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Month: December 2014

Preview: Bloc. Weekend

Written by Patrick Hinton on . Posted in Music.

The Bloc. Weekend was a mainstay in the calendar of all techno fans that has sadly been missing in recent years. This March however the legendary event is returning to Butlins in Minehead for more great music and debauchery.

Following three sold out events from 2009-2011, Bloc is back where it thrives. The weekend takes place from 13th – 15th March in the holiday resort. All attendees stay in the onsite chalets meaning the camping discomfort often associated with festivals is done away with; the accommodation cost is included in the ticket price. The location also includes some fantastic features such as a fun fair, water park and lazer quest for your day time entertainment needs. The night is of course ruled by the music; the site will be transformed into five purpose-built indoor music venues powered by Martin Audio and L’acoustics PA that will do justice to the roster of incredible artists performing.

The line up is staggeringly good. Headline acts include techno pioneer Jeff Mills, the enigmatic Dean Blunt, hyperactive-bass-come-superstar-hip-hop producer Hudson Mohawke, and even a rare appearance from experimental Mancunian duo Autechre. It’s an impressive line up without even beginning to scratch the surface of the host of over 100 incredible acts performing through each night. The full line up can be found here. Surprise appearances have also been promised.

Tickets are on sale now priced from £169pp and can be purchased here. Full details on the event can be found on Bloc Weekend’s website including relevant travel information.

Interview: Emmy the Great

Written by Cordelia Milward on . Posted in Music.

In 2009, Emmy The Great’s debut album First Love brought her to fame with its innocent charm.  On account of the sweetness of her voice and the simplicity of her music, she found a route to making dark and often morbid subject matter sound somehow whimsical. Songs that depict car crashes, faking pregnancies and the fear of her own mortality,  compliment her childlike manner and exhibit a curiosity rather than melancholy. Her unconventional disposition, sometimes defined as ’emo-folk’, sees Emmy straddling the bittersweet balance between sickly kitsch and plain misery.

I caught up with her after the release of her new single ‘Swimming Pool’, and in anticipation of her EP S, released in January. Anyone familiar with Emmy’s previous work would assume the seemingly ambiguous title for the new EP, to be riddled with her familiar irony. Yet (although flattered by my assumption there existed a deeper meaning to S), Emmy, giggling, explains, “There’s nothing clever about it. I went through this stage where you could name any object beginning with S and I’d manage to make a song about it.” Yet it is the natural innocence she so self-consciously exudes, that enables her to voice such misanthropic tales. “Perhaps I’m lucky in that sense. But then again if I sung about cute things maybe it would be an overload.”

If reality is stark and grim, Emmy is unlike many songwriters who might feed off this fact of life and wallow in gloom, instead she proves that there is always hope in even the direst of situations. “On this new album there have been occasions when the producer had to remind us that it’s about optimism. That’s our filter for every song. It sounds so cheesy, but it is Christmas.” At this point I cannot fail to mention This is Christmas, Emmy’s festive album with her partner Tim Wheeler, also frontman of Ash. Cringing, as if I’ve just uprooted an embarrassing karaoke video from some drunken night out, Emmy responds, “Urgh, I thought we’d gotten away with that.” Regardless of her wincing memory of this 2011 cracker, songs such as ‘Zombie Christmas’ and ‘Sleigh Me’, with their perfect combination of twee and gore, sum up Emmy The Great so perfectly.

Swiftly diverting conversation away from the past, Emmy explains that she and Tim have not had time to talk about “that chapter”, since they’ve both been working on their own records. Understandably,  Emmy has been exceptionally busy this past year.  Writing songs in hotel rooms all over the world from Hong Kong and Utar and finally compiling it all together on top of a hill in LA. Even though the album may be finished, it is difficult to accept finality. “Until there’s a release date I really doubt we’ll stop working on it.  There have been times when the record’s literally going out to the shops and I’m calling up trying to retract it. Anyone who has worked with me has probably received a call the day before saying, ‘what if’”. With this being her third album, it is clear to Emmy how she has developed in the process. Whereas previously, she would wait to have a feeling, write about it and get it out, now she’s holding back somewhat to try to keep making it better. “At some points when you’re ¾ of the way in, it feels like you’re looking at something that used to be your arm but now it’s been cut off and you’re not really connected to it anymore, but you have to keep using it”. Having been hardened by years of working in the industry, Emmy no longer feels the same pressures, as long as she doesn’t forget why she chose this to be her job. “You need to always remember why you love making music, otherwise, what’s the point”.

With her previous album Virtue released back in 2011, the newest single ‘Swimming Pool’, reveals Emmy’s development since then, with her voice carrying a deeper and more authoritative tone. “The music is less complex, but the hard thing for me is to put less information into the lyrics, forcing people to come to their own conclusions.” As she embarks on tour in the new year, I wonder whether it’s difficult to play songs from her past with real conviction. Surely her sentiment must have grown up from the anxious 24 year old who wrote them. “I try and reign in the feeling and enjoy my control over the emotion that used to have control over me. The distance away from them means I can praise them, almost as someone else’s experiences.” This ethos certainly rings true in her approach to the new record, with Emmy detaching herself from any set interpretation. No longer is Emmy telling grim tales exactly how it is, but having trained up our cynical minds, she’s now relying on our gruesome imagination to interpret her ambiguity for ourselves.

If on a Winter’s Night a Gamer

Written by Matthew Cole on . Posted in Games.

Towards the end of his novel If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, Italo Calvino conjures an image of an abstract library, a spiritual place in which ghostly readers discuss the act of reading. For this feature I have adapted Calvino’s passage into a meditation on gaming. It is an obscure, pointless, thankless, and some might say wanky idea, but ultimately I write for myself, not for you. You’ll read what you’re given. Judi Dench on a banana boat. Fertile crisp dispensers. Chucklebrother turnip polish.

See? You’re still here. Pushover.

***

It is time for your tempest-tossed vessel to come to port. What harbour can receive you more securely than a great gaming arcade? The shops let you down—dependable second-hand games retailers closed their doors early, the GAME monopoly tried to rip you off, and those voucher codes you’ve been saving up inexplicably expired some days ago. It is with relief, then, that you step through the arcade’s gaudy entrance lighting to find the welcoming arms of a dozen bleeping machines ready to supply you with your next gaming fix. The clientele look as if they have been here for years, but you quickly dismiss this possibility—they are likely just seeking refuge from the dingy seaside by replacing its outdoorsiness with the cosy, unsupervised dinginess of the arcade lounge, which at least has a roof to protect its daydreamers.

Aware now that you have been hovering by the entrance, you move forward and crane your neck from left to right, to peek at the games the other players have chosen. You notice one woman is sat playing a racing simulator. Her body remains completely still in her seat whilst her arms, as if possessed, spasm at the wheel. Taking a horizontal stride around her chair in order to gauge her expression, you are surprised to discover there is an intense fixity to her gaze.

“Don’t be amazed if you see my eyes always squaring. In fact, this is my way of playing, and it is only in this way that gaming proves fruitful to me. It does not particularly matter to me which game I play at any given moment, as long as the experience enables me to sunder all connection from my physical reality for a few hours. During these hours I can give myself over to the simplified structures and mechanisms of the game, structures fine-tuned to gratify me at a constant rate, where my actions are authenticated definitively and where obstacles are made predictable and manageable. By retraining my focus, I begin to lose sight of the quotidian duties of life that at times seem insurmountable.”

