to the PlayStation Store to renew my PS Plus membership, I was quickly prompted to check out the free monthly games on offer before January came to a close. It was at this point that I became immensely excited upon seeing the line-up that awaited me.

Not only was there the usual variety that covers the various Sony platforms currently supported – PS4, PS3, PS Vita, as well as games that work across all three – but there were two games that I was genuinely stoked to play: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Batman: The Telltale Series .

The point in me telling you this is that during the summer of 2016, when what became the second next-gen instalment of the Deus Ex franchise was released on the 23rd of August, it would have cost me around £50—money that I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know, as a student, I simply didn’t have at the time.

So, imagine my shock when I saw that a game I once couldn’t afford was now being simply offered to me for free (if we ignore the price of PS membership which I would have been paying for regardless). In truth, shock is much too strong a word: in fact, it’s to be expected that although you might pay the full RRP for a game in its first week, you’re more than likely to see it for a tenner less the week after.

The same was the case with Telltale’s Batman as well: having come out around a similar time to Deus Ex and having been impressed by everything Telltale had done up to that point ( Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Tales From the Borderlands ), I had, in what felt like no time at all, gone from utterly gutted that I couldn’t purchase it, to absolutely ecstatic that is was now somehow free.

This sparked the question in me of just how valuable our beloved games really are? And is it really worth anywhere close to what we pay for around release date, if I can log on to Amazon in a month, a year or two, to find it for a measly £7, or even just £12 in GAME? I am specifically referencing that same Deus Ex game here and yes, two years might seem like a long time, but in the world of gaming, its really not; you only have to realise that it’s coming up to 3 years since Fallout 4 was dropped to understand just how quickly time flies when you’re knee deep in base-building and singing along to the old-timey bangers coming out of your Pip-Boy. I don’t wish to crack anyone’s rose-tinted glasses here, as I know how much we love games and certainly nothing’s going to stop me grabbing the nearest copy of, say, Red Dead Redemption 2 as soon as it comes out; but when were are so invested (quite literally) in this habit called gaming, if we looked at each title we own as an asset, their value doesn’t really seem to hold up at all.

When breaking down what would have been the supposed cumulative value of PlayStation’s monthly bundle for January, the figure I came in around £133 in total, yet I got them for £19.99 which would have been forked out for my online access anyway. Bargain, right?

Put even simpler: last year PlayStation gave out over $1287 in free monthly games according to a Polygon news piece, which translates to just under £920—yes, you heard me right, that’s not too far off a grand’s worth of free games. Per person… Let’s not forget, you can buy an annual membership to PS Plus for just £50.

So, why then does the value of games depreciate so rapidly over the course of a few months, and why so drastically after a year or two? How can something we often see as a luxury turn so quickly into a commodity? And why do we fall for the sales pitch every time? The key word here is we.

Of course, this isn’t such a revelatory discovery: the prices of products in every corner of every market start high and typically drop over time; but not, I would argue, at the rate we see in games.

It is precisely because of how we the gaming community operate that this is possible.

Though not exclusive to gaming, the industry is a prime of example of a consumer base which is obsessed with being first: first to buy, first to play, even first to review! We’re willing to pay what is evidently a largely inflated price compared to only a few months later, because of the simple reality that Kotaku writer Keza MacDonald touches upon: we’re not worried about wasting money, we’re more concerned with wasting time.

I’m sure you’ve all had that elitist moment where rather than simply enjoy the game itself, you get drawn into childish competition; all your satisfaction comes from getting online and achieving a high rank before your friends, or even racing to level up in single-player before them just so you can get bragging rights as they tell you their inferior stats and inventory.

That being said, the rationale appears to be that we almost pay a premium to be get in there early: we are the equivalent of YouTube comment that simply reads ‘First!’. That’s an awful comparison we must reckon ourselves with one way or another.

Perhaps then, monthly games don’t just show us a more realistic valuation of what our games are worth in reality as opposed to in our gung-ho, tunnel-visioned heads, but what the overwhelming value of our time is.

Review

Gorogoa Sarah Johnson Contributor If I was to recommend a mobile game that you can kick off the new year with, then I direct your attention to Gorogoa, a game that has a mixture of compelling storytelling and intuitive game mechanics.

Developed by Jason Roberts and published by Annapurna Interactive, this seven-year project tells the story of a young boy travelling through different cities and dimensions, collecting five different coloured fruits in a quest to encounter a mythical, divine creature.

In the process, we learn more about this peculiar story through the journey the boy makes to collect these objects, the scholars whose homes we play through, and through the different portals that link the world together, although you’re never quite sure where the next will lead.

What first sets this game apart from other puzzle-solving mobile games, like The Room or the Monument Valley series, is the fact that it is far more aesthetically pleasing than the two. Roberts had handdrawn everything that you see in the game in pencil, which is just unbelievable and the work pays off. It fits perfectly with the gameplay as well.

The basic layout of the game is that it is divided into four square panels, where the images are interlinked, can be moveable, and has multiple layers to it. With each image, there is the possibility of another image hidden behind it, taking the gamer to another part of the world.

A moment that stood out for me was when during the retrieval of the blue apple - the most difficult out of the five coloured fruits to collect - where the boy has to jump from picture to picture on a wall through finding symbols and images hidden in other locations that are connected when

Photo:Annapurna

9/10

Photo:Annapurna

you put the pieces together. Eventually, you see that a book on a shelf has a picture of a room filled with pottery, and on one of them is a picture of a mountain, and through the mountains stands an ancient staircase. Then, you have to use a moving wheel from another panel to spin this staircase upside down, which can then be placed on top of another panel to act as a staircase for the boy to move to the next picture.

The puzzles are nuanced, beautiful crafted and varied. Above all, they are thoughtful and contemplative, sewing together the gameplay mechanics with the moral and aesthetic ambitions of the game.

With all these complex ways of solving the puzzle, games usually tend to give you some type of hint that will help you move onto the next part of the sequence, and I spent many moments wishing that this game offered help like that.

The game does not give you any hints as to what you should be doing, except tapping on a picture in a random spot and seeing circles around the major objects you can interact with, but even then the game does not tell you why it is significant.

You have to find that out for yourself.

I spent a good few days trying to retrieve the last two fruits because of this, furiously throwing my phone down in defeat.

Honestly, I am surprised that I managed to finish the game. The trick is to always remember that the boy is not the only thing that can move from one panel to the next.

Whilst the game is perfect in this way, one very, minor issue that sets the game back is the story, which I personally kept losing track of due to the game’s purposely silent narrative. Whilst this was an effective addition to the game’s overall ambience, it did occasionally mean that the game sacrificed a clearly defined story.

This absence of dialogue is not uncommon to mobile games. Roberts’ intention was for the game to be played by anyone regardless of language, and I feel that the choice adds charm to the game, but you won’t be able to understand the story immediately. When you see that the story is an exploration of meaning over the course of life, in the backdrop of war and the passing of time, you still feel like there needs to be more to discuss.

However, this does not change my opinion of how good a game this is, and I am thrilled to have discovered it during a time where mobile games have slipped under the radar in terms of critical acclaim.

At a price of £4.99 on the App Store, this piece of innovative gaming is definitely worth it, and sets the bar for puzzle games at an all-time high.

Feature

Cryptocurrency and its impact on PC gaming A controversial currency creates computer chaos

David Uncle Contributor For those unfamiliar, a cryptocurrency is a digital form of money, with Bitcoin being the most popular. Bitcoin is produced by using software to solve complex equations, rewarding the miner with a fraction of a bitcoin each time.

Why do this? Well, the fact that since 2014 Bitcoin has grown from an exchange rate of 1 Bitcoin to £1 to 1 Bitcoin being the equivalent of over £5000 is certainly an incentive. In late 2017, 1 Bitcoin was worth as much as £15,000!

So how does this relate to PC gaming?

The calculations used in Bitcoin mining require some meaty processing power to be carried out at a worthwhile pace. Of course, a computer’s central processing unit (CPU) is primarily used in computing, gaming or otherwise, to work things out and solve problems. However, recently graphics processing units (GPU) are also used to massively increase a machine’s processing power, and this is where the problem lies.

At the heart of all gaming machines, be it PC or a console, lies its GPU. It’s what allows us to play games with such high visual fidelity. While consoles are highly

standardised, meaning two Xbox Ones or PS4s will have the exact same GPU, the GPU in a PC is totally up to the user, which is where Bitcoin mining becomes an issue.

Hardcore miners will buy GPUs in bulk, setting up farms of them to run these Bitcoin-generating calculations endlessly.

The more they generate, the more real money they can make.

When miners buy their multiple GPUs, they deplete the stock of retailers at an accelerated rate. This leads to exorbitant price hikes. It’s worth noting that highend GPUs aren’t particularly affordable at their standard price anyway. For instance, when I bought my Nvidia GTX 1070 in early 2017, it cost just shy of £300. Today,

Photo:Wikimedia

I could sell it for around £550, due to these inflated prices.

Thus, it is currently a very bad time to buy or upgrade your PC’s GPU, all because of people buying hardware designed for gaming, and not using it for gaming! It’s sad to see this happening. The prospect of moving from console gaming to PC gaming is daunting due to the extra complication of installing individual hardware components and of course, the often-higher price, and price hikes like this only deter gamers making the leap to PC. Thankfully for PC gamers, Bitcoin could just be a temporary blip. Many people expect the success of Bitcoin to be just a ‘bubble’, which is en route to burst. With any luck, Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency craze will fade away and GPU prices will return to a more affordable position.

Indeed, in recent months millions of dollars of Bitcoin have been hacked and stolen in an instant, which will hopefully prohibit cryptocurrencies from getting too much bigger by deterring wouldbe miners from getting involved in the Bitcoin business.

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Fashion & Beauty Fashion player of the week: Ashley Graham ISSUE 15/ 12TH FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

A dedicated body activist working to inspire body confidence in women, writes Deputy Fashion and Beauty Editor Amy Nguyen Occupation: Model and Body Activist Age: 30 Nationality: American On the cover of: Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Glamour, Grazia, Cosmopolitan Campaigns for: Levi, Liz Clariborne, Evans, Simply Be, Target

Photo: EventPhotosNYC @Flickr

Ashley Graham is beauty beyond size and beyond belief, so much so she has been likened on multiple occasions to the iconic Sophia Loren.

At 5”9 and a UK size 16, Ashley has made her mark on the industry in the category of ‘plus size’ modelling. But 2018 has no room for categorising anymore.

As a dedicated body activist, in addition to spending much time behind the lens and on the catwalk, she is a prime example of how constraints regarding beauty and size are no longer relevant. Gracing the covers of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle, she has a renowned presence and an extremely sought-after figure in the fashion world, currently represented by the prestigious IMG Models.

Since being scouted in 2008, Ashley’s portfolio is wholly impressive. In 2012, she was ranked New York’s Full Figured Fashion Week’s Model of the Year. In September 2015, she strutted down the runway in the Addition Elle x Ashley Graham lingerie fashion show, wearing a set of her own design. Breaking down all forms of discrimination, she notably became the first ever plus-size model on the cover of the 2016

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Her appearance on covers have also caused an air of controversy, for example the American Vogue March 2017 125th celebratory issue. Captured alongside the likes of Gigi, Kendall and Adwoah with the title hailing ‘The Beauty Revolution – No Norm is the New Norm’, many were perplexed by some conspicuous Condé Nast photo shopping which had elongated Gigi Hadid’s arm to fit around Graham’s waist.

