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Day: 18 February 2013

Preview: ‘Side Effects’

Written by Lucy Gooder on . Posted in Film.

In what is believed to be Steven Soderbergh’s last big screen effort behind the camera (he announced his impending retirement in early 2011), he brings together a cast of A-list stalwarts and younger stars who are quickly becoming Hollywood heavyweights, in a twisty psychological thriller warning of the dangers of prescription drug use. The story follows a young woman (Rooney Mara), who starts to unravel due to the unexpected side effects of the medication prescribed to her by her therapist (Jude Law), to help cope with the anxiety of the return of her husband (Channing Tatum) from prison.

Intentionally only releasing a vague plot outline, the marketing of Side Effects has focused on uncertainty and the unknown in order to increase anticipation and mirror the themes of the picture. Influenced by Hitchcock, the aim was to create a sharp film – all impact without any of the extra elaboration of some of his previous works. The trailer reflects this devotion to mystery and tension with dramatic cutting, as any real plot details seem to be in danger of giving away major spoilers. Therefore we are left with a panicked sense of fear, danger and the idea nothing is truly as it seems. At advanced screenings viewers were turned away if they arrived late as an early twist is seen as so crucial to the plot that much of the impact would be lost if it was missed.

Law has previously worked with Soderbergh on plague thriller Contagion, as has Tatum on action flick Haywire and the unforgettable Magic Mike; so the director must have been confident of their performances and their ability to cope with the complexities of the characters, having covered such diverse fields together. Rooney Mara always seems to bring it, no matter what the role, and it will be interesting to see the intensity of her performance without the safety blanket of a full gothic makeup and wardrobe, as she had in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, to help her dive into character.

Whether the intricacy of the plot trips itself up or not remains to be seen, but as Soderbergh’s previous efforts have shown he knows how to crank up the tension, as well as how to create visually striking and memorable moments. Side Effects is still sure to be a dark, stylish and gripping swansong for the respected director.

Luck, Lust, Liquor and Burn

Written by Maddy Hubbard on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Luck, Lust, Liquor and Burn is a new Mexican restaurant in the Northern Quarter. As a sister to Almost Famous and on the site of former cocktail bar Socio Rehab, it has excellent hipster credentials. It was inspired by a road trip from Las Vegas to Mexico ‘in a frenetic haze of food, booze and all the naughtiness the Golden State has to offer’, and they have managed to bring this spirit and inspiration back to rainy Manchester.

The restaurant interior is dark with exposed bricks, gorgeous waiters, and a neon sign that says ‘Jesus loves tacos’ above the bar. You can’t help but love it – the atmosphere is great, and the staff rave about their favourite dishes on the menu.

I wanted to eat everything. In particular, I was eyeing up the burritos, such as the ‘Alabama Bone Suckin’ Slammer’ (£7.50) stuffed with pulled pork and three types of cheese, and the ‘Triple Threat Burger’ (£10), a double cheeseburger topped with bacon and pulled pork. It’s the kind of place where, despite all the food you’ve already put away, you watch dishes being carried past and wish they were headed to your table – although you can probably tell this is not really a place for vegetarians or those on a diet!

My friend chose the ‘Dirty Chicken Street Tacos’ (£6.50) on the advice of our lovely waitress, which arrived on a car number plate. They were absolutely delicious, if a relatively small portion for the price. In contrast, my ‘Jailbreak Beef Chilli’ (£7.50) was an enormous bowl of falling-apart strands of slow-cooked beef brisket, topped with mounds of sour cream, crispy bacon and cheese. I scooped it up with tortilla chips and decided that for food this good I would take the heart attack any day.

Desserts are provided by Home Sweet Home, a café around the corner, and we shared a salted caramel brownie with malted vanilla ice cream (£3.50), which arrived sitting in a lake of caramel sauce. We both agreed it was one of the best brownies we had ever tasted, and I haven’t really been able to stop thinking about it ever since.

While the house wine can described as ‘drinkable’ at best, there is a hugely tempting cocktail list, and I will definitely be back for a ‘Break for the Border’ (£7) made from El Jimador tequila, elderflower, nettle, lime, mint and tonic or the ‘Dirty South Martini’ (£8) of Portabello gin and jalapeno-infused vermouth. There is a lovely bar downstairs with a more limited menu where you could sample these, but I would definitely recommend skipping the queues in the rain for Almost Famous and heading upstairs for dinner – just don’t forget to try that brownie!

Preview – Whole

Written by Ben Marshall on . Posted in Theatre.

