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Month: March 2015

Religion and faith: Two entirely different ideas

Written by Marina Iskander on . Posted in Opinion.

With the world constantly afire with news of terrorist groups carrying out brutal crimes, it seems as if they all have one common basis: Religion. At first face, it truly seems that any belief so strong and radical, be it of any God or allegedly holy book, must be a source of evil. However, by looking at different cultures and backgrounds, the issue seems to be a problem of how religion is addressed and not religion itself.

In a recent poll by the Students’ Union, University of Manchester students were asked if the world would be more peaceful without religion. With 49 votes for the “undecided” option, a very slim majority (141) believed that it wouldn’t be, as opposed to the 107 voters who did. However, had the question been asked to students of the same age group in a different part of the world, say the Middle East, for example, the outcome would not have been so close; there would be an almost unanimous agreement that religion is a source of good. It seems, therefore, that how one is raised to regard religion has a much bigger affect on their attitude towards it than whatever their religion actually is.

For the purpose of comparing how religion is seen in different cultures, societies can be divided into two categories—individualist and collectivist. The terms were first coined in the 1970s by researcher Geert Hofstede, who collected information about different cultures and divided them into different dimensions. On one hand, a collectivist culture is one where people are encouraged to do what is best for society as a whole; community needs are put before those of the individual, and the idea of family is central. On the other hand, in individualistic cultures, people are more independent and their actions do not represent their family as a whole. Unsurprisingly, it is the collectivist cultures that tend to be more religious. In places like central Asia, the Middle East and South America, religion is central to one’s identity, mainly because of the inherent need to have a unifying force between the closely-knit members of each community. Generation after generation, it becomes firmly established that everyone must fall neatly into a certain faith and not step out of its traditions or morals. Any change of the norm does not only shame the individual, but also their family and friends.

Take Egypt for example. While this may seem hard to believe here, in Egypt, a citizen’s religion is written on their national identification card. Religion, in such cultures, is more than a matter of faith, but it is instead part of one’s identity. In Egypt specifically, your ID will either read out Muslim or Christian—there is no middle ground. People may have their own beliefs, but that can never change the family they were born into. It also does not matter that the majority of Egyptians are Muslim, this culture of religiosity makes Egyptian Christians more religious and traditional than Christians in countries like the United States, for example. It is unsurprising, therefore, that something so essential and close to one’s persona is of great value to them. Attacking their religion is more than attacking their opinion, and is rather an attack and on their very core.

This often has devastating consequences. Setting aside any stereotypes attached to either of the above-mentioned religions, the most essentially peacefully religions can easily become radicalised when their followers feel personally victimised or attacked. Whether these feelings, or their reactions towards them, are justified is a whole other issue.

As an Egyptian Christian who has only recently moved here, my first visit to church proved one thing: there is a huge difference between whole-heartedly choosing to follow a religion and being raised into it. In Egypt, being a Christian means that your parents are both Christians who baptised you when you were young and have taken you to church every Sunday since. Being a Christian here, however, more often than not, means that you took the educated choice of following a certain faith with all it may entail. The former, which is often found in collectivist cultures, fits its purpose perfectly—you are raised to traditionally follow your religion, without stepping out of line or embarrassing your family. The latter option, however, entails that you actually chose whom to be, and will thus follow your faith as a matter of personal autonomy and not because you feel you are forced to.

At the end of the day, all that is left is a group of people who, to their core, are taught to follow the rules of their community. Their religion has determined their way of life for as long as they have existed, and thus it means more to them than any westerner can fathom. While this in no way vindicates the inhumane acts of any terrorist claiming to fight for their religion, it at least serves to explain that it is more than a belief that has made them so violent—it’s their identity.

Review: Soup Kitchen

Written by Elena Gibbs on . Posted in News.

At around £6.50 per dish, Soup Kitchen is little pricey for something that takes its name from a concept based on providing free nourishing food, but this is made up for by the generous portions and vibrant, quality ingredients pleasantly un-reminiscent of a school canteen. Begrudging dinner ladies are replaced by bubbly staff, stinginess exchanged for extra helpings.

Soup Kitchen have a relatively fixed menu with daily changing soups. This works well for variety as each time you can expect to find something new and enticing on the menu, with reassuring knowledge that the fail-safe jerk chicken, Caribbean dumplings with jack fruit and sweet yam curry will be present and steaming away in their industrial sized steel buckets.

Everything is served with the option of jumbo purple coleslaw, chickpea salad, fresh herby tomatoes and help-yourself bread rolls. Water is available in thick swing-top glass bottles on the bar which is perfect if you’re the type to drink at least 3 pints with every meal and feel embarrassed to continually nag the waiter (I hate being served a half pint – of anything).

The serving counter also doubles up as a bar which comes fully stocked with the usual NQ-style craft beers, quirky bottled brews and range of tasty liqueurs. It’s worth mentioning that SK has a downstairs club so it’s theoretically somewhere you could spend the whole night. Long trestle tables make this a good spot for large parties for evening drinks, though the music is a little loud even in the day so be prepared to raise your voice for a decent conversation. Or just resign to enjoy your food in silence and save your talking topics for later.

