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Day: 19 March 2013

Women’s Rugby look forward to first Trophy final

The University of Manchester Women’s Rugby Club are looking forward to their first BUCS Trophy final later this month after a narrow victory over Sheffield Hallam in the semi-final last week. Despite a late fight-back from Sheffield, Manchester dug deep to secure a 24-19 win, which means they will participate in a BUCS final for the first time in their history.

In the earlier rounds, Manchester negotiated difficult ties against the University of York and Swansea University at the Armitage Centre. They then travelled all the way to Portsmouth to win their quarter final and the long journey of this season seems to have united the squad; team spirit and confidence are high heading into the game. Hooker Amy Linnegan is optimistic that they can bring the trophy home:

“We are nervous but excited and proud to have reached the final. We know it will be a difficult game but we hope to win it.”

The players have been searching through their records and believe this will be their first cup final since the formation of the club. The achievement is made even more notable by its distinctiveness among other Manchester teams this season; only the Men’s Hockey first team have also reached a Trophy final, and, despite plenty of success in the Northern Conference Cup, Manchester are yet to deliver a team into a Championship final. Women’s Rugby are therefore one of the few teams left flying the flag for Manchester.

Manchester’s opponents, the University of Bedfordshire, will have the shorter journey to London and will arguably be marginal favourites for the game; they lead Midlands Division 1A with 8 wins and 1 loss all season and have defeated the likes of Warwick, Cambridge and King’s College on the way to the final. They are likely to provide a considerable test.

But Manchester’s women have saved some of their best form for the Trophy competition. They currently lie fourth in the Northern Division but have upset dangerous teams on their way to the final and will be looking to repeat the feat. And Manchester have another reason to be optimistic; scrum-half Claire Shutler, who has played for the North of England Ladies team, is on good form ahead of the encounter.

The final takes place at Imperial Sports Ground in Teddington in London on the 24th March, just a few miles from Twickenham Stadium where the Championship trophy finals are scheduled for the same day. Although the dream match at Twickenham may not yet be a reality for Manchester the team will be hoping that this first final could yet be a platform for a future trip to the national home of rugby.

 

Glory and disappointment on busy cup final day

Wednesday afternoon was a busy one for sport, with four of our women’s teams in cup finals.

The Women’s football first team was in action, playing their cup final against York university. They capped off an unbelievable season in style, smashing the Yorkshire side 7-0 to secure the league and cup double.

“We’re feeling very elated… and hungover”, Simone Wan said of the mood of the club after what has been a phenomenal season. “There aren’t any words to describe how good [the season] was. It’s just been perfect.”

The club have steamrollered their way through the league and cup, suffering only one defeat in the process.  The success, Wan says, has been down to effort. “A lot of hard work and dedication has been put into the club. Every single club members has trained hard and played every game well. A lot of thanks to our coach as well, who has been great.”

On the cup run itself, Wan singled out the difficult away trip to Bangor in the semi final as a performance to remember. “It was difficult. We had to play away, and they had a crowd of spectators supporting them,” she said. Yet UoM marched to victory with only one player on the bench. “There were only twelve of us, we had no subs. No coach either. And we won it. It was brilliant.”

Wan was perhaps a little restrained in her praise of the performance in the final itself considering the 7-0 score line. “Even when we were five nil up, we never gave up and carried our playing our game. Everyone gave it their all for the full ninety minutes. That was the difference between the two teams really”.

Being on the end of a 7-0 drubbing, you could be forgiven for expecting tempers to flare within the York ranks. Wan was quick to single out their sportsmanship, however. “Fair play to them. They came and shook hands at the end of the game, and said the better team won. They were really nice about it”.

It’s been a truly outstanding season for the Women’s football team. After being asked to single out someone for individual praise, Wan refused – “No, I think everyone has give it their all. There isn’t one player I could say. Everyone deserves it”.

The women’s netball fifth team have also had a brilliant debut season storming to the league and cup double, beating Durham 32-27 in the final.

Fifth team captain Hannah Huntington was quick to praise the team for the performance in the final. “It was our best game of the season so far. Everyone was excited. It was amazing really.”

