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Day: 3 October 2011

Stories from the West Bank: A Curfew Day in the Camp

Union Feature

Last year the University of Manchester Students’ Union mandated The Mancunion to feature the stories of students at Al-Najah University, which our students’ union is twinned with. Al-Najah is based in Nablus, in the West Bank. The aim of this is to show the everyday experiences of students in the Palestinian territories. Here is an account given by student Sa’ed Abu Ayash.

Sa’ed Abu Ayash

One morning while the rest of the family was sleeping except for my mother, I went to the kitchen to help her make breakfast.  We joked around for a while and my father was woken by my laugh, but before he told me to be quiet we heard gun shots. Then there was silence, and we heard a voice coming from an Israeli loudspeaker announcing a curfew in broken Arabic.

This curfew was during the “Ejtyah” invasion, of the West Bank in 2002 during the second Intifada (2000-2005).  In the Intifada and the years directly following, the Israelis reinvaded the West Bank, killed more than 4,500 Palestinians, and damaged houses, mosques, churches and many other historical buildings.  They also arrested more than 35,000 Palestinians including women and children.  That year I was in the eight grade and missed more than four months of class because of school closures during the invasions.

Soon, another voice called for a lamah— an order for the men in the camp of a certain age to gather in an designated place. The soldiers were looking for several wanted men. Fortunately, the age required, between sixteen and forty, was neither mine nor my father’s.

This was the only lamah that occurred in the second intifada in our camp, but in the first intifada (1987-1993) such lamahs were more common. My father had experienced the lamahs and told us what suffering the men faced, how they were beaten and humiliated.

I wanted to go to the lamah to see what would happen to the men, but I was not old enough. Still, I seized the chance while my mother prayed and my father went back to bed, for there was nothing else to do, because the electricity had been cut by the Israelis. I left my siblings eating breakfast and took my boots as quickly as I could so no one could stop me. On my way to the lamah I saw some friends throwing stones at an Israeli jeep and two tanks. They called me to join them, but I didn’t because I did not consider throwing stones as a kind of patriotism as others did, but instead as a way we could vent our frustration from the oppression and violence we encountered on a daily basis due to the occupation. But I wonder if this would be the terrorism the world talks about.

As I made my way to the school where men were gathered, taking alleys to avoid confrontation with Israelis, I saw a group of women from our neighborhood.  We walked toward each other and they explained that they were going to offer some food and water to the men.  We walked till there was one street separating us from the school. I crossed the street leaving the women behind in an alley, waiting for me to climb the wall of the school, and see what was happening.

The men were sitting on the ground in the schoolyard. I saw a soldier with two stars on each shoulder who was sitting in a classroom with a half closed door. He was sitting on a table in front of a man and was interrogating him. There were three men outside the room in a line surrounded by soldiers and I realized that they were interrogating the men one after another.

I then heard the women calling me because a jeep was coming. “Sa’ed ta’al jeish, jeish”–“Sa’ed come on soldiers, soldiers”. As I ran I heard one of them advising “don’t ever stop even if they shoot.  They don’t shoot at women”. I did not want to take any chances because I had heard of many accidents of shooting women and children.

I made my way through the small alleys and split up with the women. In the camps the houses are very close to each other due to poverty and overpopulation.  I then saw a group of soldiers but they did not notice me. I needed to hide somewhere until they were gone. The alley I was in had two houses.  One of them was the home of a girl who I admired or even loved, but who I had never been able to talk to. I wished that she would be standing in front of her house when I passed by in order to show her how courageous I was, for I was bold enough to go out when there was curfew, but she was inside.  As I climbed over debris littering the alley, I cut my leg badly and started to bleed.  I had no other choice but to knock on her door, where her father let me in because fortunately he wasn’t at the lamah.  Her mother dressed my wounds and I stayed there for the rest of the day and then started home once the curfew had ended.

As I neared the house, I heard my mother weeping. My father was assuring her saying, “Don’t worry if he was killed or injured they would announce it”.

When I entered the house my mother did not know what to do, whether to smile, to cry, or to punish me. I was grounded for over a week, but I didn’t regret it.  In my world the curfews forced us in and the lamahs forced us out.  That day no one decided for me.

Top 5: Movie heroines

Women are often lumbered with an unfair lot in the film world. Too often we’re presented as a ridiculous stereotype (Fever Pitch), a two dimensional caricature (Sex and the City) or just sex on legs (Transformers). It’s important, then, to celebrate the heroines that appear on screen. Here are my top 5.

 

Jean Louise “Scout” Finch – To Kill a Mockingbird

Every bit Atticus’ daughter, Scout Finch is clever, independent and compassionate. In her racist hometown, she proves herself to be more mature than many of the vicious and unthinking adults around her.

 

Annie – Annie Hall

Woody Allen’s romantic lead shows us that being ditzy is in no way synonymous with a lack of intelligence, as she breaks his heart and runs away with the film.

 

Marge the Police Chief – Fargo

In sub-zero conditions and a state of advanced pregnancy, Police Chief Marge barely breaks a sweat solving a series of homicides in her quiet country town.

 

Rose Sayer – The African Queen

Katherine Hepburn’s Methodist missionary is shot at by German soldiers, contends with white water rapids and proves that she’s more than a match for Humphrey Bogart’s moody verbal sparring in John Huston’s classic movie.

 

Mattie Ross – True Grit

She’s the hardest 14 year-old ever. True Grit’s lead role beats a professional lawyer at his own game, convinces Matt Damon’s Texas Ranger and Jeff Bridges’ U.S Marshall to help her track down her father’s killers and shoots a guy in the face with a rifle.

