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Day: 13 October 2014

Review: Early One Morning – The Octagon Theatre, Bolton

Written by Luke Sharma on . Posted in Theatre.

‘Early One Morning’ is a play written by Les Smith. It was commissioned by the Octagon Theatre in 1998 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Armistice. It is based on the final hours of Private James Smith, portrayed in the play by Michael Shelford, a soldier once held in high regard by his peers and senior officers, as he is charged with desertion, the punishment for which is death.

The auditorium was breathtaking due to its transformation into a trench in WWI France. Corrugated sheet metal panels on the walls, chicken wire surrounding the stalls and dirt and soil were all over the floor. A smoky haze throughout the auditorium added just further to the implication of trench warfare. With the bonus of it being theatre in the round, the audience sat literally inches away from the action. It created a close and intimate atmosphere, which invited all the spectators to feel as if they were in the trenches with the soldiers.

We were introduced to the story by a narrator in the form of Sergeant Fielding (Colin Connor) who took on the role of the orator and performed it with great aplomb. Mr. Connor set the scene for the whole play in an exceptional manner, and then showed no problems in phasing between the role of narrator and his performance role as Sergeant Fielding.

Michael Shelford was terrific in acting as a soldier with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Everything about his performance, down to his facial expressions was absolutely perfect. His body language took precedence over his speech. Though Private Smith’s face was not always visible to all of the spectators, throughout the intense scene during his Court Martial, his body language told the audience all they needed to know. He quivered, his hands shook and his fear was definitely amplified throughout the crowd. Accompanied by the sound of artillery fire and gunshots, it was a really effective way of emphasising the terrible effects of post-traumatic stress.

Scenes of Smith’s hallucinations and flashbacks were effectively highlighted by the change in lighting towards a more sepia toned light. This effect was used throughout the play whenever Smith’s love interest Lizzie Cartwright (Jessica Baglow) appeared. The chemistry between the pair was strong and their portrayal of a young couple separated by the war was incredible. Jessica Baglow was the embodiment of a stereotypical wartime girl at home, and managed to become a microcosm of the whole of the UK during the war. She managed to portray the heartache that was felt by those at home just waiting and not knowing whether their brother, son, husband or father was going to come home. This is as much a credit to the actress as it is to the scriptwriting.

(L-R) Tristan Brooke as Lance Corporal Bradley, James Dutton as Private McKinnel, Michael Shelford as Private James Smith, and Ciaran Kellgren as Private Webster. Photo: Ian Tilton

There must be a special mention of Tristan Brooke, James Dutton and Ciaran Kellgren who each played two characters, but particularly for their performances as Lance Corporal Bradley, Private McKinnel and Private Webster respectively. They represented the typical soldier, none thought they deserved being there but did everything they could to deal with it. When presented with the task of digging the execution post into the ground, all three actors represented the camaraderie that was necessary between the soldiers. The particular talent in this crop of actors is emphasised by the fact that the repertoire which hit me hardest in the whole play concluded with; “I’m just a bus conductor,” uttered by Ciaran Kellgren as Private Webster. In any other context this line may be trivial but the emotion and heightened tensions between these three men made it a harsh reality check for all in the room.

The horrors of the war were graphically described throughout the play by both dialogue and actions. The battalion of soldiers started out as an excited bunch of men, but throughout the play, we slowly see their spirits begining to deflate. This just showed the extremely precise directing of David Thacker, who managed to capture the overall effect the war was playing on the soldiers so intricately.

At the end of the play, the Chaplain (John Branwell) provided comfort to Pvt. Smith. Branwell made the character appear lost, confused and upset with God as he realised that Pvt. Smith was a representation of the inhumane nature of the war as a whole. A fantastic job considering he was playing the man who condemned Smith at the start of the play.

The conclusion was resounding. Fear, guilt and helplessness being portrayed by all actors and without a doubt, the whole play was tied up perfectly. The audience was in deep thought after the play and many did not leave with a dry eye. It is a terribly sad but poetically beautiful play. Amazing job from the Octagon Theatre, they have produced something that everyone involved, from front of house staff to the back stage team to actors on stage, should be proud of and deserve plaudits in equal measure.

