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Day: 1 November 2012

Anderson steals the show on Foundation Day

Written by Andrew Williams on . Posted in Features.

On paper, the University of Manchester’s Foundation Day harbours all the components of a stuffy, earnest affair. The annual occasion, a celebration of the fusion of UMIST and Victoria University of Manchester, is undoubtedly a worthwhile tribute to the founders of one of the country’s foremost academic institutions, but the mood music of the day is contingent upon the personalities involved. A lecture delivered by a distinguished guest sets the tone for the evening, which sees the conferment of honorary degrees upon a seemingly arbitrary collection of academics, businessmen and scientists.

Two factors looked set to ensure that the most recent edition, which marked the eighth anniversary of the University’s inauguration, would be more light-hearted than usual. Firstly, the presence of a mop-topped serial womaniser had caused quite a stir. Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall would become Dr Michael, recognised for his dubious contribution to music rather than his undeniable support for the contraceptive industry.

“He’s not high on my list!” admits Clive Anderson, the man tasked with delivering the 2012 Foundation Day lecture – and a second reason to be cheerful about the evening ahead. “But I suppose a high achiever in another area jollies it up a bit. My musical appreciation is pretty feeble anyway.”

Anderson strikes me as an inspired choice to kickstart proceedings; with a 25 year career as one of Britain’s wittiest broadcasters behind him, I suspect that his lecture will be anything but dull. A barrister by trade, Anderson stepped into an altogether different field in 1979 when he became the first act to perform at the Comedy Store in London. His incisive writing caught the eye, and a foray into radio followed.

Yet Anderson is perhaps best-known for presenting Channel 4’s ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’, arguably the original comedy panel show. You might think that a decade spent presiding over some of the sharpest improvisational comics on both sides of the Atlantic would have encouraged the 59-year-old to deliver today’s lecture ‘on the hoof’, but Anderson is not about to step up to the lectern unprepared.

“I was asked to give a lecture, so unlike normal I’ve written it out, I’ve written it down,” he says, clutching a thoroughly organised file of notes befitting of his status as a Cambridge law graduate. “I’ll be delivering it as though I know what I’m talking about, which is a bit of a stretch to be honest!”

Given his dual careers in law and television, it is quite fitting that Anderson’s lecture should be entitled, ‘is it time to have TV cameras in court?’ His central thesis – that the law is cripplingly slow at adapting to change – is more pertinent than ever in an era which has seen Twitter transform hundreds of millions of social media types into amateur reporters. Though the Lord Chief Justice recently ruled in favour of allowing people to tweet from court, a 1925 Act of Parliament forbids courtroom artists from putting pen to paper until they are outside of the courtroom. It is one of many legal absurdities that Anderson intends to highlight in his lecture.

“The biggest problem with the British justice system, and the one that I find most frustrating, is what Shakespeare called the ‘laws delays’ – the fact that getting a decision from a court takes such a long time,” he explains.

Anderson continues: “If you’re anything like an ordinary citizen sucked in to a legal dispute, it’s a nightmare. There are very few areas of law where I, as an ex-lawyer, would say, ‘I suggest that you institute court proceedings’. In almost every area I’d think, if anything, just try and avoid court at all costs.”

Though sceptical of the willingness of the justice system to haul itself into the 21st Century – Anderson notes that judges continue to wear wigs made of horse hair because that was the done thing 300 years ago – he argues that, “it would be a good idea to televise court proceedings. I don’t think I thought so fifteen years ago, but now I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t see what goes on inside courtrooms. People look at America and unfortunately quite often look at the outrageous examples and say well, there, it’ll all be like the OJ Simpson trial, like a circus. But that isn’t necessarily the case.”

It is a touch ironic that Clive Anderson is best placed to comment on one of Britain’s biggest ongoing legal cases not as a qualified lawyer, but in his capacity as a BBC employee. The Jimmy Savile scandal has seen over 300 alleged victims come forward with claims that they were abused by the former Top of the Pops presenter, yet Anderson is as bemused as he is appalled by the affair.

“My initial feeling is that the whole career and everything to do with Jimmy Savile is a complete mystery. I know everyone is now piling in and saying, ‘oh I never liked him,’ but I’ve never heard anybody say ‘I must rush home and see a programme because it’s presented by Jimmy Savile,’ yet he seemed to have loads of followers.”

“I’d certainly heard the rumours,” he says. “In fact the closest I was to him was that I interviewed him once on my chat show… but on a sort of entertainment chat show, when you’ve got somebody who’s a popular figure and yet you’ve heard rumours, you’re not in a position to substantiate it.”

“He used to say when challenged on this, ‘look I’ve been a famous person for ten, twenty, thirty, forty years. If there was anything to this, where is the exposé in the News of the World? Where are the newspaper stories generally?’ And it’s a strong point.”

Anderson laments that the scandal has taken its toll on his employer’s reputation. “I think the BBC have to take a hit on this, in the sense that he was a big BBC star,” he says. However, he is keen to stick up for the Beeb in the face of what has become a huge media storm.