That being said, the restaurant is cosy and friendly and perfect for a lunch that’s guaranteed to be delicious. Being able to walk through the door and be comfortably sat down with a ceramic bowl of hot food in the space of five minutes is a blessing that the Northern Quarter would struggle without. There’s no waiting for a table, no risk that it might not be right, and no gamble on how long it will take for the food to arrive.

The atmosphere is warm, wholesome and the embodiment of what its name derives from with extra funding, which I suppose is exactly what it is – apart from its customers are not homeless, though they may dress like they are (guilty).

Recipe: Dark ‘n’ Stormy

Written by Tom Bruce on . Posted in News.

Ingredients:
Ice
50ml (aka 2 shots) Dark Spiced Rum
Ginger Beer
Lime
Fresh ginger

Fill glass with ice. Add rum top up with ginger beer (because of the spicy kick) but NEVER ginger ale. Lightly squeeze and drop a quarter lime into glass. Garnish rim of glass with lime wedge. Oh and a slice of fresh ginger. Adds to the aroma, though in no way helps you to get drunk.

Review: Dominic Berry

Written by Lauren Gorton on . Posted in Theatre.

“I will never wash my tongue again.”

Perhaps one of the most side-splitting, if not disturbing lines from the award-winning poet Dominic Berry’s performance for Manchester Central Library in honour of LGBT History Month this February.

Dominic Berry has over the past few years grown a repertoire of recognition for his work, both for adult audiences and his poetry and workshops for children, for the former winning Manchester Literature Festival’s Superheroes of Slam and New York’s Nuyorican Poetry Café Slam. Although neither perhaps were quite as notable as his nude performance for the Channel 4 documentary ‘My Daughter the Teenage Nudist’.

Besides the important poetical issue of rimjobs, the hour-long performance to the intimate crowd of nearly 100 people also included pieces of poetry based upon video games, vegan queens, but perhaps most touching of all, Dominic’s own personal past.

None of Berry’s poems were more captivating than the few but emotive pieces focusing upon his more personal background, including a three-poem piece in dedication to his mother, who faced the trial of being a single parent in the Thatcher era where such women were persecuted by society as the modern-day witches. And a piece regarding his past struggles with agoraphobia, putting the spotlight on an issue of mental health both crippling and frequently misunderstood.

Considering the show began with the bubbling poet performing a video game-inspired rap, these few personal poems turned the show in an entirely unexpected but touching direction, providing an insight into the hidden complexities and troubles even the seemingly happiest of people carry.

Never before at any performance have I seen someone engage so closely and openly with the audience. Despite the variety of the humour and seriousness of the different topical performances, the energy and enthusiasm behind each and every piece was near overwhelming.

Dominic Berry has been booked to perform his video game-based pieces for a show titled ‘Up Your Game: The Downfall of A Noob’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has numerous published works of poetry.

Interview: Bicep

Written by Patrick Hinton on . Posted in Music.

Bicep: from bloggers to the big time. Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar started out posting their eclectic music taste on feelmybicep.com in 2008, and have grown in stature exponentially since with a string of impressive releases and DJ bookings across the world.

The musical culture of Manchester has influenced many a person towards dance music over the years. Andy studied at our fine university, but was also attending raves in Belfast from the age of 15. I ask if Manchester was formative to his interest in dance music, or if he arrived in the city with this well-established: “Yeah I went to Manchester Uni to study Chemical Engineering and used to pick up this paper all the time around campus, mainly to check what was going on that week. When I went to uni there was a vibrant – albeit very small – underground house music scene.”

“When I moved to Manchester all I knew was Shine in Belfast which was a techno Mecca, and moving to Manc at the time seemed like a much smaller scene. I used to hit up Sankeys Soap all the time in my first years, and that was a pretty special place and probably up there with my favourite clubs. When it changed to Sankeys it lost a bit of the grimey factor that I loved in the first place, it’s still ace but not a patch on what it was.”

“The city was definitely in a transition period for a few years when I arrived – WHP starting, Sankeys Soap coming to an end, and lots of small clubs also closing their doors (most notably Bierkeller in Piccadilly gardens where Tramp! had their Wednesday party). I would go out to the likes of Ricardo Villalobos at Sankeys Soap and there was max 300 people on occasions, whereas now there would be 10 times that at least.”

“WHP has definitely changed the game in Manchester and got a bigger crowd into the underground music scene which I think is only a good thing.”

Bicep are set to play Warehouse Project’s festival Parklife this June. “We have played Parklife since the first festival, Mad Ferret, and every year since so have grown with it. We have loved every year, Manchester Festival crowd is one of the best you can play. Down early, going hard all day till late and really in tune with the music, what more can you ask for?”

Looking further afield, the duo have DJ’d to crowds across the globe. “We love touring Europe, so many great countries and cities within a couple of hours from London. Sub Club, Panorama Bar, Robert Johnson and Concrete in Paris are some of our absolute favourite places.”

“It’s really nice to get the chance to visit Australia with our job, really love it down there. Also last summer doing Coachella and getting to spend a week in the desert in Joshua Tree was pretty special.”

