Skip to main content

Day: 4 November 2012

The student foodie generation

Written by Elizabeth Stancombe on . Posted in News.

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

The dramatic increase of cooking programmes over the last few years has sparked a new interest in food across the nation. Students have not been exempt from the trend.  Simply look at Facebook for proof to see countless pictures of people’s dinner with smug captions that go along it: “just whipped up a little something” otherwise meaning “behold the mastery of my superior culinary skills.”

For those infected by the ‘foodie bug,’ long gone are the stereotypes of student eating.  Baked beans and Smash have been replaced with the likes of risotto and garlic-infused mash.  The tin openers have been put away and out have come the mortar and pestle. Many a potted herb plant has lived and died on the halls windowsill.

It doesn’t just stay in the kitchen. Open your ears around university and you will hear many a gastronomic discussion between two enthusiasts usually boasting about what they ate or a new amazing little restaurant they’ve found.  This is because a great majority of foodie fever involves showing off. “I’ve mastered the soufflé.” “Well I can confit a duck leg.” It is a competition to out-cook your mates and great pride is found in your knowledge of what “quenelle” means or in the admiration of your well stocked cupboard.

So when you are reading this and thinking things sound very familiar, fear not! You aren’t alone.  Be unashamed of your Nigella Lawson cookbook or your ability to recall the last three years’ MasterChef winners.  Go forth and drink your Rioja, bake your Camembert and spend your loan on lunch deals and cake tins. Do it because, as Virgina Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” This speaks all too true when you are at university.

Mini pasta-risotto hybrid

Written by Joanna Fox on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Two days of unrelenting, solid rain combined with several particularly long days at Uni had severely blackened my mood. I turn to comfort food for quick nourishment. Cue revelatory discovery that I can make a risotto-style meal in under 15 minutes. I achieved this using something mini pasta shapes, a concept introduced to me by my friend whose Mum apparently always cooks this for her when she’s ill to make her feel better.

To make one dinner, plus one to reheat the next night:

200g baby pasta – I used orzo but any tiny pasta pieces will do

1 packet of bacon lardons

1 onion, chopped

4-5 sun dried tomatoes, chopped

285g of a tomato-based pasta sauce of your choice

1 small tin of peas, drained

Splash of Worcester sauce

25g grated cheese

Cook pasta according to instructions. Meanwhile, fry the lardons, onion and sun dried tomatoes together until the bacon is cooked (approx. 5 minutes).

Drain the pasta and then mix it into the fried mixture on a low heat. Mix in the tomato sauce, peas Worcester sauce and cheese. The consistency should be quite thick. Continue heating until the sauce is heated and the cheese is melted.

Bon appétit: a study abroad year in Lyon

Written by Joanna Fox on . Posted in News.

While shivering from the cold weather and slaving away over my computer last week in Manchester, I was lamenting at having fallen behind with my dissertation and my subsequent refusal to trek to the supermarket. This sequence of events has left my cupboards bare – maybe next week the Food and Drink section could run an article on what to make with mixed herbs, Weetabix and baked beans. My mind thus strayed to my far better culinary circumstance this time last year when I was on study abroad in Lyon, France. Aside from it being warmer and less academically strenuous, Lyon is the (some say self-proclaimed) food capital of the world.

It didn’t disappoint, the city’s love of fine dining permeated its streets and culture, yet there was a noticeable absence of obesity that the English are so used to. I attribute this latter observation to the fact that Lyonnais dining isn’t about filling your stomach; it’s about pleasuring your taste buds. Allow me to take you through the basics of eating and drinking in Lyon.

The world famous Michelin Star chef Paul Bocuse has some of his best restaurants in Lyon and has set up an amazing food hall – think of Harrod’s but tenfold in variety and quality. Situated on the cours Lafayette, the market is just a stone’s throw from the station and a ten minute walk from the stunning views of the Rhone that Lyon is host to. This somewhat unassuming looking building is a veritable cornucopia of breads, cheeses, meats, wines, oysters, cakes. If I only had one day in Lyon, I would not be going to visit all the wonderful friends I made in Lyon, or the city’s fantastic museums, but I would frantically be running down to the Cellerier cheese counter.

The most famous Lyonnais restaurant is called the Bouchon, literally meaning corks. Bouchons divide into two categories, traditional Bouchons, such as the downright alarming Chez Paul, and more touristy ones in the Old Town, such as my personal favourite Le Laurencin.

The first category serves traditional Lyonnais fare, which tends to include lots of animal parts in unrecognisable forms as well as black pudding, tripe, pickles and delicious desserts of the day served up by waiters who find your revulsion hilarious. A great dining experience, but not for anyone who wouldn’t class themselves as a big meat eater.

Le Laurencin, however, gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when I remember it. For 15€ I could get Le Menu Lyonnais, which had a wide choice. For starter, Salade Lyonnaise comprising green salad leaves, crisp bacon lardons, two perfectly poached eggs with a creamy dressing, mopped up nicely with a thick hunk of bread. (In France the bread basket actually gets replaced during the meal and isn’t just a tide-me-over while you peruse the menu. A lot of food babies were conceived this way.)

For main, Bavette of steak, cooked rare, in a shallot sauce with potatoes dauphinoise. More bread.

For dessert, any of the French classics, done to perfection. I was often too full at this point to really enjoy it, suffice to say the crème brûlée was far beyond anything you’d get at a gastro pub in Britain.