Should we criticise Israel?

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Opinion.

YES:

Ben Farren

It is difficult to separate the past and the present in a meaningful way and still come to a compassionate and effective conclusion. If you keep going back in time you will come to a point where one ape encountered another at the boundary of a forest: there they diverged, never to meet again, until one’s group stormed in on their cavalry, or flew down in their hellish metal birds.

Fortunately in this extremely complex conflict, there is at least one sensible checkpoint: the creation of the State of Israel.

Israel was formed on a “land without a people, for a people without a land.” This statement is almost comical now but has unclear origins. There is contrasting evidence as to where it came from, but there is definite evidence it was used by high-up individuals in the Zionist movement in the 19th and 20th century. This attitude leads us into why Israel should be criticised.

The state was founded either on the idea that Palestine was empty or it was not. In the first instance the obvious disregard for Arab lives is clear. The second instance is far worse in the sense that there is no room for excuses, the claim was clearly that the Jewish Diaspora’s security was more important than the lives of the Palestinian nomads who had lived there with their families for generations. The evidence points to the second option, as Ben Gurion, the country’s first leader, was very keen to see all the Arabs leave and their villages destroyed.

I appreciate that this is not the Israel-Palestine conflict in its current form, but the conditions set at the origin of this new chapter are important in setting the tone of the conflict. One important thing is that for all the victim narrative you hear from Mr. Netanyahu nowadays regarding the behaviour of Hamas is that at a lot of points since the start of the territorial conflict, Israel have had the initiative. They were the ones in power, and this is the crux of the issue; those with the power have the higher moral responsibility to end the conflict.

For a people who have been at the receiving end of such hatred and violence, it is understandable some of their leaders act so vengefully, but it is also disappointing that they lack the compassion and solidarity with their fellow man. It is so much easier to understand this when you stop thinking about this issue from a religious or ideological standpoint, but from an economic and class one. Israel is now firmly in the driving seat when it comes to peace. If I were in their position, I would go about “peace” very differently.

The idea of an occupied state is the spiritual successor to how the Palestinians were removed from their homes originally. It is illegal by international law to occupy territories which are not yours, and at this point a lot of people simply disagree on whose the territory is. It is the most humiliating type of autonomy, that which is constantly overseen.

The worst actions were those of compulsory transfer—the idea that Arabs were to be asked to leave Israel, and if they did not, they would be forced. The idea of Israel existing was simply more important than the lives and families of those Palestinians who lived there. This is the height of opportunism. This was allowed to happen internationally because of people like myself, so fixated on a tabula rasa state for the oppressed, such a romantic idea, so dreadfully conceived and executed.

I hope I would have been horrified as I saw one people find a home, amidst the burning ruins of another’s.

We see the collective punishment of Palestinians, a war crime which has been observed in Gaza City especially. The only defence of these war crimes is that the Palestinians legitimately elected that which is now considered to be a terrorist organization by most of the world.

Bringing up that Hamas fires rockets is to do two things. It is to attempt to conflate Hamas’ actions with those of Israel and it is to find someone to deflect blame on to for the mass murder of civilians, including children. There is absolutely no excuse for the murder of any child in Palestine and to call it collateral damage is sickening. If I were in a war I thought to be legitimate, I would be grovelling at the knees of my enemy for forgiveness for such an act. I have heard the ludicrous point that Israel are being punished for being good at war; if they were that good, then they would not be killing civilians.

Ethnic cleansing is the systematic removal of an ethnic group to make it more homogeneous to the cleanser’s ethnicity. The conflict in Palestine has too many characteristics shared with this definition not to be regarded as such any more.

An edited version of this original piece appeared in this week’s edition of The Mancunion. We apologise if any misinterpretation occurred or offence was caused by the edit.

NO:

Before labelling me as a cold blooded Zionist who tries to justify the killing of civilians, I would like to clarify that I do not support the extent of the killing. I do not support Israel on religious grounds either—but I do support Israel on the principle of deterrence and the right to self-defence and existence.