Following his graduation, Andy spent time living in New York. “The idea of New York in the past (70s/80s) probably influenced me more than actually being there. As a child and growing up watching so many films I love (The Warriors, Escape from New York, Taxi Driver etc) set there, I found NYC nothing really like that.”

“There is no real sleaze factor there anymore, like when it was actually a dangerous place to live. Those John Carpenter-esque sounds and ideas still heavily influence the music we like and like to make though.”

2012 was a big year for Bicep, with the release of ‘Vision Of Love’ garnering a lot of attention. This however led to many slapping the duo with the tag of “90s house revivalists”, a term I felt lacked scope to the range of their production and sets. I question how they responded to this categorisation and if they now think they’ve transcended it: “Yeah I mean over the last couple of years there has been a take on a sound that was was big in the 90s (M1 organ and pianos combined with a TR909) and that has become really popular, like MK even getting a number 1 hit from a style he championed back in the 90s actually. It’s quite natural for journalists to label things; essentially it’s just a lazy way of trying to define a sound.

“I would say looking at the wider sound of 90s house music, from super deep to jazzy to rave to nu groove type madness, we can look at some tracks from each part of the spectrum and see how some have influenced our work. In our heads it’s not really a revivalist thing it more a case of using analogue gear they did back then but making it work for a modern audience.”

Andy and Matt work together on all their tracks, but have also produced a number of collaborations with artists such as Midland and Ejeca which causes them to change their approach. “We generally let the other person lead the process, because generally they will take you in a complete opposite direction from the start.

“We like to start out of the comfort zone, then its more exciting and challenging, from there we all work together to add our own stamp and make sure everyone is happy with the end product.”

Continuing on plans for future collaborations, Andy shares: “We’re planning to do something with the Simian Mobile Disco guys, but because our schedules are so busy its becoming harder to get a proper session together. It will happen, just when the stars align.

“Recently we have done a few more tracks with Hammer, one with a Manchester based artist Lapelle and another with a few guys from Toronto called Ebony which we will put up on our SoundCloud very soon.”

Starting Feel My Bicep at a time when there wasn’t exactly a lack of dance music blogs, the site managed to stand out from the crowd with an eclectic mix of genres and rare gems ripped from their own extensive vinyl collections. Thousands now look to the blog to find tracks; have there been any secret weapons the pair have regretted sharing with the world? “Haha no not really, we prefer to keep sharing because then you keep digging for more.”

Feel My Bicep parties have also gained world renown for the curation of stonking line ups and, of course, Bicep’s own DJing skills. Many of the world’s finest DJs have played, but one guest who hasn’t that they’d love to book is “Aphex Twin”. Branching out from DJing, Andy reveals plans are in motion for a Bicep live set: “Hopefully sooner rather than later, both of us are really excited about starting this venture.”

Finally, a duo operating under the name of Bicep – the question on everybody’s lips is surely: who can bench more? “Never had a competition, but Matt benched a girl in the Green Room of Corsica Studios, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Bicep will be playing on the Bugged Out stage at Parklife Festival on Sunday 7th June. For more information and tickets please visit here.

How to spend your summer

Written by Kitty Treverton Jones on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Internships
Yes, summer is a great way to enhance your future career prospects. Whether it’s two weeks or two months, there are thousands of companies that offer summer internships for students. Who knows, if they like you it could even lead to a post-uni job offer. Don’t know where to start? Head to the Careers Service in University Place, they can help you with the search as well as checking your CV and applications. Internships can be unpaid, however, so you may choose to work somewhere you can earn money once your loan stops coming in.

Festivals
A great alternative to a holiday if you have a job and can’t take more than a couple of days off work, festivals are places where it’s always summer even if it’s raining and personal hygiene is no longer a thing. If you feel like doing something different to Glastonbury/Bestival etc, try a smaller one—sometimes they’re better than the sprawling city-like festivals as well as being cheaper. Alternatively, there are so many festivals abroad that have great line-ups and better weather, such as Hideout (Croatia), Sonar (Barcelona) and Melt (Germany).

Travelling
Whether it’s a short city break, a hot-flop in the sun or full-blown backpacking, travelling is without a doubt the best way to spend your time when you’re a student. However, being a student unfortunately means you have zero money. Get your old sixth form job as a waitress/bartender/babysitter back, earn some money and book a flight. South East Asia is very popular among students as it’s a cheap place to travel in. Interrailing is also a great idea, you can get cheap flights to Europe then make your way around the continent on trains.

Volunteering
University life can be quite a selfish existence; you live by yourself for yourself with little responsibility, so sometimes it’s important to give something back to the world. Volunteering can also be a great way to combine travelling and a boost for your CV; there are so many projects you can undertake abroad in communities or for charity. Alternatively, look up volunteering projects you can do in your local community. You’ll be surprised how fulfilling it is giving something back!

Alternative to all of the above: bum around at home making the most of home-cooked meals and having your washing done for you. You worked hard this year, relax. Invest in a Netflix subscription and watch all six seasons of Breaking Bad. Again.