“I’ll accept that there’s a certain amount of justified criticism but in general I’ll stick up for the BBC because it has it’s structural weirdness, its structural problems, but overall I speak not so much as an employee, more as a viewer and a listener, as an advocate of the BBC, even if that’s sometimes against the odds, because it does produce fantastic stuff.”

Needless to say, Anderson’s Foundation Day lecture is a triumph. He alludes to the Savile scandal at various points during his talk, and it is a testament to his comedic aptitude that he tickles the crowd rather than offends. A show of hands at the end of the talk reveals that Anderson has overwhelmingly persuaded the audience of his point of view. As University Place empties, I reflect that Clive Anderson turned what could have been a tedious formality into an amusing and informative afternoon.

Clive Anderson presents Loose Ends, every Saturday at 6.15pm, on BBC Radio 4

Live: The Walkmen

Written by Tom Short on . Posted in Music.

The Ritz

30th October 2012

8/10

Halfway through tonight’s triumphant set, The Walkmen’s vocalist, Hamilton Leithauser, pauses to regale his audience with the sad tale of their first visit to Manchester. “They didn’t want us to play”, he tells us, recalling how they ended their brief visit on the Curry Mile. In another frontman’s hands, this anecdote might have formed part of a then-and-now victory lap, but as Leithauser darkly quips later on that tickets for tonight were going for a tenner outside, one gets the sense that little has changed for the band in his view.

The Walkmen are a band who have had to fight to play venues of this size, and they sound like it. A shaky opening salvo of songs from their latest album, Heaven, seemed to confirm rumours that they were unpredictable live, with Leithauser’s ill-timed vocals jarring against his restrained rhythm section. Fortunately, by the time ‘Angela Surf City’, the rousing lead single from previous album Lisbon kicked in, the ever-modest singer was firmly in control of his material, caterwauling into the microphone while looking resplendent in his aristocratic-Brooklynite attire.

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

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

 

 

Thousands vote to elect new student reps

Written by Anthony Organ on . Posted in News.

21 new Student Representatives have been elected to provide a link between students and the University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU).

Over 4,000 students voted in the elections, almost matching the 4,500 who voted in the Executive elections in March.

Nick Pringle, UMSU’s General Secretary, said: “I am absolutely delighted that 4,215 students turned out to vote for student representatives in the recent elections.

“We had 79 candidates including people who have not been involved in the Union previously. Being an elected officer is an amazing job and I am really excited about more people wanting to get involved in the Union and represent students.”

15 different positions were offered but only 13 were filled. They range from Faculty reps to “Liberation” reps, who campaign for minority students.

Meredith Boccanfuso was elected as the Undergraduate Medical and Human Sciences Rep, but as she was the only candidate the second position remained unfilled.

The role of International Action Group Chair is completely undecided because the election count was “suspended to investigate student complaints”.

Manchester Students’ Union would not comment further on the issue.

Lack of competition was a wider issue as four roles had the same number of candidates as positions, including three postgraduate roles and the Disabled Students Representatives.

But some roles received a lot of attention, such as Undergraduate Humanities Rep which featured 13 candidates and received 1,099 votes, with Arthur Baker and Ibrahim Tawab coming out on top.

Mr Baker said that he was “very excited” about the new role. “I’m thinking about how I’m going to do all the things I said I was going to do”.

Asked about the turnout, he said: “It was fantastic. This is the first election I’ve had experience of so I don’t know what it was like in previous years but I think it was pretty damn good.”

Daniel Joseph, one of the new Disabled Students Representatives said: “I’m elated with the win. My priority at the moment is to meet up with the other newly elected Disabled Students Rep, Gemma, to decide on where to get started.

He continued: “I thought we had a really good turnout, which hopefully shows that there is a large amount of enthusiasm and support for our campaign.”

The Union website says: “Student reps provide the link between students and their Union on academic issues, as well as raising any issues they need to escalate with Union faculty reps or the Academic Affairs Officer as they arise.”

‘Benefits of US shale gas production overstated,’ say UoM researchers

Written by Jonathan Breen on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

The emissions benefits of the United States producing shale gas instead of coal are overstated, researchers at the University of Manchester have found.

The US is burning less coal due to increased shale gas production, but millions of tonnes of unused coal are being exported to the UK, Europe and Asia, researchers said in a recent report from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University.

They also warned, although US CO2 emissions are down 8.6% from a peak in 2005, the trade in coal may displace more than half of these reductions overseas.

“It is the total quantity of CO2 from the energy system that matters to the climate,” Dr John Broderick said, lead author on the Co-operative commissioned report. “Research papers and newspaper column inches have focussed on the relative emissions from coal and gas.

“We must seriously consider whether a so-called “golden age” would be little more than a gilded cage, locking us into a high-carbon future.”

Professor Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre said US coal exports had increased since the supply of shale gas became significant in 2008.

“This increases global emissions as the UK, Europe and Asia are burning the coal instead,” he said.

4G goes live in Manchester

Written by Jonathan Breen on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

The UK’s first 4G mobile network went live in Manchester last week.