No community or country in the world would or should silently resign to missile attacks and ceasefire violations. According to the UN charter, every nation has the inherent right to counter attack in self-defence against aggression. Israel should not be condemned for simply refusing to be subjected to another Holocaust.

Israel is seen as an oppressor in a region where it is the only free democracy and is constantly imperilled by religious and racially motivated attacks on its population. Israel has agreed to various ceasefire agreements, many of which have been wilfully rejected and violated by Hamas.

Over 13500 rockets have been launched from Gaza into Israel since 2001, resulting in Israelis living under constant harassment and needless defence expenditure on Hamas’ war. The media has made us forget that Israelis are threatened; we see no ‘Israeli death toll’ or reports on the persistent building of tunnels with the express purpose of killing more Israelis in mainstream media, because for some people the same principles of humanity do not apply whilst talking about the two sides.

The cycle of provocation followed by playing the victim after Israeli counter-attack is abhorrent. Israel has accepted the establishment of a Palestinian state as the solution to the ongoing conflict and as a basis for future peace but the Palestinian Liberal Organisation (PLO), which is considered to be the official representative of the Palestinians, and Hamas, which was voted to power by Palestinians in the last legislative elections, were founded and run with the aim of death to Jews.

These anti-Semites do not understand that the destruction of a country that has been set up by the UN and accepted by the world community is not only against international laws but is also impractical. 6.3 million Jews who have lived in the same region since before 1948 are not encroaching and will not just pack their bags and leave because some people cannot digest the fact that an Abrahamic religion other than Islam could hold Jerusalem sacred.

“Heartless monsters” and “cold-blooded murderers” are some of the phrases used to describe Israel-supporters. I want to question what really constitutes inhumanity to these self-proclaimed defenders of human rights.

It is monstrous when children are taught to hate a people from birth. It is despicable and explicitly criminal when Hamas fires rockets from schools and hospitals and gives Israel no choice other than to retaliate, then takes photos of the burnt bodies of those they have indirectly murdered to further a propaganda war.

The Israeli military acts on the principle that it is ethically detestable to kill non-combatants in a fight. Hamas acts on no such principles. I would like to quote the events of the second Intifada, where Hamas members strapped explosives to their bodies and, disguised as women and children, went into highly populated civilian areas and detonated the explosives.

An anonymous Russian commander fighting in the Mujahideen once asked, “How do you defeat an enemy who looks into the barrel of a gun and sees paradise?” These words ring with palpable veracity in a conflict where it is a fact, not an opinion, that Hamas will not stop killing Israelis until they obliterate Israel or Israel obliterates them.

One may argue that the blockade perpetuates the conflict but Israel should not, and will not, lift its blockade until there is a guarantee that Hamas will not, as throughout history, use these resources explicitly and solely to construct further means to attack Israel. Unfortunately, due to the rhetoric Hamas incessantly espouses, this guarantee is as fanciful an idea as Atlantis or there being a big block of cheddar under the surface of the moon.

Political stability in this region has significant consequences because Israel, even as a non-natural resource dependent country, has focused on economic growth and thus has the highest Human Development Index ranking in the Middle East (even ahead of the US). On the other hand, by the use of slogans such as “We love death more than the Jews love life”, Hamas sets an example about what happens when the destruction of another nation becomes your national goal; supporting Hamas is supporting genocide.

The attempt to pass the guilt on to Israel for their inability to progress seems dubious when on countless occasions Hamas has hindered the UN humanitarian actions in Palestine.

How appalling of Hamas to blame Israel and claim the sympathies of the international community when it has gone to the extent of employing violence against UN staff and attempting to assassinate the former UNRWA chief—twice. Hamas does not work for the good of Palestine as it claims, a dozen times more resources are used towards the destruction of Israel than go towards the welfare of the people and the economy.

It is hypocritical of Palestine, a religious state itself along with other states in the region, to dispute the claim of Jews to live safely and freely in a Jewish state. Israel has a right to self-defence and has been defending itself since the foundations of the country were laid. Israelis are not the aggressors in this war, they are purely retaliatory.