Don’t mess with Texas

Written by Kitty Treverton Jones on . Posted in Lifestyle.

I hadn’t heard much about Austin before visiting the USA. When I thought of Texas I thought of it as one of the biggest states in the country, with cowboys roaming around the hot, endless landscape. While I wasn’t completely wrong (I definitely saw a vast array of cowboy hats and boots), visiting Austin whilst on a trip in the States completely changed my perception of the place and Austin became one of my favourite cities in America.

I travelled there in the middle of summer, and the heat was almost overwhelming. Walking around in the daytime, the city felt deserted; there were barely any people or cars on the roads, even in the centre of the city. However at night it completely came to life. Austin is hailed as the ‘Live Music Capital of the World’, and you can see why.

Simply walking down the street in the evening you hear live music from every bar you pass; they close off 6th Street (the nightlife street) to cars every Friday and Saturday night. In Texas it is legal for women to be topless in any location men are allowed to be, so it isn’t unusual to see half-naked women strolling down the buzzing street in the evenings.

There is a real sense of pride in Texas, more so than in other states I visited. I was told by a woman in a petrol (sorry, “gas”) station that “Texas could be independent at any time we want, you know!” It is known as the ‘Lone Star State’ referring the time it was an independent country in the 19th century. There is still a strong call for independence; there is a petition with 80000 signatures calling for the secession of Texas on the White House website.

Austin itself is also very patriotic. Its motto is ‘Keep Austin Weird’, which refers to the commitment to keeping small businesses flourishing. I spent a very leisurely day ‘Tubing’ (floating down the river on rubber rings drinking beer) and the only Texan our group would not let us make a mess; every time someone dropped a can in the river he shouted: “Don’t mess with Texas!” and swam to pick it up. I loved being part of the whole Texan experience and cannot wait to visit Austin again in the future.

Formula One: Season Preview

Written by Andrew Georgeson on . Posted in Uncategorised.

The new 2015 Formula 1 season will ignite on the 15th of March, with intense rivalries set to resume, witnessing new teams and ground-breaking drivers entering the high-fuelled drama. With pre-season testing finished, Melbourne prepares itself to host the inaugural race of what is expected to be another dramatic season, one which seems set to surpass the exceptional Mercedes dominance of 2014.

With Lewis Hamilton ostentatiously oozing confidence on the back of his impressive World Championship victory, inevitable clashes with teammate and noteworthy rival Nico Rosberg will undoubtedly reach boiling point again. Fractious team relations have already appeared with former two time World Champion Fernando Alonso remonstrating with McLaren hoping they would be ‘more competitive,’ fuelling speculation that he doesn’t want to race the less than impressive car, after a pre-season crash.

F1 history shall be created instantaneously with the chequered flag, with 17-year old Dutchman Max Verstappen set to become the youngest ever Formula 1 driver for Toro Rosso.

Mercedes’ trophy cabinet looks set to remain empathically coveted by the trailing teams, with the driver’s title seemingly heading to reigning champion Lewis Hamilton or his German counterpart Nico Rosberg. With an impressive 16 of 19 races won last year by the pacey and efficient Mercedes, coincide with their impressive early pre-season testing, it is quite inconceivable to visualise either Constructors or Drivers titles going elsewhere.

Commentator James Allen and broadcaster Tom Clarkson venting their clear expressions that ‘nobody’ or ‘no one’ can catch Mercedes sets the stage for a tantalising, nail-biting, two-horse race between two exceedingly competitive drivers. A reversal back to the olden days of a drivers, talent, bravery and skill comprehensively affecting his destiny, rather than see the spoils of victory traced back to emotionless exsanguinous cars which undoubtedly dictate and create a fortuitous victory for a driver.

Two competitive drivers, racing in two incomprehensibly identical formidable cars, with old scores to settle, this year will ultimately see the driver’s title decided on human determination and talent, not bloodless mechanical creations.

Numerous changes of drivers have caused a stir for the new season, with four time champion Sebastian Vettel aiming to resurrect the Ferrari team who have seen titles and victories slip away in recent years. However the inclusion of Vettel at the prancing horse triggers the ejection of Fernando Alonso to McLaren, which seems to not have initiated a productive working relationship.

Toro Rosso create the other notable driver change, with the recruitment of Max Verstappen who will become the youngest ever driver in Formula One’s history; his talent is unquestionable, but will he be able to cope with the demanding pressures and strains of a relentless campaign?

The story to have dominated Formula One before the season’s curtain opener in Australia, has been Fernando Alonso’s crash. Refusing to slide away with him missing the opening race under medical advice, however constant waves of varying credible theories have attempted to fill the void left unanswered by the crash and its aftermath.

With teammate Jenson Button stating that the crash was ‘a bit strange,’ adding further speculation to why a driver of Alonso’s quality who was conscious and braking could not avoid the car from hitting the wall. Has an un-detected medical condition caused the driver to spin off rendering him un-fit for the first race? Or rather cynically has Alonso just lost the passion for Formula One, after his move from the titans of Ferrari to recent underachievers McLaren, rendering himself ineligible to race for a team he doesn’t fit. Whatever has happened, former F1 driver David Coulthard categorised it all as not adding up–what is for sure is this incident won’t disappear quickly.

