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Day: 31 October 2014

Live: Other Sounds Society Halloween

27th October

Fuel

6.5/10

Other Sounds Society is known for their appreciation in eclectic taste in music, ranging from obscure techno to math rock. Their second monthly DIY gig slot at Fuel comprised of the penetrative racket of Werk from the label I HATE MY RECORDS, flamboyant jazz punk Ask my Bull, alt-lit spoken word artist Zach Roddis and ethereal confessional not -so–teen-pop Hume. It was an unusual random lineup but it was fitting for a bunch of open-minded music connoisseurs on a Monday night.

To wake everyone up, Werk serenaded the audience with their industrial noise, continuously blowing people’s brains out. Whether you wanted to or not, they mesmerized you with rough and rusty melodies in the dark. It was like opening a jewelry box, but hearing an extremely loud fascinating generator instead. And rather than seeing a spinning ballerina, the visuals on the ceilings hypnotized you: the cutout scenes ranged from the inevitable Nosferatu and Adventure Time, which accommodated the doom DIY mood.

An odd but very fitting addition is Zach Roddis, proving that punk rock poetry does still exist. He filled the room with laughter through his YOU ONLY LIVE 50 million times theory. Whether you found his confident performance patronising or not, you got to admit he is talented and amusing in pop culture quirky manner.

The energy generated from Ask My Bull exceeded any expectations. Their uplifting intense jazz psychedelic trip made turned the room into a lively house party. I don’t think anyone was just tapping their toes. The band included: they danced in their animal onesies, delivering more surreal and elaborated funk each time. Hume ended the night with their calm experimental songs but embellished with an exquisite raspy pubescent voice you didn’t want to stop hearing.

Showcasing the eccentric and experimental talented bands/poets at Fuel, reflects what the other sounds society is all about.

The Upcycling Project

Who doesn’t love to shop? Nobody worth talking to. What isn’t quite so easy to love however is fast fashion and its unsustainable practices. So how do you reconcile those moral misgivings when you have a wardrobe in desperate need of an update? With a little help from the Union, that’s how. As part of its new, and may we say genius, venture—the Upcycling Project—starting on the 10th of November, the Students’ Union will be running a shop in the old RBS building next to Academy 1. The store will stock pre-loved items that have been given a modern makeover by a selection of talented student upcyclers.

Want to get involved? Donating clothes is probably the simplest way to be a part of this inspired new scheme, so bring your unwanted items to the foyer of the SU by Wednesday November 5th. The Upcyling Project is also looking for volunteers to be involved in the shop, organising events and upcycling the clothes. So if you’re as excited about the initiative as we are come along to a meeting in Academy 3 at 7pm on November 11th or get in contact via the Facebook page. Students are also invited to soup up their sewing skills at upcycling workshops at the store space from Stitched Up (November 4th) and Junk (November 10th) who will be showing you how to transform an unwanted shirt into a beautiful new bag. We can’t wait.

Sunbelievable!

National tabloid The Sun has been offering financial rewards to student media sources for incendiary photographs of students wearing offensive costumes on Halloween.

A reporter acting on behalf of The Sun made probing calls to a number of student newspapers across the country, including Bath student newspaper bathimpact, and Leeds University’s The Gryphon, for photos of any inappropriate costumes they might see this Halloween.

In a phonecall on Wednesday, Aidan Gregory, Editor-in-chief of The Mancunion, was directly asked by a Sun reporter for photographs of any students dressed up as ‘Jihadi John’, the British man who appeared in the recent Islamic State-released videos of the execution of US journalists James Foley and Stephen Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, and Manchester-born aid worker Alan Henning, whose name was mentioned alongside.

The reporter offered a potential front-page spot and financial reward of thousands of pounds if a photo of any students dressed up as the executioner and his victim was submitted.

The reporter’s LinkedIn profile states that she attended the University of Manchester and used to write for Student Direct—the University of Manchester’s student newspaper before rebranding as The Mancunion.

This follows from last year when The Sun broke the story of two students from the University of Chester who were photographed dressed as the Twin Towers, destroyed in the terrorist attacks on September the 11th, 2001.

The two 19-year-olds attended a Halloween night out in Chester and won a fancy dress competition, but later apologised for any offence caused after the widespread coverage and outrage expressed by their university and Students’ Union.

Bath University newspaper bathimpact was also apparently asked for “Ebola costumes,” which could be used in a similar way to those controversial photos released last year.

The editor of Bristol University’s student newspaper Epigram was also contacted by The Sun on the same day but did not speak with them.

The Executive of the University of Manchester Students’ Union are united in their condemnation of this.

Activities Officer, Joel Smith, said, “it’s disgusting that The Sun would seek to so deliberately exploit recent tragic events to unfairly represent students and young people at a national level.

“We strongly condemn this journalistic approach which sought to damage the integrity of both our Union and The Mancunion.

“The reputational damage to any individual who does end up on the cover of the Sun could really affect [them] and the paper is showing blatant disregard for this.

“This only serves to further damage relations between The Sun and students with the ongoing ‘No More Page 3’ campaign.”

General Secretary, Charlotte Cook, said, “we have a zero-tolerance approach towards offensive outfits at the Union to ensure we are maintaining a safe space for all our members.

“However, undoubtedly somewhere across the country people will choose to wear inappropriate costumes. For the Sun to purposefully have students out witch-hunting for this minority in order to completely misrepresent students as a whole is disgraceful.”

There are concerns for the safety of any students identifiable in photos published, after a girl who last year dressed as Boston bombings victim received multiple death threats.

Earlier today, the Daily Mail reported that a Birmingham nightclub had held an Ebola-themed Halloween party, admitting later it had made a “huge error” in holding the event.