It’s unfortunate that youth productions are not shone in the same light as professional shows today. But if you really open your eyes to some of the promising works that are offered in this genre of theatre, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

And with only a small insight into 20 Stories High’s latest production Whole, due to be performed at the Bolton Octagon later this month, this already sounds like it is guaranteed to be one of those hidden gems in an under-explored treasure trove of theatre.

Presenting us with a close group of teenagers who are telling the emotional story of their long-time friend Holly, this play deals with a wide range of social and cultural topics that are sure to evoke deep thought about not just your own life, but also the perception of the world through these young people’s eyes.

Julia Samuels, co-artistic director of 20 Stories High, kindly took time out of her busy rehearsal schedule to speak to The Mancunion; she gave us an insight into how the teenagers work with the Liverpool-based theatre company, which showcases a lot of youth theatre.

“As well as the young people from Liverpool, we work with a lot of young people who come from Africa, and there’s a very interesting encounter that happens between these two groups who’ve been brought up in very different ways”.

She went on to describe how the way that these two groups of young people interact helped to shape the content of Whole; “Lots of the conversations they have are about things like sexuality and religion.

They really enjoy debating and stretching each-others’ ways of thinking by talking about this, and that provided us with the basis of thinking about Whole. We explore the themes of sexuality, friendship, love, death and religion – some quite big questions”.

It is evident that the ways in which two very different cultures of young people work together, and the chemistry between them, looks to create something special.“Our young actors have some real differences of opinion, but also places where they really come together”, Julia explained.

“And this can be seen in Whole – a play based on the real experience of young people living in Britain today. The audience are on a journey with the performers and the story they’re telling – there’s a close relationship between the two”. And they’ve not sacrificed high production values either. “It’s quite an elaborate, exciting set, and also music is very important to us, of which we have singing and spoken word”.

Clearly, there is passion and excitement in what Samuels and the 20 Stories High team want to show to their audience, and with great passion comes great theatre.

And since ideas are being explored that are so relevant to young people in today’s difficult times, I wholly believe this production won’t let you down.

Second semester stress busters

Written by Dana Fowles on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Exams ended, we had a couple of days to breathe a sigh of relief and then it was straight back to lectures, seminars, essay deadlines, part-time jobs and extra-curricular activities (The Mancunion, I’m looking at you).  So, if like me, you are already run down and in a perpetual state of cold and flu, it’s time to think about minimising stress. With the Easter break still a while off, here are some tips to help make everything that bit more manageable:

1)      Get yourself to the doctors

If Lemsip and Iboprufen aren’t doing the trick, seek some professional advice to speed up your recovery.

If you haven’t registered with a GP then do so. It’s a quick and easy process – pop down to your local surgery and make sure that you take your student ID with you. Some practices also require proof of address. You can have the form filled out in a few minutes.

 

2)      Shop yourself better

Sadly, when I say shop yourself better, I mean at the supermarket, not the Arndale (and yes, its perfectly acceptable to go in your onesie). Stock up on the relevant tablets and medicines, along with soups. Chicken is the best option. Your mum was right – science has proved that it’s top of the list for its curative powers. Some people also swear by spicy foods to help clear congestion, such as those which contain chillies.

You will need to keep yourself hydrated with plenty of liquids – fruit juices are particularly good. Try orange juice for a good source of vitamin c.  Probiotic-rich yoghurts are another flu fighting suggestion made by some. Opt for a plain flavour with minimum added sugar, and add fresh fruit or a table spoon of honey.

Finally, treating yourself to a few magazines or DVDs may also be a good idea. Although such products have no proven healing powers, being bed bound may be slightly more bearable with them by your side.

 

3)      Reorganise your schedule

Sometimes something has to give. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by trying to balance everything at once, give yourself a break. If you need a day off – take it. Your body is telling you that it needs to rest for a reason.

Write down your weekly schedule and then list the activities in order of priority. Remember that you are here, first and foremost, to do well in your degree. If you are stuck in a rut with your academic workload, contact your personal tutor or a seminar teacher. They are there to help and will be able to give you some constructive advice to help get you back on track. After all, they’ve done it all before.

If you work part-time, you will probably find that your company is flexible and understanding of other demands. If you need to drop a few hours here and there, it can probably be done.

If it’s your extra-curricular role which is pushing your timetable to its limit, remember that there will probably be someone who would be more than happy to share the workload and add the experience to their CV. Additional interests are supposed to be enjoyable, not stressful.

 

4)      Relax

Make sure you put time aside to procrastinate with your housemates, coursemates or boyfriend/girlfriend. University days are supposed the be the best, so don’t let your workload stop you from going to see that film, pigging out at Nando’s or going on that much needed and well deserved night out. After all, that lazy student stereotype has to come from somewhere. Sometimes, Ali G can wait and daytime TV cannot.