The country’s largest network operator EE, until recently Everything Everywhere, owner of T-Mobile and Orange, rolled out the new service on October 29.

Manchester is one of 11 cities around the UK to get the superfast network, which will see speeds between 8 and 12 mbps, up to five times faster than its predecessor 3G, allowing users to stream TV without buffering and download movies in minutes.

The company is investing £13.8m in its network in the city. All Orange and T-Mobile stores in the region will become EE stores.

Twenty million people can currently access the technology, but the company plans to roll out the service to more towns, cities and areas next year, and aims to reach 98 per cent of the population by 2014.

“Today is a landmark day for our company, the UK mobile industry and, most importantly, the country’s businesses and consumers,” Olaf Swantee, CEO at EE, saidin a press release. “But this is just the start as our 4G network will continue to grow stronger and wider by the day.

“We’re investing £1.5 billion in our network to be the first company to offer mobile 4G in the UK.”

The base rate tariff for 4G will be £36 a month and have a limit of 500MB data usage, with the top end at 8GB, costing £56 a month.

The other cities with the network are London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Southampton.

By Christmas, Belfast, Derby, Hull, Newcastle, Nottingham and Southampton will also have access.

Countries such as the United States, Japan and Germany already have 4G networks.

Assassin’s Creed 3 – Review

Written by Alasdair Preston on . Posted in Games.

Ditching the conveniently designed streets and rooftops of Italy and Istanbul, the much hyped Assassins Creed III brings us to the time of the American revolution for more sword-fighting fun. Ubisoft have gone all out to make what was becoming another yearly franchise release into a game substantially different from its predecessors.

The fighting mechanics this time around have been streamlined, down to a three-button system. The result is a much more cinematic battle, with dynamic camera angles, killer slow motion and a new range of deadly finishing moves.

Realistic scenery replaces the slated roofs, convenient ladders and easy to climb walls of the previous games. Sneaking, sprinting and diving your way around town is as fluid and satisfying as ever, with intuitive controls and many different paths to take. Only occasionally do frustrating slip-ups lead to failed missions. Competent enemy AI makes stealth sections challenging, at times frustrating, for new and old players alike.

New distraction techniques and more options for friendlies give you new tools for assassinations. Our hero, Connor Kenway, can kill enemies in even more ways than previous Assassins Creed stars, utilising weapons such as Tomahawks and Rope Darts.

The game runs on a brand new engine, Anvil Next, which claims to push the current gen systems to their limits. Having said that, graphically it doesn’t seem to be that far ahead of last year’s Revelations although it is as well polished, as you’d expect from such a big budget game. The many cut scenes are where AC3 really shows its stuff.

AC3 is open to new players to the series, giving plentiful explanations to the deep back-story straight away. This time around, instead of Da Vinci, you’ll be rubbing shoulders with historical figures, such as Benjamin Franklin. As ever, there is a detailed fact file for each landmark and character to satisfy history buffs.

At times, it can feel that the player is too limited by the story missions, not being given enough time to really interact with the open world and many side missions on offer.

Ubisoft have been perfecting their popular Assassins Creed formula every year, and this latest edition continues that trend. While it isn’t perfect, it is significantly closer than before.

 

News in brief – 5th November

Written by Ellen Conlon on . Posted in News.

Manchester Museum unveils £1.57 million exhibition

Manchester Museum’s new £1.57 million Ancient Worlds exhibition is now on display, marking the centenary of the museum’s opening.

The exhibition is split into three sections, offering insights into ancient civilisations such as Greece, Rome and Egypt, and is the culmination of four years planning and construction.

Manchester Museum director, Dr Nick Merriman said: “Manchester Museum’s Egyptology collection is one of the best in the country – it is a real asset for Manchester and the university.”

 

WWI bomb found in Didsbury cellar

A suspected First World War bomb was discovered in a cellar in West Didsbury.

The foot long torpedo-shaped device was unexploded and was found by a woman whilst clearing out her cellar.

The surrounding roads were closed off by police as they waited for the bomb disposal squad to arrive.

 

1,000 zombies descend upon the city

Hundreds of zombies marched through Manchester last week to raise money for the Big Issue in the North.

The parade of around 1,000 fancy-dressed fundraisers began at the Printworks and ended in Market Street.

After years of success trying to beat the world record for the most zombies in one place, the march is now an annual event to raise money for a good cause.

Shisha bars threaten strike on Curry Mile

Written by Ellen Conlon on . Posted in News.

The Curry Mile could see a quiet four days as shisha bosses threaten a mass ‘strike’ in protest against the crackdown on indoor smoking.

The Mancunion recently reported on the new campaign launched by Manchester City Council and the NHS promoting the dangers of smoking shisha.

It aimed to raise awareness of the health risks associated with shisha and to make people aware that smoking shisha in an enclosed space, as in many of the Curry Mile bars, is illegal.

But owners of shisha bars and cafes on the Curry Mile, who have been breaching the 2007 national smoking ban, want to prove to the council how vital their businesses are to the local economy in Rusholme.

