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Day: 11 March 2015

2015 Union Executive elections: The candidates

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Features, News.

Following the Student’s Union’s Hustings which was held last week, The Mancunion have profiled every candidate by their five-point manifestos submitted to the Student’s Union website. Make your decisions for voting before tomorrow from the profiles below:

General Secretary

Naa Acquah

1. Future of Union Expansion: Making sure students are behind every decision.

2. Introduce Gen Sec surgeries, a monthly meeting in different parts of campus to talk to me about any issues students have.

3. Co-ordinate a ‘Check Your Finances’ campaign: Budget workshops, a part-time job assessment centre, and more bursaries for postgraduates to cover living expenses.

4. Student safety workshops: Run more self-defence classes, every student given an attack alarm, and warn students not to rent houses without key safety features.

5. Make your extracurricular activities available on your transcript.

 

Joe Baines-Holmes

1. Promote the effective running of the Exec Team to ensure that we have the best possible engagement with students.

2. Improve and foster the campaigns for the liberation of BME, LGBT+, and women students.

3. Campaign and educate for the need for free and accessible education for all students.

4. Support and improve funding for student societies.

5. Ensure students have a democratic role in their courses, university and Union.

 

Tim Bradford

Slogan: “Vote for Tim, vote for good enough.”

 

Joseph ‘Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs’ Clough

1. Fight my number 1 priority: Save the veggie café.

2. Union to have a pro-egg policy. Every student gets a free chocolate egg on their birthday.

3. Lobby Morrison’s to start selling Irn Bru again.

4. Lobby bus companies to be free between at least the city centre and Fallowfield.

5. Continue the fight for student-only ambulance services and astroturfs for all halls.

 

Tessy Maritim

1. Engage everyone through increasing our visibility across campus and creating a better understanding of the Union’s political role.

2. Challenge curriculum through lobbying the university to review course curriculums and allow students to have influence over what and how we learn.

3. STOP STUDENT SUFFERING through ensuring students are aware of available funds and addressing student poverty remains a priority of the university.

4. SECURING SPACE for students to be able to book rooms independently of societies, and amenities such as prayer and meditation rooms exist within the Union and wider campus.

 

Ellen ‘Mighty’ McLaughlin

1. Affordable accommodation

2. A robust and fair room booking system.

3. ‘Love to lobby’

4. Protection of bursaries and a more accessible hardship fund.

5. Budgeting advice and guidance.

 

Activities and Development Officer

Ramin Taghizada

Slogan: “you will never walk alone (Liverpool)”

 

Joel Smith

1. Student involvement in the Union extension, ensuring that it becomes the campus ‘living room’.

2. Ensuring Pangaea becomes more student-led and represents all students and that each event is totally unique.

3. New Union website and app with focus on creating a platform for societies and students that is unparalleled.

4. More events in the Union, continuing pushing external promoters and a graduation ball

5. Points-based Welcome Week to give more flexibility for people to go on day trips and other non-alcoholic activities and make friends from day one.

 

Peter Rwatschew

1. Ensure that the planned building work to the SU has a minimal impact on how it is used and the future Pangaea festivals.

2. Pursue a greater SU presence in Fallowfield.

3. Diversify the entertainment at Pangaea.

4. Create a platform for societies to advertise themselves to prospective students.

5. Develop a centralised calendar for societies, which would be available through MyManchester.

 

Astrid Kitchen

Slogan: “Especially in light of the increase in fees, getting the most out of university is more important than ever.”

 

Joseph ‘Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs’ Clough

1. Fight my number 1 priority: Save the veggie café.

2. Union to have a pro-egg policy. Every student gets a free chocolate egg on their birthday.

3. Lobby Morrison’s to start selling Irn Bru again.

4. Lobby bus companies to be free between at least the city centre and Fallowfield.

5. Continue the fight for student-only ambulance services and astroturfs for all halls.

 

Campaigns and Citizenship Officer

Naomi Wilkins

1. Free Education—no ideas to bursaries or course closures, more support for international students, and end to the marketisation of education. No fees, no cuts, no debt.

2. Fossil Free—redirect university investment from fossil fuels to renewables for the sake of our futures, and more ethical employers at careers events.

3. Safer cycling—more segregated cycle paths so students can travel safer, healthier and cheaper.

4. Campaign networking—events for student campaigners to network with successful campaigns in other universities.

5. New campaigns, new campaigners—make student campaigns approachable to all, with better publicity around campus—campaigning is for everyone!

 

Hannah ‘Han Solo’ McCarthy

1. Fighting cuts to bursaries and fighting for a Living Wage across campus and Greater Manchester.

2. Creating a network to fight for international students! Oppose the anti-immigration rhetoric that dominates society, as well as against PREVENT, uncapped international fees, current student Visa policy, and Non-EU NHS fees!

3. Hold a Campaigning and Volunteering Festival, get Skills for Change onto the curriculum, and create a new Campaigning and Volunteering MyManchester portal!

4. Working with the Community Officer to create a campaign across Greater Manchester to fight against students being charged rip-off rents!

5. Making the role of campaigning more visible: ‘Wake Up Manchester Uni’ events, promote campaigning with street art and and open mic night.