Manchester graduates create ‘energy sweets’

Written by Jonathan Breen on . Posted in News.

A group of Manchester graduates have created what might be the perfect answer for tired students in the midst of dissertation work or an all-nighter revision session – energy sweets.

Four graduates, three from the Manchester Business School, formed company Kaffeination and have developed their own caffeine sweets, ‘Ups’, as an alternative to energy drinks, hugely popular among students.

“If you are sick of drinking, that is where we think we come in,” said MBS graduate and CEO of Kaffeination Matthias Schmid. “We place our product so that we are an additional offer to energy drinks.”

Schmid and his colleagues held a launch for Ups on campus in January, wearing boiler suits covered in packets of their sweets. And last week spoke to The Mancunion about where their idea came from and their success so far.

The idea initially came from an excess of coffee, said Schmid, who holds a Masters in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship.

“We had a Uni project to do, we were all intensively working, and we had already had five cups of coffee each,” he said. “We were kind of bored by coffee.

“We had a bag of sweets next to us and one guy said it would be perfect if these sweets could give us energy, we looked at him, we laughed and said yeah it would be cool.

“So we interrupted our work, did a little research and couldn’t find anything online that was like these jelly sweets but with caffeine in them.

“And from then it was like a step-by-step thing. We had the idea, we developed a prototype, and found a supplier.

The foursome then took part in and won a business plan competition put on by the University of Manchester and Manchester Enterprise Centre called “Venture Further 2012.”

“We entered and we got first place and four thousand pounds funding with it,” said Schmid.

After their launch, Kaffeination moved into the University of Manchester’s Innovation Centre, who provide office space for free for half a year for start-ups, and signed a number of contracts including one for Ups to be stocked on campus.

“Our main contract is with the FoodonCampus outlet at the University,” Schmid said. “We are also in different corner shops and online shops – we are now accredited with Amazon, which is starting [this] week.

“And we are in talks with supermarkets, newsagents – we are trying everything we can at the moment to get the sweets out there.”

The group plan to release new products this year, which are based on customer feedback.

Schmid said, “We are bringing new products to the market in the summer – a new taste and a sugar free version.

“We have been trying to get feedback from everyone who buys a bag, and two of the main points were they wanted more choice in taste and a sugar free version, especially among the girls.”

In April, the four graduates are competing in the Rice University Business Plan Competition in Houston, Texas.

“We are going to America because we won a European competition in Brussels,” said Schmid. “We won a thousand dollars and a free ticket going to America for a one-week boot camp, the competition and they pay for the flights and hotels.”

“We are competing in one of the world’s biggest business-plan competitions to get some money and look for investors.

Schimd added, “We have also put private money in the company, all of our savings are invested in sweets.”

When asked what advice he would give to students with a business idea Schmid said, “Definitely go for it.

“As long as you are in university it is a safe playground, nothing can happen.

“You can really test the idea in the time you are a student.”

Original Machiavelli ‘most wanted’ notice found

Written by Jonathan Breen on . Posted in News.

The original wanted notice for one of the world’s most infamous political operators has been found by a Manchester academic.

Professor Stephen Milner, from the University of Manchester’s School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, discovered the 500-year-old proclamation calling for the arrest of Niccolò Machiavelli, known as the Italian Prince of Darkness.

The ‘most wanted’ notice set in motion a chain of events that led to Machiavelli writing the book for which he is most famous, The Prince. It also marked a change his political fortunes that resulted in his death 14 years later in abject poverty.

“When I saw it I knew exactly what it was and it was pretty exciting,” said Professor Milner. “When you realise this document marked the fall from grace of one the world’s most influential political writers, it’s quite a feeling.”

“The Prince is a seminal work, with a lasting influence on political thought and culture. The term Machiavellian and the naming of the Devil as ‘Old Nick’ all derive from this single work.”

The Prince was infamous for encouraging the notion to maintain power at all costs, and promoted the sacrifice of virtue and morality to do so.

The book has since been updated to apply to areas such as finance, business, and politics.

Professor Milner, who examined hundreds of proclamations from between 1470 and 1530, has also mapped the actual site where the town crier would have read out the proclamation and been able to shed light on payments made to four horsemen who searched the streets of Florence for Machiavelli.

“When his name was linked to conspiracy to overthrow the Medici, they wasted no time in seeking his capture using the proclamation I discovered,” Professor Milner said. “On the same day, he was imprisoned, tortured and later released and placed under house arrest outside the city.