Outdoor smoking areas must be less than 50 per cent enclosed, meaning that areas with only one side open are breaching the ban.

Eight of the businesses on Wilmslow Road have already been fined a total of nearly £21,000 by Manchester City Council in the last 12 months for indoor smoking, but this has not acted as a deterrent.

Shabir Mughal, Chairman of the Rusholme Traders Association, explained how the shisha bars have created “loopholes” to dodge the fines.

“By the time the process goes through, the ownership of the shisha bar has changed. That’s what they’re struggling with.”

Not fazed by the council’s fines, shisha bosses have decided to hold a meeting with Mr Mughal and members of the council where they will discuss what will happen next.

Mr Mughal explained how he wanted to use this meeting to tell the shisha bosses that “what [they’re] doing is wrong and this is what you should do, and if you obey by these rules we wont bother you, but if you don’t we will come down heavy on you.”

But the shisha bar owners want to use this meeting to suggest some compromises and threaten that if they are not agreed to, they will strike.

But Mr Mughal does not see this as an option: “There is no compromise because they are compromising the law,” he said. “The law is there to stay, it can only be changed in Parliament.”

“We are not against the shisha bars,” he added, “because it’s diversity in the Curry Mile. It’s just that they are breaking the law.”

The compromises that the shisha bar owners are considering include legal changes that would allow them to have smoking rooms with extra strong fans, or to be issued with special ‘smoking licences’ which could be withdrawn if their owners misbehaved.

If these demands are ignored they will consider a four day strike.

Mohammed El-Ghazzeh of shisha bar Cuba Lounge, said: “We want the council to see that Wilmslow Road will be like a ghost town if all the shisha places were closed.”

“To ask people to sit outside in British weather is unrealistic, if they don’t die from the smoke they’ll die from the cold,” he added.

But Mr Mughal does not see this as being a successful protest: “If they want to go on strike they can go on strike because it’s not going to make any difference,” he said.

“I don’t think that there will be any effect. They are trying to show that the place might look derelict but I don’t think so.”

“It will not affect curry houses at all because the customers who come to the shisha bars don’t go to the restaurants anyway,” he added.

“It’s going to hurt their pocket, not ours or anybody else’s.”

 

 

Academics condemn regional pay proposals

Written by Anthony Organ on . Posted in News.

Manchester academics have joined colleagues nationwide in condemning government proposals for regional pay in the public sector.

The open letter to The Times, signed by 60 scholars, warns that the proposals could “aggravate geographical, economic and social inequalities” and points to research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) suggesting they could cost the economy £10 billion a year.

Under the government’s plans, national pay rates would be abolished and the salaries of public sector workers, including teachers, nurses and police, would be adjusted to reflect the region they live in.

The letter reads: “As senior academics working on regional issues, we can find no convincing evidence within these reports to support the Chancellor’s inference that such regionally or locally-determined pay could boost the economic performance of regional economies.”

Professor Jill Rubery, Deputy Director for Human Resources at Manchester Business School (MBS), who signed the letter, said: “Regional pay would just reinforce the poverty levels in the economy, people have less money to spend and it will just reinforce the recession.”

Speaking about the effect on universities, she said: “Manchester finds it quite hard to attract people to move anyway, but it would be much more difficult if we were on a lower pay scale than, say, the South of England.

She predicted that “Manchester would just ignore the national system and start paying higher wages anyway” but warned that there “might be more differentiation in what people are paid according to their subject area, with much lower pay rates in arts and humanities than in sciences”.

“The end result might be that it costs Manchester a lot more if student fees went on the salaries of the lecturers,” she continued.

Another signatory, Professor Miguel Martinez Lucio, Professor in Human Resource Management at MBS, said that regional pay is “about pushing people down in terms of pay and conditions”.

“In the university system this will mean even greater inequities amongst staff. Students may be getting better service in ‘formal terms’ but the learning experience is changing due to larger numbers, and access issues are likely to be even greater in future.”

The University and College Union supported the academics. A spokesperson said: “People across the country are struggling as their bills rise and their pay does not keep pace. Introducing further real-terms pay cuts is simply not on.

“The government should start listening to the evidence on this, and other, issues.”

A report published by the New Economics Foundation think-tank and funded by the TUC claims that this move could harm the economy.

It finds that under the new system there could be 110,576 fewer jobs nationally and that the economy could lose nearly £10 billion every year.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary said: “We hope that our report will prove to be the final nail in the coffin for these discredited proposals.”

Alan Manning, North West TUC Regional Secretary, said that the plans “will end up costing the North West economy dearly as public sector workers suffer pay cuts and are forced to rein in their spending” and added that they are “not just unfair, but ill-thought out”.

The proposals have already been questioned by several Conservative MPs and the Liberal Democrats, who last month at their party conference voted to try and block them.

A spokesperson for the Treasury said: “As the Chancellor set out in the 2011 Autumn Statement, there is a case for considering how public sector pay could better reflect local labour markets.