Within the last year, Ashley has become an author releasing a book entitled A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like. Within this publication she re conveys her modelling experiences and calls for action against stereotypes and rallying for increased body positivity.

Most recently, Ashley has graced the US television screens as she has been named America’s Next Top Model’s latest addition to the judging panel as well as making a guest appearance on Khloe Kardashian’s hit transformation programme ‘Revenge Body’.

In an interview with Vogue UK last year she stated “as women, we immerse ourselves in ‘self-improvements, which becomes an endless pursuit to renovate our bodies. We are told that thick hair is beautiful, yet thick thighs won’t get you a boyfriend. That full lips are sexy, yet full arms should be covered and hidden away. But in reality, a lot of us actually like ourselves as we are!”

Although her line of work is a tad more niche than your typical gangly model, her success fills us with hope for the dawn of a new era in the size-ist fashion world, in the rise of body positivity and loving the skin you are in!

You can view Ashley’s full profile on the IMG website.

Body Dysmorphia and the fashion industry ContributorJennifer Knowles explores the issue of Body dysmorphia and its effect on adolescents

Body image and the fashion industry has long been a heated struggle. Along with the normal ‘does my bum look big in this?’ insecurity comes more serious and damaging issues such as Body Dysmorphia Syndrome.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is defined as the mental disorder identified by a deluded view of one’s own personal ‘flaws’ and an unhealthy obsession with thinking they should be hidden or fixed. This can lead to obsessive behaviours and thoughts which can result in much more serious disorders like Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia.

According to The Guardian, one in 50 people suffer from BDD. The highest percentage of this is in young people and adolescents, typically beginning around the age of 12 or 13. But with the rise of social media these polluting thoughts begin entering the heads of younger and younger targets.

I know myself that scrolling down my Instagram feed on a day to day basis doesn’t exactly give me a self-esteem boost. The occupation of the youth could be said to be somewhat hedonistic; in this day and age we are increasingly concerned about how we look and how we are supposed to look.

Dare to bare?

The rise of nomakeup and its celebrity advocation is discussed by contributor Shannon Winterbone

In Hollywood there has been a definite trend in the form of the #nomakeup selfie being posted on social media.

Celebrities partaking include Gwyneth Paltrow, Lupita Nyong’o, and Tyra Banks.

These women and others have chosen to go bare-faced and share their natural complexions to contrast the touchedup industry images of themselves. In doing so, they are emphasising the importance of body confidence and rejecting the societal expectations attached to female image.

While makeup is certainly a hobby, as proven by the majorly successful male and female stars of the YouTube beauty community for instance, its connection with expectation has become troubling.

Makeup is something that we are expected to buy into. How many people do you know who are disappointed that they don’t have a Fenty Beauty foundation, or a Kylie Lip Kit? I know that I am certainly one of those people. To emphasise this conditioning of thought, a shocking statistic emerged last July that the average woman in Britain was spending around £4,454 on beauty products per year. The importance of

Photo: .S@Flickr

wearing makeup enforced by society is undeniable.

This expectation has been identified

by Alicia Keys, who recently wrote an article for Lenny Letter in which she explored her unhealthy relationship with makeup. By choosing to stop wearing makeup, Keys conquered the “insecure, superficial but honest” thoughts she had about others’ opinions of her natural look (mainly inspired by the media). Her incredibly empowering message highlighted the way in which makeup became an act of censorship on herself – by covering her face she felt that she was conforming to what ‘they’ wanted.

I just want to clarify the fact that I am not trying to dissuade anyone from wearing makeup. I love doing my makeup before going on a night out or to a big event because it gives me the opportunity to participate in something I enjoy. However, being pretty or desirable for ‘them’, whoever ‘they’ are, is taxing, and in respect of Keys’ message we may find that we feel our best when we are makeup-free. In light of this, is it time for us to uncover?

I for one follow countless celebrities, particularly models and the likes of the Victoria’s Secret Angels with perfect bodies and personal trainers, not to mention the magic of airbrushing to make their photos appear flawless on our smartphone screens.

We know deep down it can’t all be realistic but we aspire to achieve it anyway.

As technology advances, younger and younger people are in possession of a laptop, tablet, or smartphone which is, arguably the most elevated form of promotion for the fashion industry.

Their young minds are more susceptible to the idealistic images we are constantly surrounded with. Take the catwalk and its walkers, multiply it with a few nasty comments on the playground and it is a breeding ground for a condition such as BDD to develop.

The promotion of ‘realistic’ models and the mindset of being happy with what we were born with is on the rise in the world of fashion with inspirational figures such as Ashley Graham who promote self-love and acceptance, however there is still a long way to go before we all accept ourselves completely and utterly and put an end to the ceaseless art of comparing ourselves to others.

Photo: Tradlands @ Flickr

ISSUE 15/ 12TH FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Fashion & Beauty 17

Sick and tired of the photoshop Fashion and Beauty Editor Talia Lee-Skudder delves into the negative impact photoshopping can have on body image Recently, Vanity Fair’s cover on their Hollywood issue of the magazine caused controversy because Annie Leibowitz’s photography featured some dodgy cases of photoshopping.

The cover featured stars such as Tom Hanks, Claire Foy and Harrison Ford, but it shows Reese Witherspoon with three legs and Oprah with three hands...cue mass speculation on social media as to what went wrong.

Reese Witherspoon wittily responded via Twitter writing “guess everybody knows now… I have three legs. I hope you can still accept me for who I am” to which Oprah replied, “I accept your third leg, as I know you accept my third hand”.

Whilst on this occasion the photoshop fail was dealt with in good humour and nobody was offended, it is a prime example of the extent to which drastically editing images occurs in the industry.

Stars such as Keira Knightley, Kate Winslet, and Jennifer Lawrence are actively against photoshopping and have spoken out in the past about magazines or campaigns that have digitally altered their images. Photoshopping has deeply negative repercussions: it suggests to girls and women alike that they are not as beautiful as their favourite celeb because they have a bit of cellulite or they don’t have a thigh gap.

Though when we consider the images more deeply we are aware that the images we see are mostly fake, it can still trigger feelings of inferiority and the need to strive for the perfection that we see across social networking sites and in the media as a whole.

Photoshop is not just reserved for the elite on magazine covers. It is now a massive trend on social media for celebrities and us mere mortals alike to portray a completely edited and unrealistic version of ourselves. Thanks to apps such as airbrush, facetune, and VSCO, our Instagram feeds are now full of edited tiny waists and large bums – we’ve got the Kardashians to blame for that one, emphasising that photo enhancement is the new norm and the way by which many measure their beauty.

Many celebrities are no strangers to editing their images.

But with every good photoshopped image there comes five terrible ones which eagle-eyed fans are quick to jump on and criticise. Sometimes their mistakes are glaringly obvious. Poor Kris Jenner suffered a photoshop faux pas when she uploaded an image of herself and Gordon Ramsay to Instagram with Ramsay sporting a suspiciously smooth forehead. Ramsay later uploaded the same photo but the unedited version which showed his ageing in all its glory.

Lindsay Lohan is notorious for a badly edited Instagram upload and wavy walls and floors tend to be the main feature of her photographs. Even superstar Beyoncé — who centres her performances on being an empowered, confident woman and is regarded as one of the ‘sexiest’ women in the world — has been caught editing her photos, from making her waist appear smaller to creating a thigh gap.

It is astonishing that someone of Beyoncé’s calibre still feels the need to have to doctor her images despite being recognised by many as having the ‘ideal body’. This only seeks to emphasise the deep-rooted body issues that are ingrained in our society. Despite seeming ethereal, Beyoncé too feels an immense pressure to only release an image that can be considered ‘perfect’ so that she avoids criticisms that she has put on weight or speculation that she is pregnant because she is bloated. It is a sad reality that women and men feel the pressure to look completely perfect or face an onslaught of criticism from either the press or ordinary people on social media.

It’s one thing if you choose to edit photographs of your own. It is completely your prerogative if you want to appear more tanned or reduce the look of your double chin.

However, an image being edited without your consent is another ball game. This is probably unlikely for the average Instagrammer, but for big-named celebrities this is a problem that many of them face following magazine shoots.

“Photoshop is not just reserved for the elite on magazine covers. It is now a massive trend on social media”

“Photoshop can trigger feelings of inferiority and the need to strive for the perfection that we see across social networking sites and the media” We can assume that Gordon Ramsay took Kris Jenner’s photoshopping lightheartedly and not as an attack on his appearance. But in 2016 Rumer Willis spoke out against a Vanity Fair photographer who photoshopped her jaw line, she said in an Instagram post that she found it offensive that they changed her look so drastically and went on to say “I love the way I look and I won’t support anyone who would feel a need to change the way I look to make me beautiful. Whether or not they realize it, it is a form of bullying, which I won’t stand for.”

Zendaya also slammed her shoot with Modeliste magazine for slimming down and de-curving her body, she wrote that she was shocked that her 19-year-old hips and torso had been manipulated, stating that “these are the things that make women self-conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have.”

The doctoring of these images sends out the message that only a certain body type can be deemed attractive which is damaging not only for the legion of fans, most of whom in the case of Zendaya are young teens but also to the celebrity who has been edited suggesting that their original photos were not ‘ideal’ or they did not look good enough.

Photo: disneyabc@ Flickr

“Brands are taking an active stance against photoshopping images” It is through the media, and namely the fashion industry, who put completely unrealistic images on their magazine covers that show women without an ounce of cellulite or any other imperfection that not only makes others feel inferior but also, in the instance of Beyoncé, sends the message that these stars must look perfect at all times. Putting these women on a pedestal makes the everyday girl feel like she must strive for these unrealistic beauty standards.

However, all hope is not lost. Now, some brands are taking an active stance against photoshopping images. At the end of last year, mega brand Missguided refused to edit images of their models and instead released images that showed stretch marks across the model’s bum and breasts. It was so refreshing to see a completely unaltered image that shows a woman’s natural body is nothing to be ashamed of but that your imperfections make you beautiful. Missguided was praised for its authenticity and refusal to adhere to beauty stereotypes thus sending out a message of body positivity to its young followers. Admittedly we still have a long way to go and ideally, we need the big name fashion magazines to shun photoshopping on their covers in order to send the message that ‘imperfections are beautiful’ which will hopefully in turn filter down into all aspects of social media.

“Missguided was praised for its authenticity and refusal to adhere to beauty stereotypes”

Photo: 111723464@N05 @ Flickr

Missguided’s campaign against photoshopping is a positive start and hopefully, other brands will start to follow suit to demonstrate that the perfect body is only constructed by the magazines and the film industry, lets finally start defining beauty on our own terms.

Film

18

Film 19

ISSUE 15/ 12th February 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

ISSUE 15 / 12th February 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Review Review

Coco

Phantom Thread

Photo: Allociné.fr Photo: Allociné.fr

Lucas Hill-Paul offers his verdict on Pixar’s latest venture Lucas Hill-Paul Film Critic Disney Pixar’s Coco has arrived in the wake of an uneasy promise from the revolutionary studio, one that threatens an increase in sequels to their pre-existing brands. Though Toy Story 3, for many, was the crowning glory of the franchise, entries like Monsters University, Finding Dory and, especially, Cars 3, failed to capture the magic of their originals, and attempts at new properties, Brave and The Little Dinosaur, missed the mark.

