Skip to main content

Day: 2 October 2011

Manchester medics to get free iPads

Written by News Editor on . Posted in News.

Medics and dentists at Manchester University will receive iPads to help with their studies as part of a pilot scheme starting in December.

712 students will get the tablet computers whilst they are on clinical placements throughout the North West. Prices for the tablets start from around £350, and can be as high around £650, depending on the specifications.

The scheme is the first in the UK to trial the use of iPads during clinical education. If successful, similar trials are likely to be rolled out at other UK institutions.

The University says the findings of the trial will be “widely shared”.

Professors hope the Wi-Fi only computers will reduce the faculty’s carbon footprint, improve feedback and give students easier access to online resources.

The Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences will “loan” the tablets to students, who will then have the option of buying them for a “very small nominal fee” when they graduate.

The scheme will include fourth year medics, third, fourth and fifth year dentistry students and second and third year BSc Oral Health students.

They have been selected for the scheme because they will spend more time off campus on clinical placements.

Some have criticised the scheme as a quick attempt to raise student satisfaction. Manchester’s medical school has one of the lowest satisfaction rates in the country, at 69 per cent.

April Buazon, a fourth year medical student, will get an iPad as part of the scheme. She said, “It’s transparent that they’re just trying to buy student satisfaction. I’d rather the money was spent on extra teaching staff.”

Other students raised concerns about the cost of the scheme at a time when the higher education budget is being slashed.

Professor Ian Jacobs, Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences and Vice-President of the University said, “The pilot project, which is due to start towards the end of the year, has generated widespread interest and a lively debate on the value of electronic tablets in clinical education and training, which is welcomed.

“The fact that we are leading on this groundbreaking initiative in the UK is just one example of our determination to provide the highest quality education and training at the University of Manchester.

“Most students and staff understand the importance of undertaking a careful evaluation before investing in new technologies on a large scale.”

Fifth year medical students have complained about being excluded from the scheme. They have set up a Facebook group, iPads for 5th year Manchester medical students! Join the lobbying group!, which has 178 members at the time of writing.

The group’s creator, David Budd, says iPads will give fifth years the ability to access multiple resources at the same time, including text books and clinical investigations. He also said that keeping in touch with the University, friends and family and being able to use the tablet as a “lightweight library” would also give fifth years an advantage.

Members of the group have been emailing the Head of Undergraduate Medical Education, Professor Anthony Freemont.

Manchester University is the first in the UK to use iPads during clinical education. But similar schemes have proved popular in the US where iPads have been given to students at many leading medical schools including Yale, Stanford and Harvard.

Amazon recently announced it will release a new version of the Kindle which will rival the iPad. The Kindle will be significantly cheaper.

Meanwhile a property development company in Salford has handed out 50 free iPads to students in its halls of residence. Jamie Pickles, 18, said, “It will be quite helpful in lectures because I haven’t got a word processor on my computer.”

Now Give Three Cheers

Written by Andrew Campbell on . Posted in Theatre.

It has been 140 years since the first collaboration between librettist W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan was premiered in London but their works, including comic operas The Mikado, H.M.S Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance, are still regularly performed up and down the UK and around the world. From Cole Porter to Family Guy, Gilbert and Sullivan’s have had a significant cultural impact on satire, musical theatre and popular music and in 2001, three out of five nominees for the Outstanding Musical Production Olivier Award were productions of Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas.

Of particularly interest is the dedication that Gilbert and Sullivan inspire from amateur performers. In the UK there are over 100 amateur societies dedicated to performing Gilbert and Sullivan’s work. You can’t say this of Shakespeare, Sondheim or any other writers of drama, opera or musical theatre.

The Mancunion meet up with Paul O’Neil and Ian Field from Manchester Universities Gilbert and Sullivan Society (MUGGS) to talk about the enduring popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan and the kind of things that they get up to as a student society performing to students and the public here in Manchester.

Paul, the societies Publicity Manager and who directed the MUGGS production Yeoman of the Guard last term, admits that Gilbert and Sullivan do have something of image problem, associated with “drafty church halls and creaky sets” and that “sometimes music and drama students don’t take what we do serious, which is a shame”. Ian, who is the MUGGS Social Secretary, adds that “there are G&S traditionalists but MUGGS enjoys staging different interpretation, we staged a Bollywood version of The Mikado with authentic Bollywood dancing. The dramatic content is much stronger than people give it credit for”. The malleability of Gilbert and Sullivan’s work appears to be one of the keys to its success; Paul mentions that “In G&S it’s traditional to change comments about Victorian Politics contemporary ones. In H.M.S Pinafore a Lawyer becomes the head of the Royal Navy. Today we have someone with no experience of working in a hospital as Health Secretary and a doctor running the Ministry of Defence. Some things in England haven’t changed”.