The newly-formed team were forced to start at the bottom of the netball pyramid, which has proved to be perhaps a little too easy for the girls in purple, as they have remained undefeated all season during their relentless march to the title.

“Some games weren’t that testing for us”, Huntington acknowledged, “but there were other teams that were in a similar position to us in the league too, so playing those teams was important.”

However, she made clear that the challenge of stepping up a level remains an exciting prospect. “I can’t wait for next season. We’re looking forward to moving up and playing more competitive games… and maybe winning the cup again”.

Indeed, the cup final itself appeared the most closely-fought contest of the season, with Manchester requiring a fourth-quarter turnaround to beat Durham by only five points. “It was neck and neck… we’d pull ahead, then they’d pull ahead. It was a really tight game. We just about beat them in the end though.”

Huntington was also quick to heap praise on the new members of the team. “It’s definitely been an all-round team performance throughout the season”, she said, “but I’d definitely single out the freshers. Our team has had quite a lot, and they’ve all stepped up and played really, really well.”

Also in action were the Women’s table tennis first team, and the Women’s volleyball.  The table tennis team lost a hard fought final to Newcastle 3-2, and the volleyball team were unfortunately outplayed by Warwick 0-3.

Classic university ‘had its day’

The traditional university model has “had its day”, according to a recent report published by a leading education expert.

An Avalanche is Coming, a report by Sir Michael Barber, Chief Education Advisor to multinational publishing and education company Pearson, claims “radical and urgent” changes are needed in higher education.

“The models of higher education that marched triumphantly across the globe in the second half of the 20th century are broken,” the report says.

“The traditional multipurpose university with a combination of a range degrees and a modestly effective research programme has had its day.”

The report highlights a shift in the delivery of higher education, and points to online education providers as strong competition for the traditional university.

It also advocates the embrace of Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, currently championed by many top institutions in the United States, such as MIT, Harvard, and University of California Berkeley.

Although the University of Manchester has no free online courses, it runs paid-for distance learning programs through Manchester Business School.

There are also plans to develop a number of MOOCs, according to the University.

At a question and answer session in February, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell supported the idea that the University may have to change its traditional model.

“To me, more important than contact hours is access to advice and help when you need it,” she said. “With the increasing ability to have lectures online maybe we should be thinking more that contact time is less about somebody speaking to you but more about discussion.

“We should think of changing the classical model of education at university.”

Smoker’s regret

Taking up smoking is the ‘biggest regret’ for Mancunians, a survey has revealed.

Over 2,000 adults were surveyed by E-Lites, and 86 per cent of smokers say they wish they had never started.

Failing to quit smoking also filled people with regret, with refusing to stub out earlier in life being fourth on the list.

While lighting up was the biggest source of remorse, the survey also shows that Mancunians have, on average, seven regrets about their life.

People also beat themselves up over not saving more money, allowing themselves to get fat, and not getting better exam results, amongst others.

Losing your virginity to the wrong person was fourteenth on the list, and ‘being too sensible’ rounded off the list at 15.

“I don’t regret smoking because I love smoking!” said Sam Blackledge, a third year Zoology student.

“Well, I hate everything about smoking except actually smoking.”

“With all the health aspects, you know it’s horrible, and you shouldn’t, but it’s really nice.”

“I quit about four times but I keep going back in times of stress – like an election campaign.”

Other students had mixed feelings.

“It’s my biggest regret,” said second year Philosophy student Adam, “but I wouldn’t make a different choice if I was in the same position.”

“It’s brought me a lot of things – I’ve got a lot of girls out in the smoking area. You can’t talk in the club, but you can talk in the smoking area!”

The survey comes on the heels of news that Manchester has the highest smoking-related death rate in England.

Data revealed by the London Health Observatory last month shows that between 2008 and 2010 there were an estimated 372 smoking related deaths per 100,000 people in the city – a higher figure than anywhere else in England.

£23 million graphene funding boost

Graphene research in Manchester has received an extra £23 million funding boost towards building the world’s leading centre of research on the “wonder material”.