Despite initially feeling sadly more reminiscent of a traditionally Disney fairy tale narrative, Coco joins the ranks of Toy Story 3 and Inside Out as one of Pixar’s more inventive projects, an animated feature that treats its Mexican culture with the same reverence as childhood memories, super-powered role models and environmental anxieties.

Famously pitching the concepts for the first few of their films during one particularly inspiring lunch hour, the post-noughties Pixar team is now planning a sequel to an existing film every other year, and often seem to be lacking creative passion when it comes to their original projects. New life was breathed by their decision to turn away from their focus to bring imaginary or voiceless realms – bugs, toys, robots, superheroes – to life and towards abstract concepts – emotions – and with Coco, the ingeniously simple idea – straight from Renaissance era Disney – to focus on a culture and its people, music, traditions and aes-

thetic has culminated in one of the studio’s most sensitive and visually exciting films to date.

At the start of the film we meet Miguel, an aspiring musician who comes from a family with a long held tradition of hating music.

Desperate to compete in their town’s talent show, he steals the guitar of his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz which, when played, thrusts him into a heart-warming adventure in the land of the dead. Though some elements of the spirit realm are modernised for humour – most notably its entrance protocols resembling the gates of an airport – the majority of its design draws directly from tradition.

The bejewelled high rises, cobbled streets and sprawling city centres resemble the ofrendas seen at the beginning of the film, stacked high with colour, candles and patterns. Alebrijes prowl the streets and roam the skies, no effort made to tone down how eccentric the spirit animals are coloured and patterned, and the film is all the more visually arresting for it. The presence of Pepita, a gorgeous, green and blue flying tiger should look ridiculous, but the world and culture of the film are so well presented that nothing feels out of place, and he is even a remarkably convincing threat to Miguel when he needs to be.

Vital for any film associated with Mexican culture, this is one of Pixar’s most musical entries, with a consistency of songs that comes close to the traditional Disney pictures. Though most of the film is in English, Coco takes care in ensuring the Spanish language is incorporated, with lyrics flow-

Not a love story, it is honest, bitter truth about love

ing naturally between languages in some songs, while others are entirely in one language. When the film is celebrating its heritage, or evoking an emotion, its songwriters utilise as much Spanish as possible, but the English song, “Remember Me” becomes the star by the third act. Evoking surprisingly adult themes of memory, illness and death, the simple guitar tune quickly becomes a sensitive and subtle ballad that is guaranteed to pull heartstrings.

Far from just a visual and lyrical showcase, Coco also contains some of Pixar’s best action since The Incredibles proved that animation could pull off effective set pieces, creatively incorporating music and dance for some breath-taking scenes of character drama and tension. The studio return to the PG rating often missed by

animated films, that not only allows for its skeletal character designs and one of the nastiest animated villains for some time, but also a concern with Mexican attitudes towards death that are deftly explored and, alongside Inside Out, make the film essential viewing for any child about to be introduced to concepts that may, at first, seem frightening. Boasting the first all-Latino cast for a film with a budget in the hundred millions, Coco is a thrilling and touching success that proves cinematic diversity is at its best when treating ethnicities with respect and celebrating cultures, rather than just surrounding a white male lead with supporting minorities.

Sharon Lim Film Contributor Phantom Thread is a story of Reynolds Woodcock, we bow to the great Daniel Day-Lewis, and his muse. A fashion designer of the late 1950’s. Haute couture has just returned after the austerity of the World War II. The eternal bachelor, he lives a pleasure driven life, going through a cycle of muses for his work. While driving fast cars and living in a luxurious townhouse, he makes dresses for the noble and

Review

4.5/5

Review

Loveless On the surface, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless depicts the heart wrenching disappearance of a divorcing couple’s son and their subsequent, fruitless search. As the film delves deeper however it reveals a much broader social commentary, about how the ever-increasing desire for social status and instant gratification paralyses the population and restricts them from ever achieving long term happiness.

When 12 year old Alexey finishes school he doesn’t run off with the other children, nor does he go straight home, instead he goes to the park and wanders around aimlessly. He is an only, lonely child, whose parents Zhenya and Boris venomously row seemingly every time they are confined to the same room. To escape the bleak and harsh environment of his family he must roam the bleak and harsh Moscow parks and abandoned buildings. One night, when his parents think he is asleep they have a particularly vitriolic dispute, with both sides voicing their utter contempt for each other, yet both in agreement that their son Alexey is holding them back from moving on fully. Zhenya storms off to use the bathroom but as she leaves the camera lingers. The door swings open, and we track to the left with it to reveal Alexey, who horrifically heard ever word. His facial expression remains in the viewer’s mind

throughout the rest of the film.

Not long after, we see Alexey leave the house, run down the apartment buildings steps and into the park. His parents, so caught up in trying to live new lives with their lovers, being as presumptuous as to believe the other will take care of their child, don’t notice his disappearance for two days. Even then Boris treats it as a nuisance; he has no time to care about this, his mind busy elsewhere.

For instance, how can he divorce Zhenya and remarry his impregnated lover quickly enough that his incredibly conservative boss doesn’t notice anything is awry, for being a decent family man is one of the qualifications needed for his company.

Zhenya on the other hand is too busy pampering herself to please her new, older, richer lover. Both spend the night having passionate sex, ignorant to the fact that their son is gone.

Cinematographer Mikhail Krichman, who has worked on all Zvyagintsev’s films, uses a wide lens to juxtapose the worn Russian landscape with the emotionless faces of the characters. There is a deep coldness to this style. The characters, although right in front of your eyes, feel miles away.

The impact of this is emphasised by the lack of colour throughout the film, the Moscow landscapes are washed out, any positive emotions long gone. Primary colours exists in just two forms in Loveless;

It is a drastic story of the toxicity of love and the harsh implications that come with it. It isn’t sweet or endearing as it is always perceived to be. Nor does it fulfils our expectation of what defines love.

The director, Paul Anderson, wrote, shot and directed the film. The second partnership between Daniel Day-Lewis and him since There Will Be Blood. This film is Daniel Day-Lewis’ apparent last performance of his lifetime.The set of the productions and intricate costumes contribute to the beauty of this film. The dialogue, the dark humour, the perversity of it, made it hard to stop watching. There was suspense in scenes that seemed appropriate when it shouldn’t.The built up of the tension partly complimented by the background music.

A piece of film that thwarts our expectations completely, it drags somewhere near the end, but honestly I’m nitpicking at this point. Not a love story, it is honest, bitter truth about love.

4.5/5

Den of Thieves

Bank robbers, corrupt cops, and atrocious writing come together to be more boring than staring at the dirty wall behind the cinema urinal Tobias Soar Film Critic

Zvyagintsev uses a crumbling marriage as a metaphor for the country as a whole

James Gill Film Contributor

wealthy. He does as he pleases; the ideal life that men wish for.

The film starts off with the end of his relationship with his former muse, Joanna.

Awkward tension sets the scene. Immediately it shows the man’s coldness, his unemphatic ears to the girl’s plea for his love.

His sister, Cyril, the stoic partner in crime in every sense of the phrase, suggests that he leave as she deals with Joanna. He then accelerates in his red convertible to the countryside where he finds himself another muse, Alma, and invites (traps) her in his

manor of a townhouse, and he courts her with dresses and luxury that a girl cannot say no to.

And so it begins, the relationship between the two polar opposites. A waitress, represented by Vicky Krieps; a dutch actress with her first oscar nominated film, and the temperamental tailor. It was already obvious from the beginning that the new muse won’t last long in her position, that heartache will ensue. But in a film such as this, such a plot does not exist. There is the clash of personalities. The result of the controlling man who wants to be obeyed, not talked back to and her sense of entitlement and the respect she expects in return for loving him.

The conflict between the two lovers was entertaining as it was sad. Their respective obsessions, Alma’s for his love and his own for his craft, nothing comes close in comparison. Though confusing and frustrating, their relationship mutually benefited one another. In some sense, their dysfunctional love for each other filled their appetite.

Photo: Allociné.fr

the social media of the Muscovites’ smartphones and the red jackets of the volunteer search and rescue team as they comb the park in a line, looking for a body.

Later in the film Zhenya and Boris, who eventually drop everything to try and find Alexey, get a call. A body of a young boy has been found matching their son, and they are to discern whether it is him. This scene is as devastating as the bathroom scene. When the body bag is unzipped Zhenya screams and Boris collapses in tears, the boy is not theirs, but the fact that it could have been is too much to handle. For just a moment there is genuine love between them.

Throughout the search for Alexey the camera moves away from the face of the characters, to peer out of a frosted window as the scene unfolds, reminiscent of Taxi Driver when Robert de Niro’s character

makes a difficult phone call and the camera tracks to look down the corridor instead.

In both cases the movement functions as an escape from the anguish present in the original frame. Zhenya and Boris put up barriers to protect them from their loss and suffering in an attempt to find new happiness with their lovers, but like the buildings in Moscow those walls decay and fall down. They can jump from lover to lover but they will never escape the past, their pain will always catch them.A movie that makes it on the list of feel-good movies this year, something that you can and should watch during the holiday season with family and sing along to.

3/5

Sometimes, you want a film to either be brilliant or terrible to the point where it’s comedic. Den of Thieves is, quite simply, god-awful – and not in the fun way. With a runtime of two hours and 30 minutes, about halfway through the film you just want to get up and leave because going for a piss and looking at the dirty wall of the cinema bathroom might be more entertaining that the terribly written cops-androbbers story presented in the “it’s a gritty film” grey/ blue/ brown filter slapped on top the shoddy camerawork that manages to make car chases, gunfights, and a hostage situation boring.

Of course, looking at the works of Christian Gudegast, director and screenwriter of this film, it all makes sense: he’s also responsible for London Has Fallen and A Man Apart — may I add that they have 25 per cent and 11 per cent ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively.

The editing is also bizarre. There are conversations that, while they go nowhere because of the writing, are cut short by the editor, leading to a feeling of an obvious lack of continuity between shots.

Lastly, on the technical side of things, the soundtrack is only present for 20 per cent of the film. The rest has no soundtrack, making things awkward. It sounds like a knock-off Vangelis. When the credits rolled and I saw that Cliff Martinez had scored this film I was very confused — his soundtracks are usually fantastically atmospheric.

Gerard Butler, 50 Cent, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and Pablo Schreiber are all entertaining performers, when seen elsewhere. Let me

walk you through each of them, in this film.

Gerard Butler is hit-or-miss when it comes to his performances. In Den of Thieves, it’s a huge miss. He’s a tough american sheriff in LA who is always chewing something or smoking, making it disgusting to watch him speak while he gargles a half-eaten donut.

the strip club before heading to the shooting range and then hitting the bar – yes, all that happens in the space of 15 minutes.