“In line with the usual process the Government is considering the independent Pay Review Bodies’ reports and will publish and respond in due course. Nothing has yet been decided.”

The Playstation Network comes of age

Written by Dylan Wiggan on . Posted in Games.

2012 has undoubtedly been a banner year for the PSN, the colloquial name for the online services of all Sony’s PlayStation platforms. With a slew of impressive games recently released and upcoming for next year, not to mention a revamped store, pre-download pre-order system and the increasingly cost-effective PlayStation Plus, Sony seems to finally have developed a platform to compete with Microsoft’s rival service Xbox Live Arcade/Marketplace.

In the aftermath of the infamous ‘Network Outage’ of 2011, in which all PSN features were suspended for a 24 day period after a hack compromised an estimated 77 million users accounts and personal data, Sony had a mountain to climb to just convince people to use its online store once again

Acting like a company out to prove itself, after this dark period Sony essentially put its head down and focused on what its best at making great games. The standard of the PSN titles and, in particular, its exclusives, has increased dramatically over the past few years. The most notable success being Journey released in March earlier this year, and developed by thatgamecompany under the stewardship of Sony’s in-house developer ‘incubator’ Sony Santa Monica. Journey was a critical and commercial hit with PSN sales records and 92% rating on metacritic. More importantly, for Sony, was that it brought positive attention to their online store for the first time in years.

In June this goodwill was further extended with the announcement that its paid subscription service PlayStation Plus was getting revamped with a new feature called your ‘Instant Games Collection’. Whilst the previous free content offered was mainly small and obscure games or ‘minis’, the ‘Instant Games Collection’  gives free full retail games such as: Little Big Planet, Infamous, Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands etc. This service, already a bargain for gamers, was now a no-brainer for hardcore PS3 owners. Add to this the fact that PlayStation Plus was also at this point announced to be coming to the PS Vita and Sony’s perceived generosity was doing wonders to improve the image of its online services.

Whilst Journey was a great success, it would take more than one game to really add credibility to Sony’s PSN platform, and fortunately the rest of 2012 built on Journey’s success and suggested the future would continue to. Interesting and truly alternate experiences such as Tokyo Jungle and The Unfinished Swan typified Sony’s online output. And titles buzzed about title to be released next year such as Rain and Until Dawn hint at a strong future line-up of games.

And finally, truly showing Sony’s online advancement is its revamped store. With a better user interface and improved design the store is much less cumbersome to use. But perhaps more effective is new features such as Paypal integration, the Steamesque pre-download system.  This means gamers and already have a game downloaded onto their system before it’s officially released, then at midnight of its launch day begin playing immediately. This shows Sony is ready for the inevitable all digital future, with major releases such as Resident Evil 6 already using this system.

Overall it is clear that this year Sony’s PSN services have come along leaps and bounds. After years chasing the heels of Xbox’s rival services, Sony have finally found their digital footing and with the next generation looming its timing is perfect.

Top 5 PSN Games:

Limbo

Limbo is a gloriously dark puzzle game that follows the tale of a boy trying to find his sister. Genuinely scary and enriched with a black and white design that creates a persistent truly sinister atmosphere; Limbo is the best PSN game of the generation.

The Walking Dead

This point-and-click adventure game adaption of the popular zombie franchise is an emotional rollercoaster. With Heavy Rain-style branching narratives and conversation choices, your decisions decide your character’s personality and some plot points. Great characterisation and storytelling mean these decisions stay with long after you play.

Journey

Following on the success of fl0w and Flower, the beautiful Journey shows thatgamecompany full of confidence and clearly given free rein to let their imaginations run wild. Journey is a truly unique game that surely settles the interminable debate on whether ‘games could be art’.

PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX

PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX manages to keep fresh this legendary franchise with great new gameplay innovations keeping classic formula fresh. Online leader boards, plus a funky soundtrack and design make this title is a must buy.

Tokyo Jungle

In Tokyo Jungle you play as a variety of animal’s aiming to survive as long as can in a post-apocalyptic Japan where all humans are dead. Whether hunting, scavenging, marking territory or even mating- Tokyo Jungle is bizarrely addictive.

 

Russell Group could see £80 million loss

Written by Ellen Conlon on . Posted in News.

The number of undergraduates has dropped in a third of the Russell Group universities , says its Director General, Wendy Piatt.

Dr Piatt, talking on a BBC Radio 4 documentary, said that this shortfall could cost Russell Group universities around £80 million.

The documentary, Universities Challenged, was broadcast last week and looked at the effects of the government’s reforms to university fees and funding.

Dr Piatt said: “Having far fewer students than planned does create a real financial hit.

“It’s hard to give a very accurate number, but across the Russell Group it may amount to something like £80 million. We’re not clear [on the final total] at the moment, but it’s a significant amount of money.”

The government’s reforms allowing unlimited recruitment of undergraduates with A-Level grades of AAB or above have in part contributed to the struggle several universities have faced this year in meeting their target student recruitment.

