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Day: 8 March 2013

Education Officer: Rosie Dammers

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Uncategorised.

Hey, my names Rosie and I’m a third year history student. I am really active around the university in societies. I have been considering this role for a long time, and after speaking to lots of students and societies, I have come up with a manifesto that I think is both highly achievable and representative of your needs.

If I was elected I would set up a mobile app from which students can access personalised timetables that show lectures, seminars, course deadlines and society events. I will also scrap Blackboard and bring in a better designed system that will make online learning easier and more accessible. After researching alternative software, I propose that the university changes to Moodle. Moodle is already used by other universities in the UK such as UCL and the University of Nottingham. It is designed to create an online learning environment that provides a sociable and lively experience by allowing users to create their own personalised areas and profiles, in much the same way social spaces such as Facebook do. I also think this system would help distance learners to feel more part of university life, and would help students to network with a larger group of people on their course by making it easier for students to have online group discussions. Moodle would thus create more integration between students, and allow students to easily offer each other support – something I feel is particularly important on courses with few contact hours. As well creating an online community of students and lecturers, Moodle would enhance online learning by giving lecturers the freedom to design the layout of their course in a way that reflects the structure of the course and directs students with ease to online materials.

I also pledge to increase the amount of study space available for students to work individually and in groups, particularly during exam periods. I want to do this by opening the computer clusters across campus that are currently closed during exam time. I also want to make the library computers timeout after two hours to stop people unfairly leaving themselves logged in for long periods of time. If elected, I would also ensure that lecturers and seminar leaders are meeting a high standard by setting up a feedback system that allows students to frequently comment on the quality of their courses and the standard of the feedback they are receiving. I will then make those reports available online so that students can refer to them when choosing what future courses to take. I would encourage lecturers to comment back on the report to show how they have considered the feedback and subsequently improved the course. I will also increase the number of careers events and work experience opportunities advertised departmentally and by the careers service. I realise how important it is in this economic climate that the university equips students with the skills and experience they need to feel confident when entering the job market.

I also think it is important the university recognises the hard work of students who dedicated themselves to societies and campaigns. To make this happen, I will introduce a UoM Societies and Campaigns award. This will be an official university award that deserving students receive at the end of their degree, which reflects the commitment they have shown to a particular cause or group. There would be an interview and selection process in place to ensure that only worthy students receive the award.

Finally, if I was elected I would put my time into making the university into an international hub of learning that celebrates a range of cultures and forms links of solidarity with other universities and student union bodies worldwide. To create this climate, I want to promote language courses to all students and set up student-led conversation clubs so that students can help each other to learn other languages and make cultural exchanges.

So if you would like to see the university revolutionise their online learning, gain recognition for the hard work you put in to societies, see exactly how your courses are being improved, and learn a language from a fellow student then vote for me for Education Officer.

Education Officer: Myonoway Toles

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Uncategorised.

My name is Myonoway Toles, I am from Los Angeles, California and I am currently pursuing my masters in International Relations. I am standing in the upcoming Student Union Election for Education Officer, and I am writing you today to ask for you endorsement. As an international student, I know the importance of education especially when the price of one continues to increase while the quality decreases therefore, making it difficult for students to afford higher education.

If given the opportunity to become your Education Officer, I promise to oppose all governmental and university tuition increase and cuts because I truly believe education should affordable for all students regardless of economic status. Not only will I oppose all cuts I will also continue to push for an increase in funding for Women in STEM   because although women make up just more than half of the population, only thirteen percent of engineers are women.  Women are similarly underrepresented in other science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions, so organizations that encourage young women to study STEM in higher education are vital.

As Education Officer, I will fight to lower the cost of external specialist equipment particularly for students in the medical and science filed such as lab coats, stethoscopes, and eye-protective goggles. For students in other fields, I would like to work with the university to give students limited print credit at the beginning of every school year therefore reducing extra cost to students.

My goal and aspiration as Education Officer is to enhance the student experience for every student regardless of gender, ethnicity, nationality, and religion both at undergraduate and graduate levels in hopes of obtaining quality higher education.  Whether that is fighting for more prayer rooms, or free water dispenser stations, or female, ethnic minorities and LGBTQ recognition in academia, or more twenty-four hour access study areas in halls and around both campuses, or Wi-Fi in every all or better meal plans for catered halls, I hope to help make such significant contributions to students’ lives.