50 Cent is an atrocious actor and mumbles all his lines. I swear I couldn’t understand a single word of what he said. To his credit, however, he brings the best scene in Photo: Allociné.fr

His character also has a whole side-plot about his wife leaving him because he’s been fucking hookers. A very reasonable reaction, yes, but a completely irrelevant part of the story that only serves to show him to be a ‘macho alpha male’ who goes to

the whole film which genuinely had me in tears. He intimidates his daughter’s prom date by taking him to his garage which is filled with 20 hardened criminals who just stare the poor lad down before bursting into laughter upon the scared youngster’s

leave. Fiddy, stick to your Bitcoin success and stay off the silver screen O’Shea Jackson Jr., playing Ice Cube’s son, is charismatic and genuine but the pathetic writing brings him down. To give you an idea of how bad it is, there are five conversations where two characters literally say “Fuck you”, “No, fuck you”, “Fuck you, you pussy motherfucker”. The same happens to Pablo Schreiber who is absolutely fantastic in American Gods but boring, bland and unlikeable in this role.

As for the plot, it’s a heist. It’s cops and robbers and it drags on for way too long with a lot of filler. The stakes are irrelevant and the pacing is flat and slow, like a snail that’s been run over by a car but seems to still be dragging itself along despite being practically soulless. And, minor spoiler, there’s an attempt at a M. Night Shyamalan-type twist that falls completely flat by the time it happens because you just don’t give a shit about it anymore.

And, strangely enough, UFC fighters Max Holloway and Manchester-born Michael Bisping make appearances that amount to a total combined screentime of 40 seconds.

They were hyped up by the marketing because of contractual obligations, I suppose.

Unsurprisingly, they can’t act to save their lives.

Honestly, there is no reason for anyone to watch this film. I’ll probably forget about it in a week or two, which is worse than me remembering it for being overly terrible. I feel as if my review is incoherent but I’m sure it makes more sense than Den of Thieves does.

1/5

WOMEN IN

MEDIA CONFERENCE 2018 #WIM18

Dates: 3-4 March Venue: People’s History Museum Info: Q&A sessions, workshops and speeches showcasing successful women in media and empowering confidence in those wishing to follow in their footsteps.

Location: People’s history museum Tickets on sale now!

Website: www.womeninmediacon.co.uk

On Thursday February 22nd we Reclaim the Night…

Bring your glow sticks, bring your friends and bring your voices.

Owen’s Park 7PM

We’ll be raising our voices and After Party: 9PM Students’ uniting our energies to stand Union DJ’s, cocktails & more up to street harassment, sexual violence and victim blaming.

22nd February 2018 Supported by Amnesty International UK

www.facebook.com/reclaimthenightmanchesteruk

Food & Drink

22

ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Review: James Martin Manchester Jan-Feb £30 tasting menu Pip Wooley Food Editor I, for one, spend a large amount of time drooling over various cooking shows, fantasising about eating the food that is prepared not for sustenance, but for flavour. Part of the pleasure of these shows is the inaccessibility of the dishes - knowing no matter how hard I try in my tiny kitchen, I won’t be able to replicate the sphericals or beignets on the screen. Therefore when a good friend suggested that three of us tried out the tasting menu at James Martin’s Manchester restaurant, cleverly named James Martin Manchester, I jumped at the opportunity. Here was an opportunity to try this different dining experience, on a student’s budget. Luckily, the food is subtler than the name.

“Here was an opportunity to try this different dining experience on a student budget” You may recognise the name ‘James Martin’ from such shows as Saturday Kitchen, James Martin: Home Comforts, or, my personal favourite, James Martin’s French Adventure. These are the kind of B-rate cooking shows we all know and love, with a cuddly, endearing presenter, and food that is actually possible to cook (if we could get round to it). They’re no Chefs Table, but that’s the whole charm. This was reflected in our meal at James Martin Manchester: a delicious tasting menu with charming service, without the grandeur, or flavours, of a truly extraordinary experience.

The restaurantt itself is located at the back of a casino in Spinningfields, which makes entry a slightly surreal experience. It may just have been because we dined on a quiet Wednesday night, but there was something quite depressing about having to walk through an almost empty gaming floor, whilst a few people threw away their money, to get to a fine-dining experience. It summed up the feel of the restaurant - almost the classy, professional dining experience I’ve always dreamed of, but with a few reminders that this wasn’t a Michelin star restaurant, and that I wasn’t a Michelin star reviewer.

That however, is no bad thing. The meal had just the right amount

“Stone Bass on a bed of crispy squid, diced chorizo and red pepper puree” of pomp, without being too self-indulgent. The menu changes fortnightly, depending on seasonal ingredients and the whims of the chef. The tasting menu costs £30 for five courses, and for the rest of February the accompanying paired wines, normally £17.50, are free. This was, naturally, what lured us in. When we arrived, we were talked through the menu by our lovely server Emily, and as each course arrived, the ‘notes’ of the dish and wine were explained to us.

Endearingly, this was accompanied by a few laughs as ‘beignet’ and ‘velouté’ got confused, and the menu was subtly checked to ensure accuracy. This contributed to the friendly atmosphere, and prevented any intimidation. We were clearly three boys unused to the tasting menu experience, but we were made to feel just as sophisticated as the next person.

The food itself was divine. The menu built from a small blue cheese croquette, doused in celeriac and lovage sauce (poured by Emily) to

a spicy quail and dahl number, on to the best of the lot, Stone Bass on a bed of crispy squid, diced chorizo, and red pepper puree. The dominant theme of conversation during this course was ‘Oh Wow’.

This was followed by roast pork loin, with pumpkin gnocchi, apple puree, black pudding and a crispy sage leaf, which was also divine.

The servings were small, but rich, and each left space for the next.

The flavours were fabulous, and there were just enough fancy tricks, such as tiny compressed apples, to make you feel like you were eating something special. We all became critics for the night, and had a great time discussing flavour combinations like we were wrinkled Parisian food snobs. Furthermore, the wines were paired perfectly with the dishes, and really cut through the food and cleansed the palette. As one of my companions helpfully pointed out, they were a cut above Lambrini.

“It gives you a chance to eat a different kind of meal, one that’s been composed with delight ”

The best Valentines dining deals Recipe: Chorizo and Roasted Potato Hash 2018 Anokhi Shah Editor Cane and Grain — Valentine’s Day special is the perfect mini meat feast. Indulge in baby back ribs, beef short ribs, pulled pork slider, and a choice of three sides, all washed down with a glass of chilled champagne for just £25pp The Bay Horse — Valentine’s offer is a threecourse dinner, accompanied by a glass of champagne for just £27.95.

Starter options — today’s soup/duck heart with blackberry purée/mussels marinara/quiche trio/ham hock terrine Main — rotisserie pork or chicken served with thrice cooked chips and gravy/pan seared sea bass with caper butter, mash, and asparagus/ mushroom wellington, mash, broccoli, and almonds/goats cheese and roasted beetroot salad

What exactly is ‘Pancake day’, and when is it?

Pancake day is 13th February this year, a day before Valentine’s to sweeten up your loved one. Pancakes symbolise Easter and new beginnings as we make our way into spring (although, right now it feels too cold to contemplate spring). Interestingly enough, eggs signify creation, flour the on-going cycle of life, salt the feeling of goodness while milk represents purity.

So, now you have the background, let me tell you the best places to find pancakes this Tuesday. Manchester, a vibrant city full of character has many events lined up this week and next for pancake day: Bill’s Restaurant Embrace yourself for an art deco, Great Gatsby experience with cocktail-infused pancakes. Be spoilt for choice with a selection of amaretto sour, bramble mojito, classic lemon and caramelised banana topped with salted caramel ice cream pancakes. Starting from just £5.95 it is a very affordable luxury. If you want to further impress your date or relax with some friends, add a glass of prosecco, which brings the fanciful meal to just £9.95. So why not make your way to Bill’s restaurant to enjoy this indulgent experience? This exclusive pancake menu is available now till 13th February. Try all the flavours and save the best one to pamper yourself/your date on pancake day!

Common *FREE pancake alert* Quoted as the “North West’s best brunch spot” by The Sunday Times, not only do they stack some scrumptious pancakes but they are offering a free pancake with any drink! If you’re looking for a heartier lunch/dinner, their eclectic menu ranges from Korean fried chicken, shawarma and for you vegans out, there is a wide range of options including their signature katsu tofu burger. Champion your inner child and show off your artistic skills at their weekly ‘Colour Club’ from 6-9pm which will also include a free pancake activity book. Honestly, where else are you going to find one of these?

Pen and Pencil 1960’s, New York.

American society and culture; civil rights movement, cigarettes, drinking, feminism.

Mad men; a nickname coined by advertising agents in the 1950’s.

M(ad) Men. Be transformed into the heady atmosphere of 1960’s New York City.

With a sleek bar containing quirky cocktails such as “beer from the Bronx” and an elegant Don Draper feel making it the perfect place for

after work drinks, come in for a classy pancake feast. Keeping in style with the experimental era of the “Swinging Sixties,” Pen and Pencil is offering a culinary twist on pancake day. Why not experiment by creating your own concoction of American pancakes starting from just £6.50? With an abundant list of toppings on offer including ‘boozy golden coffee’ or ‘vanilla honey liqueur’, you can truly go mad with your topping choices.

pancakes come with creamy yoghurt, berries and optional muesli.

The eggless pancake batter is soft and dry which is complemented nicely by the yoghurt and crunchy muesli. So, tuck in to some lovely pancakes and relax in the tranquil atmosphere.

With this list on hand, you’ll be stuffing your face in no time! Now, have a great pancake day and remember that the best topping on a pancake are 2 more pancakes.

Foundation Coffee House Trying to stay healthy and stick to your New Year’s resolution?

Or perhaps you are a gym junkie? Or maybe you just want to enjoy pancake day without having a sickly-sweet feeling in the pit of your stomach?

Foundation Coffee House has the perfect solution — protein pancakes.

Indulge guilt-free into a stack of 6 protein pancakes topped with fresh berries, honey and the option of creamy Greek yoghurt. The pancakes are subtly flavoured with vanilla and melt into your mouth.

Even if you aren’t looking to be healthy these pancakes taste so good you’ll want to try them! And if you are looking for a naughty treat, they also offer an extensive range of brownies which will make your mouth water just from listening to their names. Salted caramel or peanut butter brownies. They have a range of cocktails including their famous espresso martini to help you unwind.

Samuel Piggott Contributer Ingredients 4 large, parboiled potatoes 1 tbsp each of dried thyme and oregano, smoked paprika, salt and pepper 50ml sunflower oil 200g chorizo 1 large onion 1 fresh red chilli 1 tbsp tomato puree 2 fresh bay leaves Juice of one lemon Bunch fresh flat leaf parsley Method Add the thyme, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper to the oil. Add this into an oven preheated to 190C and heat for approximately 10 minutes until it is

smoking. Add the parboiled potatoes, diced into 1cm cubes, and toss in the oil. Roast for 35 minutes, or until crisp, turning just once halfway through.

Dice the chorizo and add to a cold frying pan. Introduce this to the heat and fry over a medium heat for ten minutes, until the oil begins to come out from the chorizo.

Dice the onion and chilli and add these to the pan, along with the tomato puree, the bay leaves and approximately 3 tbsp of water.

Once the potatoes are cooked, add these to the pan along with the juice of half the lemon. Finely slice the parsley and season to taste, along with checking if more lemon juice is needed.

In a separate pan simply fry the two eggs, ensuring the yolk remains runny, and serve this on top of the hash with a touch more parsley and seasoning.

Photo: TerriC @ Pixabay

Fish stock for free Kate Robinson Contributor A great thing to attempt — if you can manage to get your head around the slight oddness of the request — is to, on your next trip down the high street, ask a fish monger for his fishheads!