 

Joseph ‘Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs’ Clough

1. Fight my number 1 priority: Save the veggie café.

2. Union to have a pro-egg policy. Every student gets a free chocolate egg on their birthday.

3. Lobby Morrison’s to start selling Irn Bru again.

4. Lobby bus companies to be free between at least the city centre and Fallowfield.

5. Continue the fight for student-only ambulance services and astroturfs for all halls.

 

Javairia A. Bilal

1. Be a lynchpin between students and Executive Office.

2. Working for a fair, impartial, and easily accessible education.

3. Increasing integration of international students to avoid marginalisation.

4. Make students aware of global issues that we need to tackle in the 21st century.

 

Community Officer

Joseph Clough

1. Fight my number 1 priority: Save the veggie café.

2. Union to have a pro-egg policy. Every student gets a free chocolate egg on their birthday.

3. Lobby Morrison’s to start selling Irn Bru again.

4. Lobby bus companies to be free between at least the city centre and Fallowfield.

5. Continue the fight for student-only ambulance services and astroturfs for all halls.

 

Russell Devine

1. Promoting the ‘Manchester as Home’ idea.

2. Encouraging engagement within Greater Manchester.

3. Creating community safety and harmony through student dialogue.

4. Helping you find a decent landlord.

5. Making sure every student, including those in halls, have a say in community matters.

 

Jazz Le Goff

1. Maintain Home Sweet Home campaign and try for houses to only be released after January exams.

2. Working closely with other Execs to ensure students feel safe. Workshops and awareness of assault and crimes for both students and residents.

3. Add victim support for those who have been burgled. Counselling, signposting, and insurance advice.

4. Enable more local voluntary work/experience, work with local businesses/charities to ensure our students receive better opportunities.

5. Make the SU more approachable and explain its roles. More opportunity to meet the Execs and encourage communication so that student ideas are considered and acted on.

 

Harriet ‘Ha Pee’ Pugh

1. Campaigning and liberation outreach with local schools, colleges and youth centres to foster a positive campaigning community.

2. More creative community events with local organisations and campaigning collectives.

3. More prayer space on campus and in the Students’ Union.

4. Support Women’s campaign, to improve policing strategy by tackling ongoing victim-blaming and ensuring our streets are safe for students.

5. Further our Union’s policy to oppose PREVENT by ensuring that our students are not criminalised for their religious or political expression.

 

Ed Sherriff

1. Pressuring police to increase patrols in student populated areas to reduce ridiculously high rape rates.

2. Promoting non-Oxford Road cycle routes for those that are worried about accidents.

3. Making it easier to report dodgy landlords so that they can’t keep providing a poor service.

4. Exec position-wide drop-in sessions for any issue that you feel needs dealing with.

5. Free workshops on how to find a good house for people (particularly 1st years) who are unsure of the process.

 

Diversity Officer

Natasha Maria Brooks

1. I would lobby the university to ensure that every student that enrols at the University of Manchester begins their journey here feeling included.

2. It’s important that we work together to celebrate our diversity.

3. One of our primary collaborative tasks of the diversity forum would be to create ‘Diversity Diary’, a monthly publication.

4. Campaigning will be fundamental within the role for Diversity Officer.

5. I would ensure that workshops and other events were held at appropriate times and published online to ensure they were accessible for all.

 

Claudia Carvell

1. Campaigning for recognition and respect for non-binary and trans* identities, including more gender-neutral toilets.

2. Maintaining and and creating specific safe spaces/discussion rooms/drop-in advice sessions for minority groups.

3. Working with the univeristy’s Equality and Diversity Department to ensure events across the year cater to the requests of students, are inclusive and accessible, and aim to create a unified student body.

4. Providing better support for new, international, and mature students, especially with regards to extra-curricular issues, such as setting up an English bank account, finding accommodation, sorting phone contracts and finding/accessing local services.

5. Working with the careers service to ensure they can provide specific advice, information and support regarding a more diverse range of careers.

 

Joseph Clough

1. Fight my number 1 priority: Save the veggie café.

2. Union to have a pro-egg policy. Every student gets a free chocolate egg on their birthday.

3. Lobby Morrison’s to start selling Irn Bru again.

4. Lobby bus companies to be free between at least the city centre and Fallowfield.

5. Continue the fight for student-only ambulance services and astroturfs for all halls.

 

Tanisha ‘Sharkisha’ Douglas

1. Diversity training for staff and students.

2. Regular liaison with all liberation reps to ensure they are supported and needs are met.

3. Let’s fête! Black History Month, LGBT+ History Month and Inter-Faith Month.

4. Work with other Exec to address concerns identified in student officer role, i.e. BME attainment gap and mental health.

5. Maintain community and inter-university connections.

 

Jenny Edem-Hotah

1. Raising awareness and celebrating diversity.

2. Networking for postgraduates within the Students’ Union.

3. Maximise the Manchester experience for international students.

4. Building on diversity campaigns.

 

Nadir Mohammad

1. Increase student activities for disabled students.

2. Ensure the SU acts as a voice for those disabled students who require extra support from the university in their studies.

3. Organise events that will promote cultural diversity and inter-faith/no-faith harmony on campus.

4. To make sure that the voices of each and every minority group is heard and work towards achieving their goals.

5. Dedicated campaigns in the calendar to celebrate cultural diversity.

 

Hasan Mumtaz

1. Ensuring every student have equal access to the placements.

2. Extra effort to provide disabled friendly accommodation for disabled students.

3. Organising cultural events in periodic intervals in order to ensure healthy interactions by promoting diverse cultures.