“I understand you perfectly,” another gamer interjects, slumping against the door as his index finger swipes at the screen of his smartphone. “But I can only play games for a few minutes before I must turn my attention to other distractions. Gaming for me represents an in-between phase, a prelude to more engaging tussles. Unlike you, ma’am, I like my games to consist of just a single system, a single idea so acutely distilled that it is optimally enjoyed only in short bursts, and can be gently sidelined when those pressing ‘duties’ you mention arise.”

Across the arcade a siren goes off, and the aural disturbance is shortly followed by a visual encore of red and yellow flashes that dance over the ceiling. “Utter nonsense,” a third gamer cries out as he pumps his fist in the air. “Games give players the chance to establish dominion over virtual worlds. I have just now thwarted the efforts of a hundred anonymous players before me, players who believed they were destined to be masters of alternative realities. In honing a niche craft, I can proclaim myself to be the best plumber, sports player, or killer in the world, merely by inputting a series of buttons in a precise order. My talent gives me a license to wind up my friends, however few in number they might be.”

“I, too, like to test myself against friends and faceless rivals,” a fourth bursts in, “but for me it does not matter whether I am playing against them competitively or with them cooperatively. If I headshot my friend in a virtual world, for example, and proceed to teabag them gratuitously with a smirk on my face, that is not altogether different from helping said friend to stay alive in a separate game, or from relying on joint skill to tackle an objective together. In either case, the act of playing reinforces the bond I have with that person, a form of mutual understanding that goes unspoken. Gaming fills in the untapped spaces in my relationships with others by way of an arcane, non-verbal language that outsiders fail to grasp.”

“There is some truth in your outlook,” says a girl sat at a computer in the corner of the room, “although like everyone else here you seem to gravitate towards the predetermined objectives laid out by any given game. I prefer games that conceal their agendas, games that celebrate the very nature of play as an end in itself. Submerging myself in my own fictions is the way I concretize and give form to the playfulness of my psyche.”

A long shadow throws itself over the change machine as a suited gentleman rises from a bench. “My enjoyment of games is purely aesthetic. I have grown up alongside the medium and in my old age I find it fascinating to simply inspect the new techniques employed by modern programmers, the ways they try to preserve the veracity of their artifices. At the same time, I worry about the inadequacy of their solutions when the worlds they depict fall apart at the seams. When I play, I think of gaming technology as something still in its infancy, and hope that the missing piece of the jigsaw will be found in my lifetime.”

An expectant silence fills the room. The moment has come for you to speak.

“Ladies and gentleman, I am delighted to report that I can see elements of myself in all of you. Alas, your wisdom has put me in a pensive mood, and I no longer have the appetite to join you in your session. I will instead retreat to the games that play out in my mind, the vain visions I entertain of myself playing the everyday superhero, the dreams I have of going rogue in supermarkets, and rioting in the streets with cans of baked beans. It would be impossible to develop these visions into real games, but I find this fact reassuring. My experience of living can never be authentically condensed onto a screen. I will always be unknowable.”

[see the original Calvino extract at http://postimg.org/image/wsocssvrb/ ]

Results of NUS delegates elections revealed

Written by Helen Chapman on . Posted in News.

Election results for NUS delegates were revealed at the end of the semester.

Elected delegates will participate in nationwide conferences between February and May 2015. They will be setting the NUS policy in each of their areas, electing the NUS National Committee and Board of Trustees, and electing the national offices for fourteen full-time paid positions, which include the National President of the NUS.

Those elected for the National Conference, which is the highest decision-making body of the NUS, were Jaivairia Bilal, Joe Day, Josh Woolas, Andrea Campos-Vigouroux, Chris James, Dominique Wong, Fook Jian, Harriet Pugh, Joel Smith, Stefy Anna Aniyan, Tessy Maritim and Waleed Mir. The Students’ Union General Secretary, Charlie Cook, is elected automatically.

The LGBT Conference have elected Dominique Wong Fook Jian, Matty Donaldson, Jess Lishak and Joe Baines-Holmes. The Women’s Conference has elected Harriet Pugh, Jellaby Lai, Jess Lishak and Stefy Anne Aniyan. For the Black Students conference, Tania Sauma will be the representative.

Joe Baines-Holmes will be the representative for Disabled Students, Stefy Anna Aniyan for International Students and Ste Smith for Postgraduates, Mature and Part-Time conferences.

However, a mere 1008 votes were cast for the elections which, out of a 40,000 student body, proves disappointing.

The Students’ Union believes it was important that students participate in the delegates’ election because of the significance of the NUS to student life. Charlie Cook, General Secretary, said last week: “The NUS is very important.

“There’s loads of stuff which students don’t see that the NUS do for unions, in terms of the research that it does, the training that it offers, and the collaborations, partnerships and networks which it creates and which are really crucial.

“There is its campaigning side as well, in one way by mobilising unions to bring them together but in another way what that stands for, what it represents—that is the values of students, as it acts as our collective voice.”

Two thirds of students go hungry, but the battle against hunger is so much bigger

Written by Gemma Sowerby on . Posted in News.

Two out of three students go hungry in order to pay their bills and fund their degree, says research recently conducted by Bacofoil and The National Student. The study looked at the shopping and cooking habits of almost 5000 UK students, highlighting the worrying issue of food deprivation among the student population.

Half of students admitted that they do not cook every day, and a third confessed to having an unhealthy diet, largely due to the fact that two-thirds prioritise bills over food, often sacrificing their health and wellbeing in the process.

There is, however, a wider issue at hand; not only are students, a small class of the population with relatively low overheads, going hungry, so too are hundreds of thousands of people across the UK.

Here in Manchester, the problem is only worsening with time, particularly as we enter the winter months. Largely, the hungry in Manchester are not homeless or penniless, or living rough on the streets, but are often working adults, with families, mortgages, and towering bills that threaten to cripple their financial means.

Bethany Lester, a second year student at the University of Manchester, dedicates much of her time to tackling this problem, and in particular, says, “the negative connotations that we have with rough sleepers, or a visitor to a food bank, or someone who might seemingly have a comfortable life but in reality cannot afford to heat their homes or provide themselves with dinner.”

It seems then that the plight of the homeless and hungry, and those who care and provide for them, is not being emphasised enough in the media and among the well off.

Bethany admits that, “others who have the means to help are reluctant to do so… due to lack of awareness and knowledge about it,” but says that this “does let us know that we need to break down those ideas and subsequent barriers that are in the way of those in need of getting the help [they need].”

Those students, therefore, who can afford to help, and who wish to get involved with this crisis in poverty and hunger, can tackle these old ideas about those living in poverty, and get involved with organisations such as Coffee for Craig, who operate street kitchens in Manchester, and Free Milk, working with the homeless in student hub Fallowfield to provide food and shelter.

Katie Woolsey, a nursing student who volunteers at a local food bank, said that the experience has been “eye-opening. There are families, children and students there who are starving, but if I walked past them on the street I would never know.

“It puts everything into perspective—life is hard for so many more people than just those students around us every day. I loved volunteering and seeing the smiles on people’s faces as they got together in a safe place to eat and share their stories.”

Mountain Dew Rising – Sunset Overdrive Review

Written by Elliot Coen on . Posted in Games.

Mountain Dew, Red Bull, Doritos and Oreos; typical ‘gamer fuel’ staples. Admittedly, these goods are more Stateside prevalent than here in the UK, because who has time to make a halloumi salad when you are busy 360 no-scoping in CoD or searching out hundreds of collectible flags in Assassin’s Creed 12: My Dad Was A Ninja? Now, imagine if the consumption of such lovely refreshments turned you into a bulbous zombie, with the sole motive of seeking out more of that sweet, sweet, nectar. Enter Sunset Overdrive, Microsoft’s brand new Xbox One exclusive developed by Insomniac Games, the team that created my most stupendously favourite purple thing ever, Spyro the Dragon.