To conclude, while my department probably want me to extensively elaborate upon the academic benefits of year abroad (and they were many), my year in Lyon was very much defined by the city’s love affair with food, one I have definitely brought home with me.

I heartily recommend Lyon as a fantastic city break and study abroad location but even if you can’t make it to visit Lyon in the foreseeable future, what I’d like you to take away from this article is that food should be a gastronomic delight, a real pleasure, something you carry with you in your heart. Nonsensical sentiment, perhaps, but the next time you’re tucking into greasy, slightly cold chips, remember, there is better out there and you deserve it!

Mancunion Recommends (then): Lou Reed – Transformer (1972)

Written by Rachel Connolly on . Posted in Music.

Lou Reed is a living legend, and rightfully so. With an impressive sphere of influence, from his art rock days with Warhol and The Velvet Underground in the 60s, to his most recent, slightly bizarre collaboration with Metallica, the man has had an impressive impact on modern music.

Reed split from The Velvet Underground in 1970 and by the time he released Transformer his career had dwindled desperately, having never achieved commercial success with The Velvets, he was hard up, and his first album, a self-titled collection of unreleased Velvet Underground tracks, had flopped miserably. Transformer was set to define his potential as a solo artist and he completely delivered.

While the lack of influence from both Warhol as project director, and fellow founding member and experimentalist John Cale does mean Transformer is musically a lot more refined, a little tamer and a lot less cool than The Velvet’s sound, this isn’t all bad. Transformer achieved the commercial success that The Velvet Underground never did and it has an orchestral sound, even sounding, on ‘Perfect Day’ and ‘Goodnight Ladies’ like a film score. Although the obvious experimentation of the likes of ‘Venus in Furs’ is absent, Reed is still playing with your expectations from a rock album.

While musically the album is interesting, Reed’s coyly clever lyrics are the star of Transformer. Casual references to shock topics like bisexuality and drug use and completely surreal pictures like ‘a dentured ocelot on a leash’ are what makes these tracks so original and exciting. While Reed’s vocal potential is also fully explored, sounding like honey on standout track ‘Walk on the Wildside’ and somehow like a raised eyebrow as he coos ‘why not get high’ in closing track, and my personal favourite, ‘Goodnight Ladies’.

Transformer may not be as ground breaking as any Velvet Underground work but it is a lyrical masterpiece and its enduring popularity, 40 years after its release speaks volumes for the brilliance of Reed’s defining solo album.

7.5/10

‘Aaron Porter was bullied,’ says NUS President

Written by Andrew Williams on . Posted in Features.

It seems like a lifetime ago now, but back in May 2010 Nick Clegg had become the fresh-faced media darling of British politics almost overnight. His impressive performance in the pre-general election debates endeared him to an electorate unimpressed with the traditional choice which lay before them. Meanwhile, a categorical commitment that his party would vote against any proposed increase in tuition fees made the Liberal Democrats the student party of choice. The pledge went some way to securing the party a place in government.

Fast forward six months, and the first of a series of demonstrations against an unprecedented hike in tuition fees and planned cuts to education funding is taking place in central London. Tens of thousands of furious students have descended on the capital to lay bare their anger at being betrayed by politicians. Activists are deeply concerned that the reforms will irreversibly harm the prospects of the next generation.

In the eyes of many, the legitimate political point that was made that day was forgotten amid the violence at Millbank. What started out as a peaceful occupation of the lobby of Tory HQ quickly mutated into a violent melee of flying objects and smashed windows. It was to no avail; the government pushed through their reforms to higher education, and September saw the first cohort of undergraduates paying £9,000 per year filter through the doors of lecture theatres across the country.

Saturday will mark two years to the day since ‘Demo 2010’. Then, the worry-etched face of the National Union of Students was Aaron Porter. Now, there is a different man at the helm ahead of a new series of demonstrations.

A former Physics student of Heriot-Watt University, Liam Burns succeeded Porter as President of the NUS at what he says was “clearly a difficult time.” Porter had been the subject of immense criticism in the wake of the Millbank protests, and Burns’ ascension to the top job was the direct result of a decision taken by his predecessor to cave in to the pressure.

“Aaron was in an incredibly difficult position,” Burns explains. “I don’t think some Cabinet MPs have put up with as much pressure in their careers as Aaron had to cope with at that time. It was exceptional.”

“There was a lot of internal criticism, and some quite divisive rhetoric was used on the hard left, who were despicable in their treatment of Aaron. There was a lot of legitimate criticism, but the way that was espoused – particularly at the demonstration in Manchester – Aaron suffered what I would only call bullying.”

Nonetheless, Burns remains critical of Porter’s handling of the 2010 protests, and admits that he would have run against Porter for the presidency had he elected to stand once again. “It would be disingenuous for me to say that [he coped] completely well across the board. Part of the reason why I ran is that I think we should have made some different calls. Do I know what it would be like to have been in that moment? No, I just think there are decisions that should have been made differently.”

“This stuff was a cloud over the organisation, and I think at some point Aaron said look, I need to not run,” he continues. “Part of the reason for me running – part of the narrative – was, this organisation can’t only be one person.”

Now well over a year into his tenure, Burns believes that he has succeeded in preventing the NUS from becoming a “divided movement.”

With the biggest student demonstration in two years fast approaching, Burns is anxious to avoid the fate of his predecessor.

