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Day: 18 September 2014

Fallowfield gets Creative with the Fallow Street Fair and Oxjam

Last week, Fallowfield revealed itself as a creative hub for three days when Oxjam Manchester Takeover merged with the Fallow Street Fair to host a boutique market for the local community.

Alexandra Violet-Saunders and Mark Fletch Henderson together organised the Fallow Street Fair, a market selling vintage clothing, jewellery and food all from local produce. Violet-Saunders, who worked on the social media and marketing for the fair, said it aimed to “bring the Fallowfield community together”.

Susie Witham, business owner of Hot Mess Vintage, hosted a stall at the fair selling her brand’s clothing and described the event as “a platform for small businesses “. Speaking to The Mancunion, Witham explained that most enterprises need to start small and find suitable places to launch their products, highlighting the fair as an apt opportunity for marketing and promotion.

As a whole, the Fallow Street Fair had a friendly atmosphere with a colourful array of stalls and enterprises. Zara Khalique used the opportunity to sell her products from Keep It Bright, using fashion and design to promote positive messages. Amy Win catered for the fair with her social enterprise food stall, 4 Lunch, selling light salads whilst mentoring young homeless people about business and employability.

The Oxjam Manchester Takeover provided DJs and music at the fair throughout the day and hosted music events in the evenings at Fallow Café. Alexandra Violet-Saunders said that Oxjam promotes up and coming artists by giving them a platform to perform, donating the profits to Oxfam.

The manager of Oxjam Manchester Takeover, Lisa Murgatroyd, a former Mancunion editor, said “Oxjam is the annual national initiative where volunteers run gigs and festivals as part of a fundraising drive for Oxfam”.

Oxjam Takeover Manchester will host an event on the first weekend of October, Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th, which Murgatoyd says will “be taking over 10 venues in the Northern Quarter for a weekend of music ranging from indie to pop to hip hop and everything in between”.

This year, the event is said to be “teaming up with TOMS and local artists that are part of Generic Greeting Collective to celebrate multicultural Manchester”.

Advanced tickets are available online at bit.ly/oxjammanchester for £10. Oxjam are also on the lookout for volunteers to help run the event, bringing the Manchester community together and giving back to society.

Asthma Research Study Seeks Patients

I don’t need to tell you that the lung plays an important part in the human body. But what happens when something goes wrong? Living with asthma, or other respiratory issues and allergies, can make life difficult, causing sufferers to think twice about things their peers will do on a whim. The Manchester Lung and Allergy Research Society understands this and wants to help.

The society aims to advance knowledge and research in respiratory and allergy medicine by encouraging basic science and transitional clinical research. It encourages participation in clinical trials recommended by a Research and Ethics Committee, provides mentoring for careers and gives advice to any students who are applying for research fellowships and grants. So if you’re the medical researcher of tomorrow, their experience and knowledge should prove invaluable. Perhaps even more importantly, the society seeks to promote healthy living and the prevention of respiratory disease.

The chair of the Manchester Lung and Allergy Research Society is Dr. Imran Satia, who’s giving you a chance to get involved. Dr. Satia is recruiting students to take part in an asthma research programme which has been approved by the University Ethics Committee and the Local Research Ethics Committee. After starting this programme last year, Dr. Satia has managed to find 71 patients but requires a further 30 to complete the research. So if you have asthma and are interested in the prevention of the condition or helping others with it, Dr. Satia wants to hear from you. All participants will be paid £60 for 3 short sessions, all based at the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility just off Oxford Road.

For more information contact Dr. Imran Satia on 0161 291 5846 or email [email protected].

Opinion: Is Ghostwriting a Problem?

This summer I read Russell Brand’s first autobiography, the childishly but humorously named My Booky Wook. It was great—it was laugh-out-loud hilarious, as outrageous as one would imagine an autobiography would be by a man who dressed as Osama Bin Laden the day after 9/11, heartening at times but most of all it was a deeply personal account from one of Britain’s most notorious comedians. It went into detail about his drug addiction and sex addiction as well as some disastrous relationship stories and his fragmented childhood.

It was roughly twenty pages before I finished the book when my mum caught me reading it and informed me that the Guardian had published an article that week about ghostwriting and that My Booky Wook was actually written by someone else. A ghostwriter is essentially someone who writes for someone else and allows him or her the credit. This amazed me as My Booky Wook seemed so typically Brand to the extent that if I were to read you any page without telling you who it was written by, you would almost definitely tell it is Brand’s writing.