I would like to, in recognition for your work to enhance student experience, ask for your support and endorsement to help me in the upcoming student elections to help realise my ambitions. With your help, we could work collectively to make Manchester University a more conducive place to groom the future leaders of tomorrow.

Remember, “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belong to the people who prepare for it today.”

 

Diversity Officer: Marijn Ceelen

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

Hi, I’m Marijn and I’m standing for diversity officer. I stand because I believe the union should increase accessibility, challenge inequality and celebrate liberation. If elected, I want to change some policies, and create awareness throughout the university and start from the beginning of the student experience.

My first point is the increase of inclusion of international students, at university, at the union and in the halls of residence. I want to organise more events to celebrate the various celebrations our student body celebrate at home, and advertise these to a wider audience so everyone can enjoy them. Halls of residence should have more events, held throughout the year to include the international students and promote integration whilst staying respectful to cultural values and differences. Each RA team should have one reserved place for an international student, who can give input into what events they want to do, and what kind of trips are desired. I want to change the focus from alcohol to enjoyment during Fresher’s, and I want to look into offering non-alcohol flats in the Halls of Residence.

My second point is about the zero tolerance policies that are in place at the union. Welcome packs should contain information on these, and provide information so students are aware of them before even arriving at Manchester. I want to hold workshops tailored to the various diversities, and announce these in the welcome packs as well as making them available on the union website. I want to create a week full of workshops (Diversity Week?) and films where we focus on all issues, whether related to race, religion, LGBTQ or students with disabilities. I want to enrich the student experience for all students, and make people more aware of the amazing diverse community we have here at Manchester.

I want to work closely together with the careers service, for a couple of reasons. This year we had a part time jobs fair, but I believe this can be bigger and better, tailored for those students in need of a part time job to be able to support themselves, such as students from a lower economic background or post-graduate students. I also want to help them liaise with the DSO to cater specifically to students with disabilities.

My other points relate to specific groups of students, so I will list them here:

– Post-graduate students: I want to support the organisation of the society, to ensure a longer time consistency. As many PG students only study here for one or two years, it is important to keep the flow going and encourage student involvement, by organising more diverse events and focus on careers and employability. These events can be advertised in the welcome packs, to make all PG students aware of the society, in increase involvement.

– Mature students: this group is often forgotten, and I believe they are in need of more support. This can be easily achieved through a mature society, where they can socialise, organise events and maybe even set up a mentoring scheme for other students.

– Faith students: I want to start an interfaith committee, to provide a platform for discussion and joint events. I also want to assess the amount of prayer rooms, and if necessary, increase that amount to provide for all students of all religions. I also want to assess the regulations in place for faith students in the halls of residence, and maybe look to reinstate single-sex flats in the cheaper halls.

–Disabled students: I want to increase accessibility around campus, whether this is about wheelchair access, or the availability of online material that is easier to read. I also want to start, in coalition with the elected reps, a disabled history month.

– LGBTQ: I want to increase the amount of events held at the union, and work closely with the reps for their campaigns and to organise a bigger LGBTQ history month. I want to fight for gender neutral titles.

– Black students’ campaign: I want to support this campaign to become bigger and more present, to enrich the student experience through events and a bigger Black history month. This could be achieved through lectures, speeches, films, or any form of social that might be suitable

 

Women’s Officer: Nanon Lingwood

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Uncategorised.

Women’s issues should be everybody’s issues, I guess that’s been my tagline this election. You’ll see it in my manifesto, my Facebook page and be sick of hearing me say it by mid march. That’s because I wholeheartedly believe that ensuring women’s rights, at home and across the world, to education, safety and freedom of speech are the most important issues society must tackle today. My manifesto outlines how I want to instigate these ideas from a grassroots level. I want the Women’s Campaign to be more visible on campus so that women’s issues are at the forefront of everybody’s minds and women’s voices are as loud as ever. I will begin this by mapping sexual harassment on campus so that students awareness of sexual harassment and assault increases at the University of Manchester. For my second manifesto policy, I already have some great ideas lined up for the Workshops for Women, such as bringing in Cecelia Knapp from the London Roundhouse Poetry Collective to nurture Manchester’s talent and referee a poetry slam. I want our Workshops to build a community for students where we can socialise as well as transfer skills. I want the Women’s Issues Database I will set up to be easily accessible for all Manchester students, an archive of women’s issues material so that anybody with any level of interest in women’s issues can find something of interest to them. I want to lobby Manchester Police and ensure that they are not preserving, consciously or unconsciously, messages of slut-shaming or victim-blaming in student areas such as Fallowfield or Withington as I have previously witnessed.