On 21 November, #Demo2012 – stylised to reflect the huge extent to which Twitter has permeated the student consciousness in recent times – will see students from up and down the country take the government to task on their education cuts. He is absolutely determined that there will be no repeat of the violence which marred the protests of 2010.

“Our members are perfectly clear of the expectations that we have. Our NEC has agreed that we’re not going to support any form of violence,” says Burns. “For me the reason that violence will never form a part of this campaign is that for one, it doesn’t make sense tactically. You want public sympathy on your side. Violence is not going to engender public sympathy. We want voters to say, ‘this is what we’ll vote on’. When politicians knock on their doors, we want people to say that education funding, employment, youth unemployment are important issues – and they’re not going to do that in reaction to violence.”

To some extent, however, Burns is beholden to events. “One of the things I can’t do is stop any arsehole from coming along on the day, and that’s true of any action we have in London. I’m not naïve enough to think, though, that we shouldn’t mitigate the chance of risk.” In mitigation, the organisers were determined that the route of the demonstration should not “purposely antagonise the chance of higher tensions.”

“Some of the criticism is that it’s not going past enough iconic, ‘locus of power’ type places,” Burns relays. “I don’t think that’s true, but nonetheless I was certainly not going to do a route that went past Millbank or Whitehall.”

Burns’ honesty is impressive, and in many ways makes him the ideal man to take on what must at times feel like an impossible job. The NUS is structured so that its annual conference, rather than the leadership itself, decides on policy, and Burns reveals that he would not have personally chosen to go about the forthcoming campaign in this way.

“Would this be the way we would plan a campaign? Probably not, but that is what conference wanted,” he admits. “It’s taken a lot of work, because when the vote passed at conference back in April… it wasn’t an overwhelming majority by any means. One of the challenges at the time was that the campaign for the demo had come from a certain part of the movement, and we needed to decide how to get people on board with why it’s the right action to take”.

Despite cynicism in some quarters, Burns is optimistic that #Demo2012 will be a success. Recalling previous demonstrations, he suggests that, “even the deepest sceptics of the tactic of the demo knew that when people got on that bus, whether they were there because they were genuinely angry or because they wanted a big day out in London, they came off far more invested in their students union, they saw that there was a bigger picture and were angry about it and wanted to make change, whether it was about education funding or otherwise – they had become activists.”

He continues, “that’s what part of the demonstration is about – galvanising people, getting them angry, creating activists. And we have so many other campaign tactics that we want to use.”

“Will the demo, in and of itself, isolated as a tactic, do anything? No, of course it won’t, that’s part of what we’ve been saying to our members. We understand that there’s not a parliamentary mechanism to influence at this moment in time. But in general, is our campaign work changing things? Yes.”

Burns is clearly convinced by the power of the organisation that he heads. It might sound like a flippant question, but given that some have queried the effectiveness of past NUS campaigns, I have to ask: what exactly is the point of the NUS?

“The movement is imperative, because when I say NUS I’m not just talking about the people in this building, I’m talking about students’ unions. I guess the point is that if NUS didn’t exist, you’d have to create it,” he says.

“If we did not exist, you would have to expect your sabbatical officers to go off and try to lobby [Universities Minister] David Willetts, parliamentarians, the funding council – all of these different bodies that impact upon student life. That means they are not on your campus, not doing things locally, and not influencing your local decision makers.”

Speaking of Willetts, I turn the conversation to the current government’s higher education policy. There have been two central planks to Willetts’ vision for universities: increased funding and greater competition. Though Burns is keen to point out that he likes Willetts personally, he is in vehement disagreement with the government on both scores.

Last month, David Willetts told The Mancunion that “total funding for higher education is increasing.” Burns accepts that this is notionally correct, but counters, “increasing for who? He’s absolutely right to say that universities, net, have more money. But this is all about accountancy smokescreens. Has the deficit gone down? Yes, but has the national debt gone up, or will it go up? Yes, massively, because you can’t take something that costs for every pound loaned at least 30p, and some commentators are saying up to 50p – that’s the debt you never get back in the end.”

“The other important bit is that ideologically we reject the idea of education being a consumer product. It doesn’t work for anyone,” Burns argues. “There’s no evidence to suggest [that competition improves quality]. There has been no increase in satisfaction in the National Student Survey. There has only been a skyrocketing of complaints to the office of the independent adjudicator. That doesn’t sounds like quality to me – that just sounds like trying to produce consumers in a system that consumers can’t control… this is not an actual market, it’s not as if you can take your money and go elsewhere. You can’t take a lecture up to the Vice Chancellor and say, I’m sorry, this one’s broken, can I have another one?”

It is fair to say that Burns’ politics are far removed from those of the current government. I note that he is the latest in a long line of NUS Presidents to be paid up, Labour Party members. All five of his immediate predecessors have at some point or another been actively involved in Labour Party politics, whilst past Presidents include Stephen Twigg, Jim Murphy, Charles Clarke, Phil Woolas and Jack Straw – all prominent Labour ministers at one time or another. I put it to Liam Burns that there is a pattern emerging, and he accepts that, “there’s no smoke without fire.”

“There’s ‘union’ in our name. We believe in education, social justice – it’s not surprising that the vast majority of those of us who are party aligned would articulate into Labour.” Still, he argues that the personal politics of whoever holds the position of NUS President is more or less irrelevant. “What is absolutely right is that there’s transparency – if I ever came out and said, this £6,000 policy by Ed Miliband is a brilliant idea, when clearly it’s not, you would rightly have no confidence in me.”