Set in the fictional Sunset City, you play as a nameless dude-hero who takes it upon himself to save the city from the OD, who are the aforementioned zombie drinkers of the evil corporation Fizzco’s Overcharge energy drink, a product clearly inspired by the infamous Mountain Dew. Along the way, you also face resistance from bandits who have taken advantage of the fizzpocalypse and the automatous legion of Fizzco robots.

“Nameless dude-hero?!”, I hear you worry. Another typical, nameless, generic, action hero? “Ain’t nobody got time for dat!” Fear not my fellow gamers, the lead protagonist is in fact one of the wittiest characters in the history of video games. And, yes, I have played all the games in existence so I can say this with authori-tay. Your guy/girl constantly breaks the figurative fourth wall and satirises traditional rote game design such as the ‘rule of three’ or invisible game world boundaries. Your character makes many swears when being funny, so if that’s not your bag, you can even turn on a censor bleep in the options menu .

The setting is nice and all, but what makes Sunset Overdrive my current game of the year, is the tight-knit game mechanics. Sunset City is one big open-world sandbox. Typically, these type of games have to rely on some sort of fast travel system to help players get around due to the vast size of the playable area. Sunset Overdrive does have a fast travel option, but I never used it once in my 30 or so hours with the game, which is a testament to just how good its traversal mechanics are. Almost every surface, save the ground itself, acts as a trampoline for you to bounce off. This includes every rail you can grind along and every wall you can wall-run across. Chaining these manoeuvres together builds up your combo multiplier , which caps out at x500, so go nuts! Whilst rewarding you with more of the game’s two currencies as you slay OD, bandits or robots. I can’t convey just how satisfying it feels bouncing off the hood of a car, grabbing onto a phone line overhead, switching from an undergrind to an overgrind and, at the touch of a button,  finishing off the move off by firing an explosive teddy bear at a group of sugar rushed zombies. Yeah, you read that right; an explosive teddy bear launcher and that’s just one of the tamer weapons in the game.

Utilising the game’s hilarious weapon set is just as much fun as all of the traversal mechanics. You begin the game with just one weapon and unlock more as you progress. You do this by using the Overcharge currency you get from completing missions and killing enemies. The starting gun in the game sets the tone for the rest of the armoury. One such weapon is called the ‘Flaming Compensator’. It’s a fiery and extremely potent shotgun in the shape of a cock and balls. Crude? Yes. Unnecessary? Probably. Awesome? Shit yeah! Another weapon you can unlock is a bowling ball launcher called ‘The Dude’. Although anything that references The Big Lebowski is a winner in my books, the gun is also heaps of fun to use . Swinging from a street lamp whilst firing at robots, with bowling balls that ricochet off every surface, is what video games were made for.

So, you buy and upgrade your weapons with Overcharge. What do you do with all of that dollar, the game’s other currency? Well, this is where the surprisingly extensive character customisation comes into play. To start, you can customise your character’s gender, face, build and all of that usual stuff. The fun part is when it comes to all of the clothing you can unlock. For a portion of the game, my guy went around completing quests in nothing but a thong and a wolf mask. I then decided to switch it up and wore a full suit of armour and an astronaut helmet. Later, I changed into a sweet cheerleading skirt/biker vest/top hat combo. Yeah, you get the idea.

If you cannot tell that I loved this game, then I’m clearly not very good at this. Sunset Overdrive was a big surprise for me. I had very low expectations going into the game, but they were smashed when I was only partially through the tutorial. For those game aficionados out there—and let’s face it, who else would be reading this—I would best describe Sunset Overdrive as a fiery concoction, inspired by the very best bits of Dead Rising, Jet Set Radio and Saints Row. It doesn’t aim to be a narrative masterpiece like The Last of Us. Insomniac Games clearly ground the game design down to its core mechanics and then built the game from there.

Forget about Halo or Forza. Sunset Overdrive is the reason you should be thinking about getting an Xbox One this holiday.

Live: Angus & Julia Stone

Written by Rachel Connolly on . Posted in Music.

13th December

Albert Hall

4/10

A very family orientated evening saw sister act The Staves open for Aussie brother and sister duo Angus & Julia Stone. The haunting vocals of The Staves are even more inconceivably beautiful live than on record. The term ‘folk’ is often misused for artists like George Ezra who play pop songs with acoustic guitars. But these three have the sort of vocal power and control that physically stops you in your tracks, combined with woody acoustic guitars and clever lyrics, their sound harks back to the golden years of folk. Their down to earth, dry humour between songs was an unexpected contrast to their music and made it sound even more ethereal. These three are definitely ones to watch but, perhaps, not ones to follow on stage.

After the striking vocals of The Staves the scratchy, babyish tone of Julia’s singing was more than a little abrasive and incredibly repetitive. While easier on the ear, the lyrics and song themes also have this dully repetitive quality. I imagine their cover of ‘You’re The One That I Want’ (yes, the cheesy theme from Greece) is supposed to be cool and subversive, an unexpectedly edgy twist on everyone’s childhood favourite, but I found it cringe inducing and it dragged on for far too long. Although I did admittedly look around and see a few older faces in the crowd bobbing up and down happily.

This is followed up by another twee cover of ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ and when a few songs later they announce  they’ll be playing a cover of The National, my plus-one leans over and asks “wait, haven’t they all been covers?”. This does seem to be the theme of the evening. However ‘Santa Monica Dream’ is a memorable closing note to the show. Angus’s deeper tones chime in to finish Julia’s lines nicely.

Club: Hi Ku presents Luke Vibert / Funkineven / Romare

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Music.

6th December

1 Primrose Street

8/10

For their second birthday, well-regarded club night Hi Ku visited 1 Primrose Street. Formerly known as Underland, and before that an abattoir, the venue is relaxed and has a DIY aesthetic to it. Though down the road from Sankeys, it thankfully feels a world away.

Funkineven was first up in the basement. The Londoner’s tunes have a serious Detroit bent to them, sitting well with Hi Ku’s previous bookings from the motor city. Bopping in the booth for two hours, he was clearly having fun. Moving quickly between soulful disco and gritty techno, his set was fast-paced and thrilling. Classics were drawn for –  Jeff Mills’s ‘The Bells’ and Ron Trent’s ‘Altered States’- along the way. Whilst his own work ‘Igno’, a Funkineven and Kyle Hall track, sounded huge, particularly at the speed it was played at.

Upstairs, in what was less ‘Room 2’ and more ‘cold barn’, the genre-crossing and African-influenced Romare did a fine job in less-than-ideal circumstances. The speakers were small, the room freezing and the dancefloor an awkward podium. Yet this didn’t stop him drawing a sizeable crowd who lapped up his fine selections which worked as a breather from the intensity downstairs.

Back to the basement, now packed and sweaty, for headliner Luke Vibert. This veteran and master-of-monikers gave the crowd a brilliant display of his trademark acid sound. The basement space now really came into its own, made all the better by the punchy and crisp Void sound-system. Unsurprisingly, Luke’s choices going back to the 90s got the best responses: LFO’s classic ‘LFO’ was met with wild cheers. Bringing Vibert, a name rarely seen in Manchester, paid off for Hi Ku and was a great way to round off their birthday bash.

UAE set to invest in Fallowfield redevelopment

Written by Marcus Johns on . Posted in News.

The University of Manchester has announced a partnership with the United Arab Emirate’s Mubadala Development Company in the redevelopment of the Fallowfield campus, worth approximately £175 million.