4. Developing systems for reporting any incidents of discrimination among students.

5. Organising free UK tours for international students to get an insight of British cultures.

 

HanSong Pang

Slogan: “Employing best staffs is what I committed.”

 

Education Officer

Sid Kanoija

1. Setting up an active placement cell emphasising more on international students.

2. An effort to subsidise the fees of every course.

3. Promoting the practical approaches to courses rather than theoretical approach.

4. Promoting well-equipped accommodation for students.

5. Promoting providing the digitisation of courses including podcasts of every lecture.

 

Ilyas Nagdee

1. Expand work on free education.

2. Stand up for international students.

3. Liberate our curriculum.

4. Close the BME gap.

5. Empower reps to hold their department to account.

 

Jordan Paterson

1. To take decisive but fair action regarding academic issues that students report.

2. To research what academic issues are relevant to students and to reach solutions.

3. Accurately and fairly report student opinions on academic issues.

4. Reinforce the importance of student and faculty representation.

5. Create a network for representatives to discuss academic issues, share ideas and support each other.

 

Joseph Clough

1. Fight my number 1 priority: Save the veggie café.

2. Union to have a pro-egg policy. Every student gets a free chocolate egg on their birthday.

3. Lobby Morrison’s to start selling Irn Bru again.

4. Lobby bus companies to be free between at least the city centre and Fallowfield.

5. Continue the fight for student-only ambulance services and astroturfs for all halls.

 

Abhay Sikri

Slogan: “I have always been always been a good listener and presenter.”

 

Andrew Robinson

1. I aim to reduce the amount of mistakes in examination questions.

2. I aim to make poor invigilator conduct, such as invigilators not following university exam regulations, a thing of the past.

3. I aim to improve coursework feedback; ending the practice of it being copied and pasted between students.

4. I aim to ensure that personal tutors are able to provide better support on issues relating to student welfare.

5. To actively campaign against government policy regarding university tuition fees.

 

Michael Spence

1. Reverse cuts to bursaries at Manchester.

2. More study space and facilities.

3. Campaign against PREVENT

4. Campaign for the introduction of living grants.

5. Ending additional course costs.

 

Wellbeing Officer

Bis Choudhury

1. Work towards safety and security of our students and call for an enhanced university security policy.

2. Better quality of services provided in student halls. Value for money. Better wellbeing activities within halls.

3. Better food in campus cafeterias that is healthy, tasty and cheap.

4. Better advice and counselling services to provide support for financial, housing and wellbeing issues.

5. Promote a homely atmosphere within the Union and the university to encourage more student participation.

 

Joseph ‘Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs’ Clough

1. Fight my number 1 priority: Save the veggie café.

2. Union to have a pro-egg policy. Every student gets a free chocolate egg on their birthday.

3. Lobby Morrison’s to start selling Irn Bru again.

4. Lobby bus companies to be free between at least the city centre and Fallowfield.

5. Continue the fight for student-only ambulance services and astroturfs for all halls.

 

Becky Fox

1. STUDENT SAFETY AT NIGHT! Volunteers to walk people home, attack alarms, police presence.

2. IMPROVE COUNSELLING SERVICE! Shorter waiting times, more staff training.

3. SMASH THE STIGMA AROUND MENTAL HEALTH! Time to talk, advertise support, buddy system.

4. SEXUAL HEALTH DROP-IN CLINIC! Free condoms, STD testing, femidoms, dental dams, the lot!

5. INCREDIBLE WELLBEING ROOMS! Relaxing, inviting, comfortable, with tea/coffee making facilities.

 

Lucy Hallam

1. Raising awareness of the support systems available and ensuring easy access.

2. Identifying areas where support is lacking, and improving or creating new initiatives where needed.

3. Improving student safety.

4. Cheaper food on campus and more healthy options.

5. Free exercise classes and cheaper gym memberships.

 

Chris Humba

1. Fight to maintain support for disabled students.

2. Work to shorten and improve the communication between the student support services.

3. Will organise a dry bar night event for students who don’t drink but would still like to socialise.

4. Set up a free shuttle service for students on a night out to get back safely.

5. Set up an anonymous reporting service for students to be able to report any hate crime incidents.

 

Hannah Jewell

1. Create a Wellbeing Forum to strengthen links between wellbeing services and students.

2. Fight cuts to bursaries and disabled students allowance.

3. Improve the counselling services by making it more accessible and shortening waiting times.

4. Introduce a second Global Week to welcome international students.

5. Bring in reimbursement for doctor’s notes costs for mitigating circumstances across all Schools.

 

Shourya Khanna

1. Create more learning spaces resembling the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons.

2. Encourage students to have a positive attitude.

3. Encourage students to have mentors.

4. Make student counselling more interactive and enjoyable.

5. Organise more social gatherings for students to connect more.

 

Women’s Officer

Jennifer Jones

1. Free sanitary products for all female students in campus toilets—condoms are free, tampons should be!

2. Sex support groups for pregnancy, contraceptive and peer pressure worries.

3. Support for student mothers, particularly mature students returning to education.

4. Further emphasise the ‘We Get It!’ pledge and take a stand against sexual harassment.

5. Lead campaign against government tax on sanitary products as ‘non-essential luxuries’. Periods are essential, drop the tax!