On the subject of George Galloway’s reported defamation lawsuit against the NUS, Burns refused to openly comment. He did, however, discuss other student issues being discussed in the national media.

He tells me: “the idea of Carnage running Pimps and Hoes, or ‘Slutdrop’… these things that are just deeply inappropriate. I think now – and I wouldn’t have said this five years ago – there is absolutely something to be debated in the students’ union in terms of what we tolerate regarding the treatment of women on campus.”

“I know for a fact that you’ll have people reading this going, ‘oh, fun police, what are you talking about? Pimps and Hoes is just a bit of fun.’ Well no, it’s not. It’s women being put in a position where they should be somehow defined by sexuality and sexual acts.”

I end our conversation by broaching the subject of personal ambition. Clearly, the title ‘NUS President’ is a fillip for anyone’s CV – was this a factor in his decision to take the job? “Yes, I’m sure it was. I think it would be disingenuous to say that you don’t look at these things,” he admits.

“But it’s not the reason I do it, because I can assure you I’m paid a shit wage, I work ridiculous hours as do everyone in this building, and as do sabbatical student officers. The idea that someone would be President of a Students’ Union purely on the back of career prospects is ridiculous, because the opportunity cost of doing it is massive. You do it because you’re passionate and you want to change things for students. But nonetheless I’m going to talk about this job in my interviews, I can assure you!”

NUS officer demands Nick Griffin interview retracted

Written by Jonathan Breen on . Posted in News.

A National Union of Students officer has demanded a student newspaper retract an interview it printed with Nick Griffin.

NUS black students officer Aaron Kiely wrote an open letter on his official blog calling for the Leeds Student to retract an interview they published on October 26 with the British National Party leader.

“We demand that the Editor of ‘Leeds Student’ remove this offensive interview that gives a platform to a fascist immediately,” Mr Kiely said in the post. “Leeds Student risks giving legitimacy to a fascist organisation, and boosts the BNP’s attempts to join the political mainstream.”

“The BNP stands for the elimination of the democracy and all freedoms that the Leeds Student claims to support.”

Leeds Student editor Lucy Snow wrote a response on the Guardian’s website as part of their Blogging Students series, defending the decision to publish the interview.

“It insults students’ intelligence to insist that they must be protected from extreme views. The idea that talking to Griffin or any other fascist legitimises their arguments is laughable,” she said in the article.

Over 100 hundred people have signed Mr Kiely’s the letter, including two students from the University of Manchester.

The NUS has a No Platform for Fascists policy, which saw, among others, George Galloway banned from NUS events last month.

“We must never give a platform to fascists anywhere in the student movement,” Mr Kiely said in his letter.

NUS president Liam Burns posted on his official blog saying he would not be signing the letter, but strongly supported the organisation’s No Platform.

“I have made it clear to the National Executive Council why I won’t be signing the letter because I believe that our work must always be with the students’ unions we work for, not separate to them,” he said in the post. “However, we also need to ensure those students that rightly found the article offensive know that they have our support in using their voice in their unions structures.”

007 Legends – Review

Written by Alasdair Preston on . Posted in Games.

To coincide with the release of Skyfall in the cinema, 007 Legends brings James Bond to your console. Instead of being based entirely on the one film, though, 007 Legends covers 5 others from the Bond franchise’s 50-year history, with additional Skyfall missions to boot. To further represent Bond’s illustrious past, each of these films has been chosen from a different era of Bond. From Goldfinger, to License to Kill and even up to Die Another Day, Eurocom have brought the stories into the 21st century. That includes new gadgets, slightly modernised plots and, the most modern of all, Daniel Craig as James Bond.

The main campaign is, as previously mentioned, based on 5 classic Bond films (assuming we can call Die Another Day a classic). It is broken up into an episodic format, with a couple of missions per film.  This paces quite well, showing a lot of each film’s main scenes without dragging it out or slowing the game down. A lot of the original cast of the films portray their own characters, including Dame Judi Dench as M and Richard Kiel as the one and only Jaws.

The most notable difference between Craig’s films and the earlier Bonds, (aside from him being blond) is also the biggest let down in 007 Legends. Gone are the special ‘Bond moments’ littered around the levels of Nightfire, or the heavy-duty gadgetry synonymous with the man himself. What we’re left with is a fairly standard action stealth game.

That’s not to say there’s only one flaw with this game. It is surprising that such a high profile game associated with such a well-known franchise has been released with seemingly so little effort. Textures are, in places, poor. Character animation is dated. Enemy AI is obscene. The mechanics for the stealth sections simply don’t work more often than not, to the point where it is infinitely easier to run and gun than employ any Bondesque tactics whatsoever. The only gameplay elements that are half decent have come straight from an older Call of Duty game. The list goes on. Just because the 007 name will undoubtedly make this game sell, doesn’t mean it should be given so little thought.

The multiplayer comes with all the game modes and customisation options that we’ve come to expect from CoD, and most other FPS games these days. Some of the flaws I’ve already mentioned, coupled with standard map design and lack of imagination, make this multiplayer extremely forgettable. With titles like Black Ops 2 and MoH: Warfighter hitting the shelves shortly after 007 Legends, it’s hard to believe many FPS fans would opt for this one.

The most interesting mode by far is the challenge mode. By choosing a scenario from each film, and picking between the hero or villain side, you must try and complete the objectives as fast as possible. Your score is calculated based not only on time, but also from a finely tuned difficulty rating based upon an extensive set of pre-mission modifiers. Trying to beat your own and friends high scores is the most re-playable part of this game.