As Mercedes look set to dominate again with both their drivers fighting for the championship, the majority of the teams will be left competing for the remaining podium positions with Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari left to compete with themselves in a mini-league for the remaining top positions. If Williams maintain their ferocious style and start the year brightly then they will become a force to be reckoned with, with potential future star Valtteri Botas picking up points in all but two races last year driving alongside veteran Massa, Williams could present Mercedes with the greatest threat to their title.

With Ferrari’s acquisition of four-time champion Vettal partnering Kimi Raikkonen, who both appear first and fourth respectively on the most wins among active drivers’ table, they could taste success this year, especially if Ferrari maintain stability, as the consequent season witnessed three team bosses come and go, while sacking a plethora of senior technicians.

The recent dominate force of Red Bull, who are celebrating their 10th year in Formula One, have crumbled slightly in recent years; however, with their impressive set up of promoting and rewarding talented drivers from their sister team Toro Rosso, they will maintain their challenge with the other major teams.

Further down the field, both Lotus and McLaren will hope and expect to improve on their pitiful displays of 2014, especially with Lotus using a Mercedes engine generating inevitable greater power; however, McLaren’s use of a new Honda engine will have to showcase and prove its talent, if it has any. Finally, this leaves Force India, Toro Rosso and Sauber to fight amongst themselves to not become the last placed team on the grid.

2015 promises to be a enticing spectacle of old fashioned driver’s talent and determination dictating the outcome of the championship, as competitive renowned teams aim to claw the dominant Mercedes back into their reaches, while new record breaking drivers shall be pitted against illustrious aggressive drivers to determine their worth. Expect a whole heap of action from 2015.

Ali G Nightmares

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Lifestyle.

If you’ve spent more than an hour in the Learning Commons, you will have become familiar with the unique set of politics that governs deadline season. On the odd occasion, some imbeciles choose to violate these rules. What follows is an examination (rant) of some of the most annoying (infuriating) problems (people) you encounter in the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons, also (always) known as Ali G.

Firstly, who are the people that insist on getting the lift to the first floor? If you are an able-bodied human it is your moral duty to not clog the lifts up for those of us who scale the 6 flights of stairs to the top floor. And don’t get us started on those of you that need help going down stairs, gravity does the work for you. Exercise for the body is exercise for the mind and realistically you’re going to do nothing else today, so sort it out. Lazy fuckers. Equally (if not more) irritating are those who think it’s acceptable to use their laptop at a computer desk, whilst barely even logging on to the computer. People hate you.

After working for 11 hours solid, we all go a bit mad and begin to invent ways of entertaining ourselves. You develop unexplainable crushes on random people or inanimate objects, inventing identities and relationships with them. When the inevitable accidental eye contact occurs it is important to remember that they don’t know what you’re thinking, and nobody knows how special you really are. Especially when you bump into them at Sankeys (we’re looking at you, Milky Beige Sloth Boy).

Territory is very important in Ali G. Why do people think it’s OK to come and sit on our sofa that we’re not using and never have? It’s clearly part of our lounge, get off our property. You have to be ruthless when it comes to study rooms—if we’ve booked it, it’s ours. We don’t care how important your work is, you should have thought of that earlier. We don’t have a problem making a scene and we’re not going away, so just pack up and leave.

Lunchtime is that period of sweet, sweet relief where you get to think about nothing and eat everything. Or is it? Not if you accidentally find yourself sat next to an overzealous member of the public that speaks 67 languages and wants to teach you Icelandic. Or tell you the story of how he helped to bring down Hitler. We all like people, but there’s a time and a place (not here, not now). Top tip—take a pair of headphones or look like you’re about to cry. You’ll be left alone.

Apologies if we sound bitter and lonely, it’s because we are.

Trend report: SS15

Written by Sarah Kilcourse on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

The 70s
Perhaps the biggest and newest trend for the current season, it involves an influx of flares, platforms and boho dresses. The ‘70s is perfect for summer with light flowy fabrics, halter necks and sheers—this is a trend you can easily dip your toe into if you’re a bit unsure. On the high street, Topshop and Zara have a great offering of smock tops, button up skirts and platform heels that are sure to bring out your inner hippie..

Dress, £35.99, Zara

 

The Midi Skirt
It’s been lingering around for a couple of seasons now and it’s time to embrace the more elegant midi skirt. Fitted tube midi skirts are perfect with a pair of heels or wedges; they flatter everyone and give you that Jessica Rabbit wiggle. Admittedly, in the heat you may prefer something looser and more floaty. With this style heels are your best friend as they will lengthen the legs. Perfect with a crop top or a tucked-in vest.

Salt and pepper mid skirt, £40, Topshop

 

The Bucket Bag
Every season there is a defining accessory and for SS15 it is the bucket bag. They look fabulous worn across the body or in the crook of your arm, either way they are an easy way to update your look with one simple piece. And you can never have enough bags!