Two obvious dilemmas sprung into my mind upon finishing the article. The first was how sales and royalties were divided between the two parties. Robert McCrum reports that the standard used to be one third of the advance for the ghost plus royalties but due to recession and I expect the rising number of ghostwriters leading to a more competitive market that figure has dropped to as low as ten per cent. At first I didn’t think these numbers were justified, as surely it should be a fifty-fifty split as the success of the autobiography is contingent on both parties. But then I decided to abstract parts of the process of how the book is made and thought that both the stories and style of writing is done in the manner of the celebrity and the ghost only does the writing so it appears fair that the celebrity receives more as they are the more quintessential members of the agreement.

The second problem I had was whether the autobiography would lack honesty and realness due to it being written by a third-party, despite the fact that it is the ghost’s job to get inside their subjects’ lives to such an extent that the reader doesn’t realise the book isn’t autobiographical. But there are things that you cannot just discover from just following people around for a while. Still, the ghost has to find out about the childhood of their specimen, things that have occurred away from the public eye and some innermost feelings to make the autobiography a success. The ghost has to earn trust from their subject in order to acquire these things and thus, as the reader, we can never be sure of whether this trust and honesty was formed or if the celebrity was taking the ghost for a comical ride. However, I think that as the reader we have this problem for any autobiography ghostwritten or not. Till this day I have no idea whether Bob Dylan’s Chronicles is just another piece by him that has a meaning none of us can ever grasp correctly or is genuinely honest. Ultimately the autobiography is going to be released to the public so there is no reason why it is going to be any more honest if it is ghostwritten or not.

As far as I can see there are no fundamental problems with ghostwriting. As long as the ghostwriter is rewarded suitably for his or her efforts and tries their best to produce the most honest and true-to-life piece about their subjects’ life, I have no problem with reading the autobiography.

Survey reveals Manchester students’ biggest fears

University of Manchester students find achieving academic success to be their number one cause of stress, according to a recent study released by Endsleigh.

Endsleigh, an insurance company targeted at students and young entrepreneurs, have released statistics from their 2014 Student Survey conducted throughout April this year. The study asked over 2000 students to rank their fears out of 10.

For Manchester students the top three greatest fears were found to be keeping up with exams and academic deadlines (89 per cent), applying for jobs (77 per cent) and managing their money (68 per cent).

Making friends at university was a much lower concern for Manchester students than the national average of 52 per cent, with only 42 per cent of those surveyed ranking it as a concern, no doubt connected to recent news that this year the University of Manchester has more societies than ever before, including even a newly established society for students living at home.

However the survey also revealed that mental health and wellbeing has become a greater concern to students with 59 per cent ranking it as a worry. This ranks higher than physical health and fitness which ranked slightly lower as a concern for 58 per cent of the students surveyed.

Yet only 34 per cent of those surveyed in Manchester would consider using the university counselling services if suffering from stress. In commenting on the statistics the Education Sector Manager for Endsleigh Kim McGuinness said “the stereotypical picture of the carefree student appears to be long gone, given the pressures modern-day undergraduates face and feel.

“Students are incredibly conscientious when it comes to performing well academically… not to mention the worry many face when it comes to thinking about life after graduation and, in particular, given the competitive market, securing a job in the career of their choice.

“These are real issues that students face and it is of vital importance that they are not only brought to light but talked about and, where necessary, addressed. Knowing where to go to get the right advice when suffering from anxiety can be life-changing for those students who have, until now, felt they were alone in what they were going through.”

The Mancunion reached out to the University Counselling Service and Nightline in regards to the newly released statistics, but they were unavailable to comment. However Melanie Withers, a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, expressed relief for the increased concern towards mental wellbeing amongst students and encouraged the continuing use of University services for such matters.

“An increasing percentage of students are seeking help through their college or university counselling service every year. Student life can be stressful, and students may feel under a lot of pressure at times, but it’s important to remember that you’re not alone, and that there are services on hand to support you when things are difficult.

“Almost all universities and 75 per cent of further education colleges offer counselling to their students. This service is provided free and waiting times are considerably shorter than if you were to access therapy through your GP.”

What’s on

Behind The Mask @ The Lowry. 20th September–11th January

The biggest collection of BAFTA-winning actor portraitures comes to Manchester in a new exhibition. Featuring photographs of over 100 international stars, the Lowry will be the first to host the collection outside of London.

Buy Art Fair & The Manchester Contemporary @ Old Granada Studios, 26th–28th September, 10am–7pm

The largest and most prestigious art fairs in the North, returns to Manchester this September. Over £1m worth of art will be up for sale from over 80 national and
international galleries.

Asia Triennial Manchester 2014 @ various locations across the city, 27th September–23rd November

Established in 2008, the ATM festival showcases a range of contemporary arts and crafts from Asia, UK and the Asian Diaspora. It includes over 50 artists from 12 different countries and focuses on three main clusters in IWM North at The Quays, Manchester city centre, Bury and Rochdale.