As is becoming tradition, it’s hard not to feel let down by the latest Bond game. A lot of wasted potential and disappointed Bond fans are just about all it has.

Review: How Are You Feeling?

Written by Moya Crockett on . Posted in Arts.

If you don’t recognise his name, you’re bound to be familiar with David Shrigley’s work. Over the last decade, his illustrations – disturbing, witty, crude – have seeped into popular culture. His new, free exhibition at the Cornerhouse on Oxford Road, How Are You Feeling?, apparently focuses on the ideas of self-help and psychoanalysis. This seems fitting, as the characters in Shrigley’s work seem so often to be suffering from some kind of mental illness.

Cornerhouse’s blurb emphasises the show’s interactive nature, but the first room’s gestures towards this feel rather half-hearted. Among other things, Shrigley invites you to hit a giant gong with a mallet, nap on a black mattress  (a psychiatrist’s couch?) and scribble your feelings on a whiteboard. It’s all reasonably funny and sweet, but feels slightly like this is just where they’ve stuck everything that wouldn’t fit elsewhere. There’s also a mirror on the wall, but whether that’s art or just a mirror, I couldn’t tell you.

The third room is far more interesting. Anyone can grab paper and art materials and have a go at drawing the oversized sculpture of a naked man standing in the middle of the room. The walls are covered in the results of this unconventional life drawing class, and the effect is lovely. Cornerhouse’s claim that this show is “art-therapy” aroused the cynic in me, I’ll admit: it seems exactly the kind of abstract, meaningless statement you so often find in the art world. But if, at its core, therapy is simply something that makes you feel better, then this is exactly that. For many people drawing is a pastime that gets abandoned with age; I’m glad Shrigley reminded me what a soothing, energizing activity it can be.

The perceived value of art is the focus of a short play Shrigley has written for this exhibition, which members of the public are invited to perform on a small stage. It’s a nice idea with a thought-provoking script, but it’s hindered by English reticence: I’ve visited the exhibition twice and seen the stage occupied just once, by deaf men signing the script to one another. Admittedly, this was perfect for an exhibition seeking inclusivity.

Room 2 is quintessential Shrigley, the walls plastered with his instantly recognisable drawings. They vary immensely in tone. Some are laugh-out-loud funny (“MY HOUSE WAS SET ON FIRE BY HOOLIGANS… she said”; a smiley caterpillar captioned “I like the way you move”), and the gallery constantly hums with chuckles. Some, though, are seriously disquieting. This is a dark, scornful artist who likes to highlight life’s mundanity and ridiculousness. Too much twisted nihilism and political bile (a jar full of ants is “society” and its “citizens”) can be exhausting, but Shrigley is excellent at surprising you with moments of simple, life-affirming beauty. One painting, just a circle of white on black, is captioned, “It’s easy to forget about the moon – but then suddenly you are reminded”. There’s a lot to take in here, but it’s a wonderful, funny, challenging show.

Sports Personality of the Year 2012 – Why it has to be Wiggins

Written by Finlay Donaldson on . Posted in Sport.

Come the 16th of December this year, Great Britain will have their final opportunity to celebrate what an incredible year it has been for British sport.  By the end of the night one person will walk away with the coveted BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

While the shortlist has yet to be announced, there are many athletes who can rightly claim to be deserving of the award. Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis, Andy Murray, Bradley Wiggins and Ellie Simmonds have all been mentioned as possible winners, in the year of Britain’s ‘Greatest Summer of Sport’.

Whatever superlatives have been thrown around, there is no denying the fact it really has been a special year for British athletes, with some outstanding individual performances.  It’s no wonder the shortlist has already been extended from 10 to 12.

Whilst Andy Murray would probably walk away with the title in any other year, I can’t help feeling that the bookies favourite, Bradley Wiggins, should take the crown.

With the Tour de France taking place before the Olympics, his amazing feat might not linger so strongly in the public’s memory as it perhaps ought to but it remains an incredible achievement.

In winning the Tour, one of the most gruelling and challenging sporting events in the world, Wiggins became the first Brit ever to win the event. The fact he won so emphatically, winning the Yellow Jersey after Stage 7 and retaining it for the remaining 13 stages makes his achievement even more impressive.

Whilst many cyclists would consider the end of the Tour de France as a golden opportunity to take a holiday, Wiggins was back in the saddle less than two weeks later winning Team GB another gold medal in the time trial.

As the Lance Armstrong saga continues to tarnish the sport of cycling, Wiggins has become a role model the sport badly needs.  A consummate professional, Bradley also shares the title of Britain’s most decorated Olympian with fellow cyclist Chris Hoy.

It is a difficult task at the best of times comparing the achievements of athletes in different sports, which is exactly what the Sports Personality panel have been assembled to do.  How does a US Open title compare with Rory MacIlroy’s Major win for example?  There are so many variables that can be taken into account and even then, often it comes down to a personal opinion.

However, Bradley Wiggins ticks all the boxes. He is an athlete in the form of his life, has won numerous titles this year and proven himself to be one of the leading talents in his sport.  More than that, he is a role model to the future generations of sports men and women, motivated by glory and success not money and fame.

Quite simply, Wiggins is one of the most successful athletes Britain has ever produced, and has just had his most successful year.  That is why he should win Sports Personality of the Year.

Out of recession, but does George Osborne deserve a gold medal?