The society was founded in 1951, Paul says that, “The French Society wanted to welcome students and they thought, what is more English than putting on The Mikado?”. They ascribe the popularity to a couple of factors, firstly, Ian says that “The copyright on G&S works ran out in the 1960’s and that makes putting on productions far more affordable. A few years ago we staged Bugsy Malone, one of only a handful of times in MUGGS history that we have staged a non-G&S show, and we had to pay nearly £1000 for the rights”. MUGGS has been able to stage nearly all of Gilbert and Sullivan’s full-length comic operas over its history, having no copyright and licensing issues to consider gives groups full control over how and when the shows are staged.  Secondly, one of the appeals of G&S is that there are no barriers to getting involved, though MUGGS do use professional musicians they don’t audition for their chorus. Paul says that society attracts people who “might feel intimidated by drama societies” and that there is an emphasis on creating a “fraternal atmosphere”. “We have a 50/50 male/female split in the society and a lot of heterosexual men who like football but also like prancing around on stage in costume”.

MUGGS will be rehearsing and performing a show in 24-hours from 6pm on Friday 7th October in UMSU Council Chambers. 

Gallery guide – Islington Mill

Written by Phoebe Chambre on . Posted in Arts.

ISLINGTON MILL

James Street
Free entry

Far-out. Both geographically and artistically. Our first and only Salford entry: the ex-real Victorian cotton mill. The Mill in Islington is no metaphor. Yet grind out a constant supply of culture the Mill does. A commune of variety, from yoga, to club-nights, studio-space and recording studios, two galleries, and also a bar; it’s worth the (15-minute) pilgrimage. It has its own B&B, though, if you can’t manage the return journey. The current Artist in Residence, David Wojtowyca, is showing his American Bodies exhibition throughout September and October. The Free for Arts Festival also has a foot in this door, with the Eat, Use, Destroy exhibition running at the Mill. And the Salford Music Festival will be represented until the 24th. The Salford Zine Library, that cultural beacon of Salford, also operates from here. All things local and/or original find a home here. This list is so far from exhaustive, I urge you to check out the many happenings for yourself. Plus, the Guardian calls it ‘cool and trendy’.
David Wojtowyca: American Bodies, September/October
Eat, Use, Destroy: 30/09-06/10
Salford Music Festival: until 24/09

Gallery guide – Manchester Art Gallery

Written by Phoebe Chambre on . Posted in Arts.

Mosley Street
Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10-5
Free entry (except some exhibitions)

This central representative of the Manchester Museums Consortium does what it says on the tin. Other Consortiums include the Lowry, Imperial War Museum, and our old friend the Whitworth. This particular tin contains a mere 25,000 ‘items’, three floors, and 21 rooms. Its hard casing of classical Palazzo architecture replete with columns invokes the hushed tones appropriate for the historical gravitas of such a building, and confirms its place among the old boys: Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam, or Oxford’s Ashmolean. The focus here is on the classics: British and European watercolours, ceramics, furniture.
However, classically for Manchester the exhibitions involve a twist on the traditional. They gravitate towards the urban, local and relevant. Currently, Grayson Perry: Visual Dialogues, fusing historic and contemporary items to invoke debate, awaits your consideration. And artfolk are mad for it, the forthcoming Ford Madox Brown: Pre-Raphaelite Pioneer, will not disappoint. The collection fittingly focuses on the artist’s years in Manchester. A Saturday afternoon favourite.
Grayson Perry: Visual Dialogues, until 12/02/2012
Ford Madox Brown: Pre-Raphaelite Pioneer, 24/09-29/01/2012 (£6 entry)

Gallery guide – CUBE

Written by Phoebe Chambre on . Posted in Arts.

Portland Street
Opening times: Monday-Friday, 12-5.30; Sunday, 12-5.
Free entry

CUBE, ‘centre for the urban built environment’. This space is very proudly the only centre for art, architecture and design exhibitions in the Northwest. Sleek, white, modern, and functional, its identity is unsurprisingly bound up in this edifice and its location. Fittingly, the current Junebum Park commission currently showing is based on the Korean artist’s personal experiences in Manchester, and also rests on the actual building itself. Yet, contrary to (some) expectations for ‘sleek and modern’, Park seeks to introduce a playful element to something as potentially stern as a city front. Of equal import, CUBELab artists, Julia Münz and Annika Unterburg bring us Seedbank for Treehouse. A blend of architectural prowess and childlike fantasy, the Venn diagram circles of which overlap at obsession. AND you get a party bag to take home, no cake, but a potential treehouse for personal use. The Bauhaus of Manchester, with a sense of humour. You’ll be laughing all the way home.
Junebum Park: To let, 02/09-05/10
CUBELab: Julia Münz and Annika Unterburg, 02/09-05/10

Gallery guide – CORNERHOUSE

Written by Phoebe Chambre on . Posted in Arts.