 

Jess Lishak

1. A subsidised  student shuttle bus throughout the night taking people from campus to their doors cheaply.

2. Promoting zero tolerance to sexual harassment in our local bars and clubs.

3. Fighting the cuts to women’s services (domestic and sexual violence services) and raising money through more productions of The Vagina Monologues.

4. Continue to make Manchester the home of the biggest (and best) Reclaim the Night march in the country and lobby the university for better support services for students who have experienced sexual violence.

5. Holding events to amplify women’s voices in arenas where we are underrepresented, with speaker events for careers and social nights with women performers (DJs, comedians, musicians, poets).

 

Ellis Quinn

 

1. RECLAIM OUR AREA—improve safety within the Fallowfield area.

2. MEN MATTER TOO—introduce events and campaigns that are entirely inclusive and give everyone a platform to speak out against gender inequality.

3. EMPOWERING THE NEXT GENERATION—develop gender equality workshops in schools and community groups to create a real social change.

4. SUPPORT OUR WOMEN—campaign and fundraise for vital local women’s charities which are being adversely affected by the cuts.

 

 

 

NB: Candidates are ordered in their respective sections by the randomised order on the University of Manchester Students’ Union website. Colours were chosen in keeping with the design of the page and candidates had no say in the choice. Candidates’ names and photos were those available on the Students’ Union website at the time. Other photos were not accepted. The Union asked all candidates for five main aims which are listed on the Students’ Union and used here. For those who did not submit this, the first five points from their manifesto were picked; and for those candidates without a manifesto, their campaign slogans were used instead.

Do you agree with the policies of the candidates? Comment below.

Live: Jaws

Written by Dan Whiteley on . Posted in Music.

6th March

Academy 3

6/10

One of the latest acts to emerge from the B-Town indie scene, Jaws is the brainchild of Birmingham native Connor Schofield, who assembled the band after he decided it was time to take his songwriting from his bedroom to the stage. Their latest tour, promoting their debut full-length Be Slowly, saw them headline some of the largest venues to date, including Manchester’s own Academy 3, and proved once and for all that their sunny indie pop deserved to make that transition.

After nonchalantly wandering on stage to the sound of Jay Z and Kanye West’s ‘Niggas In Paris’—which sent the alarming number of underage girls in the crowd ape-shit crazy, for the first of many times that evening—the band opened with ‘Donut’ from their Milkshake EP, though it was the second song of the set, the synth-heavy ‘Surround You’, that really got the show going. The band’s lush sound came alive and sounds more forceful in a live setting; though the show suffered from some dodgy mixing that made the more densely-layered tracks sound flat and claustrophic, they certainly hit more than the miss, with the slinky bass groove of ‘Time’, the euphoric ‘Swim’ and the The 1975-esque ‘Think Too Much, Feel Too Little’, all sounding even more energetic than their studio counterparts.

A couple of new songs also got an airing, the former an unusually grungy affair for the band and the latter, apparently named ‘Simplicity’, a more typically jangly number, both of which were received with polite applause though felt slightly unnecessary given their debut has barely been out six months. A stripped-down ‘Stay In’ made an appearance towards the end, prompting huge crowd participation on its quietly anthemic chorus, followed by the album’s title track—a perfect three-minute pop song in the vein of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’—which was the show’s clear high point. After highlighting the pointlessness of planned encores (“what’s the point in walking there,” Schofield remarked, gesturing to the side of the stage, “to come straight back here?”) they concluded with ‘Gold’, a favourite of the band and fans alike, ending the short and sweet forty-five minute set in raucous fashion.

Live: The Charlatans

Written by Dan Whiteley on . Posted in Music.

5th March

Albert Hall

8.5/10

With their mix of baggy grooves, jangly guitar pop and swirling psychedelia, The Charlatans always sounded—not to mention behaved—like the best band to never come out of Manchester. It’s fitting, therefore, that their latest tour should see them performing not one, but two sold out shows at the Albert Hall, an establishment that is fast becoming one of the city’s most exciting venues for live music. And, with disco ball intact, the setting proved to be a perfect match for the band’s trademark brand of danceable indie rock.

Opening with hypnotic, bass-heavy ‘Forever’, the four-piece powered through a lengthy, career-spanning set, whilst paying special attention to their latest offering Modern Nature, their most well-received record in over a decade, and one that has served as something of a comeback for the band. Frontman Tim Burgess, the 90s’ perennially spaced-out answer to Mick Jagger, spent the evening swanning around the stage under the strobe lights, shaking his bleach blonde Ramones-cut hair, all the while never missing a note and keeping the crowd on their feet. The drum seat, meanwhile, was occupied by ex-Verve member Peter Salisbury, who’s shuffling rhythms and tasteful flourishes gave old school hits such as ‘The Only One I Know’ and ‘Weirdo’ a renewed sense of urgency.

Though the pace lagged a little in the middle due to too many sprawling, mid-paced numbers being played back to back, the band’s ability to maintain a vibrant party atmosphere whilst keeping a tight-knit groove meant the two hours seemed to fly by—and by the time the sing-along tracks like the raucous ‘How High’ and the vaguely Doors-y ‘Come Home Baby’ came round towards the end, it felt like both the band and crowd could have gone on all night.

Album: Catz ‘N Dogz – Basic Colour Theory

Written by Bradley West on . Posted in Music.