Last year, The Sun was banned from the University of Manchester Students’ Union, after the paper’s refusal to remove the controversial page three. The ‘No More Page 3’ campaign was championed by The Mancunion’s own Fashion Editor, Gráinne Morrison.

The University of Manchester is one of 15 universities across the country, including four Oxford colleges, who have implemented this ban.

A spokesperson for The Sun said:

The Sun was aware that there were Halloween parties taking place on student campuses, with reports of some interesting choices of costumes, and was calling student newspapers to see if they had photos that they might want to share with the newspaper.

“We categorically deny any suggestion that money was offered to construct or fake a photograph. Approaching other publications is a legitimate and often practiced journalism request which we stand by.”

The role of men in feminism

Feminism is unarguably one of the most controversial topics in any society. While some questions pertain to the definition of feminism itself, others concern themselves with the domains of feminist influence. But one unequivocal fact that drives all feminists is that the patriarchal society has oppressed women for centuries and this movement must achieve social, political and economic empowerment of all women over the world.

The present male-dominated system leads to a biased social order functioning to the benefit of men and the relative detriment of women. Thus, it raises questions about if men can or should identify themselves as feminists at all.

Some female feminists fear that if men are accepted into feminism, then a forum that was originally built to fight male dominance would too be taken over by men and make the entire cause redundant.

It is argued that females would no longer be able to relate to the issues raised by an action group that is ‘contaminated’ by male elements. They abhor the idea of the ‘oppressors’ joining in a movement against their own kind. One of the most common arguments is that men cannot relate to women issues simply because they have never experienced the torment of harassment, violence and sexual assault, and thus cannot identify themselves with the issues that this movement raises and what it seeks to change.

I reject this narrow idea of feminism. It labels all men all over the world as the same enemies and causes unjustified hate towards men by female groups. In retaliation, a ‘lad culture’ has emerged which perpetuates a belief that it is not masculine to support female rights.

Thus, this exclusion of men has spun off a cycle of hateful retribution from both the sexes which is not how feminism started out. The effort to make feminism a solely female agenda makes it the very image of sexism that it wishes to eradicate, and contradicts the basic feminist idea of looking beyond gender stereotypes.

Feminism was initiated as a drive directed at self-empowerment of women and enabling them to function independent of male support, not rejecting the entire male population and their experiences.
While it is true that men cannot talk about female experiences as well as a woman might be able to, this is itself an advantage. This diversity of experience intersecting components of the identity of one part of society which is constantly and inevitably in contact with the other part would expand the perspective and means of furthering this movement.

If men are not allowed to share responsibility for the success of feminism, then the patriarchal system that we seek to change will continue to suppress women. The desire to change a society that you believe is led by men—without the support of men—is unreasonable. It is not possible to stop subjugation of females if men do not think that females should attain equal rights. For seeking change in a patriarchal society, it is necessary that men can and should be able to become feminists.

The concept of involving men in feminism does not mean that feminists ‘need’ men; it just means that they’re welcome to support a cause that they believe is right. Men do not wish or aim to lead the feminist movement because they understand the feminine essence of the movement.

Various men like Parker Pillsbury and John Stuart Mill in the past have identified themselves as feminists and played crucial roles along with their female counterparts, to bring positive changes in the system.

I support the role of men in feminism because you don’t need to be a female to support female rights just as you do not need to be a war-victim to support anti-war movements or be a homosexual to support gay rights or be an animal to support animal rights.

Women have been heavily involved in causes that don’t directly affect them. You don’t need to be victimized by the system that you are fighting against. The only requisite is the ability to identify how and why the system is unjust and the way in which it needs to be changed for better.

It is absurd when the same feminists who fight against male domination reject the men who want to join the movement to change that image, because “they don’t know what it is like to be repressed.” If an oppressor transforms to join the movement against the subjugation of a victim, closing doors on him because he has not experienced that subjugation is imprudent because even though he might not understand the struggle of the victim, he does understand the mentality of an oppressor and is thus your best weapon to end the oppression.

While it is true that men also seek to benefit from the movement because they too go through harassment and pressures of masculinity, their welfare is a welcome outcome of the movement and not its principal aim.

The claim that men would overtake the platform for expression of female issues is nothing but paranoia because the benefits of acceptance of the role of men in feminism far outweigh the arguments for the rejection of their part.

Bad “vibes” from professor leads to suspension

A professor from the University of Warwick accused of “inappropriate sighing” and “making ironic comments” is to be cleared of all allegations against him, after a nine-month suspension for this behaviour came to an end last month.

Thomas Docherty, a professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies, was alleged to be undermining the authority of the former head of his department, Catherine Bates.

He was suspended in January, and last month the suspension was lifted and he could return to work.

During this time he was banned from the campus and forbidden from writing students references, returning students’ work and providing guidance on Ph.D.s.

Docherty is a strong critic of the perceived marketisation of education and describes the Russell Group as a “self-declared elite.”

The University of Warwick earlier in the year denied that Professor Docherty’s suspension was a result of his outspoken objections to reforms of the university system.

The “negative” behaviour of Professor Docherty during interviews, including body language, sarcasm and sighing, was seen to be disrespectful to candidates for a departmental position.

A Facebook page set up by students expressing their disbelief and outrage at the professor’s suspension has gained over 1000 likes.

On this page Professor Docherty expressed his appreciation for the support, saying he was “deeply moved and touched by the level of support that [he has] received.

“Thanks again to you all—and, with luck, I’ll see some of you in class.”

Anne O’Sullivan from the University and College Union, said, “It beggars belief that an academic can be suspended with no contact with students or colleagues for almost a year while charges are finalised.”