The funding comes from the European Regional Development Fund and will be used alongside £38 million from the UK Government to build the National Graphene Institute (NGI).

“Establishing the National Graphene Institute is crucial to the continued advancement of graphene research in Manchester and in the UK,” said Professor Colin Bailey, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

He added: “To have such a significant award allows us to build this world-leading institute and allows Manchester to continue its well-deserved reputation as the home of graphene.”

The NGI will boast state-of-the-art facilities and research labs where University scientists will collaborate with colleagues from the industry and other universities. The Institute will be the UK’s centre for graphene research, acting as a hub for other UK research institutions to work at.

Graphene is the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material, and was discovered at the University by Professors Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov in 2004. They were jointly awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their research, followed by knighthoods during the 2012 New Year Honours.

The material has many potential applications, including ultrafast internet, rollable e-paper and even anticancer or antibiotic treatments.

Professor Novoselov said: “Graphene has the potential to revolutionise so many different areas of our lives, and it is fantastic that the Government and the European Commission have recognised that with their important investments.”

In January figures revealed that the UK is falling behind in the international race to claim patents. Chinese institutions have published over 2,200 patents and US institutions have published over 1,750, but when the figures were released the UK had only published 54.

Iconic BBC site now a car park

The Oxford Road site once occupied by the iconic BBC building is now an open air car park.

The New Broadcasting House (NBH) was demolished last year, ending 35 years of broadcasting at the site, and is currently offering car parking from £2.

Some Twitter users took to venting their frustration about this development over the social networking website.

Gareth Hughes tweeted: “What a surprise, the old BBC building on Oxford Road has now been turned in to a car park. What a wasted opportunity.”

Darren Murphy also sarcastically tweeted: “So, the former #manchester bbc site is now an open air car park… Fantastic!”

The 300,000 square-foot building was occupied by the BBC since 1976 and demolition began in November 2011. It was sold as the BBC made the move to Salford’s new MediaCityUK in Salford.

Programmes based at or produced at the NBH included A Question of Sport, Dragons’ Den and Life on Mars.

But not everyone is upset by the demolition of the landmark. World-famous BBC historian Michael Wood, who worked in the building for years as a journalist, this week told The Mancunion that “it’s not a great loss architecturally.”

Manchester-based Realty Estates Ltd bought the site for an estimated £10 million in April 2011. At the time of writing it was unknown for how long the site would be a car park or what is planned for it in the future.

NUS calls to end ‘laddism’ on campus

An NUS survey has revealed that 50% of participants indentified “prevailing sexism, ‘laddism’ and a culture of harassment” at their universities.

The report, titled ‘That’s what she said,’ includes research from the University of Sussex, looking into campus cultures and the experiences of women students.

It aims to show that “’lad culture’ affects every aspect of student life, which means that everyone in higher education has a role to play in responding to this.”

Although women now make up the majority of students in higher education, the report finds that challenges and disadvantages still remain for women students and that statistical data does not necessarily reflect their experiences.

While most participants felt that ‘lad culture’ had not directly affected their educational experiences, the university experience was described as ‘gendered’ by many, especially within classroom interaction.

“I’ve been silenced in a classroom environment by someone who is one of the lads if you like, because I didn’t agree with something he said,” commented one participant. “He essentially did a repeat of what David Cameron did, the whole ‘calm down dear’ thing.”

“Even the teacher who was female didn’t challenge it. She just looked at her papers, shuffled them, looked really awkward. I knew she had heard, everyone had heard.”

Another participant said: “In lots of tutorials I’ve had lots of banter.  I do Politics and History and within that there tends to be a slight focus on feminist theory at some point. It’s always the time the lad comes out. It’s just like shit jokes and stuff like that.”

“For example, if you try to make an announcement in [a lecture], everyone will immediately start shouting stuff… Something along the lines of being a ‘shit feminist’ or something.  That kind of ‘another one of those man haters’.”