Original Vs Remake

Original (1932)

 

Arguably the iconic 30s Gangster film, the original Scarface charts the rise of Tony Camonte during prohibition. For anyone that hasn’t seen it, it’s worth a look if only for the fact that it contains every single cliché that you would expect from a 30s black and white film. Tony’s sidekick flicks a quarter in his hand all day long, the police say things like ‘You’ll turn yella like the other rats!’ and the whole film is just full of that amazing old dialogue; ‘This is my town, see!’

 

Of course Scarface is a great film for much better reasons than simply laughing at the dialogue. There are some great cinematic devices in Scarface. It’s little touches like the way Tony whistles the Sextet from Donizetti’s ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ before he kills people, and how the letter ‘X’ appears somewhere in every scene of someone being murdered that makes this film such a classic. The film lacks the bite of the remake, but then considering the huge difference in censorship between 1932 and 1983, the original is relatively violent for its era. Directors Hawks and Rosson had to release the film with the subtitle “The Shame of a Nation” to appease the Studio’s and the reason for Tony’s eventual breakdown and capitulation after the shootout is that the morals of the mass media in the 30s meant that crime had to be seen to pay, hence why Tony Camonte is shot running away from the police and Tony Montana dies fighting.

 

Remake (1983)

 

One of those rare cases of a remake far outshining the original and becoming an iconic film in it’s own right. Now whilst the story line is essentially the same, the setting has changed from prohibition Italian mafia gangsters to Cuban and Colombian drug dealers in Miami. The change is what makes the film such a success. It takes the best aspects of the original and adds an entire new slant to the story that brings in the Colombians and the money laundering. Paccino’s performance as Tony Montana is one of his finest and best remembered in his career. His deranged and psychotic character is everything that the Paul Muni’s Tony Camonte was and more – he dips his face into mountains of cocaine and fights about a million Colombian hit men with just his massive cojones and his massive gun.

Review: Warrior

Two grown men in a cage beating seven shades of shit out of each other. This is by no means the only thing that Warrior has to offer, but is probably the reason why many people will go to watch this film – and those people will not be disappointed. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton play the estranged brothers that enter an MMA (that’s Mixed Martial Arts for anyone as clueless as I was before entering the cinema to see this film) competition with the biggest prize money in the history of the sport, although for very different reasons. The hard-as-nails promotional poster you see plastered on buses and billboards make it look like another mindless fight film, but the depth of emotion that ran throughout the story lets it develop into a compelling and multi-layered drama. Hard to say that without sounding like a dick. The film’s strong plot is complemented by some incredible performances. There are some really quite moving scenes between Edgerton and Hardy rejecting the apologies of their freshly sober father (Nick Nolte) that might take anyone who is in the cinema just to see the fights by surprise. So don’t say I didn’t warn you when you let out an embarrassing little sniffle or sob in the silent cinema.

 

All the soppy crap aside – the fights are fookin’ incredible! Hardy apparently gained 28 pounds of muscle for the part, which explains why he looks like a Killer Whale that’s been on steroids for a year in the film. His character in the film rips the door off a tank and knocks a bunch of people out with the singular ‘wonder-bang’. Edgerton on the other hand gets beating after beating and then somehow manages to get his opponents in holds that look like he is folding them up ready to package in IKEA.

 

Warrior will do for MMA what Ong Bak did for Muay Thai. The fights are sensational and the details of the training and ringside instructions leave the viewer feeling included and not isolated by the technicalities of something they don’t understand. Whilst the story line as far as the competition and Edgerton’s ‘family-man-on-hard-times-coming-out-of-retirement-to-feed-his-family’ thing are standard and predictable, the skill in the filming for building suspense and creating compassion for the brothers makes the predictability fade next to everything that makes this film so good.

The 55th London BFI Film Festival

When people talk about an event an international of cultural importance in London these days, they’re almost certainly referring to the 2012 Olympics. An event which should bring our country together, not just England but the home nations too, with a sense of cultural understanding and a message relevant to our times – some damned good entertainment, too. But for those of you who that this does not thrill, maybe you should look to the London BFI Film Festival.

This year’s festival says it ‘Comes at a time when national news and international events suggest that film has never been more needed – whether to help us make sense of our lives or to offer us temporary escape’. Well this bold statement certainly defines the role of British film in 2011 as well. Whether Colonel Gaddafi’s looting a shop in London or Boris Johnson’s compound is being bombed, cinema is needed more than ever, not only as escapism, but also as an inspiration to (not to mention analysis of) our modern society.

Tinge Krishnan’s first feature length film Junkhearts is being tipped as the one to watch this festival, his previous short triumphing at the BAFTAs. Junkhearts deals with big contemporary problems such as drugs, alcoholism and homelessness, and follows three people’s attempts to find some redemption. It confronts a vision of life in the 21st century (and, in fact, life in general) that is wracked with horrific truths, and is billed as ‘sophisticated’.

If you’re looking for something a bit more avant-garde, and even humorous, to escape the increasing feeling of dread and disgust you have to deal with every day, then watch out for the films of Gabriel Brante (and collaborators). They explore conventional issues through unconventional methods, and the results are quite often very interesting. But whatever your cup of tea, there is sure to be something here to suit you, and if you, like me, are too devoid of money, time and proximity to London in the next few months to go, then watch out for their imminent DVD releases. So forget about the Olympics, get a gold medal in watching films.

Israel-Palestine: ‘The time for false mediation is over’

“With our souls, with our blood, we will defend Palestine,” cry those for whom Western rhetoric has become a rare beacon of hope in the ongoing battle for Palestinian statehood. Tired of the empty rhetoric of Barack Obama and others, and determined to bring an end to this most enduring of conflicts, President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has now made a formal application for Palestine to be admitted to the United Nations Security Council as a full member.