70 Oxford Road
Free entry to all exhibitions. Cinema tickets, sadly, not free.
Opening times: Galleries closed Monday, open every other day from 12.
Box office open Monday-Sunday 12-8.

A ‘creative hub’ to meet all your artistic needs. And that’s just the café. Or maybe the bar. Both of which this hub has. This many-storied corner dwelling is indeed a tower of artistic delectables to sink your teeth into. Its got film, art, books, talks, and, food. Noteworthy are upcoming exhibitions from Daksha Patel and Rashid Rana (first major solo exhibition in the UK, in case you’re counting), both featuring as part of the Asia Triennial Manchester 11. If you’re into education the Introduction to Contemporary Visual Arts: Modernism looks set to storm it. Look out also for the Matinee Classics from the film department, in particular, the forthcoming Terence Malick resurrections. Your creative consuming needs need look no further than this home on the corner.
Daksha Patel, 09/09-18/10
Rashid Rana: Everything is happening at once, 01/10-18/12
Badlands, 02/10, 05/10
Introduction to Contemporary Visual Arts: Modernism, 10/10-14/11

Gallery guide – Whitworth Art Gallery

Written by Phoebe Chambre on . Posted in Arts.

WHITWORTH ART GALLERY

Oxford Road
Opening times: Monday-Saturday, 10-5; Sunday, 12-4
Free entry

Whitworth Art Gallery, friend and neighbour to Whitworth Park, esteemed part of the University of Manchester, and valued member of the Manchester Museums Consortium, is above all a pretty good gallery. For starters, a ravishing collection of the finest arts, textiles, wallpaper, prints, and sculpture to rival the heavyweight Victoria and Albert Museum in both size and significance. The Fine Art collection is built on themes of place and urban landscape in both Modern and historic work, including the notable British watercolours collection. If that’s not enough to get your pulse racing perhaps a brisk turn about the grounds will. That’s right, our only entry to include a garden, and a sculpture garden at that. The Whitworth builds on this fine base of a stockroom by consistently pushing the artistic envelope with its exhibitions. The upcoming Dark Matters exhibition does not disappoint on this front. It explores the impact of scientific and technological discovery on art; in particular interpretations of darkness and shadow. The sheer potential of artistic interpretation within this subject matter is equaled by the range of mediums and period in the exhibition: commissions, contemporary work, store room gems, a collaboration with Animate Projects, and a programme of film screenings. And it’s only down the road, so no excuses.
Dark Matters, 25/09-15/01/12

This is Your Manchester

Written by Phoebe Chambre on . Posted in Arts.

Art wants YOU. Whether long-time inhabitant or newly enfranchised freshman to the walkways of Manchester, our introductory guide to Arts and Culture is specifically tailored to you. Your amusement. Your convenience. Your information. Your inspiration. Your diary. Because as we may or may not have demonstrated, there is something for everyone within the four walls of this city: our home. A town whose vast and varied cultural fare webs out from the same central point: that of our curious city itself. Everyone, from Manchester Art Gallery, with their Ford Madox Brown Manchester years special, to CUBE’s spatial integration, and Islington Mill’s milling-class roots, seems to want a piece of the action. Not content with merely being based in Manchester, the galleries seem to want to display artists who want to engage with urban living; what it means to live in Manchester, what it means to visit Manchester, and how interpretations have ranged and changed. And guess what? As residents of this fair city, which, you may not have noticed, has quite a few students, we make a sizeable mouthful of Mancunians. Honorary Mancunians, at least. And as Mancunians, we at The Mancunion want your input. So input your thoughts: comment on our website, write to us, write for us, draw us something, take a photo, tell us what inspires you, makes you angry, or patriotic, or happy. And if you don’t like us (on facebook), at least like your city. Because its right here, under your feet.
Email us at [email protected]
Come to our weekly meeting, Tuesdays at 5pm

Boy hit by police van – force are ‘devastated’

Written by Joshua Carroll on . Posted in News.

A 13-year-old boy is in a critical condition after being knocked down by a police van, which was responding to a call in Swinton, Greater Manchester.