Tabz O’Brien-Butcher, Manchester’s Women’s Officer said that this was not uncommon: “I’ve had quite a lot of students come up to me complaining about sexism in the classroom.” But she explained that the problem was that a lot of students do not want to make official complaints because they are scared.

“I think it’s more of a problem in terms of other students doing the banter and the sexism but then teachers don’t crack down on it and they just ignore it happening in the classroom,” she said.

The report also looked at the more expected areas of ‘lad culture,’ including sports clubs and their initiations which it explains creates a ‘pack’ mentality and is encouraged by the consumption of alcohol.

A participant in the report explained: “It was the rugby night initiation and they stood on either side of the pavement so you had to walk through them, they were creating like a bridge thing with their hands, and they started shouting really loudly, in the main street, ‘U.G.L.Y. –she’s ugly, she’s ugly’ and I was just stood there.”

“I was actually quite upset about it because it caught me off guard and I wasn’t expecting it. I wouldn’t say I get upset very much but I literally ran off… it ruined my night, I went home after that.”

While admitting that the ‘lad culture’ on campus is bad at Manchester, Tabz did not think that it was any worse than other campuses.

“Because the union is separate from the AU, a lot of the initiation ceremonies that are very focused around banter and lad culture happens in the sports teams so maybe there’s a bit less [‘lad culture’] than universities who have the sports teams integrated into the union,” she said.

“But obviously I have heard of a lot of instances, especially around Welcome Week and freshers week that we need to crack down on.”

The link between ‘lad culture’ and sexual harassment and violence is highlighted by the report.

“I don’t know anyone, any of my female friends who haven’t had some kind of encounter that was harassment, whether it be verbal or physical since they’ve been at university,” said one participant.

The NUS have responded saying that the report results are “difficult to read” anf that it is “important to acknowledge that this is happening.”

“The extent to which ‘lad culture’ shapes student’s experiences on nights out is particularly disturbing. It does not seem possible to go on a night out without encountering ‘lad culture’ and the sexism and misogyny associated with it.”

To combat this emergence of ‘lad culture,’ the NUS have called for a summit of stakeholders to work towards creating a commission to develop a national strategy to respond to the issue.

The commission will be chaired by the NUS and will feature representatives from student’s unions and institutions, students sports and societies organisations, the student entertainments, nightlife and alcohol industries, and equalities and women’s organisations.

It will aim to “lay out a clear path to tackling ‘lad culture’ and creating a safer, more positive, more empowering culture on our campuses.”

Leading women have already shown their support for the research, including Diane Abbott, Laura Bates of the Everyday Sexism Project and Polly Williams, Senior Policy Advisor, Equality Challenge Unit.

“It is important that the government and universities listen to what students are saying, and challenge any normalisation of sexism on university campuses,” said Abbott. “This isn’t about being killjoys, but about building a society where people can learn and thrive free from shame, harassment and abuse.”

Should Students’ Union executive candidates be allowed to campaign with iPads?

YES

People walking into Uni in the week preceding the election do so wearing blinkers. The chalking on the floor, the brightly coloured posters wallpapering the Union, the banners flapping menacingly in the wind wash over a student body totally disengaged and sick to the back teeth of elections and the oh-so-hilarious punnery of would-be student politicians.

A shiny iPad being shoved in people’s faces brings out the magpie in us all, and could well be just the thing to break the cycle of disinterest from students. Most students aren’t so stupid as to be pressured into voting for just anyone who puts an iPad in front of them, but to have the elections presented as something than can be slick, modern, forward-thinking instead of as a shabby bed sheet banner could have a genuinely large effect on student interest.

For those thinking that I might be guilty of over simplifying this somewhat, there is surely a reason why so many departments at the University are investing in these technologies: when things are presented in a slicker way, they are more appealing. This is basic advertising psychology: present things in an appealing way and they will appeal to more people.

For a union that had a turnout of but 7,953 voters out of 40,000 students in the 2012 executive elections, making this figure grow has to be an absolute priority. With candidates using iPads during their campaign you make every campaigner a walking polling station whose aim is to increase votes, allowing students to vote wherever they are at that time. With this, voter turnout would of course increase, which would make the results, whatever they might be, carry far more of a mandate.