This community does not deserve to be criticised for refusing to quietly accept yet another attempt at ethnic cleansing, nor be vilified in a war that is solely a direct result of Hamas’ despicable rhetoric.

Transformation of RBS building gets under way.

Written by Jennifer Sterne on . Posted in News.

The Students’ Union is converting the former Royal Bank of Scotland building, next to Academy 1, into a pop-up shop and flexible events space for four weeks from the 10th November.

On the 14th October at 4:30pm in Room 2 of the Students’ Union there will be an open meeting for all students who want to be a part of the project. It will be a chance to discuss and organise a program of events and plan the pop-up charity shop.

From the 27th October students will be able to donate clothes to the Students’ Union. The money will be donated to charity and any clothes left over at the end of term will also be donated to charity.

There will also be a series of workshops on upcycling, in order to prepare students who are interested in running the space as a volunteer-led clothes shop.

Alongside the clothes shop they plan to run a variety of events from art fairs to acoustic gigs.

Joel Smith, Activities and Developments Officer said that the key thing about this project is that it’s “all organised by students for students. If that sounds fun then please come along to our meeting and get involved.

“We’re looking for fashion enthusiasts, event planners, volunteers and anyone who has a great idea for the space. This is a great opportunity to try new things, meet people and have a lot of fun making the most of the former bank.

“At the first meeting we’ll be coming up with ideas for the program of events, figuring out how everything will work and electing a committee of students to lead on the project. We’ll also be deciding on a name for the space so if you have any great ideas bring them along.”

The Union, who are in control of what this space will permanently become, hope this month-long conversion will demonstrate the potential of the space as a student-led events area for the foreseeable future.

To suggest a name for this new space follow this link http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/popup. All suggested names will be submitted to the open meeting, which takes place on Tuesday 14th October from 4:30pm. The meeting will create a shortlist that will then be put back out for all students to vote on the final name.

More information on the meeting and the initiative is available on the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/704532406308423/

Manchester University becomes affiliated with Worker Rights Consortium

Written by Anna Phillips on . Posted in News.

The University of Manchester has affiliated with the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), an independent monitoring organisation that supports workers in the garment industry in defending their workplace rights.

The WRC organisation monitors the suppliers of garments to certain universities and then traces them back to the factory where they are produced.

They then implement a new code of conduct in the factories which allows workers to unionise and to independently report incidents of negligence or abuse.

The code of conduct aims to allow workers to bypass any risk of ‘speaking out’ in a job which they could lose for doing so, protecting their rights as workers.

The affiliation follows a petition organised last year by the Manchester Young Greens which gathered over 1000 students’ signatures in a week.

A few weeks after the petition, the Rana Plaza disaster occurred in Bangladesh, where 1000 garment workers were killed in a building collapse due to a crack in the floor which was neglected and ignored by factory managers.

The WRC aims to address such situations of poor pay and working conditions at factory level, for adults and children, and has had worldwide successes in improving life for workers.

Their 2013 report into the Haitian apparel industry exposed the levels of minimum wage violations within factories. The WRC called for North American brands and retailers producing in Haiti to make clear to their suppliers that they must view minimum wage laws as necessary and that they will pay higher prices for garments in order to make this possible for factory owners.

The WRC has also had successes with companies such as Fruit of the Loom; their report exposed harassment and abuse of workers which lead to the biggest ever garment boycott and the introduction of trade union operations in their Honduras factories.

After this, a Nike supplier closed down one of their factories and refused to pay $1.5 million of redundancy pay owed to their workers. Universities affiliated with the WRC in 2009 then bought it from Nike, exposing them for their malpractice, and the universities enabled workers to request a boycott.

Nike then backed down and paid their workers the severance money owed due to the threat of a US boycott and action against them.

The WRC aims to start a global movement to prevent companies from leaving one factory for cheaper labour in another, and to enable a world where “workers everywhere can unionise, get paid a living wage, work in safety, and live with dignity in gainful employment.”