Ingredients: Some fish bones and heads (dependent on how many you are able to forage!)

2/3 sticks of celery 1 onion 1 carrot 175 ml of white wine 2 cloves of garlic A handful of parsley Method: Start by melting butter in a large saucepan and then adding the fishheads and bones to a large saucepan and cover with water. The fishheads should just be covered with water but not too much so as to dilute the overall flavour.

“...on your next trip down the high street, ask a fish monger for his fishheads!”

“Or maybe you just want to enjoy pancake day without having a sicklysweet feeling in the pit of your stomach?”

Chapter One Books For you vegans out there, fear not, this place has your back!

Chapter One Books has a romantic feel to it, being a café and a bookstore. There are comfortable sofas, old bookshelves, typewriters (which you can use!), giving the place a homely feel. The vegan

Dessert — chocolate fondant/crème brûlée/ selection of sharing desserts Dog Bowl — Ideal for a group of mates. Two courses, a game of bowling, and a glass of prosecco for just £25pp El Capo — Two course specially created sharing menu. Enjoy a 16oz steak with four sides followed by Churros and a bottle of red or white house wine for just £20pp Hard Rock Café — Special set menu £25pp Zouk Tea Bar and Grill — Valentines banquet £25pp Shoryu Ramen — three-course Valentine’s Day menu and glass of prosecco £23.50pp Scene Indian Kitchen — Valentines set menu £20pp La Vina, Deansgate — A Spanish set menu £24.95pp

I can’t recommend this experience enough. It gives you a chance to eat a different kind of meal, one thats been composed with delight, rather than sustenance, in mind. Alongside this, it takes itself with a pinch of salt, and let three tipsy students have a novel time without any too many airs and graces.

Whilst £30 is more than I’d normally spend on a meal out, in this case, it was worth it. Suit up, treat yourself, and live the life of a sophisticated restaurateur, even if its just for a night.

Top 5 Pancake Day spots Pooja Vadhva Contributor

Food & Drink 23

ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Then, fry the onion, celery, and carrots until limp and soft but not brown, and then add the garlic to the mix.

After 5 to 10 minutes, pour the contents of the frying pan into the pot with the fish heads and water.

Add the wine and chopped parsley, and bring to a boil. Only boil the mix for a short 5 minutes — just so Photo: Pexels @Pixabay

that the alcohol is burnt off — and then bring the mix down to a simmer.

After 10 minutes, remove any scum that forms on the surface and discard it.

Boil the stock for about 30 minutes and then drain out the vegetables and fish carcasses so that you are left with just a stock that you can then leave in the fridge or freezer. You could also reduce the stock down so it has a deeper flavour, and put into ice cubes in the freezer to create your own portion sizes.

This is a really simple recipe that makes such a different to the taste of food through extremely simple means. It requires very little attention, virtually no cost, and doesn’t take too long to cook.

You could also be creative with the ingredients thrown into the stock by substituting some of the ingredients. You could try adding fennel bulbs as well, for example, or take out the wine if it seems a bit costly!

Once your stock is complete you can add it to a simple risotto, using any veggies which need to be eaten, and follow a similar pattern of cooking.

Beginning with a knob of butter in a saucepan, add the risotto rice, followed by carrots, celery, perhaps some fish, 3 cups of the fish stock, and a dash of white wine, and finish with some parmesan cheese and seasoning.

I found that it tasted a lot less salty and a more authentic alternative to a very simple weekday meal! Give it a try, if only to experiment with making use of waste food, and getting more depth of flavour than the alternative of a Knox oxo cube.

Photo: freefoodphotos.com

Photos: Sam Pigott

Review: Extraveganza Samuel Piggott Contributer When people think of vegan food they tend to think of a boring and bland affair, but, finally, people are beginning to realise this is far from the case. With three more vegan restaurants opening in Manchester in the next two months, the vegan food scene in this city is absolutely buzzing, and nothing encompasses the growing trend more than Extraveganza.

Extraveganza is an all vegan food and drinks festival offering a wide range of vegan-friendly street food and cocktails.

With offerings from the likes of The Hip Hop Chip Shop, The Otto-Men — which you may recognise from the food market in university —, and Bakeorama, there is such a wide range of food on offer that it is impossible to not find something you like, regardless of whether you are an avid meat fan or vegan.

All washed down with a collection of cocktails and beers — all vegan-friendly —, in a lively atmosphere, I guarantee that even the meatiest meat-head out there will find something to enjoy.

To give an example of just some of the dishes on offer, I sampled four different

items from four different vendors. The Hip Hop Chip Shop were offering loaded fries, vegan-beer battered onion rings, and halloumi wraps. The fries were superb, cooked from scratch regularly in small batches to ensure they remain hot, with the perfect crisp outside and fluffy inside, and with the addition of various excellent toppings, I cannot recommend them highly enough.

The Otto-Men were offering up fantastic Mediterranean cuisine, with a particular highlight being the falafel wrap. The falafel was fantastically spiced and with the perfect level of heat, this wrap is definitely satisfying enough to convince every carnivore that vegan food can be every bit as exciting as any meat-based dish. I then had the joy of washing it all down with some excellent vegan-friendly cocktails and a vegan-friendly cake for dessert, all amidst the vibrant atmosphere and live music.

This event definitely has the potential to convince anyone that vegan food is no longer hunks of tofu served with boiled vegetables, and can be — when done well — exciting, fresh, and absolutely delicious.

Next years event is not one to miss.

Arts

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Feature

Socially engaged art: The feminist genre of change?

Fighting for women’s freedom from harassment, Bella Jewell meets with activist Yasmeen Mjalli on weaponising the medium of protest art to create social change in the West Bank Bella Jewell Arts Contributor On a trip conducted by UJS named Bridges not Boycotts, a group of UK students visited Israel and Palestine. The aim of this trip was to illuminate both Israeli and Palestinian narratives, and to humanise a conflict which often transcends understanding.

Having met with politicians, journalists, and activists throughout the tour of the region, one narrative stood out for me: that of the feminist activist, Yasmeen Mjalli, a Palestinian-American seeking to advance women’s rights in the West Bank.

In a Berlin-themed pub in the city of Ramallah, Yasmeen presented her past and current initiatives as an activist in the West Bank, namely the ‘Not Your Habibti’ campaign, and her most recent exploit, the ‘Dear Mr Prime Minister’ movement.

In a subsequent Skype interview, she outlined the aims of her initiative: “to illuminate the taboo surrounding genderbased issues in the Arab world through public and grassroots discourse, and secondly to create a safe space in which women can discuss these ‘taboo’ issues.”

The issue of women’s rights is often overlooked when considering the discourse surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict: a delicate issue which has been the subject of international debate since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. In fact, Mjalli admitted that “we [Palestinians] fucked up and let occupation be an excuse for not rebuilding ourselves”, letting social and cultural issues be “swept under the rug.”

Her means of activism, however, do not manifest themselves in the usual mechanisms of protest and civil disobedience, instead, she uses “socially engaged art” to spread her message. Mjalli described how she would set up a table in Ramallah with a typewriter in front of a banner which read ‘do not stay silent on harassment.’ The hope was that women would share their stories of sexual harassment whilst she typed them on the old machine.

“whatever shade of feminism you follow, it needs to exist and have a platform” In Palestine, the typewriter represents a symbol of movement, as travel permits to leave and enter the country are written on these machines. By using typewriters in her work, Mjalli creates a “sort of psychosocial permit allowing women’s freedom throughout the streets”, free from harassment.

When discussing feminism’s position in Arab Culture, Mjalli claimed that in Palestine the sentiment is that “if you are harassed

Want to write for Arts?

Theatre 25

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ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Review

Hamlet at the Lowry The Royal Shakespeare Company puts a contemporary spin on Shakespeare’s most quoted piece of work

Francesca McClimont Contributor Shakespeare’s classic came to life in this vibrant and colourful adaptation by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). It ran at The Lowry in Salford Quays from the 26th of January to the 3rd of February, and my only regret is that it wasn’t on for longer to be able to go again! I went to the final performance on Saturday the 3rd. This special take on Hamlet finally made its way up north after being an outstanding success in Stratford-Upon-Avon in March 2016.

Hamlet is the story of the Prince of Denmark’s downfall after discovering his father was murdered by his uncle, who then becomes king and marries his mother one month after committing fratricide. The Prince, Hamlet is driven mad by his hunger for revenge, which ends up being not only his downfall but also of his loved ones. He is often considered a classic example of a ‘tragic hero’.

“Paapa Essiedu...deserves the accolades he has received so far ” Paapa Essiedu owns the role of Hamlet like no other. He deserves the accolades he has received so far. Hamlet’s tortured soul was clear for all to see through his expressive

body language and facial expressions, yet it was not his psychological degradation that rendered his performance unique. Essiedu gave the Prince a touch of cheekiness, a sort of adolescent naughtiness that made the audience laugh even at the most inappropriate times.

This, as well as his procrastination in avenging his father,

to a murderous uncle and being given the pressure of avenging our father by his own ghost!

The set and props were kept relatively simple throughout the play, which allowed the costumes and colours of Hamlet’s tapestries to take centre stage, literally and figuratively.

This modern day Hamlet was shaped by African, Caribbean and European influences, making it a truly international play. The brightly African-inspired costumes capture the audience’s attention from the moment we meet the Danish Royal family, and are a stark contrast to Hamlet’s all black outfit. Hamlet’s clothes then become the symbol of his madness, as he goes from that simple modern all black attire to an all white yet completely paint stained suit. In his hysteria he therefore becomes the typical crazy painter that uses art to demonstrate the emotional conflicts raging within him.

“a dynamic and exciting performance ” Photo Manuel Harlan/RSC

only made him a more relatable character — unlike some of the heartless bloodshed that takes place in many of Shakespeare’s other plays such as Titus Andronicus and Macbeth. Essiedu made Hamlet feel extremely human, introduced by the opening scene where he is graduating from University. My fellow course mates and I in the audience couldn’t imagine coming home after graduating

Seeing this performance of Hamlet at the Lowry has definitely made me want to explore more of the theatrical scene in and around Manchester, as well as more of the RSC’s works. The rendering of a tragedy filled with death into a dynamic and exciting performance made it really stand out in my memory from other performances of classical tragedies that I have seen. UK viewers can have high expectations for Paapa Essiedu’s presence on the stage and the big screen.

Interview Photo: Yasmeen Mjalli

Photo: Yasmeen Mjalli

you must be unrespectable” in a Nation in which domestic violence is ignored, and ‘honour killings’ often go unpunished as “the law is behind the husband.”

Despite cultural barriers, Mjalli is an advocate of intersectional feminism, claiming that “whatever shade of feminism you follow, it needs to exist and have a platform” even when it doesn’t conform to the ‘westernised white feminism’ that dominates in the UK and US. Mjalli’s most recent campaign, ‘Dear Mr Prime Minister’, pressurised lawmakers to introduce the ‘Women and Children’s Act’: legislation which would provide greater legal protections for women from domestic violence. Mjalli collected 60 letters from both men and women, calling for a change to the status quo.

Given the announcement on the 5th February that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Palestine was close to finalising the ‘Family Protection Act Against Violence’, Yasmeen’s project is a driving force in raising grassroots discourse and awareness surrounding the law.