“The Prince was written in the vain hope of gaining favour and employment with the Medici, but there’s no evidence to suggest they even read it.”

NUS heads into National Conference at a crossroads

Written by Andrew Williams on . Posted in Features.

Make no mistake: elections are in vogue. From Ecuador to Armenia, Barbados to Djibouti, this month sees eleven countries go to the polls in votes of varying reliability. Currently bidding for his fourth spell as Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi can’t get enough of them (I’m still talking about elections); so desperate is the Vatican to get in on the act that the Pope broke with 600 years of tradition to resign in office, triggering an historic papal conclave.

Not to be outdone, the National Union of Students will converge on Sheffield in April to elect six budding politicos to full-time executive positions. The three-day national conference presents members with an opportunity to debate the future of further and higher education in this country, deliberations which will inform the organisation’s policy for the year ahead. In the words of James McAsh, a candidate for Vice President (Union Development), this is an annual treat for NUS members who, we are told, “bloody love democracy.”

Last week’s student media conference provided an early insight into the themes that are likely to dominate the forthcoming elections. Spanning more than four hours in less-than-glamorous surroundings (NUS HQ occupies the fourth floor of a nondescript central London office block), and featuring fifteen candidates, these hustings were not for the faint-hearted or the caffeine-deprived.

Intriguingly, however, the afternoon fired the starting gun on the race to succeed Liam Burns – student politics’ answer to Joseph Ratzinger – in the coveted role of national president. Though it is somewhat inevitable that the top job should be afforded the greatest scrutiny, this election has been enlivened by an entirely atypical quartet of candidates featuring two women, an inanimate carbon rod and (shock horror!) a Tory.

Peter Smallwood, the card-carrying Conservative in question, is determined that party political allegiance should play no role in the election. A sabbatical officer at Brunel University, Smallwood’s ‘Back to Basics’ campaign emphasises the sheer lack of engagement that “students on the ground” feel with what he sees as a distant, aloof NUS. “It’s not always talking about politics,” he explains. “I did not win by hoisting the blue flag up the flagpole.”

He is quite right. When it comes to student politics, it has never paid to be anything other than left of centre, a fact that is reflected in the litany of Labour Party apparatchiks who have historically occupied the position of NUS president. Sam Gaus, ‘nominated bearer’ of the Inanimate Carbon Rod – more of which later – claimed that, “a lot of people see the NUS as a stepping stone into a career in the Labour Party, or for the purposes of furthering their own career rather than furthering the student movement.”

A paid-up party member himself, Liam Burns admitted to The Mancunion in October that “there is no smoke without fire” when it comes to Labour’s long-standing link with NUS. He could barely argue otherwise. Burns’ predecessor was a Labour Party member; his predecessor is now a Labour councillor; her predecessor was an integral part of Labour Students; his predecessor is a one-time Trotskyist; her predecessor was a Labour Student. Given that previous NUS presidents have included Stephen Twigg, Jim Murphy, Charles Clarke, Phil Woolas and Jack Straw – all eventual Labour MPs – there is an argument to be had that the NUS is merely a Labour Party finishing school.

As such, little time is wasted before the party political question rears its head. It has been widely reported that Vicki Baars, avowedly a candidate of the left, sent out a string of emails ahead of Demo 2012 encouraging protestors to call for Tories and Lib Dems to be put “on the bonfire.”

Apologetic, Baars insists that the email “was meant with really good intention,” before offering a veiled criticism of Burns’ leadership. “We pass a lot of policy at our national conference which doesn’t actually get implemented because the person leading the organisation doesn’t necessarily agree with it,” she suggests. “I’d implement policy whether or not I agree with it.”

Nonetheless, the partisan nature of the incident could be construed as problematic. Though NUS undoubtedly needs a president who is willing to stand firm in the face of swingeing cuts to education, such tribalism caricatures students as protest-hungry and fiercely anti-establishment; doing little to win over the general public when it comes to making the argument for a greater commitment to higher education.

Indeed, there is some ammunition here for those who dismiss NUS as a parody of itself. Whether its “cascading” or “communicating wins,” we are bombarded with more management speak than you could shake a stick at. At one point I am sorely tempted to run downstairs to the office of Guinness World Records and call for an adjudicator to begin counting the innumerable acronyms (NUS, VP, FE, HE, EMA, HEFCE…) we are presented with. That’s not to mention the fact that I have been handed a document which expressly forbids my asking of “frivolous questions,” or the wonderfully clichéd ‘I still hate Thatcher’ mug in the hand of a staff member.