 

Bag, H&M, £19.99

White
Over the past couple of seasons white has been getting some major press in the fashion world and the theme is set to continue. No, it is not the easiest colour to wear for obvious practicality reasons but it does look fantastic on everyone. An easy way in is white jeans or white shorts, or for the more adventurous, head-to-toe white is essential especially when paired with a beautiful summer glow.

White shirt, £14.99, New Look

Naa storms to landmark Gen Sec win

Written by Charlie Spargo on . Posted in News.

In an elections campaign which saw the highest turnout of voters in any Union election since records began, Naa Acquah has been elected General Secretary, becoming the first female BME General Secretary of Manchester Students’ Union.

Announcements of the results of the Students’ Union elections took place on Thursday evening, and saw the re-election of three officers.

2014/15 General Secretary Charlie Cook introduced proceedings, thanking the Union staff, the candidates and the voters, who made it the largest ever.

The announcements were somewhat delayed after the 2-hour postponed closing time, which was announced after technical faults in the voting system.

Naa Acquah will take up the position of General Secretary after a race that took the highest absolute number of votes for the position since it was created in 1974, or before, when it was President.

She cried as she announced to the crowd, “any promise I have ever made, I will fulfil them!”

Speaking to The Mancunion, Naa added: “To my knowledge, I’m the first ever black female Gen Sec at this university, and I want things to really shake up. Every single thing everyone voted for, I’m going to make sure it happens!

Joel Smith will return as Activities and Development Officer next year, and Jess Lishak will resume her role as Women’s Officer.

Joel told The Mancunion, “I think it’s an absolutely fantastic turnout. I’m really excited by the new Exec team. I do have some big names [lined up] for future Pangaeas, but I do not care to disclose at this stage the headliners.”

Jess said she was excited by “the first ever black woman Gen Sec of Manchester Students’ Union, I think the whole team is really exciting, and I can’t wait to see what we do. Six out of eight [on the team are female] again, we’re continuing a strong trend, so I’m very happy.”

Harriet Pugh, formerly Education Officer, was elected Community Officer. She said: “I’m really excited, really proud and happy I’ve been elected again. I’m really surprised at some of the team, and that’s going to take a while to sink in but I think we’ll work it out. It’ll be nice, I’m really excited to work with a new team.”

At 9704, the turnout for voting for the Activities and Development Officer was the highest number of votes ever cast for any position, at any Union, ever.

The first winner to be announced on the night was Natasha Maria Brooks, who takes up the position of Diversity Officer after seven rounds of vote-counting. She, however, had nothing to say about her victory.

Hannah McCarthy was elected Campaigns and Citizenship Officer. Speaking afterwards, Hannah said: “It’s just incredible, I’m so so grateful, and I feel genuinely privileged to have been a part of the biggest Students’ Union election in the history of UK universities.”

Lucy Hallam will be Wellbeing Officer, and Michael Spence will be Education Officer. Spence added, “[I feel] absolutely amazing, I just can’t believe that happened. I put in so much work over the last few weeks for this campaign and for it to pay off like this… I feel like I’m living a dream.”

Harry Leslie Smith inspires students to vote for their future

Written by Jennifer Sterne on . Posted in News.

Harry Leslie Smith, a survivor of the Great Depression, a second world war RAF veteran and an activist spoke last Thursday at the Manchester’s Students’ Union on the importance of registering to vote. Harry has written a number of books and often speaks publicly about income inequality, public services, and what he sees as the diminishing prospects for young people.

Harry’s most notable and unforgettable speech was made at the 2014 Labour Party Conference, where he warned the audience of the dangers of losing the NHS. Harry brought the Labour delegates to their feet and reduced some of them to tears with the plea: “Mr Cameron, keep your mitts off my NHS.”

On Thursday, Harry’s speech was as equally impassioned as he addressed students on the importance of registering to vote and then using that vote to secure a better future. The event was organised by No Vote No Voice, who also had a voter registration bus on campus signing students up on the day.

No Vote No Voice is the Daily Mirror’s campaign to encourage everyone in Britain to take advantage of their right to vote. They joined forces with Bite The Ballot, Unite Union, Mass1, Hope not Hate, NUS and NUT to launch the campaign. It is non-partisan and aims to register a million new voters by the general election.

According to a report by the Electoral Commission at least six million people were not registered to vote in the last general election.

With young people the situation is worse, with less than half being registered, and then less than half of those registered actually turning out–so that means only around 25 per cent of 18-24-year olds voted in the last election.

This situation is likely to be impacted even more due to the Government’s new Individual Electoral Registration scheme–now each individual person has to register, rather than one from each household.

Before October 2014, first year students tended to be registered by their college or university who acted as their “head of the household”; this ensured almost 100 per cent registration. Due to the swift change in legislation this is no longer the case, and student registration has fallen considerably.

Harry’s speech aimed to address this worrying issue and encouraged those in the audience to spread the message of importance of voting.

Harry opened his speech saying: “The defining moments in our country’s history have been decided by elections”, and he declared that “if power is held by the few the many will suffer a lifetime of misery”.