Whilst miles away from the West Bank, Manchester is no stranger to the ‘socially engaged art’ that Mjalli advocates. Protest art is a key feature of the Mancunian identity given its history of activism, highlighted by the ‘Cities of Hope Street Art Convention’ of May 2016.

The Convention showcased politically driven murals throughout Manchester.

The People’s History Museum’s ‘NOISE: The Art of Protest’ competition in 2013 was another Manchester-based initiative which fostered art as a vehicle of political and social dissent, which was launched following the Manchester Riots of 2011.

Living in an environment with a legacy of political activism, it is easy to take freedom of speech for granted. What makes Mjalli’s project ever more potent is her brazen defiance in the face of a

Government which limits freedoms, having not held elections since 2006. In the West Bank, it is necessary to apply for a permit to carry out public campaigns, which Mjalli admitted were a hurdle which she

“ Whilst miles away from the West Bank, Manchester is no stranger to the ‘socially engaged art ” overcame by making her applications “sound flowery and nationalistic.”

In fact, Mjalli claimed that she has been “harassed by policemen” when carrying out such events, which occasionally “have had to be cut short due to the police.” Mjalli dryly remarked in a Skype interview that often this is due to a perceived ‘threat’ these feminist events pose to “a fragile male ego.”

Mjalli’s conceptual activism provides hope and an outlet for frank conversation for women who continue to live as the ultimate ‘Other’. Despite the “inextricable presence” of the partition wall and the perpetual toxicity of discourse regarding occupation, Mjalli is determined to shine a light on women, bringing forth personal narratives to highlight the scale of endemic sexism.

You can support Yasmeen’s initiatives by checking out her website: https:// www.baby-fist.com/ or liking the page ‘Baby Fist’ on Facebook.

Whether you want to become more engaged in the latest in culture and arts in the city, review an exhibit or write an opinion piece, this is the opportune platform to develop your writing and have your work in print!

Join our Facebook group: Mancunion Arts Contributors 2017/18 for updates or

Email us at cicelyryder@ gmail.com

Interview with the cast and creatives of Flushed Marina Jenkins Contributor

Marina Jenkins visited the team behind the new play Flushed and interviewed writer and director Kate Cranfield, assistant director Toni Ward and the two actresses Georgia Phillips and Harri Millsopp.

Marina Jenkins (MJ): Thank you all for allowing me into your rehearsal room today. First of all, Kate, tell me what Flushed is about and what inspired you to write it.

Kate Cranfield (KC): Flushed is my second full-length play that I’ve written. When I write, I always try to create strong female characters because there is still a lack of these represented onstage. I also wanted to have a go at writing a two-hander because I saw it as a new challenge. One day an idea just came to me, that I wanted to set a play in a girls bathroom and that it would be about two best friends. This quickly turned into two sisters as I’ve always had an interest in the dynamics between siblings. I’ve got a brother but not a sister, so I wanted to look at that relationship in more detail. I started writing the script but quickly realised that it wasn’t really about anything in particular so I left it alone for a couple of months. I then read an article about fertility issues with women and premature menopause. This was the only thing talked about in the article that I hadn’t heard of, so I went online and did a bit of research about it and found hardly anything. So I thought, what would happen if I worked this into the play? And the second I did it, everything kind of slotted together. It’s something that needs to be spoken about and doing a play of this nature is an interesting way of showing it to a new audience.

MJ: That nicely leads me onto my next question, why did you pick premature menopause to be the focus of your writing?

KC: I think it’s because premature menopause simply isn’t spoken about. I did a lot of research and there is not another play out there that discusses this issue. Normally when you write a play, you can find overlaps in other people’s work but there seemed to be a gap with this. There’s a lot out there at the moment about women’s rights, sexuality, women in the workplace and the female body but this is something slightly more niche that hasn’t been given a voice yet. This topic is just as important and affects so many people in so many ways but isn’t being covered, even fertility in women and motherhood has been covered. This is why we’re doing Flushed , because we truly feel that it’s vital and we don’t want to keep it left out.

MJ: This is your first project completely separate from the safety net of being a university student with support from the drama department and the drama society. How have you found the experience so far?

Toni Ward (TW): I think the Fringe process really helped Kate work out how to do projects independently. She seems to know exactly what needs to be done and what to prioritise.

KC: I agree and I think uni set us up really nicely and helped

us navigate how to put on theatre independently and use what Manchester has to offer.

Georgia Phillips (GP): Well as you were saying, whilst we don’t have that safety net of the drama department and the guarantee that all your friends will come to watch the shows, it is a risk putting on something like this. However, the risk makes it so much more exciting and more of a challenge. We don’t know who’s going to turn up and how it’s going to go and what kind of response it will get. So we have to make it as good as we can. I think we have all enjoyed the challenge so far.

MJ: What do you anticipate might be your biggest challenge when acting these roles?

GP: Portraying the situation truthfully is the main thing. We have been working with the Daisy Network which is a charity to support women with premature menopause and we are in conversation with a few women who have suffered from the condition.

Photo: Kate Cranfield

KC: It is the most amazing charity, it’s quite small but the work they do is amazing. They’re the only charity in the UK that addresses this issue which is unbelievable. They gave me a list of women who were interested in sharing their story and we’ve been in conversation with three or four for a while now.

We went for coffee with one of the women on Friday and she was so open and honest in sharing her story, we really felt like we could ask any question.

GP: It was good to find out how the condition had affected other people around her because it’s easy enough to read up

online about the symptoms but how it truly affects you as a person, your friendships and your relationships is a different thing altogether. The biggest challenge for me will definitely be wanting to portray it truthfully and do it justice.

KC: The woman we spoke to read the script as well and she really liked it and we are really excited that three of them are coming to see the play in March.

MJ: After Manchester, are you planning on taking Flushed down to London?

KC: Well hopefully, we have sent the script to a bunch of venues and just waiting to hear back. The plan is London, Edinburgh, New York and the Moon!

MJ: How are you going about promoting the play and how will you ensure that it gets the recognition it deserves?

KC: We are inviting reviewers, other theatres, theatre companies, the Daisy Network and hopefully will get it filmed so we can send it out.

TN: We just want to make it as big as it can be. It’s such an important issue and the theatre is the best place to educate people anyway. I’m particularly anticipating seeing the reactions of male audience members, to see how the play might affect them.

GP: I agree, that is what’s so great about the play. The first half is so funny and sweet and you grow to love Marnie and Jen. Even men who might be more uncomfortable talking about menopause, I definitely think that Flushed has the capacity to really touch them.

Harri Millsopp (HM): I think as well that at the moment there are so many plays about depression in particular and this brings a different angle to the debate. I really think it could take off.

TN: And not that it could take off but should take off because the play will actually help people learn about this health condition, especially because hardly anybody has heard about it.

KC: Most people have the feeling of isolation in common.

The women we talked to all said that they didn’t know where to turn to because there are no obvious groups out there other than the Daisy Network. The support and response we’ve had already has made us feel so incredibly lucky, and to have 53two behind us as well as the Manchester Actors Platform. So much has gone into Flushed already and we just want to keep meeting people.

TN: If you want to talk to us then come to talk to us, we’d love to hear about your experiences and share what we have learnt from this process so far.

KC: That is what essentially drives us into wanting to make this play and take it as far as it can possibly go.

The unedited version of this interview can be found online at themancunion.com. Flushed runs at 53two from 27th-31st March.

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Lifestyle

ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCHESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Have you been a victim of hate crime?

In consideration of last week’s discussion of hate crime, Victoria Payton details what to do and who can help you in these situations

Photo: Advice Service

Victoria Payton Advice Service Manager From 1st April 2016 to 31st December 2016, there were 5641 Hate Crimes or Hate Incidents reported to Greater Manchester Police. This is just the tip of the iceberg with many people not reporting such incidents/ crimes.

But what is the difference between a hate crime and a hate incident? You may think that you have been the victim of such an incident, but should you report it? Where can you report such an incident?

Hate crime is any crime that is targeted at a person or their property, because of hostility or prejudice towards that person’s: • • • • • •

Disability Race or ethnicity Religion or belief Sexual orientation Alternative subculture Trans and gender reassignment

A hate incident is an incident that isn’t a crime, but the victim thinks it was motivated

by hostility or prejudice based on the same criteria as above.

Hate incidents can take many forms but an example is verbal abuse like name-calling or offensive jokes.

Anyone can be the victim of a hate incident/crime and it does not have to be a member of the group at which the hostility is targeted at. For example, you may be targeted because someone thought you were a homosexual when in fact you are not.

If you believe that you have been the victim of a hate crime/incident then you can report what has happened to you. If you report such incidents/crimes when they happen you may be able to prevent such incidents happening to others.

You will also help the police understand the extent of hate crimes/incidents in the Manchester area.

You can report a hate crime/incident if you are the victim, are a witness or are reporting on behalf of someone else.

The easiest way to report is by completing an online form. Just go here and click the big red button on the top right-hand side of

the page.

Alternatively, the Students’ Union Advice Service is a third party reporting centre,

Photo: Wales Online

who can help you report the incident if you want to, and provide further advice or support.

If you want to report anything to the police then you can call them on 112. You do not have to give your personal details but please be aware the investigation and ability to prosecute someone is severely limited if the police cannot contact you.

You can contact 999 if you feel that the situation is an emergency. If you don’t want to speak to the police or fill in a report, you also have the option of contacting ‘Crime Stoppers’ on 0800 555 111 or via the website at http://www.crimes-toppers-uk.org.

From 5th to 11th February, it is Hate Crime Awareness Week 2018. The theme this year will be “No Bystander” - this is to try to encourage people to report hate crimes and hate incidents if they see them happening.

Remember if you feel that you have been the victim of a hate crime or incident or you have witnessed someone who has, report it.

If you feel unsure, then pop along to the Advice Service to talk through the incident with a professionally-trained advisor. #WeStandTogether

5 podcasts to feed the curious soul James Johnson lists some podcasts that are sure to enrich your mind

James Johnson Lifestyle Editor There are more and more podcasts available to satisfy your curiosity and to develop your understanding of public affairs and various other topics.

Here is a varied pick of just 5 podcasts that will satisfy your curiosity, stimulate your interest and some that will make you belly laugh.

1. Super Soul Conversations This podcast opens with the soothing tone of the legendary Oprah Winfrey. “The best gift you can give yourself is time,” she says soothingly in the opening of each SuperSoul Conversation.

Bringing her already famed Super Soul Sundays to podcast format, Winfrey sits down with some of the worlds greatest visionaries, from Dr Maya Angelou to famed author Brené Brown and Eckhart Tolle, to bring you in-depth discussions of the more philosophical questions of life.

Each episode is a different opportunity to develop your introspection and the discussions will leave you with plenty of food for thought.

Now there are over 50 episodes for you to sit back and enjoy, each a small meditation in self-love and a real opportunity to feed the soul.

2. How I Built This Produced by NPR, How I Built This is another triumph in NPR’s effort to bring you quality content.

Hosted by Guy Raz, interviews with the people behind some of the worlds most infamous brands and ideas will provide you with the backstories of the idealists who built their

fortunes, as well as the tribulations of their efforts.

Take a listen to the winding history of Starbucks with founder Howard Schultz or to the tribulations of Richard Branson’s well-established career.

There are hoards of great narratives for you to feast upon including conversations with the founders of Airbnb, Instagram and Toms.