The plans, which involve the demolition of Oak House and the Owens Park Tower, expect the first phase to be ready for students for the 2018/2019 academic year. Ultimately, the project will result in 3000 new rooms for University of Manchester students.

Lettings will be managed by the University of Manchester’s Accommodation Office, and a spokesperson from the university told The Mancunion: “In terms of rents, we have acquired legal guarantees that residence rent levels would be affordable.

“Future students will enjoy high quality accommodation at market rates. Rents will be benchmarked against other Russell Group universities in the north of England, as well as private sector providers in Manchester.”

The partnership with Mubadala builds on the already-established relationship with Masdar, the Abu Dhabi-based clean technology and renewable energy company that is owned by Mubadala.

Mubadala in turn is itself wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, and its Chairman, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the Al Nahyan family, is the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala’s company strategy aims for “long-term, capital inensive investments that deliver strong financial returns,” and a share of profits from the development will go to Mubadala.

The university declined to give further information regarding how much Mubadala will profit from future first-year students, saying: “We are unable to say much more at this stage, as there is still a formal planning process ahead, and the next phase involves a meeting of the City Council Executive on December 22nd.”

Mubadala helps to finance the government of Abu Dhabi and ensures its economy is diversified. Abu Dhabi has become infamous in recent years for its human rights abuses, particularly of LGBT individuals and women. In May 2014, a woman was sentenced to death by stoning in the city for committing adultery whilst married.

LGBT individuals face up to 14 years imprisonment for homosexual behaviour and after the arrest of a group of homosexual men in Abu Dhabi in 2005, Minister of Justice Mohammed bin Nukhaira Al Dhahiri said: “There will be no room for homosexual and queer acts in the UAE. Our society does not accept queer behaviour, either in word or in action.”

The university did not comment when asked if the university was aware of these issues in its search for suitable investors and whether or not it felt that the partnership may be insulting to female and LGBT members of the University of Manchester—especially in light of the fact that future rents will aid the government in Abu Dhabi in carrying out such policies.

Instead of addressing this the spokesperson added: “The UAE is already the UK’s largest trading partner in the Middle East, whilst several British universities have opened campuses in the UAE.

“In the 2014 Human Development Report the UAE was ranked second in the Arab World and 42nd out of 187 countries—the UK was 27th.

“Abu Dhabi itself is a liberal Muslim metropolis, and their investment in Manchester reflects a continuing affinity with our city. The Emirate already has $1 trillion estimated in overseas assets.”

The University of Manchester Students’ Union has been contacted for comment.

Opinion: To Boycott or to not Boycott?

Written by Leonie Dunn on . Posted in Books.

With taxes funding our schools, hospitals and public services it is vastly concerning to hear that Amazon is the UK’s number one tax avoider. With Amazon’s UK subsidiary, which equally includes the well-known Lovefilm.com, Kindle and Audible.com, it is easy to see how influential they are on consumerism today. Yet the figures suggest they are paying a tax rate of less than 0.1 per cent; with sales of £4.3bn, they only paid £3.2m in corporate taxes in 2012. Therefore, the anonymous organisation Amazon Anonymous is calling us as a united front to use our consumer power to make Amazon pay a fair rate of tax. By taking just one look at Amazon Anonymous’ organisation page it highlights just how deeply affiliated the consumer and Amazon have become. The organisation equally focuses on how Amazon does not pay its workers a reasonable living wage and Amazon’s negative effect on our local shops, all as part of its rally cry. The page constantly interrogates whether you as the consumer can avoid shopping at Amazon this Christmas, even going so far as to send you motivational emails on your progress of a full, cold turkey style, Amazon free Christmas period.

While this rather melodramatic play on an Amazon free Christmas may seem rather odd, it is actually very much a part of our society today. For most students, who form a large percentile of the consumerist society, the first place we will think of when needing to buy that text book or film is Amazon and it often goes without saying. Amazon is the place to go, everything is a simple click away and you don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home. I am not one to point the finger, as I too, often without thinking, find myself on Amazon. I am aware that I can visit my local bookstore for my books or head to the mall for any other of my needs but yet I find myself sweeping the online aisles of Amazon.

However, it is important to think of Amazon in the wider scale of things, in Britain Amazon holds a near 35 per cent share of the book market and that is without going into its many other business ventures. Amazon no longer holds a niche market but has instead enveloped and essentially cut off other markets with its outstretching business. Amazon shows no sign of slowing down or waning either, with its future prospects even touching on drone delivery systems. Yet, there are multiple positive aspects to Amazon and its power, it has the ultimate power to make or break nearly any upcoming author and most authors know that nearly half of their sales will be through Amazon. This is the double edged sword effect that Amazon has. On the one side Amazon and its new non-material format of books has vastly brought down the cost of publishing which has led to more self-published authors, which is part of the wonders of Amazons power.

However, the very fact that there is an organisation and boycott on Amazon itself highlights the problem at hand. Breaking free from the Amazon Empire as it stands is vastly difficult as there are parts and subsidiaries of Amazon that you may never have heard of. Amazon is more than just the simple ‘Everything Store’. Amazon is the largest provider of cloud services in the world; Amazon Web Services touches nearly every corner of the web. Do you have a smart phone? Do you use Netflix or apps on smartphones? If so then you are using Amazon, as all these use, or have used, AWS. So maybe the melodramatic ploy of Amazon Anonymous’ organisation isn’t quite as fickle as it first seems. There is a need for consumers to be aware of the effect of Amazon and its costly effect on the modern industries that are falling as the small players are pushed out of the market.

All the above aspects touch or affect the way we take in or read the literature of the world today. E-readers and kindles have rekindled a lust for literature in the hearts of many and it not without reason. Readers now care only for the ease of access to said books and the price which Amazon and the Kindle magically provide. The ‘Buy Now, Next Day Delivery’ reels inside us and so the bookstore has lost its mojo. The Bookstore wars are over as the Independents are battered and Amazon remains triumphant. But, while many, often myself included, wane over the loss of the hardcover book and the Independent bookstore, the new Digital Age may well have many pleasurable repercussions. The history of writing and literature gives us every bit of confidence on the emergence of a new form of literary excellence, whether it be short stories typed out on Twitter’s 140 character platform or interactive works. So I’ll leave it to you to decide: head on over to http://www.amazonanonymous.org/and choose whether you will boycott Amazon this Christmas.

Nobel Prize for Literature Winner 2014: Patrick Modiano

Written by Alister Pearson on . Posted in Books.

In October it was announced that this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature would be awarded to 69 year-old Patrick Modiano. He will become the 13th person from France to win the prestigious prize. The Swedish Academy credited Modiano for “the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation.”

It took four hours from the announcement of Modiano winning the prize to track him down. He was notified of his win by a phone call from his daughter as he walked the streets of Paris, becoming rather emotional in the process. In his first telephone interview since claiming the award, he reflected upon his reaction upon hearing the news, commenting that he was “very moved” and how he “never thought this would happen” to him.

Now it is quite unlikely that many outside France would have known Modiano, especially in Britain, before he won the Holy Grail of literature. Few of his 30-odd novels were ever translated into English and fewer still of these translations remain in print. To put it in perspective, there are more translations of Modiano’s work into Swedish than there are into English.

Although the Nobel Prize for Literature is probably his proudest achievement, it is not his first high-profile award. In 2012 Modiano won the Austrian State Prize for European literature; in 2010 he won the lifetime reward from the Institut de France. During the 70s he won two awards for two of his novels.