Despite President Obama’s repeated declarations of love for the Arab world, his supposed affection is clearly false – as proven by the impudent tone taken by him at recent summits in Istanbul and Cairo. Old habits die hard, especially for US presidents.

While the virtues of hope, pragmatism and co-operation have been extolled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his (to say the least) controversial government, the Palestinian Diaspora have suffered unjustly – not only through the expansion of Israeli settlements across clear Palestinian territory, but as a result of the introduction of a segregated system in the West Bank and Jerusalem that in essence foreclosed the option of a two-state solution. Western leaders, seemingly eager to advocate the Wilsonian liberal principles of self-determination and justice – but only when and where they see fit – have neglected the Palestinian people’s fundamental right to statehood.

Throughout the past two decades, countless negotiations have taken place between Israel and the PA: from Madrid to Oslo, from the Wye River to Taba via Camp David, to name but a few settings for the ceaseless yet fruitless discussions. Obama’s promises for a settlement freeze (Cairo, 2009) were unsurprisingly hollow; the 44th President is seen by many as a mere puppet in the negotiation process, to the point where one Republican Congressman reportedly commented that, “Netanyahu has more credibility in this Congress than Obama.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinian people are confronted with the harsh reality of brutal military occupation on the ground and Israeli intransigence at the negotiating table. Whilst the Oslo agreement set out to restore equal rights and an independent state to the Palestinian people, further negotiations proved to be frustrating and ineffective.

President Obama is guilty of a shameful hypocrisy. How can you be an ardent supporter of the Arab Spring and simultaneously allow the Palestinian nightmare to continue? For a man of such highly principled ideals, Obama has shown categorically that he is far more concerned about his ailing bid for re-election than the future of the Middle East. Siding with the Palestinian cause would ignite a huge uproar amongst the omnipotent Israeli lobby in the United States, thus alienating millions of potential voters; to change course now would simply not make political sense for an already under-fire President who needs every vote he can get.

This courageous call for statehood will not only be a significant point in history for the Middle East, but could potentially tear apart Western alliances. France and Germany seem to have a difference of opinion on the issue, with the Germans siding with Israel and the French apparently sickened by the treatment of Palestinians. When it comes to taking sides, Britain is unlikely to follow suit – instead, David Cameron has urged the UN to “show a united front”.

But with President Obama stuck between a rock and a hard place, it is left to our European leaders to fight for the ideals which have endlessly been flung around since January, when Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in a move that kickstarted the Arab Spring. The time for false mediation is over; radical action is needed and, whilst Cameron is right to advocate a united front in the face of adversity, our politicians cannot afford to abstain from an historic opportunity to revolutionize the Middle East forever.

Labour of love

For the young politics enthusiast, joining a political party for the first time is like buying you first album – only you hope that it’s the only album you ever need to buy. Voting for the same party once every four or five years is one thing, but making the cognisant decision to commit to one party means something more tangible. It is saying quite clearly “this is what I believe in”; it is, to some extent, part of your identity. As such, it is not a decision to be taken lightly, and as a 16-year-old just a few months into my first year at sixth-form college in Winchester (perhaps one of the most self-consciously middle class places in the country) I was certain that, in joining the Labour Party, I would be in the minority to say the least.

So, what on Earth possessed me to join? The reasons were manifold. Firstly, in the early days of my AS Politics classes I realised pretty quickly that I am, instinctively, a social democrat. I’m certainly no socialist, but injustice and inequality have always rankled with me and I struggle to identify with many of the values espoused by those on the right. Clearly, then, I was no Tory. The Liberal Democrats didn’t do it for me, either; perhaps prophetically, Nick Clegg struck me as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Labour, however, seemed to broadly encompass the values closest to my heart – a clear commitment to greater equality, with less focus on rampant individualism and more emphasis on the importance of community. Secondly, I was frustrated by the fact that many of my peers knew absolutely nothing of politics beyond the fact that their parents voted Conservative, usually because the Tories would tax Daddy less than those mean-spirited Lefties. It may seem crazy now but the final reason is that, in late 2007, Labour were enjoying something of a renaissance under newly-appointed Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Our leader was full of exciting policy ideas, all of which would ultimately be shelved when the financial crisis hit with the full force of its’ fury just a year later.

Throughout even the most testing days of the Brown government, which we now know heralded the decline of New Labour, I remained steadfast in my loyalty to the party. I genuinely believed – and continue to believe – that the country would have been better off had Labour won the general election in May 2010. I would have voted Labour, but unfortunately I live in a constituency where there is more chance of Elvis turning up than there is of Labour ever winning the seat, and as such the only rational choice was to vote Lib Dem for tactical reasons.

So why, just over one year on, is my love affair with Labour over? To say that I have limited confidence in the ability of our hapless leader Ed Miliband is true, but it is also too simplistic an explanation. Labour itself has lost a sense of what it stands for. The party has failed to move on from the Blair-Brown era, and there is now a vacuum at the very highest level which was, until recently, occupied by some of the greatest political operators of any generation. Where there was once a definitive ideology underpinning every policy formulated by the Labour government, the current leadership seems to lack clarity and direction. Perhaps most worryingly, the younger Miliband has failed to inspire the confidence of the vast majority of the electorate and, although we are less than halfway through this Parliament, I simply cannot imagine him being elected to the very highest office. According to the latest YouGov poll, less than 10% of people believe that he is a natural leader, good in a crisis or decisive. That makes for grim reading.

For all of the in-fighting, backstabbing and vitriol, the last 12 months have left me hankering for the vision and optimism that was so pervasive when Tony Blair swaggered into 10 Downing Street in 1997. There has been little in the way of concrete policy in recent times, and the few announcements that were made at last week’s party conference were woefully inadequate. I suspect that I am not the only Labour Party member who feels that he can no longer identify with the lacklustre assortment of soundbites that we have to settle for instead.