Released 15th May

Pets Recordings

6/10

Basic Colour Theory has been described as ‘sonic exploration’, leaving me wondering what exactly it is that the Polish duo Catz ‘N Dogs are trying to achieve with this, their second studio offering.

Throughout their career to this point Catz ‘N Dogs have been notoriously hard to pin down to one definitive sound, a characteristic which this new release shares. Numerous different influences, including 70s and 80s disco, techno, and funk, can be heard throughout the album in obvious and subtle ways, something that can be explained by album’s title. In trying to imitate colour with their production, Catz ‘N Dogz have produced some tracks which only artistic terms like lush and rich can accurately describe. This is seen heavily in tracks such as ‘Coming Back’ and ‘Good Touch’, which evoke images of sunsets and tropical forests respectively. ‘Coming Back’ especially uses many different production tools to paint the desired image, including the use of manipulated vocals to create a melody, and the sound of crickets to make the listener imagine a relaxing, dusky location, in a similar manner to experimental artists like Flume and What So Not.

Despite this, there are still tracks that are recognizably similar to previous Catz ‘N Dogz releases. For example, ‘Nobody Cares’ includes the strong bass kick and low, driving synths that made tracks such as ‘Evil Tram’ so popular. Although they are undoubtedly going to be well-liked, the inclusion of these tracks, alongside the newer, more experimental sounds, causes the album to be quite stop-start, with no real flow to it.

Overall, the album does an excellent job of presenting abundant new themes, and intricacies in production, but feels less like a defined new sound, and more just a demonstration that Catz ‘N Dogz are able to produce variation. This makes the album difficult to understand as a single presentation, and unfortunately, sound like yet another compilation, rather the fluid production that they are definitely capable of producing.

Album: Will Butler – Policy

Written by Cassie Hyde on . Posted in Music.

Released 9th March

Merge Records

8/10

If Arcade Fire has a loose cannon member, it’s Will Butler. His many antics include setting fire to Regine Chassagne’s hair and splashing in a moat around the stage mid-‘Rebellion (Lies)’. He has also just released a solo album. It’s called Policy, and it’s pretty good.

In many ways, this feels like an album Will Butler was destined to make. It’s often as frantic and downright hilarious as his stage presence. Take ‘What I Want’—a thrashing guitar track chronicling desperate attempts to save a relationship. Its bizarre and violent lyrics involve cooking “pony macaroni” and getting pet alligators—how could you not find this entertaining?

At just over 28 minutes long, each track is totally different from the last. Policy moves from the synth stomp ‘Anna’, straight to ‘Finish What I Started’, a slow piano ballad. The range of the album is what makes it so enjoyable. You constantly get the impression Will Butler has had his ADHD medication replaced with Jelly Tots; his moving from the Pixies-style ‘Son of God’ and the wonky funk track ‘Something’s Coming’ makes you smile as you listen.

Policy also offers a taste of Butler’s more sophisticated side. ‘Sing to Me’ feels like it has directly come from his Oscar-nominated work on Spike Jonze’s Her. Here, he softly coos along with a stripped down piano sequence, backed up with a subtle orchestral accompaniment. The result is genuinely beautiful and moving, yet manages not to feel out of place with the rest of the album. A highlight!

If there is any major criticism of the album, I’m glad that Policy is only eight tracks long. With tingly pianos, sax solos and female backing vocals, you can only imagine how irritating elements of this album would be if it was 50 minutes long! It’s impressive how these parts manage not to come across as cliché, but considering how silly the rest of the album is, it’s no real surprise when they appear. Yet, you wonder if more interesting textures could have taken their place.

To sum up, Will Butler’s Policy was never going to be high art. Nobody expected some kind of grand statement. We got exactly what we expected—a big, dumb record. Yet, it is fantastic!

Interview: Lonely The Brave

Written by Hannah Brierley on . Posted in Music.

If you had looked at a list of all of Lonely the Brave’s achievements, you would be surprised to know that they have only been around for five years; jumping from tour to tour with people like The Marmozets and Deaf Havana, and now this year their own headline tour. It has also just been announced that they will perform for the third time in three years at Reading and Leeds Festival in 2015; however, this time they get the amazing and surreal chance to perform on the main stage.

“Yeah, God, it’s a bit mental,” Mo starts with. “I’m so nervous and so, so excited!” he elaborates further, with the fact Reading and Leeds is one of the biggest and most recognized festivals, and that it doesn’t really get much better than the fact that they are now recognized, and get the chance to perform on this kind of scale.

Mr Edgeley, being an avid music lover, begins to reminisce about his memories of Reading festival. He informs me that he’s been nine or ten times now and that “the only thing that will stop [him] going was death.” Likewise, the whole band all love the festival experience and have been to such a range of them, with other favourites such as Download, etc. However, he clarifies that reading will always “have a special place in their hearts.”

If you could create your own festival, who would you pick to play as your headliners? “Oh my god, that’s so hard, there’s a million bands I could choose from; the first comes to mind is Deaf Tones, then maybe Pianos Become the Teeth and then, maybe… I know this would be a little unrealistic, but I would probably pick Kenny Rogers.”