In 1972, he won the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française for the novel published in the same year, Les Boulevards de ceinture (Ring Roads). The story centres arouns a young Parisian meeting his father for the first time in ten years. The 100-page novella is filled with nostalgic memories as the son recollects and compares the memories he has of his father.

It was not long before Modiano produced another book worthy of literary acclaim. 1978 saw him receive the Prix Goncourt for Rue des Boutiques Obscures (Missing Person). Modiano, again, explores the theme of memory, or lack of it, as is the case in this novel. The main character is detective Guy Roland, who is an amnesiac. After his boss retires, Roland decides to go looking for the person he once was. Along the way he learns that he is a Greek Jew, and had a string of unique friends, including a French model, and a dancer of Russian-origin. Modiano explores existentialist themes, and the complex notion of memory in this tale. The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Peter Englund had this to say about Modiano and the novel: “It’s a fun book—playing with the genre, still saying something very fundamental about memory and time. As a person concerned with memory, which I think we all are, he has a very special art of memory, how it works. He is sort of possessed about his attempts to reach back in time, and you can identify yourself with these attempts, and his very original ways to do it.”

What seems remarkable about Modiano’s 45-year career is that every book seems to follow on from the last. That explains why he declined to answer when asked to choose a book by him that would give readers, who were not familiar with his work, the best impression. For Modiano’s work, each book just seems to follow on from this previous book. “It’s as if I stopped to take a break, and then continued with the next stage of the same book,” he said, in addition to his refusal to provide a recommendation.

Another central theme in many novels written by Modiano is the shame and wretchedness of the Second World War and what followed it. His first published novel, La Place de l’Etoile, which was published in 1968, is a semi-biographical piece about the negative effects of anti-Semitism in France during the war. His 1997 publication, Dora Bruder (The Search Warrant) is about a Jewish girl who went missing during Nazi occupation of France.

The sheer amount of work Modiano has managed to produce over his life is staggering. It hasn’t just been novels but also screenplays that he has delved into. In 2003, he wrote the screenplay for Bon Voyage, which was later nominated for a Caesar Award for “best writing”.

Modiano has still not ceased to slow down his rate of production. His latest book, Pour que tu ne te perdes pas dans le quartier, was published earlier this year and Modiano does not seem to be about to finish writing anytime soon. He is a man whose efforts to continue what he is passionate about have never been deterred. He may not be as well-known as he should be but he can take solace in the fact that he has won perhaps the most renowned prize in literature.

Kosmonaut Presents Manchester Artist himHallows

Written by Holly Smith on . Posted in Arts.

Deep in the Northern Quarter, nestled away amongst the endless bars and cafés, is a stellar hangout for that much needed lunch break during endless days shopping or for those chilled nights with cocktails and good friends. Kosmonaut is well off the beating track and offers not only the perfect food and drink, but some of the quirkiest and up-and-coming art that the city has to offer. Its ever-changing art exhibitions make it the perfect place for Manchester-based artist himHallows to showcase new artwork in this stunning and unique exhibition.

Entitled ‘Grand Tours’, himHallows draws upon his interest in space and, more specifically, with the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft and their mission that began back in 1977. His work depicts and celebrates their journey through the solar system.

2012 was the mission’s most profound year as this was the year that Voyager 1 became the first human-built object to enter interstellar space and while this largely went unreported, himHallows uses this to invoke the serenity and distinct aloneness of the craft.

The artwork will be a combination of spray paint and acrylic on board, similar to the aesthetic himHallows has established as one of his signature mural styles. himHallows is the working name of Paul Hallows, a self-taught artist from Manchester who has previously worked with creative bodies as diverse as Manchester Art Gallery, Video Jam and Textbook Studio. He has become known for working across a variety of mediums including pen and ink, spray-painted murals and 3D cardboard and calico models.

Incorporating galactic landmarks such as the planets and moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the work will drift throughout a series of several panels, reflecting how spacecraft are created to float eternally through the galaxy.

If you want to experience this one of a kind exhibition, ‘Grand Tours’ opened on Friday 5th December and will be free to visit until Friday 2nd January. Kosmonaut provides not only this amazing exhibition but also fabulous food and drink to make the experience that little bit better.

Find Kosmonaut on Tariff Street, or find out more here: http://kosmonaut.co. To find out more about himHallows visit his website: http://www.himhallows.co.uk.

Review: Robin Hood

Written by Hannah Toeman on . Posted in Theatre.

As the programme stated, the Panto Society’s Robin Hood has abandoned much of its traditional telling. This diversion created a unique forum of creative freedom with crossdressing, ABBA, and a “Frozen” tribute. Set against a simple backdrop of a panoramic forest photo and a cardboard castle, the plot did not retell Robin’s stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Rather it was a story of the blossoming romances of our two central couples: Robin and the feisty Maid Marion, and Prince John and Robin’s mother Dame Felicity Fellatio.

The strong writing left no room for weak peripheral characters and the updated telling enabled new characters to come to the fore. There must be commendations to the scene-stealing Ryan Jones and his exuberant and charismatic portrayal of Dame Felicity Fellatio: a woman seeking the perfect man—panto style, of course. Jones, just like the rest of the cast dealt with the inevitable hecklers professionally, without hesitation. Beth Farrell’s sharp ad-libbing and her comic delivery transformed a potentially dry character into a charming and witty narrator.

As expected with student panto, this production was raunchy and bold. Boundaries were pushed, but all was delivered in good jest. Lines were not frittered away by the cast and they enjoyed great interaction with the audience. This made for engaging and fast-paced comedy. It felt like comic relief from start to finish. More light-hearted moments were faultlessly delivered by the chorus: the totally kitsch Village People, choreographed by Zara Bryan and Fern Wigfield, enjoyed no fewer than four encores.

But the musical was not just slapstick and sparkle. Beneath the fake boobs, the foliage and mandatory panto donkey was a story about love, friendship and… alien planets. So perhaps it was not the most thought-provoking or intellectual piece of theatre. But the achievement of this society cannot be underestimated. Cast and creatives together produced a hilarious and engaging performance which was executed skilfully. Now how do I sign up for next year?

Review: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Written by Matthew Gormley on . Posted in Theatre.

Following my preview of this year’s festive extravaganza being staged at the Manchester Opera House, I felt transported back to my childhood at Christmas time when I went along to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves on Wednesday evening, and although I wasn’t disappointed, it didn’t quite match the efforts of previous years gone by.

From the moment when the audience entered the auditorium, timeless Christmas tunes were blasting out of the speakers as the audience took to their seats, before cameras made their way around the audience and unsuspecting members of the public appeared on a screen in the middle of the excessively glittered curtain cloth, complete with amusing captions around their heads. Yes, the fun began before the curtain was even raised, and the youngsters were already loving every single second of it.

Despite a technical hitch which meant that the spectators could not hear the opening monologue from the Magic Mirror, once the show was in full swing, it had all the ingredients of a good old-fashioned panto: corny gags, booing, hissing, singing and dancing, although not as much of the latter two as I would have liked.

Priscilla Presley was, without a doubt, the name selling the tickets this year, but her performance as the Wicked Queen was a little flat; she failed to understand some of the humour, and sometimes gave the impression that she just did not get this glorious British tradition. Of course, she could not have gone through the whole show without throwing in a number from late husband Elvis, and although his 1958 hit Trouble is perfect for her character, her performance lacked both passion and enthusiasm, and it was far too obvious that she was miming, which for live entertainment of this kind is very poor.