Enter the Inanimate Carbon Rod. Dismissed by some as a ‘joke candidate,’ the students running its campaign are genuinely angry at what they see as a benign, outmoded NUS. The Rod – borrowed from a 1994 episode of ‘The Simpsons’ – is, apparently, a metaphor for the betrayal of NUS to students.

Sam Gaus, fluorescent rod in hand, explained his position. “In 2010, then-president Aaron Porter totally condemned students protesting. He publicly withdrew support for the national student occupations; NUS would not offer legal support to students on its own marches.”

“Since then, Liam Burns has failed to fight back against the Brown Review. He has suggested that bursaries are reduced to counter-balance lowering fees; he tried to stop there being a demo at all last year, having spoken out against it at conference.”

“A national collective action could be a very effective thing to enrich the lives of students and staff in educational institutions,” Gaus continued, “and the fact that NUS isn’t being used properly is a betrayal of the students. By virtue of being inanimate – by virtue of being explicitly inactive – the Rod cannot betray students as presidents have done in the past.”

There remains a slight possibility that the carbon rod will not make it to conference in Sheffield – NUS members may object to the eligibility of any candidate until 1 March – but its presence here, far from making a mockery of the process, has actually made for an altogether more comprehensive debate about the nature of NUS’ contribution to student life.

“For too many people, NUS is just a card,” argues Peter Smallwood, to some extent echoing the Rod’s position. “It’s just a card that you get and you pop into Topman, and you get 20% off, and you pop into McDonald’s and you get a burger on behalf of Liam Burns – and that’s what’s wrong with our movement. We’re not representative in the way that we like to claim we’re representative.”

If NUS isn’t properly representing students, what does it represent in its current form? The common denominator amongst all of the candidates is a steadfast opposition to funding cuts perpetrated by the coalition government; all three candidates for Vice President (Further Education) unanimously condemn the government’s decision to scrap EMA, for example, with Matt Stanley branding their plans for education “the greatest assault on students and ordinary people in living memory.”

It does not surprise me that virtually every candidate believes in free higher education for all, but I question whether this is a realistic goal for NUS to pursue. It might be a noble aim, but there is more chance of Emeli Sandé fading into obscurity than there is of tuition fees being scrapped.

Surely, the movement would be better off admitting defeat and focusing its considerable might on fighting more winnable battles? My suggestion that the government has already proved that it is impervious to public discontent when it comes to cuts, and therefore is unlikely to pay much attention to NUS, is largely met with disapproval. “I wouldn’t stand to be a Vice President of the NUS if I didn’t think that the government was listening to us,” countered VP candidate Joe Vinson.

Despite the overwhelming consensus on fees and cuts, discord looms large. Some candidates are still arguing over the 2010 demonstration which saw violence erupt at Millbank which, it is argued, “smashed the consensus that cuts were necessary.” Naomi Beecroft, a candidate for Vice President (Higher Education), calls Aaron Porter’s response to the action “disgusting”; the incumbent, Rachel Wenstone, stresses the need for “action that matches our objectives at the time. Manchester is a great example – how are the occupations of lecture theatres in Manchester helping the kids in Moss Side who can’t access education?”

With the general election just two years away higher education is barely registering on the political Richter scale, and NUS has a fight on its hands to force the issue onto an already crowded 2015 agenda – a fact which Toni Pearce is acutely aware of. “At the moment, education is not a priority for the general public,” she admits, “which means that we have to spend the next two years campaigning and showing them what the public value of education is.”

It would be easy to characterise the afternoon’s conversation as navel-gazing, but the discussion over what NUS is for and, just as importantly, what it is against is one that desperately needs to be had. NUS remains a divided movement; divided over its core purpose, over campaign tactics and over its ability to mobilise a seven million strong membership.

The great challenge for the next president will be to reinvigorate and unite the movement. The wild ululation which will greet the winner will be for nothing if he or she fails to engage with what students want from their NUS; take charge on funding and housing, but leave ‘Say No to Genocide’ campaigns to the ministry of the bleeding obvious. When I part with £12 in return for my NUS Extra card, I want to believe that I am buying into more than a discount card.

For the full list of candidates, their manifestos and the positions they are standing for, visit http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/conference/elections/

Manchester researchers tackle deadliest skin cancer

Written by Mariana Cerqueira on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

University of Manchester researchers have discovered a way to help overcome the world’s deadliest skin cancer, melanoma.

Lung cancer drugs were found to be effective in patients who become resistant to drugs used for skin cancer and would otherwise would not have any other treatment options.

Professor Richard Marais, the leader of the study, said: “This exciting research shows that two drugs can be better than one in beating this deadly disease.”

Dr Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s senior science information manager, said: “This is the kind of work that the new MCRC excels at – bringing together a wide range of expertise to revolutionise cancer treatment.”

