Month: January 2013

The Alan Gilbert Learning Commons has been forced to close its doors on the penultimate day of the exam period due to drainage problems.

A spokesperson for the University of Manchester confirmed that the building is expected to reopen by Friday afternoon, coinciding with the end of high demand as exams draw to a close.

The brand new £24 million building has been plagued with difficulties so far this year. After a delayed opening last October, the Learning Commons had to shut  31 days when a glass panel was reported cracked.

Amid safety concerns, the University took the decision to “conduct remedial work”, keeping students out until 7 January.

Students took to Twitter today to express their disappointment.

Lulia Unguereanu (@lulia90) commented, “Alan Gilbert continues to disappoint…couldn’t find a better time than exam period of course!”

Whilst Aaron Clegg (@Aaron_NE) tweeted, “The Learning Commons is closed on the penultimate day of the exam period. But of course.”

The Learning Commons is lauded as a “world-class 21st century study space” with room for over 1,000 students and was used as a major selling point in this year’s prospectuses. This  January has seen the Commons replace the Main Library for 24/7 access, which has been met with a mixed response.

Images and videos have spread online depicting crowds of students waiting outside the Main Library and working on the floor in the AG Commons.

One picture depicting a large crowd struggling to enter the library last Sunday was posted on The Mancunion Facebook page and provoked disbelief from students.

In response, University of Manchester Students’ Union Education Officer Luke Newton commented, “After agreeing to extend the opening hours until midnight I’d have thought they’d open it up earlier on a Sunday. Well we’ll change that for the summer exam period.”

The body of Manchester Metropolitan student Souvik Pal has been found in a canal near Old Trafford football stadium.

Mr Pal, 19, was an international student from India and was last seen leaving the Warehouse Project on New Year’s Eve.

Police discovered his body in the Bridgewater Canal at 14:00 GMT and an autopsy will take place this evening.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson stressed they “do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances surrounding Souvik’s death.”

They added that Mr Pal’s family had been informed and officers were in regular contact with them.

His father Santanu Pal travelled from Bangalore to help with the search, organising a march to highlight his son’s disappearance. Numerous appeals were also made by Manchester Universities, politicians, and the national media.

Labour MP and Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz visited Santanu Pal last week. He said: “I have spoken to Mr Pal and we are all aware of these developments, the last 22 days have been so difficult for him.

“I want to thank the police for their continued hard work on this case, everyone has done so much.”

Souvik Pal worked part-time at Old Trafford selling refreshments. During a home game against Liverpool, Manchester United urged anyone with information to come forward.

DetCh Insp Colin Larkin issued in a statement: “Our thoughts and condolences are with Souvik’s family at this devastating time and our officers are doing all they can to support them.”

Anyone with information relating to Mr Pal’s death should call the police on 0161 856 4223 or the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The Facebook page ‘Spotted: University of Manchester Library’ has shut down following pressure from Library staff.

The page began as a way of people anonymously identifying attractive men and women in the library and went viral within days, attracting almost 10,000 likes in its first week.

Spotted posted anonymous messages sent in by admirers who picked out students they fancied in the library, but it soon expanded into topics relating to stolen chairs and loud talkers.

But light-hearted posts on hidden chocolate and the library’s lack of plug sockets were at times overshadowed by darker subject matters, such as fantasies of girls being “spit roasted” and insults about students’ hairlines and clothes.

The University of Manchester Library got involved when pictures of students sleeping were uploaded without them knowing.

A spokesperson for the library told The Mancunion,

“We contacted the page owners and reminded them that they cannot use photographs taken without the subject’s permission.”

They labeled some content offensive, and say they acted upon complaints from students who said “they felt uncomfortable using the Library because of this site.”

However, the University insist no threats of action were made against the owners of the page. Though the owner is currently unknown, the founder of the original Spotted, Richard Martell, is a first year UCL student and is known to have set up others up and down the country.

Mr Martell told The Guardian he became inspired when he an his friends began texting each other whenever they saw an attractive girl in the library.