I certainly won’t be joining another party, but when my membership comes up for renewal in November I intend to politely decline the invitation. The love affair is over – for now.

Blind Date: Tom and Naomi

Tom, Third year, Civil Engineering

 What were your first impressions?
Good, she looked really nice and seemed friendly

What did you talk about?
A lot of random crap really, everything from spearfishing to Fred West

Best thing about them?
She’s really interested in food, always a good thing in my book!

What did you eat?
Sea bass with chorizo spinach and potato, followed by chocolate brownie

Any awkwardness?
Not really, only a little bit at the start when I realised the photographer was a guy off my course! Oh and when the guy running the pub quiz came over to wind us up because we weren’t going to join in.

How did you part ways?
Got her number and then headed off home

Out of 10?
Hmm let’s go with an 8.5

Would you see them again?
Possibly

 

Naomi, Second year, Linguistics

 What were your first impressions?

Confident, friendly and smiley.

What did you talk about?

Turning into our parents, being welsh and why we chose not to go to a welsh university, traumatic experiences with farm animals, his summer of travelling and my lack thereof, good sausages and bad facial hair.

Best thing about them?

Hard to point out just one, but he was was very easy to talk to. It felt like I’d known him for much longer.

What did you eat?

Since I wasn’t paying, I got steak: perfectly done with very tasty mustard sauce! I had sticky toffee pudding for dessert. It was a nice big generous portion too. Well done Deaf Institute.

Any awkwardness?

After we’d finished eating, a pub quiz started up. The host tried to get us to join in and we didn’t want to, so he started cracking jokes about how he’d take our names and then heckle at us throughout the quiz. I think he was trying to funny or something but he wasn’t funny, which was awkward.

How did you part ways?

Well I have to admit after reading this column before, I knew you were going to ask this question. So I began to be a bit conscious of it the minute we left. We ended up getting the bus in the same direction but because I was chatting away his stop rolled up sooner than I was anticipating, and he had to make a hasty exit. I managed a wave and a lame ‘thanks!’ as he disappeared down the stairwell. Not even sure if heard me! Massive fail.

Out of 10?

8

 Would you see them again?

I’m sure we’ll bump into each other sometime! He got my number anyway…

 

 

Tom and Naomi ate at The Deaf Institute, Grosvenor Street, Manchester. Visit their website www.thedeafinstitute.co.uk to check out their menu, gig listings and have a look at what club nights are coming up.

To sign up for blind date please e mail your name, year of study and course to [email protected] with ‘blind date’ as the subject.

The Travelling Bug

Being stared at by thirty expectant crossed legged six-to-ten year olds is pretty nerve-wracking at the best of times, but it’s not made much easier by a stray dog wandering in from the street, nibbling at your flip-flops before being chased out by a hail of stones, sandals and text-books.

I’m in Udaipur, India, and I’m struggling.

The children calm down after this event, albeit after much cajoling and vague threats, and return their attention to my shakily drawn approximation of the alphabet. I’ve made mistake, missing out the letter N, but it took me so long to get them to quieten down I really don’t want to turn my back on them again.

Also, there’s no chalk left, most of it was wasted on the dog. “A..B..C…” they sing in unison, happily absorbing nothing at all. I wish I was a better teacher, I really do, help the kids raise themselves out of the slums and all that, but after a month, they have only got to the letter R. And they still don’t know about N. – Edward Usher

 

Taken by Pippa Stannard

 

My interrailing trip started off in Belgrade, as my best friend and I thought we would stray from the European places that interrailers typically visit. We thought we were being pretty edgy, but actually found ourselves surrounded by other Western European students in the hostel who had the same idea.

With low expectations for daytime activities we arrived in Serbia and were pleasantly surprised.  We visited the Belgrade fortress in the Kalemegdan Park, a favourite with tourists due to its amazing views of the Sava river and picturesque walks.  The fortress itself was refreshing to visit as it hasn’t been “national trustified”  – it is completely open to the public with no entrance fee and few informative signs, making our morning there a relaxing breakfast picnic.

If you fancy something more adventurous, then you should visit the Ada Ciganlija, an island turned into a peninsula in the Sava river, with a 7 kilometre long beach.  The island has been conceptualised as Belgrade’s centre for mass sporting activity and recreation, with excellent facilities for sports ranging from water skiing to alpine skiing, or just sunbathing…

In terms of nightlife too Belgrade is full of options.  Skadarlija, the city’s bohemian quarter is well worth a visit to try typical national food and drink, visit galleries and listen to traditional Serbian brass.  For a big night out the KST (Klub Studenata Tehnike), located in the basement of the university’s faculty of electrical engineering has excellent value for money and plays good music.

For a student, funds play a huge part in planning a holiday, and Belgrade’s cheap prices are certainly beginning to reel in more and more backpackers.  Belgrade’s mixture of culture and activities make it a winning destination for the young traveller, which should become a typical stop on the student interrail trip – not just saved for my edgy self. – Pippa Stannard

 

Belgrade. Taken by Pippa Stannard

 

So you’ve finished your first year of uni. You’ve flown the nest and gained independence. After a year of waking up at midday and eating cereal at 9pm just because you can, the prospect of returning to your loving (suffocating) parents for a summer at home couldn’t seem much less appealing.

So I didn’t.  I booked a one way ticket to Paris with a friend – au revoir parents! It was certainly different. In fact that was the first thing we learnt; everything that doesn’t go well is put under the “experience” category.