Natalie Andreou makes a stunning Snow White, and her vast West End experience shines through. Her handsome prince comes in the form of former Brookside star Phillip Oliver, who, when he first arrived on stage, joked that it was “a bit of a gamble” having a Scouser on stage in Manchester, but effortlessly masks his Liverpudlian twang in favour of talking posh. As her one true love, he charms not only Snow White, but all of the mums in the audience, resulting in a hilarious heckle from a lady in the stalls when he gives Snow White the kiss of life. You could not script it.

Legendary screen actor Warwick Davis heads up the seven dwarves as Prof, leading them through the crowd in a triumphant sing-a-long of ‘Hi Ho, Hi Ho’, much to the delight of the children. The dwarves may have slightly different names to the traditional ones, but they all have their own little gimmicks and command the stage from their moment they appear. A talent show performance from one of them in particular is not to be missed.

As predicted, Tam Ryan is once again the real star of the show, despite having to play second fiddle to the major stars in the cast. This is Tam’s fifth consecutive festive season on the Opera House stage, and when you watch him it’s clear to see why he is invited back year after year. He, once again, has the audience eating out of the palm of his hand, with fast-packed gags and relevant one-liners that mock events of the year gone by. Tam is drastically underused in this year’s production, with his character of Muddles having very little part to play in the plot. He’s a true master of his game, without whom the show would be much less enjoyable.

Completing the cast are Daniel Stockton, who also provides many tongue-in-cheek comical moments as the Henchman, and an extremely talented ensemble who bring the musical numbers to life. Sadly, the songs in this show are few and far between, which makes for a slow pace at times.

All in all, this is a festive treat that all the family can enjoy. Get yourself down to the Manchester Opera House this Christmas and support traditional British theatre.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves runs until Sunday 4 January. Performance times vary.

Review: Little Shop of Horrors

Written by Luke Sharma on . Posted in Theatre.

The production, based on the 1960 comedy horror film of the same name, follows the story of a down on his luck, dweeby botanist called Seymour Krelborn who discovers an alien plant called Audrey II with an appetite for blood. The plant carves Seymour’s path to glory (or so it seems), but as it grows, so does its appetite for human flesh! With plenty of zany characters and an even more insane storyline, Little Shop of Horrors shouldn’t be missed.

The Exchange’s production was nothing less than incredible. It stayed true to the spirit, fun and humour of the original musicals and movies. With The Exchange being a theatre-in-the-round, the staging stayed simple, with location changes being represented by props. They were extremely well built and were all very similar to the 1986 film adaptation.

There are some surprises in there, which I don’t want to spoil, but the director Derek Bond did a brilliant job in exploiting every dimension of the theatre from the ceiling down, to capture his vision. The flooring of the stage was lit quite brilliantly with underfloor lighting to represent the mood and paid tribute to the sci-fi nature of the production.

Musical direction by Tim Jackson can’t go unnoticed. The five-piece band he led never missed a beat and provided a brilliant accompaniment to a bunch of extremely talented singers. Furthermore, the ‘puppeteering’ of Audrey II was done in the most suitable way for a theatre-in-the-round, and although the puppeteers were extremely noticeable initially, after 5 or 10 minutes you’re too engrossed in the fantastic job they’re doing to even notice them.

As far as the performance of the cast is concerned, even though there was a limited cast, each cast member performed their part(s) by the book (perhaps with the exception of Ako Mitchell but we’ll get to him later) and each member played them extremely well and as a result of such a fantastic team effort I do not have a single criticism to make.

Gunnar Cauthery was absolutely perfect; whomever casted him as Seymour deserves a pat on the back. As I was watching him perform, I almost too often had flashbacks to Rick Moranis (from the 1986 film version). I would even go as far to say that Mr. Cauthery captured the dweeby essence of Seymour as well as and probably even better than Moranis himself!

Kelly Price was also excellent as Audrey, being Seymour’s love interest. From her first appearance, you can feel the talent that Ms. Price has to offer. By the time Act 2 comes around, it becomes obvious that you are in the presence of an extremely gifted actress.

Now it must be said, the two members of the cast who really stole the show for me were Ako Mitchell, playing Orin Scrivello and various other characters and Nuno Silva as Audrey second voice and puppeteer. The earlier mentioned Mr. Mitchell can be described as “not playing his parts by the book”; he somehow managed to make the character of Orin so much more sinister and far more hilarious than any other portrayal that I have ever seen, and the various other characters he played just showed the audience the variety and diversity of this actor. Nuno Silva was more surprising than anything, a silent puppeteer throughout, but when he opens his mouth, the deepest, smoothest and jazziest voice pours out which was completely unexpected and absolutely magnificent.

Although I don’t have the word count to expand on the rest of the cast, I feel that it needs to be noted that every single cast member was amazing in the roles they played and should be extremely proud of this production. I implore you to go and watch this production, because I can guarantee that you won’t see such a brilliant performance of Little Shop of Horrors outside the West End. Derek Bond has assembled a brilliantly talented cast, who have absolutely knocked it out of the park.

Little Shop Of Horrors is running from 5th December 2014 until 31st January 2015.

The Students’ Union will become a Living Wage Accredited employer

Written by Elena Losavio on . Posted in News.

The Students’ Union of the University of Manchester has voted in favour of becoming a Living Wage Accredited employer. It was decided at the Trustee Board last week and it will be effective from August 2015 at latest.

This means that all the staff at the Students’ Union will be paid the living wage, which is currently £7.85 an hour. It will increase the wages that the Students’ Union is currently paying of around £80000 per year.

This significant resolution was achieved, after several debates and campaigns that took place on campus. The UoM Living Wage Campaign is promoting and trying to develop awareness among students for this crucial issue.

During the Living Wage Week, the Fair Pay Festival was hosted on the 6th November 2014 at Students Union’s Club Academy. At the event Professor Martin Hall, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Salford, and Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the TUC, gave a speech about the importance of becoming a Living Wage Accredited employer.

Speaking during the Fair Pay Festival, Professor Martin Hall expressed his happiness to see that students were active and paid attention on this matter. He said, “it’s really good to see a great attendance and to know that Student Unions are still focusing on national public issue events because very often we become obsessed with events that only concerned with the university.”

The UoM Living Wage Campaign asked to students to sign a petition to show their support to the cause. On the whole, over 1300 signatures were collected.

The campaign went on organising weekly meetings for who was interested in getting involved on this issue. A lot of students care about the living wage and they made an effort to focus the Students’ Union attention on that matter.

Speaking about the relevant result achieved, Matt Harriot, Chair of the Living Wage Campaign said: “The University of Manchester Students’ Union’s commitment to become a Living Wage Accredited employer is welcome news.

“We’re proud of our Students’ Union for taking a stand for fairer pay in Greater Manchester and urge the university management to follow the Students’ Union’s fantastic example by becoming Living Wage Accredited as soon as possible.”

Conor McGurran, Campaigns and Citizenship Officer stated: “I’m absolutely delighted that we have been able to make a real commitment to ethical employment today. At a time when over half of those in poverty are in work, the Living Wage goes a long way to removing the pay inequalities we see in our workplaces.

It may not be an easy decision, but going Living Wage is the right decision, which is why over 1300 people have signed a petition urging the university to set an example and pay their staff fairly. It’s time they took some action.”

If anyone wants to help in the campaign of the UoM Living Wage Campaign they can email [email protected]. A Facebook page is available at https://www.facebook.com/UoMlivingwage and they have also a twitter account at https://twitter.com/UoMLivingWage.

Should we increase regulation of the press?

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Opinion.

Yes

Lauren Wills

Today’s media get away with murder. We were all disgusted at the phone-hacking scandal which came to light in 2011, particularly in regards to Milly Dowler and the fact that News of the World employees had the audacity to hack a murder victim’s phone without considering the consequences for her family.