With a greater involvement of the student body comes a greater effect of the Union – more people engaged in the outcome of the elections means more people sufficiently engaged in the actions of the executive, and more people invested in them acting appropriately; this can surely only mean better outcomes for everybody.


NO

My first thought when contemplating the question of iPads is quite frankly, how on earth could anybody support their use? A tool only the wealthiest campaigners can access, no way to know if they’re being used in an intimidatory way, and so many complaints and suspicions surrounding  their use that we’ve all lost count.

Supporters of the tablets highlight the fact that they can be used as a mobile polling station, meaning any campaigner anywhere can encourage higher numbers of votes, so long as they’ve found themselves a University of Manchester student. Alternatively, of course, this means that any campaigner with a tablet becomes a one person intimidatory machine, who can pressure underinformed people into voting for them with promises of sweet baked goods. Remember that it is permissible, under this years guidelines, for candidates and their supporters to give out food; not in exchange for votes of course but merely to ‘boost their campaign’. The fact is though that policies such as these are just impossible to police and can quite frequently result in actions that undermine the electoral process, as anyone who has been cornered by a cake-wielding campaigner can attest.

To those who think that turnout should be the number one priority in these elections, and are willing to sacrifice a degree of fairness and free voting in order to achieve maximum votes at costs, I say this: you have got your priorities entirely in the wrong order. Having more people voting would be great, but surely a more positive way to increase this would be to have more engaging advertising of the elections as a whole, or, god forbid, more engaging manifestos from the candidates. Shoving technology down people’s throats smacks of desperation somewhat, particularly when it is done to the detriment of free and fair elections.

Even if it were possible to ensure that tablets weren’t being used in a harmful way, the simple fact of the matter is that a policy that disadvantages people based on their wealth is surely absolutely not OK and entirely not within the spirit of a fair and free democracy, nor does it chime with the fluffy liberal values for which our SU is known and loved.

 

Manchester’s got Wood: University hires TV historian

World renowned BBC historian Michael Wood will be teaching at The University of Manchester from September.

Wood’s career has seen him present over a hundred documentaries in three decades, broadcast in over 150 countries. He will become Professor of Public History at the University.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I’ve got lots of mates there so it’s not going to be a vast change. Manchester is a very dynamic university with great people and this offer just seemed fantastic fun.”

Professor Keith Brown, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, hailed Wood as “the UK’s leading public historian” and was “delighted to announce his appointment.”

“Because he is also widely respected as a serious scholar, we think our students will benefit greatly from his talents.”

Wood’s television documentaries span topics as varied as the Trojan War, Shakespeare and India. His 2010 series Story of England was described as “the most innovative history series ever on TV” by The Independent.

“I think I’ve done films on about 25 of the courses on offer at the History department,” he claimed. “Given the fantastic range of history options at Manchester, I can offer interesting speculations and cross-cultural comparisons and big-picture stuff.”

With plans to write and present a new series exploring the history of China over the next two years, Wood is conscious of potential difficulties involved in dedicating the time required of a university professor.

He said: “My biggest concern was how I could fit this in. I didn’t want people to say that I never come to the University.

“I’m looking at doing a continuous blog when I’m working in China and even bringing work in progress back to be looked at by students.”

He also plans to make use of his 35 years of experience as a film-maker and incorporate film into his teaching. “I don’t mind doing formal teaching,” he said, “but I like the idea of using film to help students see history.

“I think that film can play a part in inspiring students, especially first-years, about the possibilities of history. There are many different ways of approaching it and film adds another layer and brings it to life.”

Wood was born in Manchester and grew up in Moss Side. He graduated with a 2:1 from Oxford but three years into researching a PhD he left to become a journalist.

“I’d done three years of work on my thesis but I was nowhere near putting it together because I’d gone too wide,” he recalled. “I still have the draft in my drawer.

“I thought I had to get a job and I’d done a bit of journalism at Oxford. My first job was as a journalist for ITV. I even interviewed Arthur Scargill on News at 10, can you believe that?”