A lot of students ask me isn’t feminism over? Don’t women have equal rights? Yes, granted most of you reading this are very lucky. We live in Britain and have generally experienced equal rights to education, healthcare and bank accounts. We’re allowed to leave the house past dusk and we have the right to wear what we want. Yet women on our campus and across our city are still relentlessly treated as second class citizens. We at the University of Manchester must work to ensure women on our campus from all walks of life, as well as those across the world struggling with issues very different from ours, are treated equally.

My involvement in the Union amounts to the fact I work there, that is how my interest in running for the Exec Team began. I still feel however that I have the outside perspective that the Union needs. I see the Union from the point of view of students that aren’t involved and will be able to attract those students to get stuck in. Although the Union is a political body, the career politicians shouldn’t scare so many students off. The Students Union should be about the student community just as much as it is politics.

Column: Why Look Back in Anger?

Written by Joe Goggins on . Posted in Music.

The great thing about living in a society where so much progresses so rapidly is that there’s always something for Noel Gallagher to make ‘acerbic’, ‘biting’ comments about. This week, it was the e-cigarette, after he saw the drummer for Muse with one at the Brits – “go outside and have a proper one or don’t fucking bother.” Astonishing insight as usual, but of more interest to me were his comments on the new David Bowie record, The Next Day.

Gallagher claims that the release of an album with almost no fanfare and (as yet) no touring plans has provided something of genuine interest to music fans, with reunions aimed purely at exploiting nostalgia being “fucking shite.” It’s a fair enough point, even if we all know that repeated attempts by both Gallagher and his brother to distance themselves from the idea of getting back together are merely cynical attempts to drive up the currency of the inevitable Morning Glory reunion tour in 2015. The idea that nostalgia is of no worth when compared to new music, whilst noble in principle, is often proven not to be the case in practice.

Despite fielding questions as to whether the band would ever make another record so often that he included “THERE ARE NO PLANS FOR ANOTHER POSTAL SERVICE LP” in his Twitter bio, Ben Gibbard has reformed his electronic side-project for a slew of shows this year, in celebration of the ten-year anniversary of Give Up, the one album they did get around to making. As much as there’s obvious commercial potential in a second record – their debut was the first release on the legendary Sub Pop label to go platinum since Nirvana’s Bleach – he remains adamant that the band won’t produce another full-length. That hardly means, though, that there’s no value in a reunion for purely reflective purposes; it’s perfectly OK for fans to be excited at the prospect of seeing the original lineup of a band play songs most thought would never be aired live again. In The Postal Service’s case, with Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis back in the fold, the mere opportunity to see two of U.S. indie rock’s most iconic figures of recent years onstage together is musical justification enough for a few money-spinning shows.

It’s a spirit nicely captured by ATP’s Don’t Look Back series, which has allowed fans to see classic records played in full by bands who remain creatively potent; Belle and Sebastian’s If You’re Feeling Sinister, Slint’s Spiderland and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Fever to Tell all serve as good examples. Billy Corgan is in Gallagher’s camp, claiming he’d never play Siamese Dream in its entirety, but does he honestly think the masses would rather hear his alleged ‘Smashing Pumpkins’ play two hours worth of material from Teargarden by Kaleidywank or whatever their newest project’s called? Fuck off, Billy. I suppose you shouldn’t really try to get inside the head of anyone who’s been romantically involved with Courtney Love.

I saw Sonic Youth a couple of years back and they played a set dominated by their last record, The Eternal. I’m glad I took the opportunity to see them, especially now that it looks like they might be finished, and it’s nice to be able to boast to you all about it, but honestly, it was a decent show that could’ve been amazing if they’d played more from Daydream Nation or Sister. Sometimes, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia.