The University and College Union general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “The fall in the number of undergraduates is the predictable failure of the government’s attempt to create an artificial market for the most highly-qualified students.

“Furthermore, the government’s admission that higher tuition fees forced a scramble for places last year highlights the unfair nature of this government’s hike in fees,” she said.

Ms Hunt went on to explain: “While many predicted allowing universities to recruit as many students as they could with A-level grades of AAB and above would be a problem for institutions outside the Russell Group, we now see the damage done to our higher education system by this ill-thought out policy is more widespread.

When asked whether the University of Manchester had felt the impact of a lower number of undergraduates, President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell said: “We will not know the final numbers until the official census date in December, but we will be below our target for home (UK and EU) students.”

“We knew that this year admission of home students would be challenging, with the new few regime and the cap removed on students who obtained grades of AAB or above, and this was confounded by the first fall in 20 years in A level grades achieved,” Professor Rothwell added.

“We will be looking closely at the distribution of our student numbers and are initiating a detailed ‘portfolio review’ to consider student demand and how we respond to this.”

Clash of the Titans

Written by Jack Crutcher on . Posted in Games.

This autumn three giants of the gaming industry will do battle in what promises to be an exciting month for gamers across the country. Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Far Cry 3 promise to offer up explosive new instalments in an attempt to innovate their way to the top-table of gaming royalty.

The stakes could not be higher for the Halo franchise after developers Bungie Inc bowed proudly out following the success of Halo Reach in 2010. Set to be released on the 6th of November new developers 343 industries have the tricky task of impressing fans who remain loyal to old developers Bungie whilst also proving popular enough to encourage neutral gamers that parting with their money before the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Far Cry 3 is a sensible decision.

343 industries have been charged with the unruly task of waking up Master Chief several years after he had cryogenically frozen himself at the end of Halo 3. In an attempt to escape Bungie’s shadow little time will be spent on the back-story, instead Halo 4 will plunge gamers straight into 343’s own take on the Halo Universe. The franchise will keep loyal fans happy with the news that the Covenant are back at war with the humans (Grunts will remain fair game), Cortana will return (all be it with a condition known as ‘rampancy’) and popular weaponry like the DMR and the Assault rifle will appear relatively untouched. The game changer for Halo 4 will be the introduction of the Prometheans, the re-designed Battle Rifle and all the snazzy looking forerunner technology set to transform the Halo experience.

Black Ops 2 will be released on the 13th of November and has been billed as a return to the all-action gritty drama of Modern Warfare. The game is set in a ‘near future’ (2025) ravaged by a second Cold War (between China and the USA) caused by the dangerous convergence of weaponry and technology. Playing as Alex Mason’s son David you will aim to defeat the terrorist organisation attacking America’s drone network. The real innovation that will take this game to the next level is its RPG style story choices, with each player choosing his own path through the Black Ops universe. This also means that Black Ops 2 will have multiple endings!

Where Black Ops 2 will particularly look to hold on to loyal Call of Duty fans is its consistent focus on a wide selection of weaponry (there will be 6 different sub-machine guns alone) and the variety of futuristic military technology on show like the Quad-Rotor Helicopter Drone. Zombie mode will also return, with added features such as unlockable areas in transit and new types of zombies.

There may yet be a wildcard that has been over-shadowed by the aforementioned releases. Far Cry 3 is due for release on the 30th of November. Taking the action on show in Black Ops 2 and multiplying its explosive impact by ten probably would not do Far Cry justice. With an enormously expansive world to explore and psychotic warlord Vaas and his forces determined to kill you, gamers must carefully plot their way through the game. The sheer fun factor Far Cry offers is likely to be greater than that of Halo or Black Ops 2. Far Cry 3 is also set to bravely combine the action packed first person shooter that was Fry Cry 1 with the Grand Theft auto style free-roam of Far Cry 2, and unlike Halo and Black Ops 2 the scenery throughout the map offers plenty of interaction with your weaponry.

So which of these three would be kings is more likely to win their crown this autumn? Far Cry promises to be an action-packed thriller that will do more than enough to please fans. But the pure scale and reputation of both the Halo and Call of Duty franchises mean the race to be King of Gaming this November will come down to which of these two leviathans best can address the hopes of loyal fans whilst managing to attract a new and more critically-minded generation of gamers. There can only be one winner this November so let battle commence.

 

End in sight for ‘Toast Rack’

Written by Anthony Organ on . Posted in News.

Manchester Metropolitan University’s famous “Toast Rack” building is set to be left vacant as the University moves to its new campus.

This year will be the last that the iconic Hollings Faculty is used by over 3,500 Fashion, Food and Hospitality students, and next year the new £139 million Birley Fields campus in Hulme will be used instead.

The move is part of MMU’s ten year plan to consolidate from seven campus locations to two, in central Manchester and Cheshire, by 2014.

Built in 1960, the Grade Two listed building was designed by L. C. Howitt, who also designed the Manchester Crown Courts of Justice and Blackley Crematorium.