From figuring out the French bureaucracy system, mastering the Parisian glare and most importantly learning exactly how many kisses to give to which people on arrival at work.  “Just say yes”: one of the most over-used phrases to anyone going anywhere new (yes, you freshers should recognise this) couldn’t have been more useful, or more cursed, putting us in some very strange situations – a blind date with a middle aged French man met on couch surfing?! But it also led us to late night drinks on the Seine, popping one Euro champagne, feeling swag and yes the time old cliché of meeting some great people.

So I didn’t go tubing in Laos, find myself in India or even come back to uni smug after a summer of working and earning. But I pushed passed tourists with a snooty sigh getting on the Metro by the Eiffel Tower…..and that thrill will last a lifetime. – Georgia Stevenson

 

Paris - Taken by Connie Watts

 

Whenever I told anyone I was going to Central America, they would always ask which state.  I think this general naivety pretty much sums up how little we know about this part of the world, which also explains why it is so beautiful – so far, pretty undiscovered.

Central America is in fact, the little string of land that connects South America with Mexico and the States, Pacific Ocean on the East Coast, Caribbean Sea on the West.  It is made up for seven countries, four of which are the CA-4 countries; Nicaragua; Honduras; El Salvador; Guatemala, which have an agreement that you can travel between them for free (without paying country exit and entry fees).  These four are also currently the least touristy of all Central American countries and that’s what makes them so magical – there are never big crowds of gringos annoying the locals, and while the tourism is not completely developed yet, there are no pretences – you see the country for what it really is.

It’s a land full of lush rainforests and tropical jungle, white sands, clear waters and surf beaches, exotic animals, volcanic islands, coffee plantations, friendly locals, delicious food (nachos and burritos like you could never imagine!), without all that tackiness that the equally beautiful, but now over-touristy South East Asia (full of 18 year old-just out of A-Level, full-moon-parties and tubing) brings, but also fantastically cheap.

Most people think to go to South America to experience the Latin American culture, but Central America is as equally as Latin as the South.  Central America has a hot year round temperature being on the equator (whereas it gets a lot colder in South America).  It’s the perfect place to do Spanish courses, cooking courses, volunteering – with animals or people, or is the perfect place to travel if you just have a month or two as you can easily fit all seven countries into six weeks and that would give you a great taste of Latin American diversity. – Louise Spearman

 

 

Central America - Taken by Louise Spearman

 

Many of us have a wishlist of “places to go, people to see and things to do”.  Whether the list consists of beaches, cities or the wonders of the world, as a student now is the best time to travel.  Students can take the opportunity through gap years before or after university, study abroad exchanges or making use of those long summer holidays.

New York City is top of my list of places to go.  There’s iconic images of the city that are great to experience first hand:  the lights in Times Square, the view from the empire state building, central park and the list goes on.  Whilst in NYC, take the opportunity to catch a Broadway show, baseball, basketball and to checkout the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A six hour roadtrip from NYC takes you to the beautiful Canadian city of Montreal, which has the refreshing influence of Parisian culture.  Montreal boasts of architecture from the 1600’s, an olympic park, museums and Mont Royal itself.  Then there’s a whole host of summer and winter festivals, NASAR, the cycling grand prix and formula 1.  – Thaddeus Anim-Somauh

 

Prague - Taken by Lily Howes

 

In April 2011 I took part in ‘The Hitch’, a charity run event where pairs hitch-hike to either Prague or Morocco. I chose the route to Prague and travelled with my friend and flatmate Ingrid. I can say with confidence that the hitch-hike was a brilliant experience. It was exhausting at times, but the lows helped the highs seem so much higher! I’ve never done anything like this in my life, with only going abroad once before and I would definitely advise travelling to anyone who is thinking about it. Seeing Europe has made me want to travel much more.

Prague is an amazing city for food. The first night we went for Pizza, and it was delicious. One of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. Prague has such a nice atmosphere, very bohemian (we were in Bohemia so what can you expect). We seized the opportunity by taking many photos and being proper tourists. One night we even went for a drink in Old Town and the bar had such a vibrant atmosphere; everyone was enjoying themselves in this city. Prague is quite big, and has a lot to offer.

A few tips if you travel through Europe: it’s expensive, even in the Czech Republic. Bring money, as you’ll need it. It’s not so much the hostels, but for food and drink. Also, if you hitch-hike make sure you bring a sleeping bag and go with your instinct. Plan your route loosely, and go with the flow. The memories of my trip shall stay with me for a long time, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to do it, as well as raise such a huge amount for charity. – Cliff Fleming

 

 

 

 

 

How much does it cost to buy a US politican’s soul? $2 billion, apparently

It has long been known that money has played a highly influential role in politics, and nowhere more so than in the United States.

The current Republican presidential candidates have at times spouted some frankly terrifying statements (should we really abolish social security, Mr Perry?) but, as is often the case in politics, there have sometimes been ulterior motives at work. Specifically, the candidates’ strong views are often enunciated primarily to boost their appeal amongst wealthy GOP donors. Rick Perry, the swaggering former Governor of Texas – a place where the concept of ‘pay-to-play’ in politics is commonly understood – provides a perfect example of the role of dirty money in misdeeds which seem to have occurred purely to satisfy those who bankroll his campaign.

Perry has long been a vociferous opponent of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), describing it as “cemetery for jobs.” For a period, Texas violated the US Clean Air Act by allowing industrial plants to cap pollution at the whole plant, rather than at individual smokestacks as recommended. His vehement criticism of environmental regulation might seem reasonable given the high proportion of Texan jobs in environmentally hazardous industries, such as oil refineries. Indeed, Perry is an outspoken climate change sceptic, describing scientific analysis of climate change as “a contrived phony mess.” But we must surely question Perry’s principal motive for such fierce opposition when we learn that the oil and gas industry has so far contributed over $11 million to his various electoral campaigns.