Another big success for Lonely the Brave this year already has been the fact that they have been chosen to be one of the lucky few on a new BBC Introducing compilation album—amongst massive names such as Ed Sheeran and Twin Atlantic, who will also be appearing on the album. “Oh my goodness, when you put it like that it sounds pretty crazy, especially when you’re being put on the same album as Ed Sheeran. I mean he’s massive at the moment.” Lonely the Brave first played on the BBC Introducing stage three years ago at their first set at Reading and Leeds in 2012.

If you couldn’t tell already, Lonely the Brave are doing something really right here. If you have ever watched them perform before or spoken to someone who has, you will know that the frontman David Jakes doesn’t stand at the forefront of the stage, as you would expect. He congregates between the drums and the guitars near the back, an unusual and unconventional way to perform. Mo goes on to describe how when they first started playing in pubs and small bars, there wasn’t really a lot of room to move around. “So it just kind of stuck like that we’re not the kind of band to jump around a lot on stage anyway. Also when we were ‘found’ they told us not to change at all… so we just didn’t,” he laughs off.

Their headline tour kicks off on the 4th of March for a massive sixteen-date run. Surely there must be some last minute preparation for this tour? Not Mo—he informs me that he’d got a few days off still before they leave and that he’s just finished watching a documentary on the worlds ugliest animals. We go into conversation about the viral picture of pig with the penis on its face, which circulated on Facebook a few weeks ago, to which he then laughs “I have a friend who looks like that pig.” (I’m sure he would be delighted to hear about you telling me that he reminds you of a pig, Gavin…)

Finally with the ever-frustrating question, ready to nearly divide the Internet into ‘White and Gold’ versus ‘Blue and Black’; where do you stand on the situation? Mo pauses and then answers that he saw white and gold, “but… I don’t really understand what’s happening.”

I wish I knew how to answer you Mo, but neither do I. Neither do I.

Live: Twin Peaks

Written by Will Ellis on . Posted in Music.

20th February

Night and Day

7/10

It’s not what you do, it’s who you do it with. Not to downplay the idea of touring the word playing the music that you love—but surely if you’re going to tour, it’s best to do it with your best mates? Twin Peaks have been writing music together since the sixth grade (that’s year six to you and me) and are stereotypical childhood friends. Starting in a garage in Chicago they have defied the critics to become an internationally touring band as widely renowned as the Chicago bands that influenced them growing up. As a result this band is a tight knit group of mates, and you can really tell whilst watching them live. They perform as a unit, constantly bouncing off one another whilst bashing away on their respective instruments. This creates an energy that the band use well to enhance the sound of their music and their relationship with the crowd.

Playing a packed out Night & Day on their first ever trip to Manchester, it’s clear that many have been taken by this energy. With three principal songwriters, Twin Peaks don’t confine themselves to one strict style, the only unifying feature of each song is the electric, fast paced core that forces you to dance along. The band jumps between one sound to another throughout the gig, never failing to produce an exciting moment. From the psychedelic pop to punk rock, the link being their trademark garage rock take on these genres. This is a band with youth on their side with an average age of 21. They treat the gig as though they’re playing at their friends party, informal and playful. They’re having a great time and they want you to have a great time too.

Overheard at the University of Manchester, 9/3/15

Written by Anon on . Posted in Lifestyle.

“You’re funnier than the funny bone.”
Overheard in the union

“My sister had this ex-boyfriend and he was the cuntiest of all the cunts.”
Overheard in Withington

“I know how to use my words to make someone hate themselves and I really want to do that to her.”
Overheard in Kro

“This comedown is so grim, I feel lower than my chances of getting a 2:1.”
Overheard in Fallowfield

“For some reason this weekend she’s making me go to a bridal and a baby fair.”
Overheard on Oxford Road

“Wish there had been a bomb on north campus, would have been a great improvement.”
Overheard on the bus

The Upcycling project re-opens

Written by Grainne Morrison on . Posted in News.

The Upcycling Project, a charity clothes shop run by student volunteers, officially re-opened on Wednesday the 4th of March. The project previously took place for the last month of semester one. All profits from the sales of clothes go towards Women for Women International, a charity which works to help marginalised women in eight countries affected by conflict including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda. Since 1993, they have helped over 420000 women through training programs. Last semester, The Upcycling Project raised £703.90 for Women for Women International through the sale of second-hand and upcycled clothes; this money will support the training of at least two women.

Speaking to The Mancunion, Conor McGurran, Campaigns and Citizenship officer, said: “Helping to set up The Upcycling Project last term was one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my role, so I’m delighted that a group of dedicated volunteers have reopened the shop! With the help of students, we can achieve even more this term, all whilst encouraging people to think about sustainability.”

Jasmine Opoku-Ware, one of the students behind The Upcycling Project, said “We will be running even more workshops throughout the semester that allows students to tap into their creative side and make use of items in their wardrobe that they may have otherwise written off. This semester, aspiring designers will be able to display and see their own pieces. Our main aim is to celebrate Manchester’s alternative fashion scene whilst raising money for an amazing charity.”

The shop will be open 12pm – 4pm Wednesday to Friday. Donations can be brought to the red bin in the foyer of the Students’ Union and students can sign up to volunteer through the Students’ Union website.

A global guide to sexual harassment

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Manchester’s recent Reclaim the Night march was declared the biggest ever in the UK. Around 2000 people stood up against sexual violence, victim blaming and women feeling unsafe on our streets. As a feminist, I find myself up against a variety of arguments as to why this kind of demonstration is pointless and unnecessary. One of the most repeated phrases is, “people in less developed countries have it so much worse. You’re a white, middle-class woman in a Western society. What do you have to complain about?”