He went to work on current affairs for BBC Manchester when a friend offered him the chance to produce a show for BBC Birmingham. Wood suggested a show about Anglo-Saxons but his boss persuaded him to make it for BBC Manchester instead.

He explained: “I had someone in mind to present it, but they said I should do it instead to save money. The first film that went out got wonderful reviews. I walked into the office and people were asking whether I’d read the papers.

“The Beeb asked if I could make some more and that’s how it happened. It’s serendipity to be honest.”

Wood voiced concerns over Education Secretary Michael Gove’s plans to reform the history curriculum in schools to teach British history in chronological order.

He said: “I’m not opposed to Michael Gove himself and I don’t want my appointment to be in some sense tied to that.

“My experience of having children and working with primary schools is that the systematic arc of narrative stuff is just not appropriate, particularly for under-11s, and not a way that children get a sense of the past.

“I would much rather liberate the teachers and let them use their passion for the subject. But how you go about when you can only teach history two hours a week is the real problem.”

Wood’s youth was not spent solely in study. “A long time ago I played in a band with my mates in Manchester,” he recollected. “We had a reunion a couple of years ago and, who knows, we might even play together again!”

Asked whether Manchester Professor Brian Cox copied him in making the transition from musician to television academic, he laughed: “I bow to Brian Cox when it comes to being a muso.”

Manchester Bhangra Society

I spoke to Rajkumar Khera from the Bhangra Society, who told us about the cultural influence in their style of music and dancing, its fitness benefits, and what it was like performing at Pangaea.

“I had never heard about Bhangra before I came to university. It is a traditional folk dance/music which originates from the Punjab. It’s has different beats (played on the dhol) and within each style of beat there are specific dance moves you can do. For example, ‘dhamaal’ is an upbeat type of dance and music, whereas ‘mirza’ is about a Punjabi Romeo’s love woe and the dance moves represent his story. But on the whole, there’s a combination of different segments of music and dance. The music is upbeat and the dance is highly energetic, it is a great workout!”

The group, started in 2008, is not a religious society, but more of a cultural one, Rajkumar explains: “The different songs are more about how proud of our culture us Punjabis are (we’re very patriotic!), how beautiful the women are, and how we just like to have a good time. Sometimes, as in all cultures, the music and lyrics can be deep and reflective, talking about the issues the Punjab is currently facing and so on, however, on the whole, it is fairly upbeat.”

Rajkumar got involved with the Bhangra society by going along to a free dance class in Freshers’ Week of his first year: “I was recruited into the team and haven’t been able to stop. As a British Asian, I feel that this aspect of my culture is integral to my identity and I’m glad it’s a part of me. I was the Chair last year, but this year I’ve taken a step back and have a more supportive role.”

The Bhangra society has held a variety of events, including socials where they bring Indian food dishes to a society member’s house. Alongside this, they hold weekly dance classes every Thursday at 6pm, at the Manchester Metropolitan University Students’ Union. The society also participates in live performances all over the UK: “We performed at the film premiere for a Bollywood film, performed with Atif Aslam on stage, have done a variety of music videos for some quite big Bhangra artists (PBN, Saini Surinder) and have performed at The Bhangra Showdown, an inter-varsity competition at the Hammersmith Apollo.”

The Bhangra Showdown (TBS) is a particularly large-scale event organised by the Imperial College Punjabi Society. This year Aston and Birmingham City University, St George’s, Kings College, Imperial, Birmingham University, Brunel, Kingston and Manchester competed. It is a student run charity event which is held at the Hammersmith Apollo and is often a sell out, attracting thousands of people from across the UK. The universities compete and battle it out to be the best Bhangra team in the UK. Rajkumar says: “The prize? Glory and pride! We put on a much better and more solid performance compared to the last couple of years, however we did not place in the top three. The rehearsal process involved many long hours from the end of November through to the show day. Rehearsing for many long nights, all in the spirit of the competition and to do Manchester proud.”