Student opinion on the building seemed mixed. Emily, a final year Fashion Marketing student, said: “I don’t like it. It’s a bit decrepit and run-down.”

Her friend Sam, in the same year and course, said: “It’s really famous, even my grandparents know it. It is drafty though and we sometimes get rained on in lectures because it leaks. Even the lecturer got wet once.”

Asked about the move to the new campus Sofia, a second year Hospitality student, said that she was “excited about the new facilities”.

But Esme, a second year Fashion Design student, said: “I like having our own area for Fashion and having been here two years the move next year will be disruptive.

“We chose a house in this area, I like it. Oxford Road seems really busy.”

The Manchester Modernist Society, which describes itself as “a small band of urban enthusiasts”, has been allowed into the building this year to document its history.

They will select the top 52 items which they find in the building, one for each year since its construction, and archive them in an online “museum”.

Project manager Haleh Moravej, also senior lecturer in applied nutrition at MMU, said that the aim was “to create a visual digital narrative and for staff and students to celebrate the building by getting to know how it all started and by whom and how.

“[This] is a one-off life opportunity not to be missed.”

An MMU spokesperson said that it the future of the building was currently “undecided”.

Shadow Of The Colossus – Retro Corner

Written by Arron Wray on . Posted in Games.

The question, are games an art form, has been asked since their conception. I can appreciate how the average person may just see games as complicated toys however I believe Shadow of the Colossus will forever prove that games can be art. I don’t make this claim simply because of its beauty, Shadow of the Colossus is a work of art because more so than any other game it is able to grasp hold of your emotions and make you fall in love with its characters.

The concept behind the game is elegantly simple, a man loses the girl he loves and so travels to a forbidden land where he must vanquish 16 colossi, some of which stand over 200ft tall, with nothing more than a sword, a bow and his horse. Each battle is essentially an enormous puzzle where you must find the colossus’ weak points and then strategically scale the colossi to attack these areas. These epic bouts with the colossi are astonishing; in particular the moment where you leap onto the wing of a 500ft long flying serpent from the back of your galloping horse is truly unforgettable.

Whilst the fights are outstanding what really makes this game special is how it is able to create such a strong bond between you and your horse. This is mainly due to the fact that the horse controls so poorly at times, meaning having to wrestle with it during these grand battles and makes the sense of accomplishment when you use it correctly so much greater that you really start to care for your horse more than any other game character I can remember. This game truly is a work of art and demonstrates just how much potential gaming has to be a powerful art form in the future.

Sweden’s showing us the way with paternity leave

Written by Becky Montacute on . Posted in News.

Walking along the streets of Stockholm, the average Brit will see a scene quite alien to them. Groups of men happily wandering around the city’s suburbs, pushing along prams, or with babies strapped to their backs. This is something a Swede will barely bat an eyelid at, but this isn’t a scene you’ll likely to see whilst wandering the streets of Manchester. This may, however, be about to change. The coalition has announced plans to bring in shared maternity and paternity leave by April 2015. So for today’s students, it means that we will be the first generation of Britain’s who will finally have the opportunity of equality in parenting. But disappointingly, it does not go as far as it should, falling far behind Sweden’s system which has been in place since the 1970s. In short, it’s a good start – but not good enough.

Currently the British system gives men just two weeks of paid leave from work following the birth of their child, and they are entitled to no other time off. Women, on the other hand, are given paid leave for up to 39 weeks after birth, and can choose to take up to 52 weeks off in total. Under the coalition’s proposals, mothers will automatically receive 18 weeks’ paid leave, men 2 weeks. The couple will have 32 weeks, of which 16 are paid, to split between them.

So why is this change so important? By giving women so much more paid time off than men, the state has been reinforcing the sexist view of women as primary providers of childcare, with the negative impact this then has on their careers. It isn’t, however, only negative for women. Many men who would love to stay at home with their children don’t because they would have to do so unpaid, which most families cannot afford. Another problem is the general attitudes towards men and childcare. With its parental leave policy, the government had been endorsing the view that men don’t get involved in childcare. It’s seen as emasculating for men to be the ones to stay at home, which puts many men off for fear of how others will perceive them. Under the current system, the government had been effectively endorsing this view.

From 2015, a couple will be able to choose to split leave (pretty much) equally between them, letting them choose for themselves their roles within their own family. Within any partnership, partners must be able to choose between them who would be the best person to look after their children, and that is not a decision in which the genitals that person happens to have should have any bearing. Couples are likely to have more pressing issues on their mind during that decision process, such as the stage each of them is in their career (and so if it’s sensible for either of them to take a large amount of time off), or who would most enjoy spending that time at home with the children.

The problem comes, however, in reserving the first 18 weeks to the woman. It means that the message of women as primary caregivers, though weaker, is still there. The government needs to send the clear message that neither gender is expected to take the majority of childcare. A Swedish friend put it to me perfectly – “I think the biggest theoretical fault with the British system is that it by law says that men and women should be unequal to the law (which I obviously don’t think is acceptable). The biggest practical problem is that it will keep women away from work life and make them a less attractive choice during employment, and they are therefore put in a difficult position when trying to develop successful careers.”