So far, there are 220 students’ unions, 181 colleges and universities and two cities affiliated with the WRC. The three criteria for institutions are that they maintain a manufacturing code of conduct, provide the WRC with factory disclosure information and pay affiliation fees.

Joel Smith, Activities and Development Officer and former Chair of Manchester Young Greens said: “The University joins 11 other universities in the UK (in addition to all students’ unions nationally) as well as many more universities in the US in trying to promote positive change for those at the bottom of our supply chains who are so often victimised by the globalised market.”

Conor McGurran, Campaigns and Citizenship Officer said: “It is fantastic to see that the University has signed up to the Worker Rights Consortium through the Social Responsibility Governance Group. This will put the factory workers who produce university garments in a far better position to report negligence and ensure fairer pay and conditions.

“Huge congratulations to everyone who campaigned on this and signed the petition over the last year, this is testament to what can be achieved by passionate students on campus.”

Three students attacked in unprovoked incident in Fallowfield

Written by Aileen Rose Duffy on . Posted in News.

Greater Manchester Police have launched an investigation in the south Manchester area after three teenagers were attacked in Fallowfield.

Detectives in the south of Manchester are looking into what happened on Saturday 4th October 2014. The trio were on their way home from a night out in Manchester at around 4am when the incident occurred.

The students got out of a taxi on Carhill Drive and walked in the general direction of Wilmslow Road.

They walked past a parked car and then a short time later two men got out of the car and violently attacked them.

They went home after the incident and on Sunday morning one of the men woke up feeling unwell. He called emergency services and was taken to hospital for treatment of a head injury.

He remains in hospital in a serious condition.

Detective Inspector John Harris, from the South Manchester division, said: “We are unclear of the events leading up to this attack which happened in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“What we do know is one man has been left seriously injured in hospital and we need the public’s help to piece together the moments before the assault.

“If you were in the area and witnessed the incident or have any information about the attack, please contact me as soon as possible.”

It is important to remember at this time of year, as the nights get darker, to ensure your safety; make sure there is someone who knows your whereabouts when going out in the evenings.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 4973, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Manchester student putting the social in health and fitness

Written by Robert Firth on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Do you want to stay fit in winter but find that you don’t have the motivation or money to follow a fitness plan? A Manchester student may have just created the solution for you. Adam Barker, a final year Business Management student at the university has co-founded Magna Life, a fitness business which aims to make expert fitness and nutrition plans affordable for a student market.

Founded earlier this year by Adam and his friend Sean, the idea for the business grew out of a mutual interest in health and fitness, and a desire to bridge the gap between personal trainers’ often expensive fitness plans and a health conscious student market unable to afford them. Magna Life already uses a range of social media platforms to connect users and fitness experts including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The ultimate aim is the development of an app (presently in the prototype stage) to connect users and experts.

The business has already caught the attention of many fitness experts such as personal trainer Nathan Nelson who has said: “This tool has the ability to transform my business; I’m able to easily communicate with my clients and send them plans. This can be a real game changer for the whole industry.”

The app will allow personal trainers to sell their fitness plans on to users who download the app for a controlled price. For use of this service, these fitness experts pay a monthly fee to Magna Life. These so called ‘expert’ users can then keep in contact with their clients through messages and setting individual plans and goals for them to reach. The idea is that the social aspect of the app should make it harder for users to lose the motivation to stick to plans, which is often a problem when people try to follow online health plans.

Besides completing his studies and getting the app developed, Adam is keeping his sights focused on the progression of the business and is keen to get Magna Life involved in wearable technologies such as the Apple Watch and Google Glasses. Ultimately, he wants Magna Life to expand to the US market, but he is prudent, admitting “it might take us a few years to establish ourselves.” In the meantime he is looking for Magna Life to expand university-wide across the UK and is hoping to host events on various campuses to promote the app.

Since the business was only established less than six months ago, it is amazing how rapidly it has developed. Adam seems to be permanently on the move (when I spoke to him he was on the way to pitch for investment) and he will have a Kickstarter for Magna Life underway soon—in return for peoples’ donations, there will be a range of rewards available including prototype of products and merchandise. The market for fitness products is a growing one and the future of Magna Life is looking healthy and nourishing.