Written by Tom Danaher on . Posted in Opinion.

Following months of hysteria over the Coalition’s ruthless economic approach, the recent news that the UK economy grew by 1% between July and September was warmly welcomed by the government and the Treasury, in particular. This indicates that the economy is now out of a double-dip recession. Nevertheless, one must look at the data before deciding whether or not this truly shows that the UK economy is on the road to recovery.

The period in question was quite extraordinary and the growth in GDP owes much to the Olympic Games. Ticket sales for London 2012 alone accounted for 0.2% of the growth. The boom in the aviation and hotel industries in the capital also made a significant contribution. “More than half of the quarterly increase is attributable to the Olympics and the reversal of the jubilee effect in Quarter 2,” concluded Graeme Leach, Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors. So it would be premature for Cameron, Osborne et al to pop the champagne corks and propose a toast to a great and certain recovery.

Rather, their time would be better spent implementing policies which inject confidence into struggling sectors of our economy. For example, the recent figures show that construction has fallen by 2.5% in the last quarter. The lack of demand in the economy means that construction firms are risk-averse in their approach. Recent research by Post Office Mortgages has shown that the average first time buyer in the UK is now 35 years of age. This demonstrates the lack of affordable housing – a problem that the government must address with greater urgency. As opposed to reassuring us that a recovery can be achieved across the economy through Osborne’s ‘Plan A’, it is now time for the government to take responsibility for injecting demand into the economy, so as to boost jobs and growth.

In an unfamiliarly positive week of press for the Coalition, unemployment fell by 50,000 – yet two-and-a-half million people remain in search of a job. This fall in unemployment doesn’t tell the full story, however. 1.4 million people are currently in part-time positions because they were unable to find full-time work – close to an all-time record. Youth unemployment remains an area of grave concern. Here in the North West, there has been a 53% increase in the number of long-term unemployed 16-24 year olds since the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition was formed two years ago.

Whilst some may insist that the UK is back on track, the outlook for graduates remains bleak. A recent study by the Higher Education Careers Service Unit has reported a 6% rise in the number of graduates who are currently in ‘non- graduate’ roles, such as low-skilled jobs in retail and customer service. The study also found that the number of graduates looking for work after six months has risen to 8.6% over the past twelve months. As undergraduates seek to maximise their employability in order to gain graduate-level employment upon completion of their degree, the competitiveness of the job market shows no sign of relent.

Although inflation is falling, the cost of living is still rising – particularly due to the fact that wages are not increasing in line with inflation. The chronic lack of confidence in the labour market means that many hard-working people are primarily concerned with keeping their jobs, rather than securing a pay rise. Asda was the first supermarket to reduce the cost of petrol last week, with a 2 pence drop in the price per litre at the pumps. The government quickly praised Asda, and the supermarkets that followed suit, without acknowledging that wholesale prices of fuel fell by twice as much!

Despite the emergence of the UK from recession, the fall in unemployment and the fall in inflation, the main problems that the UK economy faces show no signs of subsiding. As Chancellor George Osborne recently announced a further £10 billion cut to welfare spending, one cannot help but question how much these measures will cripple demand in the UK economy. Instead of satisfying the right-wing of the Conservative Party Conference, the Chancellor should take a more long-termist view on how to help people in to work. He must understand that the grossly distorted rhetoric about “scroungers” will not help the long-term unemployed to find work.

Whilst the growth we have experienced over the past three months is undoubtedly welcome news, one reasonably concludes that it has been an artificial result of one-off occurrences, notably the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This was a golden summer for Britain, but the performance of its economy can be best summarised as ‘could do better’. Until the government addresses the problems of housing, long-term unemployment and youth unemployment, the possibility of a triple-dip recession looms large.

Bizarre Sports #7 – The Eton Wall Game

Written by Tom Acey on . Posted in Sport.

As the most prominent of the elite public schools, Eton is renowned for its many sporting curiosities – Eton Fives, for example, has been played almost exclusively at the college since the 18th century. There are none quite as eccentric, however, as The Eton Wall Game – an age-old football/rugby cross that appears to exist solely in the name of time-honoured tradition.

The game is believed to have been played since the early 1700s, and centres on the formation of a rugby-style ruck, known as a ’bully’ against ‘The Wall’, a three-hundred year-old structure that runs alongside the school playing fields. Using their knees and feet, players try to force the ball towards the opposition ‘calx’, where they may attempt to score a ‘shy’ without ‘knuckling’, ‘furking’ or ‘sneaking’ in the process.  Confused? You’re not the only one.

If the description so far leaves you imagining some wonderfully-idiosyncratic Eton oddity, then prepare to be horribly disappointed. By all admissions, The Wall Game is rubbish. Eton themselves admit that ‘few sports offer less to the spectator…goals are very uncommon’. ‘Uncommon’ is probably a bit optimistic – the last goal was scored back in 1909. Even Hartlepool United fans haven’t had to wait that long.

Still, the College continues to host the annual St. Andrew’s Day fixture, in which the ‘Collegers’ (the scholars) take on the ‘Oppidans’ (that’s the fee-payers, to you and me). Recent fixtures have, admittedly, been more than a little dull, with the majority finishing scoreless. Prince Harry did record a one-point shy in 2002, although that might have been because he was the only one able to understand the rules.