 

Live: Foals

Written by Joe Goggins on . Posted in Music.

2nd March 2013

Academy

Reviews of Foals’ latest record, Holy Fire, have been largely underscored by constant reference to progression and maturity, so it’s perhaps a little surprising to see them playing the Academy tonight, a venue they’ve sold out with ease twice before; the first time I saw them was here, way back in 2008, towards the back end of their commitments for Antidotes.

That isn’t to say, though, that there aren’t obvious signs of development elsewhere. The signature instrumental opener is present and correct, but tonight’s is a different beast entirely from their Antidotes­-era intro, ‘XXXXX’; if the intention is to draw the crowd into a frenzy, then ‘Prelude’ aims for controlled chaos – its hypnotic groove builds gradually, carefully, towards a climactic clash of guitars. It serves nicely as a microcosm of the sonic road the band have been moving down 2010’s Total Life Forever, the title track of which swiftly follows; a rhythmically choppy number with a chant-along bridge, “let’s take life slow”, that offers another insight into the Foals mindset post-Antidotes.

I mention their first record because I’m of the generally unpopular opinion that Antidotes is Foals’ masterpiece; like some of their contemporaries’ debut efforts – Franz Ferdinand and Vampire Weekend spring to mind – it’s an album that they’ll likely spend the rest of their careers trying to top. Media coverage of Holy Fire widely suggests that the band have capitalised upon the promise displayed on Total Life Forever, with their debut paid little heed and often dismissed as uneven, or weak outwith the singles; it’s a view that makes the mind boggle on tonight’s evidence, where Antidotes provides a slew of set highlights.

The urgent opening of ‘Balloons’, drums racing over interlocking guitar lines that tick like time bombs, remains one of the most thrilling weapons in the Foals arsenal, whilst ‘Olympic Airways’ proves that raucous singlaongs can still be atmospheric. ‘Electric Bloom’ provides a memorable set closer; it’s the perfect platform for Yannis Phillippakis to prove why he’s fast becoming one of rock’s most engaging frontmen, howling the track’s refrain as he less plays a floor tom than brutally assaults it. I still haven’t mentioned ‘Red Socks Pugie’, a song frequently singled out by the band as the one they’re most proud of; desolate verses, driven by little more than vocals and drums, explode into a full-throated roar of a chorus, with the band eschewing the recorded version’s gradual fade out in favour of a rollicking instrumental outro.

It’s not difficult, then, to understand why Foals aren’t quite as frenetic a live force as they were back when those songs were all they had to offer; Total Life Forever moved into more expansive territory, with mixed results. ‘Spanish Sahara’ is unquestionably the band’s lighters-aloft moment, and has all the anthemic properties required to work perfectly in the live environment. ‘After Glow’ on the other hand, is turgid, uninspired and disastrously-placed in the thick of a number of similarly-downtempo numbers, including the vastly superior ‘Late Night’, which is abound with something I felt Total Life Forever, for the most part, lacked: atmosphere. There’s obvious ambition in the decision to include the more reflective likes of ‘Milk and Black Spiders’ and ‘Moon’ tonight, but the predictably-boisterous Saturday night crowd don’t really give them a chance.

Foals’ finer moments on the last two records have come when they’ve embraced their funkier side; ‘Miami’ and ‘My Number’ are taken from different records, but clearly born of the same influence – they’re perfectly-constructed, hook-driven pop stompers, showcasing the band’s sharp ear for combining melody and groove and providing the evening’s most irresistibly danceable moments.

Foals are at a crossroads; never more popular and never more ambitious, bigger venues than the Academies they’re frequenting on this current jaunt are now less calling their name than screaming it. When they finally get there, starting with a couple of shows at the Royal Albert Hall later this month, they’ll have a precarious balance to strike; the newer material is bound to sound huge, but they can ill afford to lose any more of what once made their live shows genuinely thrilling; if they can bring both the rawness of Antidotes and the sheen of Holy Fire to the inevitable two-night stand at the Apollo later in the year, they could represent one of the most potent live propositions you’ll find anywhere.