Spotlight: Manchester Medical Orchestra and Choir

Play an instrument? Want to get it out of its case again? The Manchester Medical Orchestra and Choir is your salvation! 

We hold rehearsals on Monday evenings during term time and play and/or sing a wide range of music, including classical and contemporary. Concerts are performed three times a year across South Manchester, as well as going on tour, all while fitting around the work and exam schedule of a medical student.

There is a great social aspect to Manchester Medical Orchestra and Choir. MMOC includes members across all years of medicine, as well as nursing, midwifery, dentistry and other health-related degrees. In addition, healthcare professionals are also involved. This gives a fantastic opportunity to network across different years and specialities while sharing a common interest. However, this cannot be done without singers or string, woodwind, brass and percussion players! We don’t audition, which means everyone is more than welcome!

The highlight of 2014 has to be the inaugural MMOC tour to Liverpool. Combining the talents from Manchester with the past culture capital made for an exciting weekend of music and tourism, with busking and exploring the town culminating in a final concert on the Sunday afternoon in the famous bombed out church.

For orchestra, the Christmas concert repertoire will include the incredible Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, and the Roman Carnival Overture by Berlioz. Choir will be singing Fantasia on Christmas Carols by Vaughn-Williams, The Snow by Elgar and highlights from Disney’s ‘Frozen’.

If you would like to be a part of MMOC please email us at [email protected] / [email protected], or join to Facebook group Manchester Medical Orchestra and Choir (MMOC). We look forward to hearing from you!

Post provided by MMOC.

Get Psyched!

Manchester PsychSoc doesn’t rest for a moment. Whether it’s their monthly socials (not to mention the annual ball), their very own newspaper or keeping up to date with cutting-edge research, this is definitely a society keen to stay engaged with their members. Made up of a diverse mix of psychology and neuroscience students and others from a multitude of disciplines, PsychSoc are active both in their online spaces, in the university itself and on their trips—last year, they even went to Alton Towers!

Society president Nikita Balfour is keen to engage new members with the society, telling us of her plans to “bridge the gap between lecturers and students,” making it a hugely inclusive and accessible society to join. She is also particularly keen to make links with UoM alumni; possibly including Kimberley Wilson from the Great British Bake Off, who graduated from Manchester in 2004 with a BA in Psychology.

PsychSoc are especially proud of their newspaper, PSYCH. New for 2014, their chief editor Nadine Mirza has big plans, hoping to establish a permanent spot in the university presses for the monthly issue. Their first issue focuses on the theme of women in psychology, a cause close to the committee’s hearts. Articles focus on the perceived dichotomy between Brains and Beauty, study The Psychology of Women, wonder Where Are All The Men? in the psychology classroom and introduce the Manchester-bred Dr. Brenda Milner in their Psychologist Of The Month feature.

PSYCH is available online and from the Zochonis Building. If writing is your calling, email them at [email protected] with NMPsych and the position applied for in the Subject field.

The Death of David Kammerer

New York City has undergone a radical change since the end of World War Two. Once a Mecca for artists, poets and musicians to gather and collaborate on pushing the boundaries of art, New York now appears to be the capital city of capitalism. Property prices are extortionate and yet New York can boast one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Business is a religion there now with millionaires, multi-millionaires and billionaires around every corner. As for the artists, they are suffering. Patti Smith comments how where there was once a “burgeoning art community” camping and living cheaply in the city, are now “high-end shopping areas” destroying many hopes and dreams for the young artist looking to make it big in the iconic city. The transformation of the city is what makes the story of David Kammerer and Lucien Carr such a fantasy, so unbelievable, with such a complex plot.

The year is 1944. The Nazis occupy Paris, and Europe has seen another bloodshed—the second in just 25 years. The atmosphere in New York is one of relative peace, although ships are present at the docks waiting to take the next batch of willing sailors across to join in the action. On a hot August night, David Kammerer and Lucien Carr are having a furious dispute. Soon Kammerer will be found dead at the bottom of the Hudson River, rocks in his pockets and stab wounds in his chest. The relationship between the two was nothing less than intense, intimate and borderline psychopathic.

Carr met Kammerer before he turned 12. Kammerer was 14 years older than Carr and before long acted as a father figure to him—Carr’s own father had abandoned the family years before. By the time Carr was 21, when the murder happened, he had moved from state to state, each time trying to escape Kammerer but instead followed by him.