Other famous participants in the fixture include ex-Prime Minister Harold MacMillan, George Orwell and, incredibly, Boris Johnson. Young Boris must have displayed some ‘bullying’ prowess, as he was in fact ‘Keeper of the College Wall’ (team captain) during his time at Eton. If only The Wall Game was an Olympic sport – the idea of Boris Johnson as an Olympic athlete is perhaps just too good to be true.

Stitch and Bitch

Written by Rachel Heward on . Posted in Societies.

Knit Soc is a recently established society which aims to bring people together who are interested in knitting, crochet and other textile based crafts. It mainly involves sitting in a pub knitting and chatting; in their own words it is a place where people can get together to ‘stitch and bitch’.

They meet bi-weekly in The Ram & Shackle in Fallowfield. I spoke to Lizzy Clark from Knit Soc who said: “We welcome all abilities, even people who have never tried knitting before! We have some supplies for those who are new, but we recommend that people bring their own once they are competent in order to get going on their own projects.”

As well as their regular meetings, Knit Soc are in the process of planning a trip to the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate from the 22-25 November. Lizzy said: “This will be a great trip, and a chance to see all sorts of different creative experts, buy exciting materials and learn something new. What better inspiration can there be?”

Knit Soc are also interested in getting involved with the recent phenomenon of Yarnbombing, which is a kind of street art that showcases colourful displays of yarn, wool or fiber instead of paint or chalk. They have currently been helping a local artist on an international project which will be on display in Whitworth Park. Lizzy encourages everyone to “keep your eyes peeled for wool-related shenanigans around the university campus – who knows what Knit Soc will do next?”

Knit Soc are always looking into getting creative with their members, particularly in order to embark on a charitable venture as a group, and welcome all ideas and inspirations. They are open to any suggestions and encourage people to get in touch.

On Friday 26 October Knit Soc embarked upon a knit-a-thon as part of a Student Action campaign. They knitted in the Student Union from 9am-9pm, and had a combined total of 130 hours of knitting between them. They also taught twelve people how to knit, one of which continued for three hours! They were knitting squares to be put together to make blankets for the homeless.

To get involved, search ‘University of Manchester Knit Soc’ on Facebook or head down to one of their meetings. “We are a friendly bunch and always welcome members of any ability, and hopefully we will prove to you that knitting is fun, not just for girls and certainly not just for grannies!”

 

Syria: my home

Written by Farah Nassef on . Posted in Opinion.

Nineteen months have now passed since the start of the Syrian uprising against the Assad regime. Protests continue nationwide and with each passing day the death toll rises.

Yet, it seems people all over the world feel so removed from the situation that no one can muster anything more than a passing concern. For me, however, it still remains a weighty burden in my life. To me, Syria is home.

Damascus: where I once lived, attended school, and walked in its streets, has only recently begun to be seriously affected by the rising ferocity of the civil war. Most of the city is now controlled by the power of the Free Army. Almost every house bears battle scars. The city’s infrastructure is being destroyed from within as roads have been turned to ruin by government air attacks. And even bakeries have been specifically targeted to ensure that the people who thus far have avoided arrest or murder, will suffer a slow death of starvation.

The famous Hamadieh souk in Damascus was one of the liveliest and most unique markets in the world, selling everything from beautiful fabrics to etched shisha pipes, has since the fighting last year become a shell of its former self. The market is situated right by the famous Umayyad mosque, where people would take to the streets in protest after Friday noon prayers. When it became known for sprouting massive protests against the Assad regime the market and its sellers took a serious hit as many shops and stalls were forced to close as people became too fearful to shop there. When it is not filled with hordes of protesters, its desolation is torturous.

Similarly, an area known as Old Damascus, once famous for its bustling shops, lively restaurants, boutique hotels and narrow cobbled streets has within a year turned from a bustling hub of life into a graveyard of closed shops. I have happy memories of spending many hours in the restaurants in Old Damascus, with their open roofs and cool streaming fountains right in the middle, whiling away time before the next delectable dish is served. Memories which make it all the harder to see this cultural hub decimated by the war.

The violence has also seen tens of thousands of families flee their homes, some of whom are left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. My family are among the fleeing masses, and though they were lucky to get away with their lives, all their worldly possessions were reduced to a couple of suitcases and boxes. All my life I have watched the news, read books, and seen films about refugees and civil wars. While I always felt deep sympathy for those people, I would never have thought my family would ever be one of them, to undergo this hardship. To be labelled a ‘refugee’.

My aunt made the difficult decision to move her, her two year old daughter and my grandmother to Lebanon when their neighbourhood became a hotspot for government air strikes. They spent the entire night before they left trying to escape the explosions and gunfire all around, lying on the floor, away from the windows. Roughly translated, my aunt said “We didn’t want to leave our home, but we just wanted to sleep knowing we wouldn’t wake up to an explosion, or glass shattering.”

I recently visited Lebanon to spend Eid – a festive celebration after Ramadan – with my grandmother and aunt. Yet the ‘holiday’ was anything but festive. Their grief at moving away from Syria had not eased, and they were in a permanent state of shock.

While my family’s story is sad, it is by no means uncommon. Roughly 70,000 Syrian people have relocated to Lebanon in the past year – a statistic which came to life during my visit. Every apartment building, restaurant, and café was filled with Syrian families, all trying to adjust to their new realties.

Meanwhile, I still have some remaining family in Syria. They have had the opportunity to leave but as my other aunt, and closest relative still living in Damascus, put it, “If it came down to it, I would rather die in my own home than leave and be degraded with my family.”