The research was developed in the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC), a partnership between Cancer Research UK, The Christie hospital and the University.

In 2008, the University was found to have the best cancer research of all UK institutions by the Research Assessment Exercise and last semester the MCRC was awarded a £12.8 million government funding boost to help progress its leading research.

Melanoma causes 75 per cent of all deaths related to skin cancer, including around 2,200 people in the UK each year.

Research recently published in the British Medical Journal found that the risk of developing the disease increases by 59% if sunbeds are used for the first time before the age of 35.

Prof Marais explained that the Manchester researchers’ findings need to be confirmed by larger studies, but he hopes “that this work accelerates progress that will ultimately increase survival from skin cancer”.

Arriva buses to be used as ambulances

Written by Conor McGurran on . Posted in News.

Bus company Arriva will run part of Greater Manchester’s ambulance service from April this year.

The bus and train operator won the Patient Transport Service (PTS) contract last year after it was put out to tender by the NHS. From March 2013, Arriva will take over from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) in providing non-emergency transport to and from hospitals.

There has been significant opposition to the decision, with over 14,000 people signing a petition against the move, which was handed to the Department of Health. Campaigners are concerned that Arriva will not meet the same standards that NWAS have in the past.

The petition reads: “We believe this is the first step towards the wholesale privatisation of our NHS and that we must campaign to stop it.”

Unison, the public service trade union, have been running the campaign and claim that Arriva won the bus contract because they undercut NWAS by £3.5m, but that they were scored lower than NWAS in terms of quality during the bidding process.

Liam Mayet, part of the University of Manchester’s Save Our NHS campaign, said: “The government has simply chosen price over quality in this instance.

“It is disgraceful to see what this government is doing to our NHS service. This is indicative of a wider policy of privatisation of services within our NHS.

“I am deeply concerned for patients in Manchester who rely on this service.”

The bus company will be transporting chemotherapy patients, disabled people and elderly, amongst others, who are too ill or vulnerable to use public transport. Around two million non-emergency journeys were made across the North-West by NWAS last year.

Allan Jude, Director of Ambulance Commissioning at NHS Blackpool, said: “It is important to understand that this is not the emergency blue light service and the staff are not front line ambulance staff and never attend 999 calls.

“Ambulance staff on the Arriva contract will be fully trained in basic first aid, life support and resuscitation techniques. The service will offer patients the quality service they need.”

Last year, the Arriva group was awarded a similar contract to provide non-urgent patient transport in the East Midlands. The firm have been running this service for Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire and Bassetlaw since July 2012.

Two Greater Manchester MPs condemned the award of the PTS contract to Arriva. Graham Stringer and Paul Goggins, MPs for Wythenshawe and Sale East respectively, submitted an Early Day Motion to the House of Commons, saying they were “appalled” at the decision.

The Motion noted that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Arriva’s ambulance transport service in Leicestershire and found it was not meeting standards in staffing, cleanliness, infection control, safeguarding people who use services from abuse, care and welfare of people who use services and assessing and monitoring service provision.

The CQC report also discovered that staff were being employed before Criminal Records Bureau checks had taken place and that ambulances had been late in collecting patients.

Arriva were unable for comment at the time of writing.

UCAS applications see surprise rise

Written by Michael Williams on . Posted in News.

Applications to higher education institutions across the UK have seen an unexpected rise this year.

The figures, released by UCAS, show a 3.5% increase in the number of applicants in the 2013 application cycle – a surprise to many who predicted a trend of falling applicants after the fee increase last year.

In November it was revealed that UCAS applications were almost 10 per cent lower than they were at the same time the year before – a record drop.

Mary Curnock Cook, Chief Executive of UCAS, said at the time: “Experience tells us that changes at this point in the cycle are a poor guide to final demand.”

Reacting to the recent figures, she speculated: “This may be indicating that some young people delayed their decisions about higher education after leaving school last year.”

Home applications to higher education fell 10% in 2012, and the number of students that registered at the University of Manchester this academic year fell by over 1500.

However, the application rates of 18 year olds across the UK are now at, or near, their highest recorded levels. The number of nineteen year olds applying to higher education has also shown a growth of over 10%.

David Ellis, Editor of studentmoneysaver.co.uk., agreed with Ms Cook’s suggestion. He wrote in The Telegraph: “This year’s students are spending longer making decisions because they demand more from their education”

Applications to study at the University of Manchester “have shown some modest growth”, explained Clive Agnew, Vice President of Teaching, Learning & Students.

He continued: “[This] has taken us back to the overall level of applications that we enjoyed in 2011, prior to the fall which we experienced last year.”