This already unimpressive environmental record gets worse, not better. In the early 2000s, Perry imported enormous quantities of nuclear waste from 38 other states, despite the serious hazards such material brings. Could this decision have been taken because Perry’s second biggest all-time private donor ran a nuclear waste dump in Texas – and received revenue of over $2 billion as a result of the decision?

To pacify his most generous individual donor, Perry led strong-armed efforts to prevent certain species from being listed as endangered through suburban development – a tremendously lucrative move for the donor’s home building business. Meanwhile, in 2007 Perry passed an executive order that made the controversial cervical cancer vaccine HPV mandatory in the state of Texas. Previously, Texan pharmaceutical giant Merck had donated $380,000 to the Republican Governor’s Association, and at the time employed Perry’s former chief of staff as its’ chief lobbyist.

It’s a shocking insight into the murky world of campaign funding in the United States, begging the question of whether or not unlimited spending on electoral campaigns is actually beneficial. In an age of multi-billion dollar presidential campaigns, it seems increasingly likely that we will be hearing our political leaders’ views doctored by campaign funds.

Head to Head: Politics

Conservative Future

Written by Ellen Daniels

With the Conservative Party Conference here in Manchester next week, it will be time to review the  effect of the party’s policies over the past 16 months in Government, and look ahead to what will be done in the future.

The Conservatives have been righting thirteen years of Labour’s wrongs, and will continue to do so until our economy reaches its peak. The deficit reduction strategy proposed by the Conservatives has been praised by the IMF as significantly reducing the risk of a sovereign debt crisis, a clear rejection of Labour’s plan for bankruptcy. Along with the praise for the public spending reductions, we have also seen the creation of over half a million new companies from May 2010- July 2011, an 11% increase from the year before, with the Conservatives keeping their promise to support business start ups. This growth encouraged  the creation of eleven new enterprise zones, which include several in the north of England, and will produce over 30,000 new jobs in these areas by 2015. The economy IS growing.

There was much debate when the increase in tuition fees was announced, however, these higher education reforms will see a much more efficient system, which will see no payment of money upfront, as well as less being paid back a month, and I’d like to reiterate that no one will have to pay back a penny of their loan until they have to, once they have a salary of over £21,000 pa, as opposed to the current £15,000 pa. The funds will go directly to the university itself as opposed to the government, so universities will be pressured to drive up their standards.

From all that has happened in the past 16 months, the end of tax breaks for bankers, increased NHS spending, creation of thousands of new jobs, harsher punishments for criminals, a cap on immigration,  and the establishment of Free Schools, the Coalition Government have done more than Labour did in 13 years. We are sorting out Labour’s mess, and with the growth and fantastic reforms seen in the past year, the Conservatives are definitely the ones to watch.

 

Labour Students

Written by Thomas Grandjouan

This year’s Labour Party conference will hold something very special indeed.  This week, a rested and refreshed Ed Miliband takes center stage with a speech that will set Labour on a radical new direction: tearing away from New Labour’s technocratic establishment mentality and replacing it with a massive challenge to shatter neo-liberal consensus politics.

So, while smiling Tories in Manchester pat each other on the back for the ‘tough’ decisions they’ve undertaken to lead this country back into austerity, while Lid Dems in Birmingham sit on their hands gritting their teeth, hopelessly contemplating the fateful hand they’ve been dealt, the Labour Party assembled in Liverpool, will be setting forward a plan to win back power through the biggest change in Labour thinking since the words ‘New Labour’ were first uttered.

What exactly could this new mentality be? Well, it was exemplified this summer during the hacking scandal, when Miliband came forward and called for Rebekah Brooks’ resignation from News International – the sort of challenge that cripples Prime Ministers and backbenchers alike with a paralytic fear of forever tarnishing their electability. This is a mentality where we address vested interests and no longer round off conversations with phrases like ‘well they’re too big to fail’ or ‘that’s how it’s always been done’.

According to his aides, Miliband doesn’t just want ‘to shake things up’, he’s looking for an irreversible progressive revolution that will explode the political settlement that have left us with a squeezed middle class and young adults with diminishing opportunity and responsibility; in his own words “I’m ripping up the rule book”. No matter what your politics are, this is not a conference to ignore.

 

Liberal Youth 

Written by Sarah Harding

Who are the only party campaigning for scrapping tuition fees? Who are the only party ensuring adequate maintenance loans and grants? Who are the only party making sure landlords properly insulate their houses and protect the environment?

The Liberal Democrats are.

Liberal Youth is the youth and student wing of the Lib Dems. We believe in drug policy reform, ending the blood ban on men who have sex with men and scrapping tuition fees (and we hold the party to account on this!)

We represent students and what they care about. We’ve campaigned for electoral reform, for equal marriage and a more humane asylum system. We consistently stand up for freedom, for fairness and for equality whilst arguing for evidence based policies and transparency.

Liberal Youth does during conference season what no other party youth group can even dream of. This year we wrote and proposed three of the eleven motions on the conference floor, spoke on four amendments and hosted nine fringe events. We offer our members that which no other party does: the chance to turn an idea at the back of your mind into a policy accepted by a party of government.

We also host our own conference twice a year. The next Liberal Youth conference will be held in Colchester on 21st-23rd October and we’ll be debating child poverty, listening to the president of the NUS and Evan Harris of the Hacked Off campaign and being trained on how to campaign more efficiently.

Current Lib Dem policy is to remove tuition fees, but our voice is only as strong as our membership and our voters. Liberal Youth are the only party political youth wing to oppose fees completely; for our voice to be hear we need your support.

Hate us? Love us? Don’t have a clue about us? Get in touch and share your views.