Like the look of the Magna Life?
For more info:
www.themagnalife.com
Facebook.com/themagnalife
Twitter + Instagram: @TheMagnaLife

TV Guide – Week 5

Written by Ben Sutton on . Posted in Film.

Following on from the boom in comic book films recently, heroes and villains are making appearances on the smaller screen. With Arrow and Agents of Shield returning for a second series, but we’re also going to see The Flash get a series and a chance to witness the rise of Commissioner Gordon in Gotham, which premieres on Channel 5 at 9pm on October 13th. It promises to not only focus around the awesome character of Gordon but unveil the debauchery and mess of Gotham’s criminal hierarchy. For a US network drama, it’s going to be surprisingly dark and sinister and could be a very good show in its own right, perhaps more than just a Batman spinoff.

South Park has returned for its 18th season and if you’re fortunate enough to have Sky, you can watch it on Comedy Central right after Gotham finishes. South Park is certainly not what it once was and now perhaps tries to be overly satirical and topical rather than being funny and quite often it doesn’t pay off. The first episode centred around the Washington Redskins and the NFL which is something that is likely to go over most UK viewers’ heads. Although perhaps not as funny as it used to be, it is still a must watch as it can poke fun at the big issues better than any other show on TV.

If you prefer kids’ TV shows then Disney XD’s Gravity Falls is coming back for a second series this month and episodes from the first series are on every day as well. Gravity Falls is set in a weird, scary town of the same name where twins Mabel and Dipper Pines are trying to uncover its cryptic secrets. The show is genius on so many levels and may quite possibly be the funniest show on television currently; there’s a joke around one corner and a demonic spirit behind the next one in this crazy little show. It develops the characters beautifully and every character is so brilliantly crafted to begin with—it’s weird and it’s wonderful and just watch it.

Album: Interpol – El Pintor

Written by Zakk Brown on . Posted in Music.

Released September 2014

Matador

6/10

Following the poorly received self- titled 2010 album and the departure of bassist Carlos Dengler, Interpol went under the radar for 4 years, returning with El Pintor, their first album as a three-piece.

The pressure on Interpol to create a worthy successor to their debut and magnum opus Turn on the Bright Lights (released in 2002), has been heavy. Although this is the best we’ve heard of the New York post-punk rockers since 2007, the struggle to deliver original material under pressure, added to by the loss of the talented Carlos D’s bass, is clear.

By no means is this a “bad” album, and it has strengths in songs like the single ‘All the Rage Back Home’, which shows there is still some creativity left in the tank with Kessler’s ethereal echo-y guitar twangs and Paul Banks’s driving, fast paced punk bass. Banks also employs a falsetto in his vocals which surprisingly works in tracks like ‘My Blue Supreme’ to create a soft melodic tone, and is a nice sigh of relief of his heavy baritone drone, found on tracks like ‘Ancient Ways’.

Other highlights include Banks showing his chops at bass in ‘Everything is Wrong’ in an infectious opening riff similar to that of Evil from their sophomore album Antics, the complimentary bass and guitar swirls of ‘Tidal Wave’, and the emotion of Banks’ wounded moans in ‘Twice as Hard’.

However, Interpol are, at the same time, trapped in a form of limbo – between trying to recapture the old sound but without Carlos D’s bass (‘My Desire’ sounds eerily similar to Our Love to Admire’s ‘All Fired Up’) and evolving to create a new sound without becoming a bland and insignificant band, which would be a massive let down following such a promising start to their career.

El Pintor does have some good moments, however it is clear that the band is desperately clutching on to their past success and seems too stubborn to let go. I pray that the trio use El Pintor as a transitional album into whatever new sound they come up with, as there are some genuinely good ideas to be found on the album. Yet there are still signs of the band trying to ride on the success of the first album and need to instead evolve and progress as a new-born three piece.

Less than one per cent of all UK Professors are black in origin

Written by Lauren Gorton on . Posted in News.