Edinburgh Student newspaper ‘Censorgate’

Written by Lisa Murgatroyd on . Posted in News.

Much controversy has been caused following a decision by the Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) to censor its own paper, The Student. An interim interdict (the Scottish version of an injunction) was served by bailiffs on Monday 21st January which prevented the publication of an article that was planned for the front page.

The story was written after documents were leaked anonymously to The Student, which EUSA deemed would ‘damage’ their reputation. The Student is still unable to confirm or deny any speculation on the subject matter.

Alistair Grant, editor of The Student, told The Mancunion, “It seems from the feedback we have been getting that we are by no means the only ones to have these kinds of difficulties. Pretty sad really.”

The story broke nationally, featured in Huffington Post, the Guardian, and Herald Scotland.

David Banks, expert in media law, commented in his article for the Guardian that the breadth of order sought by the EUSA was “unusual”. The interdict stretches to prevent the publication of “any material purporting to suggest the pursuer is an organisation which is poorly governed and whose management are inexperienced and unaccountable”.

“It would seem extraordinary to seek, or grant, an order so widely framed,” said Banks. He also highlighted that whilst it is normal practice in Scottish courts to invite the defenders to the hearing, the order was granted in the absence of anyone from The Student.

The paper was forced to withhold distribution of thousands of copies. The following week, it ran with the headline “Censored by EUSA” and the doors opened in full to what has been dubbed “Censorgate” by the students.

James McAsh, EUSA President, issued a statement on the union website on Monday 10th February. “As most of you are aware, The Student Newspaper was last month stopped by the Court of Session from publishing a specific story. I understand that this is frustrating for students accustomed to a higher level of openness and transparency from EUSA, but I can only reiterate our previous position that in this specific case we are bound by the law.

“I trust that our members will understand that this is an exceptional situation and will continue to exercise their right to challenge, question and disagree with what EUSA does going forward.”

One student posted on the EUSA Facebook page, “It’s really a shame you can’t opt-out of being represented by EUSA, because I hate being represented by a corrupt organisation that feels it doesn’t need to be accountable or justify its actions to its own constituents – us students!”

‘Use it or lose it,’ say Withy Baths campaigners

Written by Lisa Murgatroyd on . Posted in News.

Manchester City Council have conceded to give a stay of execution on plans to close Withington Baths, but community activists say there is still much to do.

On Wednesday 13th February, campaigners handed in their petition at Manchester Town Hall, having gathered over 8,000 signatures. A business proposal was also presented that has helped sway the Council Executive to endorse the plans to keep the swimming pool open until new facilities are built in Hough End.

Through social media, support has been expressed by a jubilant local community.

“@SaveWithyBaths Congratulations! Pleased for #Withington; shows what can be done by a community taking action! Thanks to all you have done” (@gavinwhite76)

“Youngest daughter had massive smile on her face when I told her the baths weren’t closing yet!” (@BelindaMizrahi)

However, on the ‘Save Withington Baths’ Facebook page, a warning was issued that nothing is yet secure and support was still needed.

“This is not a forever solution and there is much work to be done but firstly and most importantly here is the news going forward – USE IT OR LOSE IT. Join, swim, train, Zumba, sweat and support. We need you. And we need you now.

“Withington Baths is a VERY well used facility but this terrible uncertainty has already hit revenue as the taking of memberships was suspended. Please get word out, especially to our student population locally, that it is staying open for business!”

Similar proposals for Levenshulme and Miles Platting Baths have not yet been successful, although the Executive have stated that this would remain under consultation until 8th March.

Lib Dem Councillor Simon Wheale has criticised spending by Labour in Manchester, saying that they had overlooked government funding to promote healthy lifestyles.

The City Treasurer has confirmed that £1.7m could be used to help keep the pools open.

Dame Nancy is Britain’s 15th most powerful woman

Written by Ellen Conlon on . Posted in News.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University has been named the 15th most powerful woman in the UK.

The list was compiled by a panel of judges for BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour programme. They placed The Queen at number one, followed by Home Secretary Theresa May and Santander bank boss Ana Botin in third place.

Reflecting on her position in the top 20 women, Dame Nancy said: “It was a surprise, and an honour to be in such illustrious company! It is also great to see that a quarter of the top twenty studied or taught at the University of Manchester.”

Women’s Hour listeners were invited in October to nominate women who they thought held the most power in the country.

Over 4,000 responses were received through email, Twitter and Facebook, producing over 1,600 names.

The panel had to decide how much impact each woman had on the country. Whether they had the power to make meaningful decisions which could bring about change and whether they had the financial resources to bring about that change.