He continued: “If you don’t register to vote, your society will die along with your hopes and dreams for a decent life for yourselves and your offspring. You won’t have more than a bread and drippings life if you don’t register to vote. I know this because I am not a historian, but I am an eye witness to history as I turned 92 last month.”

Harry went on to parallel his generation with our own saying his were also “cynical about politicians and distrusted elections and they only seemed to maintain misery and ensured that we were denied healthcare, affordable housing, a proper education and a chance to make decent lives for ourselves.”

However he said his “generation realised a simple fact of life that if you sit on the sidelines of life others will decide for you whether you win or lose.

“This election may go down as the most important election of your generation, like 1945 was for mine. So it would be a great misfortune for your future and Britain’s future to not participate in something that will make a difference for good or evil to your life. Regardless of your political beliefs you must register to vote, then you must go on Election Day and vote with your head, your heart, for a new tomorrow.

Some have called my generation the greatest, but I think your generation will be the greatest, because you will finish the job my generation started. If you don’t vote your future will be handed to the 1 per cent to do with as they like. Austerity is not just about fixing the country’s finances, it is about turning us into a Downton Abbey where the 99 per cent serve the elite”.

After the speech Harry answered a few questions from students. The first asked him whether he believed in tactical voting. His response was a resounding no, reiterating that you must vote for the party you believe in yourself.

Another final year student nurse asked if Harry had any ideas how to encourage and inspire people to vote, if they are disillusioned about the political parties. Harry responded simply by stating he would suggest you tell them to read his latest book ‘Harry’s Last Stand’.

When questioned on Russell Brand and whether he was a help or a hindrance, Harry responded saying it was downright irresponsible to advocate not to vote. However he suggested there may be a planned debate between him and Russell Brand in the future.

Finally he was asked what he thought of David Cameron, to which he said “He’s a personable looking guy… enough said, soon is mended.”

The deadline to register to vote in the general election is 20th April. You can register online here: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Political Party Profiles

Written by Jennifer Sterne on . Posted in News.

The Mancunion spoke to youth branches from the Students’ Union of the five main political parties running in this year’s general election.

The General Election is to be held on Thursday the 7th of May. The youth branches were questioned on the actions they are taking in the run up to the general election and why they think student participation is important. We also questioned them on the policy and pledges of their parties and how this promises will benefit students.

There is still time to register to vote here and all next week the Students’ Union are running a week of voter registration events ranging from free tea and coffee to a 50ft Helter Skelter.

This year’s General Election is set to be one of the closest and many important issues are being debated. Make sure you don’t lose your in the future of Britain.

Green Party:

Photo: Green Party

What are you doing as a youth branch of your political party in the run up to the general election? And why do you think it’s important that students get involved in politics?

Three of our parliamentary candidates in the Manchester constituencies are young adults, as are many of our councillor candidates. We know that people like our policies when they hear them, and we will be emphasising the fact that in many parts of Manchester, particularly in areas where students live, the Green Party is now the second-placed political opposition so that Green votes really could get Green politicians elected. So many of us will be standing for election, and those who aren’t will be campaigning for them.

It’s important for students to get involved in politics as throughout history it has been shown that students are often at the forefront of creating change. It is important that students make sure that politics is something that we do, rather than something that is done to us.

What is your political party’s stance in regards to tuition fees and higher education in general?

Green Party policy is that we shouldn’t have tuition fees and that higher education should be paid for by progressive general taxation because we believe that education is a public good. We would like to see all existing tuition fee debt brought on by previous governments removed from graduates and current students.

If your party wins the General Election how will they tackle the issue of youth unemployment? And what would they do about exploitative unpaid internships?

We would end austerity and restore the public sector, creating over one million jobs that pay at least the living wage. We believe that interns and trainees should be entitled to the national minimum wage and no-one should be forced to take an unpaid internship or required to pay in order to work.

What is your party’s position on lowering the voting age to 16 for UK elections?

The party fully supports votes at 16.

To sum up, why do you think your political party is best suited to run the country for the next five years?

The Green Party don’t just care about the environment (as important as that is), we have a wide range of policies that many people agree people with. As well as those listed in this interview, we would also fight for: A publicly funded, publicly provided health service free at the point of use, secure and affordable housing for everyone and to return the railways to public hands to stop profits being put before passengers. If readers are unsure of voting for us in the General Election, we would urge them to at least vote for us in the local election so that we can have a Green voice on Manchester council.

 

Labour Party:

Photo: Labour Party

What are you doing as a youth branch of your political party in the run up to the General Election? And why do you think it’s important that students get involved in politics?

Lots and lots of door knocking! We go campaigning in Withington every Wednesday (we meet outside the Friendship Inn at 2pm) as it’s our local key seat and we want to do as much as possible to get John Leech out and Jeff Smith in. On the weekends, we usually attend a national campaign weekend—where Labour Students from all over the country come together to campaign in a key seat. 197 seats could be completely swayed by students at the next General Election. This means that we have the power in our hands to completely change the future of the country, so we need to get out there and vote for the party that offers the best alternative for young people—i.e. the Labour Party.

What is your political party’s stance in regards to tuition fees and higher education in general?