Contact Sarah on [email protected] for more details

 

Society Spotlight: Gilbert and Sullivan (MUGSS)

Explaining what MUGSS does should be easy, they put on one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s musical comedies every year, but that’s only part of the story.  A lot goes into putting on a successful show.

To perform in a professional 600 seat Opera Theatre, they have to book it over a year in advance.  Directors and lead production roles need to be interviewed and appointed before the summer, with budgets assigned to each aspect of the show.

While other students enjoy a well-earned break, feverish preparations continue, to ensure that, come Welcome Week, they’re ready to hit the ground running in both music rehearsals and set construction sessions.  Then it all begins in earnest.  Weeks of rehearsals, sewing costumes, building set, practising with their 20 piece orchestra and of course selling tickets; over 3,000 of them (that’s almost one an hour from welcome week to the opening night!), but boy is it worth it.  Standing on stage with a cheering audience is a feeling like no other and the closest most people will ever come to being a rock star!

And it’s great experience too.  In recent years their members have gone on to be in West End musicals, work for top fashion houses, direct TV shows and even star in Dr Who!  Some of them also run two venues at the Edinburgh fringe and every year give opportunities to see and participate in the biggest arts festival in the world on a student budget.

As you’d expect from a society that has been doing this year in year out for over six decades, this is a well-oiled machine, but remarkably the personnel change every year and it’s often people who’ve been in the society for less than 6 months that pick up the mantle and begin organising the next production.

Their members aren’t just those interested in drama or studying for a singing degree either; there are no auditions for their chorus, only the main roles, and the sheer number of activities that are involved require people from all disciplines, even those with no desire to appear on stage.  Like fashion?  They need people to design and make the costumes.  Electrical engineer?  This year’s director wants an animatronic cat.  Not sure?  There’s bound to be a part of their show that can use your skills.

Nobody expects any of this to be easy. They work hard – you have to to produce a quality show – but they also know how to enjoy themselves, socialising after every Wednesday rehearsal and crew session, holding legendary house parties, a huge Christmas dance and a classy formal summer ball.

It’s not all Gilbert and Sullivan though; MUGSS also produces an annual 24-hour show. This year’s is a bite-size musical they’ve written themselves to give everyone a chance to get involved straight away, whether they’ve been on stage before on not.  Turn up on Friday night to find out what it is (The reveal of the show will be a spectacle in itself and is something not to be missed!) and work through the night to rehearse and perform it 24 hours later.  For those who prefer watching, go along on Saturday evening to see a hilarious show for the price of a pint.

If you’ve ever wanted to be in the limelight, design clothes, choreograph dance routines, manage a website, direct, write a script, be a contestant on the Apprentice, or build a 6m tall false perspective replica of the Tower of London, there’s a place in MUGSS for you, all whilst having a non-stop social life!

Who told you 19th century light opera couldn’t be fun?

 

Box-out or footnote to article:  See www.mugss.org/24 to get involved or be in the audience on the 7th and 8th October.

 

Cut the rate of unemployment, not the price of politics

September saw the publication of the biggest plan to reduce the number of MPs in Parliament since Guy Fawkes placed several suspicious-looking kegs underneath the Palace of Westminster. In these bleak economic times, the Prime Minister is eager to “cut the price of politics,” so plans to save £12 million per year by axing 50 MPs from the House of Commons at the next general election. The reduction is unprecedented – and with a growing and increasingly diverse population, it appears that the main effect of the changes will be to increase the exclusivity of what is already a thoroughly unrepresentative Parliament.

The current plans for changes to constituency boundaries open up the government to accusations of gerrymandering. Of the 31 English MPs facing the chop, a third will disappear from traditional Labour strongholds including Manchester, Newcastle and Sunderland – whilst only one MP will be cut from the Tory heartland of the South East.

However, the current electoral system favours the Labour Party, so it seems unfair to suggest cynical electioneering – any electoral benefit afforded to the Conservative Party will simply redress the balance. At the 2010 general election, the Tories won 36% of the popular vote to win just 40% of the seats; in 2005, Labour won 55% of the seats with the same share of the vote. Though it is argued that the primary benefit of our current electoral system is its’ propensity produce stable governments, first-past-the-post appears to be producing strong Labour majorities and weak Conservative governments, if the results of elections from 1992 onwards are anything to go by. But with 53% of votes at the last election ‘wasted’ on candidates who failed to win, a cut in the number MPs will only increase this worrying trend of making the House of Commons less representative.

Perhaps the most insidious aspect of this plan lies in its’ attempt to further perpetuate the Tory myth that “we’re all in this together.” With unemployment rising to 2.5 million in August, the government wants the public to believe that by losing 50 MPs Parliament, too, is feeling the pinch. Many of the MPs who lose their constituencies in 2015 will be found a new, well-paid job within their party, with lobby groups or consultancy firms. It’s a shame that the same can’t be said for the one million young people who currently find themselves without work.

If the government were really serious about reducing the cost of politics, David Cameron would cut the burgeoning ranks of ministers and special advisors that clog the corridors of power.  According to a Parliamentary Select Committee, the high number of ministers is “bad for the quality of government… and the independence of the legislature.”

A ministerial cull would be a brave move by a coalition government with some tough votes ahead in the coming months; more MPs with their snouts in the ministerial trough guarantees more warm bodies sidling through the government voting lobby. It is for that very reason that this seemingly more sensible alternative is unlikely.

The importance that the government has heaped on this policy is symptomatic of a group of insulated politicians unable to look beyond the Westminster bubble. We need our government to be contemplating new and innovative ways to encourage growth in the British economy and get people back to work, rather than arguing about who has the biggest constituency or where we should draw the lines on our political map.