Taking part in this event forced me to reflect on that question. I spent a semester of my year abroad living and studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the attitude towards women there is very different from what we’re used to here. It is a country where “no” means “yes,” and “I’m really not interested,” means “please, try harder to convince me.”

Take catcalling, for example. While there’s no doubt that catcalling in the UK can be intimidating, most of us are probably most accustomed to a quick wolf whistle or a gruff “smile, love!” In Argentina, a catcall can range anywhere from “hey, pretty lady,” to: “Ay, mama! If I grabbed you I’d give you another baby!” (an example from the posters everywhere by the protest group ‘Acción Respeto’). Threats of rape and violence are almost part and parcel of the culture of ‘piropos’, as catcalling is called in this part of the world. Strangely, despite this dark undercurrent of contempt for women, this phenomenon is so deeply ingrained that it is largely accepted as “just part of the culture.” I was even told by one local woman that if she wasn’t catcalled on her journey from one place to the next, she felt disappointed or as though she looked unattractive that day.

Does this then mean that we should be grateful to live in a country where this kind of publically misogynistic and threatening attitude is becoming less and less acceptable? Should we be thankful that we are more likely to hear “nice tits” than “we’re going to rape you” from a group of men as we walk past them? Probably. But this does not make this kind of behaviour any more excusable. Culture is a relevant concept, and for as long as I feel intimidated walking in a public area in my developed, Western country, I’ll continue to march for initiatives like Reclaim the Night, in solidarity with women all over the world who want to walk down the street without being congratulated for their achievements in growing normal body parts.

Don’t be selfish, take responsibility

Written by Thomas McEvilly on . Posted in Opinion.

The NHS is the largest and the oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world; it provides free healthcare on an unprecedented scale, and has become the fifth largest employer in the world. It is in my opinion the best asset this country has to offer, and I myself have experienced its benefits during a life saving operation.

This is why I fear if we continue to take for granted its services, its existence will inevitably succumb to bankruptcy. The reality is that a healthcare service designed for 1940’s Britain cannot cope with the demands of a modern society. The population is growing, and so is the average life expectancy, if the NHS is going to survive, it’s time for society to stop taking advantage of the healthcare system, and accept responsibility for their own health.

The recent Channel 4 documentary “NHS: 2 Billion A Week and Counting” has shone an important light on the tough decisions made by those in charge of resource allocation, as a result of a limited budget those who need treatment aren’t always getting it. Which then raises the question, why is it that after £108.9bn was spent on healthcare last year, those suffering from unavoidable and terminal illnesses are still not getting the treatment they deserve? For me the answer lies in the pressure placed on the budget to treat easily avoidable illness such as obesity and smoke-related diseases.

Last year more than £50 million a week was spent treating diseases caused by smoking, and since 1996 there has been a £360 million increase in costs to the NHS. This figure is unacceptable considering that we now know the harmful affects smoking has on our health. Moreover, I cannot comprehend how in a modern Britain, with all the education we have on how to live and eat healthily, that in the past 25 years the number of obese people in the UK has doubled. Now 26 per cent of all adults are obese, with a similar statistic seen amongst children, costing the tax payer £46 billion a year, nearly half of the NHS budget.

It shouldn’t be the NHS’s priority to treat illnesses people know are likely to occur as a result of their reckless lifestyle choices. It’s time people take account of their own health, and no longer rely on tax payers’ money. If people knew they had to pay for healthcare I’m sure they would think twice about eating the last donut in the box or buying another packet of cigarettes.

In the last 6 years there has been a 530% increase in gastric band surgery, costing the NHS £85 million a year, the same amount it would cost for 49,000 births on a labour ward. 1/3 of those who has gastric band surgery returned to being obese once the band was removed, which only goes to demonstrate this complete waste of resource allocation.

What’s concerning is that society has developed an attitude in which their lifestyle choices become someone else’s problem, and in doing so it has enabled people to live a reckless lifestyle without thinking of the consequences. These people are in a position to do something about their own health without medical intervention, a position many people lying in hospitals beds would envy.

Dementia is an unavoidable illness and responsible for 1 in 9 deaths; it’s a disease which has doubled in the last 10 years, and will inevitably double again with the ageing population. The funding for an ‘Admiral’ nurse to help at home with those suffering from dementia for one family would cost the NHS less than £500 a year, yet is not something available for all the 850,000 people suffering from the disease.

I understand and do believe that people should lead an autonomous life, but when it comes to impacting the operations of the NHS, this should be restricted. It’s time people stop being selfish and realise that although you pay your taxes, it does not entitle you to take advantage of a heath care system which could do so good for so many people who had no contribution to their own illnesses and are undoubtedly in a worse position then being obese.

When speaking to my grandparents, two people who lived without a national healthcare service up until they were 30, it’s clear how much we take for granted. Paying for a doctor was not an option for many families, and basic care came at a cost, leading to many people having to devise ineffective ‘home remedies’ to compensate.

My Nan had three children at home and the labor was performed by the other woman in the family–the presence of a doctor was only required for emergencies and even that came at a cost. Fortunately this is no longer the case and our NHS is an object of admiration and envy around the world; it’s what allows us to call ourselves a civilized nation.