Still a major concern for female students upon graduation is: will a man be chosen for a job over me because of my gender? The story’s a disappointingly familiar one: two candidates, one male, one female, fairly evenly qualified. The employer, (especially so in small businesses) worries that the young woman will start having children within a few years, and doesn’t want to have to bear the cost of the time she’ll likely take off for maternity leave, and so they employ the man instead. The problem with the government’s proposal is that it doesn’t change this perception. If women have so much more time allocated to them, then women will still be seen as a bigger liability. As only 2 weeks is allocated to the man, and stereotypes already favour women looking after children, women will remain disadvantaged.

The Swedish system is a much more sensible model, and what we should be striving for. Parents are given 480 days between them, of which each has 60 reserved for them that the other partner cannot use. This is designed to challenge the stereotype that men aren’t involved in childcare by actively encouraging each parent to take time off to get the maximum time between them, and it means that the state does not in any way discriminate against either parent on gender.

The coalition’s proposals are a step forward. They allow couples to split parental leave between them fairly, a massive improvement on the current system. What they do not do, however, is challenge existing stereotypes of women as primary caregivers to children, or stereotypes that men cannot hold that role. It seems right now, we may still be a while off my own personal dream – seeing groups of men wandering through the streets of Manchester, prams and babies in tow.

Football Manager 2013 – Review

Written by Sam Dumitriu on . Posted in Games.

For many students Football Manager stopped being a game a long time ago, it’s a way of life.

With standard playtimes going well beyond a hundred hours, Football Manager has a habit of taking up all your time, to the point where you’re fitting writing essays and attending socials around the game. Like FIFA, Football Manager has an appeal beyond the standard gaming audience, and while some will attack fans as spreadsheet obsessives, its popularity can’t be questioned.

Over the years, the game has become more and more expansive, from detailed press conferences to contract negotiations with hard-nosed agents and Football Manager 2013 certainly continues in this trend.

With this march towards to realism, could it be the case that the fun of the old Championship Manager games has been lost, the ability to run through a season on a rainy afternoon (it can take up to 5 hours just to get through pre-season), taking your local team from the Conference to the Champions League.  Worry not, because Sports Interactive is aware of this problem. Enter Classic mode.

Classic mode cuts through complicated training regimes, masses of staff to hire, and lengthy press conferences, and replaces them with a stripped-down, bare-bones game. It lets you run through a season in 8 hours, and you’re only ever a few clicks away from your next match.  Classic mode isn’t perfect; it lacks the reward of taking over every aspect of a club and turning them into an unbeatable powerhouse. Plus, when you are losing, your options to turn things around are limited, gone are the team talks and specific opposition instructions. Still, Classic mode is a welcome addition.

As well as Classic mode, SI has imported the Challenge mode from the handheld versions. It sets different scenarios, such as a mid-season injury crisis or rescuing a team from relegation when they’re bottom of the table mid-season. The game ships with five of these challenges with more to come through DLC. They’re good fun, and a great demonstration of just how bad things could get for Liverpool this season.

Along with two new game modes, FM 2013 features a revamped online mode and worldwide leader boards allowing you to compare yourself with fellow managers online. The user interface has been improved in a way that cuts down on clicking between screens, while making the menus more visually pleasing. Similar improvements have been made with the match engine improving both form and functionality. FM 2013 is the biggest update to the Football Manager series since the leap from Championship Manager, for fans of the series it is a must buy.

 

University Christian Union leader resigns after ‘blacking up’

Written by Michael Williams on . Posted in News.

The President of the University of Birmingham’s Christian Union, Ben McNeely, has resigned after photos of him ‘blacking up’ were posted on Facebook.

The pictures, taken at a Caribbean themed fancy dress party, were seen by The Birmingham Ethnic Minorities Association, who responded with an online article – which received over 5,000 hits – and a petition with more than a hundred signatures calling for McNeely to resign.

‘Blacking up’ refers to a form of make-up and costume called ‘blackface’, which uses caricatured racist stereotypes to mock black people. The practice was popular in England and America in the nineteenth century, and was common until the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the USA.

In a statement, McNeely called the costume a “foolish mistake.”

“As a Christian I believe all people are equal regardless of their race and each individual has special dignity in bearing the image of God,” he said.

“I was genuinely unaware of the history attached to this issue and how it was used to perpetuate a negative stereotype of a particular race.”

In an article posted on the BEMA website, President Areeq Chowdhury condemned “the damage that had been caused to anti-racism movements” and claimed that McNeely was ignorant of “the full extent of the offence that the blackface ‘costume’ had created.”

Initially, McNeely refused to resign from his position. In an email to BEMA, he wrote, “Given that I will apologise to all offended, I do not think it is appropriate for me to resign from my position as President of the Christian Union.”

But, after his resignation was tendered, BEMA issued a statement accepting Mcneely’s apology “wholeheartedly.”

“We see he is willing to educate himself on liberation issues and white privilege,” said BEMA.