3. Anna Faris is Unqualified It’s 2018, and we all need to laugh a little. Thankfully, Anna Faris is here for you.

Co-hosted with Executive Producer Sim Sarna, this podcast is a stupendous exercise in loosely-structured advice, comedy and insight.

It’s title, Unqualified, gives reference to the

Photo: Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations

main focus of each episode; Anna Faris takes calls from listens, form which she issues her unqualified and naturally thoughtful advice on love, life, careers and more.

If you’re prepared to laugh out loud in public, this is the podcast for you. Hillarious episodes with Eva Longoria, Allison Janney and Andy Cohen are great places to start.

Faris has notched up over 100 episodes of this acclaimed series, taking home the best podcast award at the 2017 Shorty Awards.

4. What’s the Tee? RuPaul Charles and Michelle Visage are the glorious hosts of this truly hilarious podcast.

The team, having already proven a staple TV hit in the 90’s, have been interviewing your

favourite celebrities and cackling along since 2014.

Their laughing is contagious and their conversations are insightful, thoughtful and continue to ask the questions that fans won’t often get to hear the answers to.

Traversing the rise to fame of many of the worlds famous faces, the hosts often reflect on their own lives, offering the listener a glimpse into the struggles and successes of their own fame, as well as insightful advice for you to take with you.

The pair succeeds in bringing the explosive TV success to podcast format, and it continues to flourish, episode after episode.

5. S-Town The breakout success 2017; brought to you by the producers of the Serial and This American Life, S-Town is a triumphant effort in beautiful, narrative-driven podcasting.

Investigative Journalist Brian Reed is the genius storyteller behind this stunning podcast.

Following the story of John B.McLemore, antique horologist in Woodstock, Alabama, Reed documents his year-long discussions and emails with John B.McLemore concerning an alleged murder.

After their year-long conversations, Brian Reed travels to Woodstock, to better understand the situation at hand, and uncovers a tangled and winding story that will leave you with chills.

The storytelling here is impeccable, unlike anything else you’re likely to find.

If you’re a fan of Serial, then this is a natural progression. S-Town is a treat for the ears and mind and the haunting story of John B.McLemore will stay with you for years to come.

Treat yourself, and dive in.

MEET & EAT Biko Street, located in your Students' Union, is a space for students to meet, eat and get involved in student life.

FIND US ON FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM :facebook.com/bikostreet

:@bikostreet

manchesterstudentsunion.com/bikostreet

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Has money taken the love out of football?

For every pound added to the latest transfer fee, football takes one small step further away from its roots.

Sam Cooper Sports Editor

EXEC ELECTIONS

STAND to be an Exec Officer | 8 JAN – 16 FEB

8 ROLES. 1 YEAR. £19,000.

Has money taken the love out of football? For every pound added to the latest transfer fee, football takes one small step further away from its roots.

The hyperinflation of a Premier League intoxicated by the abundance of TV money has led to astronomical fees and a growing disconnection between the men on the field and the fan in the stands.

When Manchester City contemplate spending £60 million on a rotation player, it brings into question what is football to the fan anymore?

In the past, your choice of football club was a reflection of your character. Often your local side or the first team you saw play, an attachment is made and your own fortunes in life are mirrored by the fortunes of your club.

Every defeat you attended, every important match you spent a week fretting over only to lose anyway and every season filled with hope only to be quashed by a late goal in the final game. These sacrifices act as the payment for a later reward.

When outsiders ask why you are travelling to Sunderland on a cold February afternoon, often the answer of “well I’ve been to the last seven away games so why not this one?” raises more questions than it answers.

Fans of teams away from the Premier League continue to live this life. Every season could be your season even if you did finish 16th last season, have made no major improvements and have a tactical dinosaur as your manager.

A real affection for the club is made purely because the players are so remarkably human. These are not players who drive fast cars and only leave their private estates for match days, these are men who genuinely enjoy the sport and are largely there for the fans more than the money.

It brings me back to my earlier point of your club being a reflection of you and that every football fan is eternally optimistic both about their club and their own personal life.

See while a coach full of Yeovil players are making the trip to Carlisle, a private jet is taking Arsenal players to Norwich.

Unless you happen to be a billionaire residing in a Cheshire mansion, it is likely you are beginning to feel less and less connected to your club.

Where is the sense of achievement when you can regularly spend north of £50 million pounds on one player?

Where are the soul-crushing 4-1 defeats away at Middlesbrough that are all made worthwhile because you reached the playoffs at the end of the season? Where is the hopeless but loveable striker who once scored against your local rivals?

He’s been shipped out on loan because two games were enough to judge that he was not good enough and the £30 million spent on him fades into the distance.

Elite clubs are systematic. Every procedure is done to a tee

Photo: иKirill Venediktov @Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Jon Candy @flickr

and it can produce a production line of players. A fan barely has the chance to grow attached to a player before he has departed the club, branded no longer good enough after a two-season spell.

It has grown into a soulless business with business being the optimal word. Sure, it may produce trophies at the end of it but what is the point of a trophy if it does not signal an accomplishment of some sort?

If there has been no hard work, years in the making but instead a collection of expensive individuals strung together by an equally expensive manager.

Fans of the big clubs can often get lost in the dizzying heights of the Premier League and forget about their counterparts down below. The average United/City/Liverpool/Chelsea/ [insert big club here] fan won’t be able to tell you about the plight of Hartlepool United or the never-ending misery at Blackpool because simply, why should they care?

Money is now an arbitrary number to the big clubs and it has

Evolution of the record transfer fee from 1998 in £millions

Top 10 Premier League transfers of Summer 2017 1. Lukaku £75 million 2. Morata £60 million 3. Mendy £52 million 4. Lacazette £46.5 million 5. Walker £45 million 6. Silva £43 million 7. Salah £37 million 8. Bakayoko £35 million 9. Ederson £35 million 10. Lindelöf £35 million

A chance to build your career & campaign for the future.

Graph: @TheMancunion

www.manchesterstudentsunion.com

hit football right its very roots. Right at the centre of where it came from.

These players and clubs could not be further disconnected from the fan in the stands. They are a collection of finely tuned, machine-like athletes, not a normal person who happens to be okay at putting the ball in the net.

Questions begin to arise of what does a fan of an elite club get out of the game? If it is no longer a sense of belonging and pride then what is being a football fan?

The TV money will continue to trickle down and infect more and more teams. Foreign owners will continue to arrive on these shores as clubs are drawn from a seemingly random pot of who is the next team to be inundated with money.

Fans need no longer hope if this will be your year simply because the money your team has spent means it can’t be anything else and hey, if it isn’t working out, just spend another £150 million in January.

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Sport

ISSUE 15 / 12th FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Sánchez-Mkhitaryan: the rise of swap deals?

Is this unusual trade about to become the norm?

Trans-Tasman Twenty20 Tri-Series 5 for 161 (Maxwell 103*, Short triumph for Australia Australia 30, Willey 3-28) beat England 9 for 155 (Malan 50, Maxwell 3-10, Agar 2-15) by 5 wickets

Photo: Ben Sutherland @ Wikimedia Commons

Arthur Salisbury Sports Editor I would say that the fear — and genuine, deeply held fear it is — that Twenty20 cricket will drive out the Test game, has become misplaced. We’ve been playing T20 for only thirteen years, but the game has evolved far enough that it is now basically as close to baseball as it is to the traditional and superior five-day format.

When England first played Australia in T20, Paul Collingwood came in at six, and was actually the top scorer for either side. Most of each team played in the Test side. Watching Australia’s five-wicket defeat of England on Wednesday morning in the Trans-Tasman Twenty20 Tri-Series, it became clear to me that it satisfies fundamentally different de-

Photo: Ronnie Macdonald @flickr Photo: Stanislav Vedmid @wikimedia commons

Photo: Mick Baker@flickr

The rise of transfer fees in football has been much discussed and highly documented. The amounts that clubs fork out to sign the best players had been rapidly on the rise even before the big-spending summer transfer window of 2017. Neymar’s move to PSG for £198 million, though, blew everything else out of the water. At over double the existing transfer record at the time, Manchester United re-signing Paul Pogba for £89m, the Neymar transfer was an indicative of a sharp escalation in transfer fees for world class players.

On the other end of the spectrum to nine-figure PSG payments, however, comes a transfer this winter involving high profile players in which no money was paid whatsoever. A straight swapping of players is a transfer deal that is almost never seen in football and yet Arsenal and Manchester United have done just that, swapping two high profile attacking midfield players for one another. Alexis Sánchez has gone to Old Trafford with Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the other way, no payments in-

volved.

Not only is this an unusual deal, the swap is a particularly clean one that benefits both clubs, considering the circumstances in which they found themselves. United got a world class player, one who might have otherwise gone to rivals City, and lost a player who was struggling to get into the first team. Arsenal, meanwhile, in return for a player who had only months remaining on his contract, have received a highly rated player who has proven his ability to work well with new teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the past.

Many Arsenal fans who would have preferred to keep Sánchez blame manager Arsene Wenger for allowing the situation to arise in the first place.

Going into the new season he had failed to get key players Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to sign new contracts with their deals at the time expiring by summer 2018. Getting the pair to stay on for new deals though may have been more difficult than apparent. Normally if players refuse to sign new

deals they may be resigned to the bench until the next transfer window. More essential players like Sánchez and Ozil however are much harder to leave out of the team.

So given the situation, Arsenal got a good deal — as did United. Is this a happy alignment of unlikely circumstances for the two clubs involved or is this a transfer too that foreshadows a wider trend in the ways transfers are made in modern football? Perhaps more of the transfers which involve the biggest names in football will be player swaps or free transfers as players run down their current deals. In the current transfer climate, any move for Sánchez in the summer of 2017 would surely have had to be within the top 20 most expensive transfers ever made. Months later and the story is much different.

In refusing a wage increase in the short term that would come with signing a new deal at their current club, top players could run down their contracts and receive huge signing on fees — some reportedly surpassing £25m — and eventually even higher

wages at a new club of their choosing. Players could have clubs competing with one another to pay them the highest wages in bid for their services.

That’s not to say this practice will become commonplace right away. Özil has not followed his former teammate, signing a new deal to stay at the Emirates until 2021 and becoming the highest-paid player in the club’s history in the process. And, of course, as the wealth top football clubs command increases with newer and more lucrative TV deals, sponsorship contracts and competition prizes, transfers involving eye-watering amounts of money will still occur. Just look at Coutinho’s £105m move to Barcelona this winter.

In the future though, as players realise their value to the clubs they are signed to, things might change.

The Sánchez-Mkhitaryan swap deal could be the first of many more compromising transfers we might see in future transfer windows.

WRITE FOR US Mancunion Sport 17/18 Contributors Group Email: sports@mancunion.com Meeting time: Tuesdays 4:30pm, Students’ Union

sires.

Bourgeois philosophers like JS Mill have argued that there are two levels of pleasure — one higher than the other. I hope I don’t come across as class collaborationist when I admit to realising that, when you compare the hitand-giggle world of Shaun Tait and Graham Napier with the noble jouissance of Graham Onions, the old liberal might have a point.

Certainly if there was one man embodying Barthes’s conception of plaisir , pleasure, it was Glenn Maxwell, who brought up his second T20 century and Australia’s five-wicket win with a six that went so high that the ball is now the property of Elon Musk. Maxwell’s unbeaten 103 from 58 balls followed on from his 3-10 in two overs in England’s innings, which got off to a good start before petering out somewhat in the middle overs.