The situation is escalating but it seems we are no closer to a resolution. Promises of ‘negotiation’ and settlement by the UN have been beyond pathetic. There may be hope that the new Syria UN Envoy, Ibrahimi, who once managed to reach a successful treaty for the opposing sides in the civil war in Lebanon in 1989, will work his magic again. But that remains to be seen.

The end of this war will not mean an end to the troubles of Syria and its people. They may get to return home, but the country to which they return will be a shell of what it once was. And while the physical and structural devastation is brutal, it will be nothing compared to the emotional damage the people have suffered. Death, torture and ruin has permanently scarred Syria.

My own generation will not be the ones to regain any joy after the settlement, as war scars remind us of our losses. But perhaps our children will. I’m confident that this day will come as the Syrian people have shown infinite bravery in risking everything they have to fight for what they deserve.

I long for the day I can return to a country empowered and strengthened by its people, to walk along the busy Hamadieh market streets and eat delicious food with family reunited in Old Damascus. To put it more simply, I long for the day I can go home.

Warped

Written by Rachel Heward on . Posted in Societies.

Warped is the University of Manchester’s science-fiction society who, according to Chair Laura Candlin, have been around “forever,” dating their roots back to the 1970s when Star Wars was released.

This year Warped have had a huge influx of people. Laura told me, “They seem to be here to stay, which is probably to do with the fact that ‘geek culture’ has really become fashionable in the last year. Due to this we’ve had to move venue from our previous pub as they wouldn’t be able to cope with the fifty or so people that are turning up every week! Obviously it’s great to see so many new people, and we hope they continue to embrace their love of science-fiction and fantasy.”

Warped meet every Monday at 8pm at Jabez Clegg to talk all things geeky. They also do a monthly screening at the Students’ Union. Laura said ‘it can be a popular film that people love or an obscure gem that we think everyone should see. We also do other events throughout the year such as arts and crafts, quizzes, bad film night and group trips to relevant events that are happening around Manchester. We also have a library of comics, books and films.”

Warped have a few events planned for the future including a possible group trip to a sci-fi convention and a Halloween pub crawl on Monday 29 October which begins at Jabez Clegg at 7pm. Fancy dress is encouraged -preferably sci-fi or fantasy themed! They are also looking into running their own convention event in conjunction with one of their previous host pubs.

“Warped provides a place where those with a deep-set love of science-fiction and fantasy can come, be themselves and meet those who feel the same way.”

To find out how you can get involved and join Warped either visit the Facebook page by searching ‘Warped (Manchester science-fiction and fantasy society)’, follow them on Twitter @WarpedSciFiSoc or pop along to one of their regular meetings!

“I’m a slutty cat, duh”

Written by Tilly Suggitt on . Posted in Lifestyle.

I’m not sure at which point Halloween turned into ‘Night of the Slut’ but I think I missed the memo. This topic is a tough one; there aren’t many ways that I can approach it without sounding like the bitter fat girl, who cries in the corner into a pumpkin shaped bucket of sweets as sexy cats and naughty nurses frolic around her in various states of undress.

I first started to notice that Halloween had become an excuse to go out in pretty much nothing when I went out dressed as a pirate one year. When I say pirate, I mean I had scars, an eye patch, an extravagantly frilly blouse and that I limped about calling everyone a “scurvy sea-dog” all night. I remember being puzzled as to why the barman wasn’t serving me, even though I’d been stood at the bar for an unusually long time, waving my hook about to catch his attention. After five minutes, I concluded that he just couldn’t see me, so scooted to the other end of the bar, but still no joy. The penny didn’t drop until one girl playfully meowed and pawed at the barman as he walked past and was, of course, served immediately.

I took in the girl’s black lingerie and fishnet tights. Naturally, I was curious as to what she’d come dressed as. When I asked her, she pointed at the two small black triangles atop her head and announced with glee, “I’m a slutty cat!” I noted that slutty cat girl didn’t actually have any whiskers. She replied that she hadn’t wanted to ruin her makeup by adding three black lines to each cheek. I asked what she’d be if she removed the ears, to which she shrugged and said good-humouredly, “Just a slut, I suppose.” I was disappointed, not even for a stuck-up, feminist reason, but because she hadn’t even made an effort. She didn’t even have a tail.

As the night wore on, I started to gain a new respect for slutty cat girl and her friends, sexy sailor and sexy bumblebee. As they drunkenly wiggled around the dance floor, I looked down at my costume and felt a slight twitch of envy. I wasn’t having that much fun, my eye patch was itchy, and I kept snagging people’s clothes with my hook whenever I tried to dance. At one point, I caught the eye of a girl dressed as a mummy, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, and we shared a nod of solidarity. She looked as miserable as I felt, whereas slutty cat girl and co. were shimmying around without a care in the world. Frankly, I was really bloody jealous.

I came to the conclusion that, while these girls were dressed like they should be chilling in a window in Amsterdam’s red light district, they were probably just letting their hair down on the one night of the year that they felt like they could. I simply was too self conscious to join in.

So this year, I will still probably hide under the folds of a ridiculous and comical costume, but maybe I’ll sneak into the changing room of LuvYaBabes and be a sexy nurse for a little bit. At the end of the day, Halloween is about having fun and, if gallivanting around in just your knickers is what makes you happy (and you’ve got the thighs to pull it off), I salute you. Just remember, Manchester is cold and pneumonia isn’t attractive, so take a coat.