Kammerer was a homosexual and it seemed he was determined to win the heart of Carr by any means necessary. Whether Carr was conflicted or simply not a homosexual is unclear but he never gave Kammerer what he desired most. Kammerer became more and more of a problem for Carr, popping up everywhere he went, arguing with Carr’s girlfriends and, if the film “Kill Your Darlings” is true, helping him to commit forgery at Columbia University. Carr had seemingly had enough and attempted to ship out to Paris having heard of the impending liberation but Kammerer soon found out his plan and tried to move out there with him. This would be one step too far for Kammerer and on August 13, 1944 after a night of heavy drinking, Carr ended the years of psychological abuse from Kammerer by plunging a knife into his chest.

The incident has been referred to as “the crime that united the Beats.” Jack Kerouac had recently become a close friend of Carr’s at Columbia University and was the first person Carr turned to after the murder. William Burroughs was the second, but first to tell Carr to go to the police. He felt Carr could get a minimal prison sentence if he told the authorities Kammerer was a homosexual trying to seduce a heterosexual man. Allen Ginsberg was also a friend of Carr’s at Columbia although the friendship was lost after the murder. Ginsberg attempted to dedicate his first published collection of poetry to Carr but in return Carr called for the dedication to be removed from all future copies.

Kammerer’s murder and the story behind it have lead to many of those involved to attempt to put it into words. The most famous of which is the joint collaboration by Kerouac and Burroughs entitled “And the Hippos were Boiling in their Tanks” written in 1945 but only published after Carr’s death in 2005. Kerouac and Burroughs write alternate chapters describing the lives of each character in New York City. Although given different names, it is quite clear who Kammerer is and who Carr is. The book is intriguing and definitely foregrounds the success Kerouac and Burroughs would have later in life. It presents a side of New York that is seemingly lost now but is well worth the read if you want to know what the early life of the Beats was like.

Franz Kafka – “The Castle” (review)

“If a man has his eyes bound, you can encourage him as much as you like to stare through the bandage, but he’ll never see anything.”

Franz Kafka’s final novel, “The Castle”, is a typically Kafkaesque story incorporating themes of alienation, frustration and bureaucracy. It is a long and gruelling read as Kafka takes us on a steady journey of Josef K’s life in a surreal setting and situation where you never quite know if the journey will provide any meaning or progression. Despite sharing many features with Kafka’s earlier work, “The Trial”, it contains additional elements such as degrees of humour as well as loving relationships between the protagonist and other characters.

Josef K has been employed as a surveyor by an unknown entity from the castle and told to report for duty at an unknown village. The village is dark and cold, we are told spring and summer only last a couple of days there, and lies below the castle. Due to the weather the castle is barely visible but its ominous presence is felt by all of the people in the village. Upon arrival, K is provided with two assistants, an annoying and childish duo that provide some unexpected smiles for the reader, as they resemble The Chuckle Brothers with their antics, jumping over one another, laughing and giggling and generally just annoying K.

K’s frustrations grow as he learns the village has no need for a surveyor and furthermore, he cannot gain direct access to the castle and has to go through various procedures and processes before he can even think of venturing there. He endeavours to meet Klamm, an alleged secretary of the castle who resides in the village sometimes. However, on the first night where he could possibly meet him, Klamm’s mistress, Frieda, distracts him and the two begin their love affair on the floor of a pub. Whether K ever genuinely adores Frieda or just uses her to try and get closer to the castle is never quite known but Frieda eventually presumes the latter and leaves him. This is not before one of the most hauntingly beautiful lines of the book where K tells Frieda “I dream of a grave, deep and narrow, where we could clasp each other in our arms as with clamps, and I would hide my face in you and you would hide your face in me, and nobody would ever see us any more.”

The rest of the novel sees K running tirelessly around the village looking for answers to explain why he was invited to this nightmarish place and perhaps more importantly who invited him and for what purpose. The book ends mid-sentence, as Kafka himself seemed to become too frustrated to provide a conclusion to this miserable story.

A logical ending to the story would be K’s death and supposedly that is what Kafka intended telling Max Brod in a letter that K would be on his deathbed when he would be notified that his “legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was permitted to live and work there”. But the actual ending, for me, is more poignant to the struggles we all have against bureaucracy. Josef K, unlike the character of the same name in Kafka’s earlier novel “The Trial”, doesn’t give in and surrender to the authorities, he tries to rebel and discover what his own fate is although it is an impossible fight. The fact that the novel ends mid-sentence shows that an individual’s struggle against the world’s order would be never-ending and is always fruitless and absurd, so giving up is always somewhat justifiable. The way Kafka expresses this in his prose makes it beyond question that he was one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century. He could even be mentioned alongside the likes of Orwell and Huxley in producing a body of work that illustrates a dystopian future that in the present day appears more and more like reality.