But I fear in less than 100 years of its lifespan, a national health service will be something of the past and if this is so, the responsibility lies with those who have been selfish enough to unnecessarily drain precious NHS recourses.

A rich box of delights: A short guide to medieval literature

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Books.

Medieval literature might well only bring up vague memories of GCSE Canterbury Tales and confusing ‘u’s and ‘v’s. But beyond Chaucer, there’s a vast sea of tales and rhymes that can always spark some interest.

Usually defined as writings from around 1066 – 1450, the category includes epic romances, powerful love stories, and bawdy comic literature, to name a few. Try this brief starter dish of ye olde writing to see how you find it.

A bit of background: The Language

Literature of this time can be in any of the main three languages used: Latin, French, and Middle English. If the words seem unfamiliar, translation really helps; the medieval works can be enjoyed fully without the funny vowels.

A bit of background: The History

England in these years was often a nation of political strife. In addition, the 1348 Black Death wiped out a third of the population, and along with the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, England became deeply divided.

The writing can be equally heterogeneous, with no clear group of authors, but including mystics, monks, and court poets, for example. Literacy was still relatively restricted but an oral story-telling tradition was widespread and forms the large body of work from this time.

The knight and his quest

Romance was the medieval period’s tour-de-force. Standing out in this genre of knightly adventures are Chretien de Troye’s Lancelot and Yvain. The author doesn’t spare on the violent imagery: “They dealt such mighty blows that they pierced the shields about their necks.” But the knights are also mystics. Their battles are framed within a spiritual journey—much more than just swords and armour.

Sometime later, a northern English author wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a Middle English poem about a fearsome green man who gives one of Arthur’s knights the ultimate challenge. Gawain can take one strike at the Green Knight if it is repaid a year later. The Green Knight’s fantastic description is highly memorable:

“…there came in at the hall door one terrible to behold, of stature greater than any on earth […] men marvelled much at his colour, for he rode even as a knight, yet was green all over.”

Medieval Romance literature is filled with folkloric beings and strange, magical events—stories from within and about nature at its wildest.

Swooning romance

Medieval writing is also known for its ambitious romances (with a small ‘r’). Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde tells of the secret love between Trojan prince Troilus and widow Criseyde. But tragedy strikes when Criseyde is called away to live with her father in the Greek camp. It’s love at first sight, literally: “His [Troilus’] eye precede, and so depe it wente, / Til on Criseyde it smot, and ther it stente. // And sodeynly he wax therwith astoned.” Troilus’ eye caught sight of Criseyde and he was astonished, frozen. Troilus describes his sorrow at Criseyde’s potential loss in the most vivid, and melodramatic, terms: “My two eyes, with which I cannot even see / Are grown into wells through my sorrowful salt-tears.” Lost love is felt keenly in this romantic masterpiece.

Rude and ruder

The medieval sense of humour would, at times, rival that of a 12 year-old boy. But comic literature of this period is also very clever, with puns, sleights of hand, and surprising tricks added into the mix. In The Vox and the Wolf, a satirical beast fable, a wily fox stuck in a well outwits his old rival, a gullible wolf. Promised heavenly rewards for jumping in the well’s other bucket, “the wolf gon sinke, the vox arise; / tho [be]gon the wolf [to be] sore agrise [afraid]”. The fox is a common medieval satirical characterisation of the corrupt vicar/priest; satire was a powerful vehicle for criticising contemporary authority.

Dane Hew, meanwhile, is the story of a corpse that won’t stay dead. Initially murdered by an adulterous lover, everyone else thinks they killed him, and hurriedly abandon the body to its next murderer. Dane Hew’s silence is farcical:  ‘“Dane Hew stands straight by the wall, / And wil not answere, whatsoever I call.” The shuffling body recalls modern graveyard spoofs—the age old ‘falling into a grave’ joke, for instance.

William Baldwin’s Beware the Cat takes this stream of literature to its natural conclusion. In a world where cats can talk, one man determines to discover their secrets through a bizarre recipe including a cat’s liver and an “urchin’s kidneys” (thankfully those of a hedgehog, not a poverty-stricken child).

The cats have their own hilarious stories. One jumps out of a chest, causing this extreme scatological encounter:

“For the olde préest which was so tumbled among them that his face lay upon a boyes bare arse, which belike was fallen hedlong under him was so astonished: then when the boy (which for feare beshit him self) had al to rayed his face, he neither felt nor smelt it nor removed from him.”

(Yes, you just read “beshit him self”. Yes, the priest…)

Another cat, to defend his master’s honour, catches a cheating lover right where it hurts:

“While this Gentleman was dooing with my dame my Maister came in so sodainly, that he had no leisure to pluck up his hose […] I séeing this […] pawed him with my clawes upon his bare legs and buttocks […] séeing that scratching could not moove him: sudainly I lept up and caught him by the genitalls with my téeth, and bote so hard […] My Maister […] came to the cloth and lift it up and there he found this bare arst Gentle­man strangling me, who had his stones in my mouth.”

Well, I’ve just leave that one there.

Medieval literature might seem difficult at first, but in the plague-stricken villages and courts of old, a rich imaginative life emerged, from mothers to children, poets to patrons; people who were lively, funny, and questioning and just starting to write it all down for us to read today.