Other victims of phone-hacking included members of the Royal Family, families of deceased soldiers, and victims of the 7/7 London bombings. While these occurrences were a blatant, immoral violation of privacy, they highlighted a wider issue concerning the ethics of the media in today’s society and whether they should be held to account.

The press are said to have a constitutional role in democracies—that is, they hold people in power (especially in government) to account through discovering truth and publishing stories nationally. They encourage transparency and integrity which is undoubtedly well-needed in our government. Furthermore, there are arguments to suggest media publications encourage individuals to make well-informed decisions about politics and thus are a crucial agent in securing individual freedom of expression.

Because of this special status given to the media to promote freedom of speech in a democratic society, there is, in my opinion, too much space for them to abuse that power. Because our generation is so liberal, it’s easy to bypass the logic that if the media are holding people in power to account, they too need to be subject to scrutiny by an independent body separate from the government.
It’s a difficult debate, and I understand why free speech advocates may argue that any legislation governing the freedom of the press could be dangerous. David Cameron said this himself after the Leveson Inquiry when the recommendations were ultimately rejected.

Lord Justice Leveson, in his independent inquiry into the practices of the media, argued—after considering the phone-hacking scandal, police bribery and the press exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories—that there needed to be some kind of system to ensure the press didn’t abuse their power.

Because this was a few years ago and it’s not making the front page of newspapers anymore, most see the phone-hacking scandal as a distant memory or a few isolated incidents which won’t happen again. What many people don’t realise is that the system of regulation that has recently been introduced in the UK is in no way, shape or form independent and doesn’t actually hold the press to account or encourage journalistic integrity.

The same thing happened with the banking scandal in 2008. Because we’re recovering from the recession and moving forward, many pay little attention to the fact that hardly anything has been done to regulate banks and their practices with people’s money.
The new ‘regulation’ body in the UK was launched, as Michelle Gribbon comments, “with a whisper,” in September of this year.

With the hype and media attention of the phone-hacking scandal just a few years ago, you’d think the launch of this independent, rigorous, fair and transparent regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) would have gained more publicity than it did. Most newspapers have signed up to the new regulator; the Mirror Group, The Sun, The Times, The Telegraph and the Mail Group, however, it had no official launch and most newspapers refused to write about it, because it’s just not ‘newsworthy’ enough.

IPSO is a replacement for the previous Press Complaints Commission which served as an extremely embarrassing body to regulate the ethics of the media. The whole point of IPSO is that it’s meant to be separate from the Government so that the press are subject to proper regulation.

However, the watchdog we’ve all been waiting for is unlikely to stand up to the press, especially considering that it’s funded by the newspaper industry itself. Gribbon furthermore comments that, quite shamefully, one of their board members happens to be an individual who was a chief defender of The Sun’s coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.

With no adequate means of regulation in the UK, we are in danger of further horrific abuse of the press. Freedom of speech advocates forget that newspapers’ primary goal is to make profit. With their goal being commercial rather than to publish the truth, they do not live up to their ‘special’ role within the constitution.

Newspapers really do just publish whatever is going to sell the most papers. I really don’t believe certain media corporations are concerned with journalistic integrity, truth, justice or any other virtues that such highly regarded institutions should possess. They make so much profit that they have money to set aside for libel claims, allowing them to take more risks.

I would argue for a truly independent regulator backed up by a loose statutory framework to govern the integrity of the press, because now, it’s like the Leveson Inquiry never happened. I think IPSO is an insult to victims of the media’s ruthless and relentless actions which they have not truly paid the price for, and I hope for the day when all responsible individuals and corporations are held to account for the phone-hacking scandal and its implications on victims’ families and loved ones.

No

Thomas McEvilly

The vital role the press plays to our democracy is undisputed, as the Lord Chief Justice has said; “in a country governed by the rule of law, the independence of the press is a constitutional necessity.” Not only does the press hold those in power to account, but, information it dispenses contributes to public discourse and debate, enabling the public to act on informed decisions. Therefore, any contemplation for regulating the press raises a number of threatening implications to our democratic society.

It goes without question that any regulation underpinned by statute is a gross infringement of this constitutional role; it couldn’t hold the government to account if those it was scrutinising had authority over it. This, however, is of less interest at this moment, but rather the idea of an independent regulatory body which had emerged in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, is what I have issue with. At present, the Press Complaints Commission is being abolished and replaced with IPSO, which in itself is totally flawed, but, if successful, has an equal bearing on democracy as state intervention.

Freedom of speech is one of our fundamental rights, which has enabled us to develop as a free country. First acknowledged by the Magna Carta and currently pronounced under Article 10 of the Humans Rights act 1998, it confers a right to enable us as individuals to hold opinions, receive and impart information without interference by public authority. This right extends to the press. It’s the enjoyment of freedom of expression by the press which allows it to fulfil its constitutional role, and regulation in any form is a fundamental breach of this right.

A free press should be encouraged because of the public benefit which comes from the free flow of information and by regulating the press then there is the danger that a chilling effect could emerge. Journalists would avoid newsworthy stories in fear that they would receive a negative reaction, or find themselves having to justify their actions in front of IPSO. A chilling effect of this kind is of great concern for the British democracy, because it causes journalists to write cautiously or remain silent, and how can this be any benefit to the public when they rely on the news in order to base intelligent choices in holding those in power accountable.

Yes, without any regulation the press is liable to publish false stories or exaggerate the truth, but this in itself shouldn’t be undermined, as it’s necessary for the development of society. False information forces us to challenge our own opinions, frequently, fully and fearlessly, resulting in a strengthened opinion, as otherwise we would be led to our own assumption of infallibility.

We have already seen the closure of one ‘red top’ newspaper. Strict regulations enforced by fines and the inclination of cautious journalism could see the closure of further newspapers, which only goes to narrow the sources from which public debate can be pooled.

I can see the argument that regulation is needed in order for the press to recognise their responsibility for ethical practices so as to discourage journalism which has a total disregard for privacy, but people need to gain perspective. The phone hacking undertaken by the News of the World was to sell stories relating to celebrity culture; there’s a difference between publication of a celebrity’s affairs and newsworthy material in the public interest. In order to stifle unethical journalism found in the small minority of newspapers, the majority of effective journalism will be inhibited by regulation as a whole.

As the press serves us, we shouldn’t underestimate the power in our freedom to choose to read the stories offered. If journalism is unethical or blatantly unfounded then it is unlikely that people will chose to read it or even believe it, demand in itself would be a proportionate regulator. I do recognise that this may not be adequate redress for certain injustices suffered by individuals as a result of a false story, however there are existing legal frameworks in place which directly deal with these circumstances, namely the law of libel and breach of confidence and it is unnecessary that a further hurdle should be placed in the way of a free press.

As soon as the press becomes regulated, we passively allow a detrition of the right to freedom of expression, and this would only go on to allow violation of further fundamental rights needed for the existence of our democracy.

The 5 Worst Things about Christmas

Written by Molly Allen on . Posted in Lifestyle.

I should start this by saying that I love Christmas. However, Christmas, like most things in life, has its upsides and downsides. So in the true Scrooge spirit, here are some of the worst things about Christmas:

5) The inevitable row between family members. At Christmas everyone gets drunk, they haven’t seen each other in a while and unfortunately some people get quite mean so they say all the stuff they’ve been wanting to say. Luckily for me, this doesn’t really happen (we’re all happy drunks) but it can put a really dampener on what should be a lovely time for everyone.