The awe-inspiring Arab Spring, a movement of genuine importance, proves that democracy is not measured in pounds and pence, but in freedom and liberty – so, when Cameron argues that we need to cut the price of politics, we have to wonder where it will it end.

Cycling, transport for us pricks

I hereby decree that all good people of the University of Manchester, should make their way about these lands with their builder’s bums placed firmly on the seat of a bicycle.

Now, before you make a mess in your eco-friendly, thatched straw pants at the idea of an article praising all things pedalled, I in no way give a duck’s left tail feather about cycling to save Gaea. Forget the environment, there is only one reason that going en vélo is the bee’s bollocks and it’s because it is a socially accepted way of being a complete arse hole.

In many other groups of vehicle enthusiasts you will find a great deal of respect shared between them. Motorcyclists give each other the nod as they pass in the street before they go for a Sunday ride, resting their beer bellies on their horrendously unnecessary “hog”. Even car drivers will be courteous – sometimes making themselves feel like better humans by giving way to each other if at a difficult junction.

But us cyclists have none of that childish camaraderie.

We don’t bother ourselves with acknowledging each other. The feelings shared between two cyclists is bordering on hatred. Out there it’s just you and your bike, every other self-powered two wheeler on the road is either snailing along in the way or a being a nauseating show off as they peddle past.

Of course we are also tossers to everyone else as well. Nothing is more exhilarating than coming up the blindside of a magic bus and then acting outraged as they cut you off whilst pulling in to a stop.

And red lights, what a joke – completely optional. They very clearly designed to allow all cyclists past and block off other less desirable traffic. There may certainly be times when they slow you down as traffic cuts across, but you can just cut across back! Butt your front wheel out and watch those cumbersome motor vehicles screech to a halt, you won’t be able to hear the drivers cursing at you with your headphones safely in place playing Born to be wild.

It should be noted that cyclists are in no way merely bound to the road. We blend the line between tarmac and pavement as we skip across the curb. However, for some reason everyone else on the pavement seems alarmed by our presence. If it’s faster to go on the pavement then obviously it is our gear-given right to knock over a few grannies.

In rare occasions we may choose to use the designated lanes for bicycles, but almost every cheesing time there is some pedestrian galumphing along on the cycle path. You cycle up behind them hoping they move out the way and when they eventually notice you, they perform some sporadic movement only further endangering both parties. You brake. They stop. And you look at each other and both simultaneously say “sorry” (but both simultaneously think “wanker”).

All of this foolery is of course done with no lights and no helmet – just remember not to crash! And if you do get caught up beneath some wheels, it’s obvious that the less protection you have, the quicker the end will be. You can just leave your brains on the road and your death on the driver’s conscience hassle free.

Who cares if we would save money, reduce congestion or clean up pollution; if everyone else cycled, it would mean that I wouldn’t be the only one soaked in sweat and panting like chihuahua in heat as I stumble into the lecture theatre.

Murdo Fraser’s disastrous, if principled, proposal

How far is a politician willing to go to pass his or her personal beliefs into law? It’s a question of selfishness, hubris and determination, and one which has been entwined with politics since Cicero. Some politicians venture into the world of corruption; others end up forgetting what they entered politics trying to achieve, and a select few fight day and night for their cause, turning their hair grey and alienating the electorate. All in all, it’s somewhat surprising that politicians even bother – but most of them do so because they believe that what they are doing is for the good of their people.

And so we turn to the current battle for the leadership of the Scottish Conservatives and the initial front runner, Murdo Fraser. As a Conservative myself, I look at his plan to disband the Scottish Conservative Party and I really wonder what on Earth the current Deputy Leader thinks he is doing. I am, quite honestly, shocked that he has gone so far for his cause. Whatever the result of the leadership contest, Fraser has opened a can of worms which will have an impact for a long time to come.

Murdo Fraser has taken a huge risk on a personal level, and it is one which will reverberate not only through the Conservative Party, but throughout Scottish politics as a whole. The ambitious Highlander has openly admitted that the Conservatives carry too much “baggage” in Scotland, and claims the formation of a new centre-right party would attract more voters.

“What we have to do is get many more people elected from Scottish constituencies to support David Cameron and a future UK Conservative government and the best way to do that is to create a new progressive centre-right with a Scottish identity,” he argued.

Seriously, who is falling for this? If the people of Scotland don’t want to vote Tory now, why will they suddenly switch their allegiance to vote for a pseudo-Conservative Party which has pledged its’ support to the Tories in any case?

The facts of the Scottish Conservative Party’s success (or lack thereof) in recent years are clear, and some may argue that the removal of the Party from the landscape will not affect many. But for those on the centre-right in Scotland, the damage is done. To go this far in attacking the very heart of the oldest political party in the country smacks of desperation, and seems to have only made the problem worse.

This new party would be a mere replacement; an empty re-brand with nothing more than a different name and shiny new logo. Political parties cannot be treated like soft drink spin-offs Diet Coke and Pepsi Max – the sugar levels in the Conservative Party, at least, will never change.

Admittedly, the Conservatives have just one MP from a Scottish constituency at Westminster; however, this proposed re-brand is an admission of defeat and it is just not cricket. Credit to Murdo Fraser – he has unselfishly (and perhaps unwittingly) ended his Tory career regardless of the result of the election, in a move of great boldness that one can only respect. Bold as it may be, the proposal looks like a bungled attempt to appeal to voters and attract financial support.

One cannot deny the paucity of Conservative success in Scotland, but metaphorically waving the white flag goes too far and history will not look kindly upon the idea. The only positive that we Tories can take from this sorry saga is that Murdo Fraser’s membership of the Scottish Conservative Party ends on 4 November.