The boy suffered a head injury and was taken to hospital yesterday at around 6.30pm.

The police officer who was driving the van has been suspended from driving duties.

Officers from the Forensic Collision Reconstruction Unit are examining the scene.

Greater Manchester Police have referred the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett said, “Our thoughts are with the family of this little boy and we are devastated that while responding to try and help one person, another has been injured.

“We are carrying out a full investigation into the circumstances of the collision so we can establish exactly what happened.”

Working to Women’s Equality

Written by Ben Moore on . Posted in Opinion.

A very important and understated liberation week commences today- Women’s Week. Sexism in our society is rife and spreads right up to the top employers in our country. Today, women account for half the population and yet only10% of board members in Europe’s big firms are female. The prejudice women face in the workplace is nothing short of a disgrace.

As my mother constantly reminds me, at GCSE level, females generally achieve better across the board than their male counterparts. Yet, UK national earnings do not reflect this; in 2009, the Government estimated that women earn 21 per cent less than men. This gender disparity has to be corrected. Women are no less hardworking, intelligent or deserving of the wages men get.

Employers often cite the uncertainty they face when employing women as a disincentive to employ women to top positions within the firm; it is feared that the woman might become pregnant and therefore require a long period off work – a situation ironically exacerbated in some cases by leave becoming a legal entitlement. This fear is no secret in the industry, with even (Lord) Alan Sugar claiming it should be legal for an employer to ask a woman if she is pregnant, or planning to have a family, prior to appointing her. What is fair about asking women to choose between their family and their career? No one chooses which set of chromosomes they are born with and neither gender should be discriminated as a result.

Long gone are the days when the stay alone mother was deemed integral to the moral foundations of society. Such ideas are outmoded, a throwback to Victorian patriarchy. The modern welfare state should support women who choose to work and those who don’t, and the recent coalition documents leaked suggest frontloading child benefit to assist mothers struggling with childcare and lost earnings in their children’s first years.

It is important the coalition does not ignore women’s issues during the headline grabbing turmoil of the recession and this is a good scheme- employers aren’t disincentivised from employing women. Allowing a woman to continue her career after the birth of her child seems like a great use of taxpayer’s money, and would go some way to reducing the deficit between male and female earnings.

Another proposal, which builds on the Equality Act, suggests the need for complete transparency, so that women can anonymously compare their wages with males in the same industry. This will ensure that discrimination against women can’t be hidden – and what do employers have to hide anyway: we all want gender equality, right?
Some may suggest that these issues are ‘market issues’ (rather, say, moral or ethical ones that transcend ‘the market’), saying that companies should be allowed to employ whom they want, and that those who employ women will inevitably benefit from increased profits as a result of the female employee’s work. Unfortunately, whilst this may be true, the market does not account for human prejudice; women may indeed bolster profits, but unless they play football with three balls, they may still not be employed.

‘The market’ in any event should not be seen as the be the moral compass of our society. Indeed, the ‘market’ justified slavery for generations; without the Cotton Farm Act children might still be working for even less reward than we give our women. The market alone cannot solve this problem; if we can legislate against injustices caused by the market, why should we refrain from doing so in the case of gender disparity? Women aren’t being paid less because they are incompetent.

Women should be in the same highly paid jobs as men, so it is appalling that in 2009, females in the City were being paid as much as 60 per cent less than their male counterparts. Having women in positions of power dismisses the myth that women are less able to manage people and make important decisions than is popularised in male mythologies of female “scattiness”, whilst providing girls across the country with important new role models. By taking positive action now, we may be able to change social norms too.

In the House of Commons, women account for 22% of MPs. True, you don’t have to be a woman to legislate favourably for women, but this misses the point completely; even at the highest level of our legislative process, women are immensely underrepresented. The idea of a meritocracy is often used to justify the gender imbalance, but surely there are females who are as adequate, some might argue rather better than, the current crop of (extremely mediocre) MPs.

The onus is very much on party leaders to encourage women to stand up and break the Boys Club attitude. The delight and mirth with which David Cameron’s recent ‘she’s frustrated’ comment about Nadine Dorries in Parliament was greeted by indicates the continuing extent of a problem that runs from grass roots right up to front bench politics.

This is why Women’s Week is so vital- in raising awareness of the plight faced by women, in encouraging 50% of the population to have self belief, to ensure British women won’t be subjugated, and to let everyone know that an effort is being made to rectify the archaic pay differences between men and women. When my children are at University, hopefully there will be no need for a ‘Women’s Week’.