4) All the weird food you have to eat that you never eat at any other time. Aside from Christmas, when else does anyone eat Brussel sprouts? Not to mention, Christmas pudding (what’s up with that, it’s so weird).

3) The family stressing over food. This could just be mine, but last year my mum screamed at me and my brothers until we quietly pointed out at no point had she asked us to help and we wouldn’t know where to begin anyway. Luckily, she’s good humoured and was thus referred to as Ebenezer until New Year. Sorry Mum.

2) That it’s an excuse to gain loads of weight. The gym is still there and no one’s forcing you to eat the size of a small child in mince pies.

1) The insistence on Christmas jumpers. Can we just leave it at cute Fair Isle prints? No, apparently not. We have to go all out: make ourselves look like complete twats in hideous garish colours and even worse prints.

Despite all this I still think the good aspects of Christmas outweigh the bad. Just promise me you’ll try to find a tasteful jumper this year? Or is that asking for too much?

Humans of UoM: Asha

Written by Robert Firth on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Asha, 2nd year Geography student, originally from Bermuda.

Who the hell are you? 
My name is Asha. I was born in Bermuda and raised between there and Japan with my Japanese mum and Bermudian dad. For high school I went to Canada for four years, and then I came to Manchester for my degree. I’ve travelled extensively through North America, including Mexico and the Caribbean. I’m nineteen, what else do you want me to say?

On being international:
I would describe myself as international: I don’t call one place home. I’ve always moved around and I like that; I know it’s not for everyone but I get bored of being in one place for too long. I sound like a slut—like moving around boys—no, like moving around countries. I just like the experience of meeting new people, and I know that sounds really cheesy but I truly do like that and I think every single person has a story to tell. For example at work, I’ve met a guy from Botswana, a guy from Australia, a guy from Poland and I think it’s just interesting to hear what they have to say and their different viewpoints on certain things that come up.

On England: 
I definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely think I have a more open viewpoint [than other people in England]. I think it just has to do with how I’ve grown up and how I don’t have a loyalty to one country. I know that sounds weird to say but I just feel like a lot of English people are really proud of being able to speak English and not open to a lot. If I’d grown up in England or I’d grown up in the same place as them I think I’d have the same viewpoint, but because I’ve grown up in so many different places—I’ve been through living in a country where you can’t speak the language, you know being embarrassed, being scared, like you’re all alone in school for the first time, I’ve been through all that—I’m definitely more kind and gentle when it comes to dealing with people who for example don’t speak English as their first language. You know, I have sympathy towards them: I could never be rude.

On peeing herself:
“One time in Japan when I was in primary school I couldn’t speak Japanese, I could only speak English at this point, and I really had to pee but I didn’t know how to ask. It was in the middle of class and I was sitting at the back of the classroom and there were like 25 kids. I was so scared I didn’t know what to do, and I was holding it in for so long that I just peed on my seat and it dripped down. The kid next to me screamed and started laughing and everyone was laughing at me, like: “Ah! Look at that, she’s peeing!” And I just remember being really embarrassed and scared.

On love:
I have a French boyfriend and I’ve always had an interest in foreign people: the people I’ve been with in the past have usually not been from Bermuda and not from Japan; yeah I just like difference I guess. I definitely know I’m attracted to anyone who’s foreign and if I meet you for the first time and you’re like: “I’m from Italy,” I’m like: “Oh yeah, woo!” It’s very difficult for me not to be like: “Oh, he’s from Italy…” “he’s from Germany, I want to talk to him more.” It’s just interesting. My boyfriend and I have definitely grown up very differently but still, I don’t know, I don’t know how to explain it but it’s just interesting. I like it: I like meeting new people. I would never date an English guy. I just think my viewpoint is too different; I just don’t think we can connect on that sort of level, don’t have the same sort of mindset or, I don’t know, it’s just a completely different viewpoint I guess.

On travelling:
A lot of people here when they say they’ve been travelling actually mean they’ve been interrailing in Europe and got drunk at bars. For me that’s not travelling through Europe: that’s just going to capital cities and getting fucked with your friends and that’s not what I feel about travelling. Travelling for me is doing your research before you go. Never ever, ever just show up in a city, because you’ll be so lost and won’t know what to do. Look at what the typical tourist spots are and when you get there, ask local people if they speak any English and say (give them a very short time!), “I’m only here for 24 hours—what do you recommend I see? What’s the best your city has to offer?” That type of thing and they’ll tell you that sometimes it can be good, sometimes it’s not so good, but you know sometimes you’ll see things you didn’t see on TripAdvisor and it’s like: “Oh, that was nice.”

Last Words:
I do have a very strong viewpoint and I have my own opinion on things but what I said about English guys doesn’t mean that they’re all shit: it’s just what I think. Don’t make me sound like a bitch: I’ll kill you.

Should you get a job whilst at university?

Written by Robert Firth on . Posted in Lifestyle.

More and more students are working whilst studying. According to a study by Endsleigh in conjunction with the NUS, in 2013 57 per cent of students had a part-time job—a seven per cent increase from 2012. With the increase of costs in university study (has there ever been a year in which halls prices have not increased?!) it seems likely that this trend towards students working will only accelerate. Is feasible to work and still achieve a good degree (and have a bit of a life)? I spoke to two students to find out.

No
Fern, a nineteen-year-old Drama and English Literature student quit her job at a popular sandwich chain after she found it difficult to manage a work-life balance with the commitments of a part-time job.

Promising beginnings
“I worked at Subway for just under a month, from late September to late October. I didn’t earn that much cause it’s crappy pay and I didn’t work there for that long, but the money went on tickets to see Taylor Swift.”
All work and no play
“I worked about 20 something hours a week, the longest shift being like ten to just after eight at night. I quit because I started to be put down to work in literally every spare second I had, like the manager didn’t understand that I had university work to do even if wasn’t actually in lectures. Also because I’m involved in societies as well I found I had no time to actually do university work outside of lectures. I’m here to learn, not to get a full time job, but they didn’t really get that.”
Talk to the boss!
“I’d still recommend getting a job at university it because it’s good to have the extra money but if you plan on having a life that’s not just lectures and work, make sure that the boss knows that before you start or else it’ll become too much”

Yes
Emma, a 20-year-old Geography student has found that working part-time allows her to get more from studying at university.

The Bank of Mum and Dad
“My mum agreed to give me £50 a week to cover my laundry, food just everything, but that wasn’t enough. I originally told her £50 because that would be enough but I didn’t really know the price of anything. It was like a blind guess.”
On zero-hours contracts
“I have a zero-hours contract but I work between 30 and 40 hours a week. [The zero-hours contract] means that essentially my boss can give me as many hours as she wants. I like the zero-hours contract because my boss loves me. Like I obviously understand why people would want to get rid of zero-hours contracts, but as a student a zero hour contract is good for me because my job isn’t my top priority, and also because nothing, like my rent, is really relying on it.”
Unemployed Problems
“If I didn’t have the job I would go back to being poor: not going out, selling my clothes for food. Yeah, basically like I was in my first year: a lot of stress because I was having to worry about money. Luckily I have a boyfriend for that though.”
All work and no play?
“I’m the type of student that hates uni so I do usually take work over uni, just because it’s less stressful for me: I’d rather do a ten hour shift than write my essay, and you know, procrastinate.”
Study Geography, not Physics
“If you think you’re the type of person who can say no to going out and going to work the next day then I would recommend getting a job. You’ve got to be committed to it, and you have to do a course that doesn’t demand a lot from you…” [Like What?] “Well I do Geography, so Geography. I imagine if you do Physics it’s just not going to fit.”

*Some names have been changed.