Jason Roy characteristically bullied a few

deliveries to the boundary before spooning one in the air, and Hales, Malan and Morgan all got in then got out. Malan, the one positive development of the cricket winter, should have been the man the innings could build around, but he didn’t get enough on a slogsweep after bringing up his half century.

I used to joke hilariously that they should cut out the boring middle overs of T20 by adopting a shorter format. Now, there is a tournament in Hong Kong played across five overs. History repeats itself, first as tragedy then as that .

Jos Buttler and Sam Billings added little, and England limped onto 155/9. The Australian bowling unit in general were as disciplined as one can be expected to be given the circumstances, but Billy Stanlake’s costly spell gave lie to the theory that being visible from space is in itself is enough to make you a international bowler. England were bogged down by the spin of Ashton Agar and Maxwell, and perhaps should have picked a second spinner themselves.

David Willey took two wickets in the first over of Australia’s reply, the brute Warner leathering it to Alex Hales at deep square leg, followed three balls later with a delivery that pitched on middle and took out leg.

This brought Maxwell to the crease. The jury’s out on whether T20 teaches us anything about anybody, but Adil Rashid arguably made a step towards the Test side with his spell, which deserved more than the wicket of D’Arcy Short, who fell caught and bowled for 30 - an instinctive take in front of his face.

Rarely if ever has one hand produced such satisfaction. Indeed he should have had the key wicket.

What if there were no counterfactuals?

English supporters might complain that they probably had Maxwell caught off Rashid on 53. One of the many things technology has made worse is the problem of the contentious catch taken down low. Video replays time and time again produce inconclusive results as to whether the ball hit the ground, with the benefit of the doubt going to the batsman.

In his post-match interview, England captain Eoin Morgan stated that there was ‘no solution’ to the problem of contested catches. I don’t think it’s the gripe of the defeated to argue that there is actually a solution, and that solution is to ask the catcher. Fielders know when they’ve caught the ball fairly, and the potential for incorrect dismissals under this system (from lying or mistaken players) would be greatly outweighed by correct dismissals currently not given because of inconclusive TV evidence. The game is too weighted in favour of the batsman as it is.

Chris Jordan and Tom Curran both failed to impress as the change bowlers, allowing Short and Maxwell to build a partnership and take the enthusiasm out of the visitors. In the context of the tournament — but who really cares about these mini-series? — the victory has cemented Australian dominance.

The two sides meet again in Melbourne on Saturday, in a match that one would imagine England need to win to stay in contention.

They will need stronger performances from their change bowlers and a bit more grit in their batting if they are to do so. @arthursalisbury

Sánchez bags goal on home debut Romelu Lukaku bagged the other goal as United win comfortably

James Gill Sports Contributor and Books Editor

Jack Greeney Sports Contributor

Sport 31

ISSUE 15 / 12TH FEBRUARY 2018 WWW.MANCESTERMEDIAGROUP.CO.UK

Following the loss at Wembley, Jose Mourinho would have been hoping his side can quickly bounce back to keep them ahead of the chasing pack for the final three spots in the top four. The Portuguese manager conceded after the Tottenham game that they could no longer catch Manchester City and the emphasis was now on keeping a top four position and going as far as possible in the Champions League.

There were four changes from that side which lost 2-0 during the week including for the first time this season Paul Pogba. De Gea played his 300th game for Manchester United behind a defence of Valencia, Smalling, Rojo and Shaw. Pogba’s place was taken by the youngster Scott McTominay alongside Nemanja Matic. Juan Mata stepped in for Anthony Martial in an attacking trio of Lingard and Sanchez and as usual the striker was Lukaku.

Huddersfield Town got the game underway and hoped to cause another upset similar to their first Premier League meeting in October last year. The Yorkshire side desperately needed to take away something from this game as they occupy the second of three relegation spots.

The first chance of the game came seven minutes in as Lingard surged through the Huddersfield defence. He drove a powerful shot towards the bottom left hand corner but Lossl got down well to stop it. United were moving the ball well but were struggling to break down a deep lying opposition.

Huddersfield were standing strong and keeping United at bay but were conceding a few fouls in the process. Two free kicks on

the right hand side of the pitch were taken by Mata and both times the high defensive line utterly failed, yet the Huddersfield players seemed bewildered that the linesman doesn’t call offside.

In the second of those free kicks Scott McTominay headed the ball towards goal and was completely taken out in a late challenge

by Kongolo, who had no real chance of getting to the ball first. The referee didn’t call the foul even with a perfect view of the challenge.

Kongolo was very lucky to not have conceded a penalty there.

The dangerous defending continued as Billing took out Rojo to receive the first yellow card of the game. Manchester United were totally in control of the game with 82 per cent possession in the opening 25 minutes and mistakes were starting to seep into the away side. Moments later Mata receives a yellow card for an equally poor challenge.

Despite this possession, United had only created a few minor chances. Their decision to try and penetrate the centre of the defence had caused them a few problems with that area of the pitch being very congested. One touch passing was needed to cut through the well-drilled defence and United couldn’t move the ball quick enough.

In the last minute of the half Sánchez received a yellow card for a fairly tame tackle.

His cause wasn’t helped however when he approached the Huddersfield player then walked away as the referee tried to talk to him. His frustration was most likely stemming from the lack of end product from his team.

He would have been hoping that changed in the second half.

United almost scored a goal immediately in the second half. Sánchez and Lukaku link

Photo: Sean MacEntee @flickr

up brilliant to put the Chilean through on goal. His shot would have certainly gone in if it wasn’t for a fantastic block by Smith. Seconds later, though, Smith got a yellow card for hacking Sánchez down.

With every Red Devil’s attack the Huddersfield players seemed to defend with ever increasing desperation. They were struggling to keep United at bay to the same extent they did in the first half and it felt like a goal was imminent.

And just like that Manchester United went ahead. Matic passed the ball out to Mata on the wing who was given a lot of space and time to pick his cross. That cross was met on the volley by the left foot of Lukaku and the ball went into the bottom right hand corner.

Mourinho would have been happy with his team’s intensity in the second half.

Yet another yellow card for Huddersfield, this time it was Hogg for taking Lingard out.

They need to be careful with these clumsy challenges, especially with the abundance of talent sitting on the United bench. The first of those makes their way onto the pitch slightly after the hour mark with Paul Pogba taking the place of Jesse Lingard.

Hefele, who came onto the pitch not long ago, got a yellow card for a challenge on

Sánchez. The Chilean has been on the receiving end of several fouls this afternoon. He’ll be hoping to take revenge by scoring a goal on this his home debut for the club.

Not even five minutes later Hefele, already on a yellow card, took out Sánchez again to concede a penalty. He is incredibly lucky to stay on the pitch and Sánchez immediately picked up the ball and headed to the spot. In front of the Stetford end, it seems like destiny. He fires the shot to the bottom right hand corner and Lossl saves it. Sadly for the keeper the ball rebounded straight into the path of Sánchez who makes it 2-0 to United.

The second Manchester United substitution saw Juan Mata come off for Rashford. Mata has had a fantastic game in the fluid attacking midfield trio most notably assisting the first goal. Lukaku made way not long after for Martial, Mourinho making sure all of his attackers get game time.

The game wound down in the final few minutes and the players would have been happy with their performances. Huddersfield need a quick change of fortune to stop them from plummeting back to the Championship. United’s next game is away at Newcastle and Huddersfield’s is at home to Bournemouth.

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12th FEBRUARY 2018 / ISSUE 15 / FREE

UoM comeback seals derby win MMU had a promising start but nothing could stop the home side from powering through to victory Sam Cooper Head Sports Editor The Manchester University (UoM) Women’s Football 1st team defeated their Manchester rivals Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) 2-1. This is all thanks to goals from Elise Skelding and Emma Clarke. The win was UoM’s second win in as many games, as the team followed on from the previous week’s 4-1 win over the University of Chester while the visitors MMU suffered only their second defeat of the season.

At the start of the day, MMU sat on top of the Northern 2A league, seven points ahead of their UoM counterparts, and the opening stages of the game reflected this. Just one minute after a goal was ruled out for offside, MMU took the lead in the second minute. A chipped through ball found the MMU striker and while UoM goalkeeper Eza Doortmont did well to save the first attempt, she was powerless to stop the second as the MMU player slotted the ball into the net.

The goal increased MMU’s confidence which was already buoyant from their season so far and they looked to work a high press that confined UoM to their own half. The visiting side seemed very comfortable in possession which was in stark contrast to UoM who were restoring to unsuccessful long balls.

With 15 minutes gone, MMU were looking on track for a comfortable win and their number 14 was looking a real danger. However, the UoM coach implemented a slight tactical shift by assigning each UoM defender an attacker to mark. This switch to womanmarking helped limit the effectiveness

of MMU’s number 14 and the home side began to force their way back into a game.

UoM’s first shot on target came from a deep free kick on the left flank. Whether the original intention was to be a cross is uncertain, but the ball was deep enough to reach the keeper who gathered it well.

There was danger at the other end shortly after. A bouncing ball couldn’t be held by Doortmont, and a last ditch block from Megan Clarkson was required to deflect the ball away from goal.

Approaching the hour mark and it was more of an even game than the opening stages and it was now UoM’s turn to have a goal ruled offside. Elsa Gougeon, whose influence on the game was increasing, was released in behind but the referee blew for offside. With no linesmen present, it was unclear whether this was the correct decision but if it was it must have been a very close call.

The disallowed goal seemed to boost UoM’s spirts though and they were unlucky not to equalise just a few minutes later. Gougeon was again involved as she beat her opponent on the left flank before firing in a driven cross. Daisy Stewart received the ball in the centre of the box but could not sort her feet out to generate enough power in the shot and it was an easy save for the MMU keeper.

With half time approaching, UoM scored a deserved equaliser. Again the danger came from a free kick as it was floated into the box. Skelding was alive at the back post to slot the ball past the MMU goalkeeper and into the back of the net. The goal came in the 43rd minute and the teams went in at half

time with the score level at 1-1.

The break came at a good time for MMU as UoM were building up momentum.

The early exchanges of the second half was a much more even affair.

Neither side was creating any clear opportunities but it looked like if UoM were to score, it was going to come from the left flank where they were looking dangerous.

MMU began to have a few more chances and came close from a curled effort that found the outside side netting. The visitors were beginning to regain some of that dominance they started the game with but any momentum was quickly cooled as UoM scored their second of the match in the 64th minute.

Another free kick but this time it was deeper and more central. Clarke looked to float a pass into the box but misjudged the power and the ball was heading towards goal. The MMU keeper attempted to catch it but made a mess of it and could only palm it into her own net. The unexpected goal came from a distance of approximately 35 yards and gave the home side a lead to defend for the final 20 minutes.

With fatigue beginning to become more of a factor, the final stages of the game consisted of a lot of injury stoppages.

Several MMU players went down and this helped to break up any movements the away side were hoping to make.

MMU had a few half chances towards the end of the game but UoM dealt with them and hung onto a narrow 2-1 victory.

With just their second win of the season, the result sees them move further away from the bottom of the division and they now sit level with UCLAN in fourth.

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Photo: Sam Cooper @TheMancunion

Twenty20 Review

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The rise of swap deals

P30 Photo: Stanislav Vedmid @ wikimedia commons

Money in football

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