The Bhangra Society have performed at numerous University of Manchester Students’ Union events as well – you may have caught them on the main stage at Pangaea Festival. “It was amazing as I’m sure you can imagine. It’s always really nice to see people that may not have ever danced to Bhangra before enjoying themselves in gigs like that.”

Other performances at UMSU include Reclaim the Night, Beerfest and the Cultural Showdown. In the past they have worked with the Dance Society, the Hindu Society, RAG and many more. “We really enjoy getting involved with other societies so if anyone’s interesting in booking us then please get in touch! Find us on Facebook – search “Manchester Bhangra Society” and drop us a message.”

If you would like to get involved in the society, it doesn’t matter if you have never done it before – they encourage anyone that enjoys dancing, wants to get fit, have a laugh or just try something different. “I say Bhangra is the new Zumba because it’s such a great way to keep fit! Our team of the past few years has been diverse, and we’re a friendly bunch, so by all means come on by!”

For more information visit www.facebook.com/groups/manchesterbhangrasociety

Trees planted in first campus orchard

The University of Manchester has planted its first orchard on campus.

Forty students have helped to plant over eighty fruit trees around halls of residence both in the Fallowfield and Victoria Park campus’.

Manchester-based social enterprise The Kindling Trust helped with the planting, which has been done in association with the Big Dig, a nationwide project encouraging volunteers to get involved in their local community gardens.

“The little trees might not look like much now, but in ten years time the campuses we planted up are going to be beautiful, grand orchards,’ Kirstin….. from The Kindling Trust told The Mancunion.

“My hope is that the whole University gets behind this scheme, aiming to make Manchester University the most food-friendly and sustainable campus in the country,” she added.

Many of the students involved in the planting were from the Manchester Leadership Programme. Zhang Ruoyu, a student on the programme said: “It was a good experience to participate in this Manchester Leadership Programme challenge. The trees we planted will hopefully bare edible apples in the near future so the students on campus may be able to grab one from the tree and enjoy it when passing.”

Hulme Hall was the last plot to be planted on and Jasmine Dale, a previous resident of the hall told the Mancunion “I think it’s a great idea, it’s something really different that will encourage students to eat and grow their own fruit.”

The trees planted will produce different varieties of apples from the North-West and will give students and staff a supply of apples in the upcoming years.

The initiative looks set to continue with plans for further development underway.

Alexander Clark, the University’s Sustainability Officer for the Directorate of Student Experience said: “We’re starting with apples, but next winter we plan to plant plums, pears and a whole range of soft fruit.”

 

 

 

‘Bike-gang’ target student smartphones

Students have been the repeated victims of a gang of bike-riding thieves specifically after smart-phones.

Since the start of February, 11 students have been victims of robberies on, and around, the Oxford Road.

PCSO Lucy Nicholas has warned that it was “mainly students being targeted because they are the ones with their iPhones out.

“With the snatch thefts, it is normally a man on a bike who comes up behind a student, catches them by surprise and takes the phone.

“They cycle off very quickly so the person doesn’t see their face or clothing well, but the descriptions of offenders suggest it is more than one person doing this,” she said.

Greater Manchester Police have increased their presence in the area since the attacks, and have warned that students should keep their phones out of sight.

Police have also warned that students should download a tracking device onto their phones and make sure they are locked with passwords.

Andrew Williams, a student who had his phone stolen in this way last year, told The Mancunion: “I was walkimg along Egerton road in Fallowfield in broad daylight and a guy cycled up behind me and swiped my phone right out of my hand.

“I couldnt believe it happened so I hailed down a car driving towards me and we drove after him and chased him. We followed him for a mile while on the phone to the police but he got away down a side street,” he said.

“You would never expect it to happen in such a busy area,” he added.

The attacks have coincided with a rise in phone thefts in other areas. Last week police seized a man at the Warehouse Project in possession of over 40 stolen phones.

Police also warned of another scam on Oxford Road, involving people posing as charity volunteers approaching customers in coffee shops who have devices on show. The ‘volunteers’ then place a clipboard over the device and use it as a distraction to steal the device.