Only the top 20 women on the list are ranked, the panel agreeing that after that the distinction between one number and the next was less meaningful due to the vast differences between talents and achievements.

At number four on the list is former Manchester Law Professor, Baroness Hale of Richmond, and three former Manchester students take sixth, eleventh and seventh positions: Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the TUC and Culture Secretary Maria Miller MP.

Speaking on a Woman’s Hour programme in November, Dame Nancy was asked whether she considered herself powerful: “When I was asked that question my immediate response was “no”, but I suppose running an £800 million organisation, with 40,000 students and 10,000 staff, I have to say yes,” she admitted.

One of the judges, journalist Eve Pollard, said: “Most women on our list were judged to have power because they had reached a place where they have control – of policy, of direction, of influence, of staff.

“The panel, a democratic group, also felt that we should include some women who have what we describe as soft power – not hire and fire or innovative financial decisions but the ability to transform the way we think about ourselves,” she said.

Recognisable names on the list that hold ‘soft power’ include Adele, Dawn French, Sarah Millican and Victoria Beckham.

“What this list does is shine a light on those sector where too few women are getting to the top, like politics, FTSE companies, the military and journalism,” recognised Eve Pollard. “Our legacy, we hope, is that this list might change that.”

Literature in the loo

Written by Annie Muir on . Posted in Books.

Manchester is full of ‘public literature’. From the poetic ‘Landmarks’ of Lemn Sissay, that transform the Megabus journey into uni into a poetry tour, to the graffiti on the walls of the toilets in Nexus Art Café in the Northern Quarter. Sissay’s famous, outdoor poetry can be seen on the wall of Hardy’s Well pub, and his latest, ‘Let There Be Peace’ stands tall in the atrium of University Place. But I would argue that Nexus’ toilet diaries are no less an important part of the communal, public expression that is outdoor writing.

The strange thing about the toilets in Nexus is that the cubicle on the right is completely empty of writing. The walls of the cubicle on the left in Nexus are covered in advice, stories, and thoughts – alongside quotes from Dr. Seuss, C.S. Lewis, Patti Smith, Oscar Wilde, and Buddha. But no one has written on the right, as a train of scribbles hasn’t been set off. Each doodle on the left actually builds on, and in, the space created by those before it.

This is admittedly a different type of ‘public literature’ to Sissay’s poems, but not necessarily less valuable. Why people feel the need to write on the walls of public toilets can be answered by positing why people write literature at all: to say something instead of nothing.

People write on the walls of toilets, as well as writing any other form of literature, to communicate with other people. Ernest L. Abel and Barbara E. Buckley, in their book The Handwriting on the Wall (published in 1977), describe how psychiatrists at St. Joseph’s hospital in Chicago encouraged patients to write on the walls to promote communication between patients and therapists. This was encouraged after a nurse discovered a blackboard covered with the thoughts and feelings of an uncommunicative schizophrenic patient; she then wrote some questions on the blackboard and the patient replied, creating a dialogue. The writing on the walls of public toilets creates evidence of other minds at work in those toilets, and therefore gives people something to communicate with. A dialogue is provoked.

There is a long history of people writing on the walls of public toilets, and of authorities trying to curb such practices. Abel and Buckley also discuss how the ancient Romans wrote on the walls of their public latrines, and how the authorities tried to protect their walls by placing ‘deities or religious emblems on their toilet walls.’ These days the problem seems to be solved by applying endless coats of paint to the walls of public toilets or getting the toilets done-up to look too clean to soil with our thoughts. (This has certainly been attempted in the library loos.)

There is, in fact, very little graffiti in the toilets of the university campus. I found a few examples of ‘FREE PALESTINE’, a drawing of a flower around the edge of a toilet-roll dispenser, and a small, exclamation/ question: ‘WHEN WILL IT ALL GET BETTER??’ Here- as in literature- the silence can speak manifold. Are we becoming less communicative? Less politically engaged? Does our democratic, instant access to ‘public space’ online, in fact disenfranchise us from the public spaces around us in the world, from contributing to and being provoked by? Do the attempts of the authorities to ‘clean’ up public spaces, also neutralise them?

Sissay’s work is a form of graffiti which is sponsored by the council rather than censored, and however great it looks, or much it makes you think, it does not ask you to contribute or create a dialogue the same way ‘WOMEN ARE NOT OBJECTS’ spray-painted on the side of the students union does. Because the latter is unsanctioned, because it is anonymous. By painting over the scribbles on the walls the council are in a sense erasing history, enforcing censorship and filling our minds with blank walls instead of questions like: when will it all get better?