He insists the pages are a joke rather than a career path though, as he has a job lined up in the city when he graduates.

Reaction to the closure has been mixed. one third year student was critical of the page and its owner, saying on Facebook,

“It was awful. It created such a cliquey social group online and the way power goes to people’s head when anonymous sad ridiculous.”

But many are disappointed that they must now find a new form of procrastination over the exam period.

Language, Literacy and Communications student Dalinder Sall complained on Twitter,

“I am upset the Spotted: UoM library facebook page has gone. Can we all have a minutes silence to mourn please thank you.”

Disgruntled students may be comforted in the knowledge that the notorious Hottie In The Library starting up again this semester.

Fresh Fridays have left the Students’ Union in favour of Jabez Clegg after just one semester, The Mancunion has learned.

A breakdown in relations with Rough Hill, the clubnight company they shared the event with, was the reason for their departure, a Fresh Fridays spokesperson confirmed.

They will now reportedly merge with The BOP, the popular student night geared towards first years and run by Social Junkies.

Rough Hill’s night Supersonic Vague, which ran alongside Fresh Fridays at the Students’ Union, will continue next semester.

Fresh Fridays switched to the Union from the now-closed Twisted in Fallowfield at the beginning of the year. But they complained that as an established night in Manchester, Rough Hill were financially benefiting from their success.

The Fresh Fridays spokesperson added that the Union did try and help the situation, but ultimately “did not do enough.”

They issued a parting shot at Supersonic Vague, claiming it did not “reach out into the student community.”

The news will be disappointing for the Union, who were enjoying early success with their first regular clubnight.

In an additional blow, Fresh Fridays will now be in direct competition with Supersonic Vague, with both nights restarting on Friday 25^th January.

A spokesperson for the Students’ Union said, “Fresh Fridays had an agreement with Rough Hill’s Supersonic Vague to run a room during the first term, but there was no requirement to continue after Christmas.

“Fresh Fridays are currently planning a new venture and the Students’ Union would like to wish them the best of luck with their new enterprise.”

Fresh Fridays took the decision reluctantly, stating that as Manchester graduates they had “appreciated being offered the chance to put Fresh Fridays on at the Union.”

The Students’ Union told The Mancunion Supersonic Vague will return with a new hip-hop room, and see appearances from Bloc Party, Chase and Status and DJ Stoxx.

Fresh Fridays are now hoping to draw a line under the issue. “We just want to move on and put the past academic term behind us.”

A University of Manchester employee who embezzled more than £30,000 has been jailed.

James Cleary, 40, pleaded guilty to fraud at an earlier hearing and was jailed for 20 months last Thursday at Manchester Crown Court.

He lived in Salford and worked for the University of Manchester for 14 years between 1996 and 2010.

At the time he left, he was a Research Business Manager for the School of Cancer and Enabling Sciences and was authorised to sign claims for fees.

Alarm bells rang for the department when they struggled to pay a claim for fees due to missing funds in their account.

Further investigation revealed that 25 separate claims had been authorised by Cleary over a three-and-a-half year period.

The total paid out came to a staggering £30,025, with Cleary using the phoney alias ‘Michelle Roberts’ to pocket the money. His scam was finally exposed when enquiries matched account numbers and sort codes to that of Clearys.

Detective Constable Dom Brady said: “Cleary was employed in a position of trust by the University, and was given a lot of responsibility to process claims for reasonably large amounts of money.

Sadly, he completely abused the trust the University placed in him and defrauded them to the tune of £31,984.

“He admitted during interview he had a drug and alcohol addiction that he needed to fund, and freely volunteered he spent some of the embezzled cash on Blackberry mobile phones and computer.

“I would like to praise the staff at the University who have worked very closely with us during this investigation and cooperated fully, which has led to this conviction. I hope this also sends out a message that you should think very carefully before attempting to rip-off your employers as you could be facing a stint behind bars.”

Brady added that Cleary had expressed remorse, and that he was confident Cleary was even sorrier for his actions following the sentence.