This October saw the beginning of the British celebration of Black History Month. In joining the national celebrations, the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union Black and Minority Ethnic Students’ campaign have organised a month of thought-provoking activities, with this year’s theme being to empower, enlighten and celebrate.

One such celebrated person is the University of Manchester’s own Arthur Lewis, who in joining the university in 1948 became the first black professor in the UK. In line with this, a new plaque has been unveiled for the Arthur Lewis Building in honour of its namesake and to celebrate Manchester’s proud heritage of innovation and world firsts.

Yet despite celebrations, The Guardian re-opened the student debate this month into the under-representation of black professors within academia, with statistics today still showing that out of the UK’s 18510 university professors only 85 are black in origin, working out at less than half a per cent.

At the University of Manchester specifically, the Equality and Diversity Forum Annual Report for the universities staff profiles show that Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) professors made up eight per cent of the total number of professors at the University of Manchester in 2012. This totalled at 58 BME professors, 11 of whom were women—however the general BME category covers both black and other ethnic minorities.

Further within the separate faculties of the University of Manchester, the Faculty of Humanities had the highest number of BME professors at 27, whereas the Faculty of Life Sciences had the least with only one BME professor.

Speaking to The Mancunion, Diversity Officer Tessy Maritim commented on the issue of the lack of black professors in academia, both within UK universities generally and at the University of Manchester specifically.

“I think that for a long time universities, including ours, have been complacent because it’s a difficult conversation to have. The stigma surrounding this topic needs to be broken to allow open and honest conversation to take place and this will hopefully lead to action being taken.

“Marian Wright Edelman says, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ This highlights the issue [of knock-on consequences for black students] perfectly. Students from African, Arab, Asian, Caribbean and other minority backgrounds need to see themselves represented in academia in order to aspire.

“The BME attainment gap is also related to lack of representation within academia. The presence of black academics in the learning environment would make a difference on the perceptions of all students, not only those of a BME background.

“Dialogue is the first step [to tackle this problem]. We need to speak about the issue and acknowledge it. We then need to make a commitment and decide on a course of action.

“It’s not enough to celebrate the unveiling of a plaque of Arthur Lewis. We need to think about how things have changed since his time.”

As part of Black History Month, on Wednesday 15th October an academic panel discussion will take place on the related issue of the black and ethnic minority attainment gap. For information on any further events organised for this month details have been posted on the BME MCR Facebook page ‘Black History Month 2014: Empowering, Celebrating, Enlightening’.

Top 5 statement makers

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Kylie Jenner
The Instagram of 17-year-old reality television star Kylie, has our fashion radar going crazy. From airplane outfits to magazine covers, from festivals to runways, her simplistic style lends inspiration for all occasions. Her black bralet and grunge style netted body, paired with flawless make up has us biting our nails in anticipation for her next post.

 

Photo: e4pr.blogspot.com

Jay-Z
Being one half of the ultimate music industry power couple, it’s fair to say that Jay can supply us with his street style any day. Baggy monochrome tees, bomber jackets and his statement New York Yankees snapback—what more could we ask for? Watch his and Bey’s dazzling final performance from the On The Run tour for an exploration of their fashion through the ages.

 

Photo: Adrian Pratt @Flickr

Cara Delevingne
This eyebrow queen and supermodel took the world by storm when she burst on to the high fashion scene in 2011. Modelling for Victoria’s Secret and DKNY, it’s no wonder she’s picked up a few fashion tips here and there. Her slouched trousers and black high top trainers show that even supermodels get a day off.

 

Photo: tvtropes.org

TLC
The nineties R&B trio consisting of T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli are nothing short of inspiring when channelling our inner 90s tom boy. My favourites include staple t-shirt crops, which can be casually paired with ripped boyfriend jeans. They work equally as well with an A-line skirt and opaque tights for autumn sophistication.

 

Photo: Greg Razzi @Flickr

Blake Lively
After her initial rise to stardom due to the hit series Gossip Girl, this starlet has not graced our television or cinema screens for two years now. That being said, she remains one of the best-dressed celebrities on the red carpet. She is able to dazzle us with her constant array of elegant gowns,that show off all the right places.