The Labour Party will reduce tuition fees to £6000 a year and increase maintenance grants by £400 per year, however we will be looking at moving towards a graduate tax in the future. Students who are currently in first year will also have their tuition fees capped at £6000 for the rest of their time at university. We will increase the teaching grant that universities receive by £2.7 billion to ensure that a reduction in the fees universities receive from English students will not affect the quality of teaching they give students.

If your party wins the General Election how will they tackle the issue of youth unemployment? And what would they do about exploitative unpaid internships?

We will guarantee a paid job for every 16 – 24 year old that has been unemployed for over a year. We will stop exploitative unpaid internships by making it a legal requirement for firms to pay full-time interns the national minimum wage after four weeks.

What is your party’s position on lowering the voting age to 16 for UK elections?

The Labour Party have pledged to lower the voting age to 16 when in government. They will also improve citizenship education in schools to ensure that young people are informed about the political system from a young age in order to improve engagement.

To sum up, why do you think your political party is best suited to run the country for the next five years?

We are the party who will look after the interests of the many, not just the privileged few. A Labour government will do better for young people at all stages in their lives, from giving 25 hours of free childcare to three and four year olds; to smaller class sizes in Primary schools; lower tuition fees for university students, and better quality apprenticeships for the 50 per cent of students who do not wish to go on to further education but have been forgotten by this government; then after leaving education we will have a job for every young person has been unemployed for over a year. We will put patient care back at the heart of the NHS and repeal the Health and Social Care Act which has only focused on profit and ensure that everyone earns wages they can afford to live on by increasing the minimum wage to £8 an hour. Voting for the Labour Party is a vote for a  government that will make fair choices that allow a better future for everyone in Britain.

 

Conservatives:

Photo: Conservatives

What are you doing as a youth branch of your political party in the run up to the General Election? And why do you think it’s important that students get involved in politics?

As Manchester Conservative Future (the youth branch of the Conservative Party in Manchester), we’re all working flat-out in supporting our local candidates; not a week goes by where we aren’t pounding the pavements or working the phones. I also believe each and every member of the society has a responsibility to spread the achievements the Conservatives have made whilst in government. Raising the tax-free allowance, creating more apprenticeships than ever before and supporting an economy that rewards those who work hard; these are all Conservative achievements that are improving the lives of young people up and down the country, which we should be immensely proud of.

Young people often feel isolated and disengaged from politics, but if they do not stand up and make their voices heard, things will never change. Not everyone wants to join a political society or become actively involved in politics, but each and every one of us has a right to have our say in the way in which our country is run; and I believe we all have a duty to do so.

What is your political party’s stance in regards to tuition fees and higher education in general?

A good quality degree is an investment in your future. On average graduates earn more and enjoy a better stankard of living than those without a degree. We must also all remember that if this investment doesn’t pay off, you pay nothing back. Whilst the increase in tuition fees has been controversial, the figures speak for themselves: more university applications than ever before, more students from disadvantaged backgrounds than ever before and higher student satisfaction for their degrees. As a student and a Conservative I’m proud that my party’s policies are increasing social mobility and letting people get access to the high quality education they deserve.

If your party wins the General Election how will they tackle the issue of youth unemployment? And what would they do about exploitative unpaid internships?

The issue of youth unemployment is stubborn and difficult to solve. The key is not reactionary measures, but instead a long-lasting commitment to equip young people with the skills they need to get on in life; from primary right through to higher education Conservatives are investing in young people. Under this government a million more children are being taught in schools that are either good or outstanding. We are a nation of strivers, education like this is the only real way to tackle youth unemployment and let people be limited by nothing but their ambition.

Where companies are blatantly exploiting young people, they should face the full force of the law. But we must also remember the benefits and skills internships can equip us with and as such, no policy should result in lowering the number of internships which would simply result in hurting the young more than before.

 What is your party’s position on lowering the voting age to 16 for UK elections?

We are against lowering the voting age, and here’s why: The UK has some of the lowest voter turnout of any developed economy and to me lowering the voting age seems to be somewhat missing the point. Isn’t it far more important to engage with those who already have the vote and encourage them to use their democratic right before going further? Even as someone who is throughly immersed in the political world, I’m not sure I was ready to vote at 16. It’s better to wait, develop your opinions and have your say when you, yourself are sure in your convictions.

 To sum up, why do you think your political party is best suited to run the country for the next five years?

This election is a straight fight between the Conservatives and Labour despite what anyone else may tell you. The Greens, UKIP and the Lib Dems can’t, and won’t decide this election. Who you vote for comes down to what you believe: A country that rewards those who contribute, a government that refuses to saddle countless future generations with mounds of debt, a party that will boost and every one of our living standards—that’s what you’ll get with the Conservatives. Vote Labour for sky-high debt, broken promises, weak leadership and a complete lack of vision. Red or blue, you decide. The choice is as stark as that.

 

UKIP:

Photo: UKIP

What are you doing as a youth branch of your political party in the run up to the General Election? And why do you think it’s important that students get involved in politics?

Despite being a new society, Manchester UKIP Students is getting fully involved in the UKIP General Election campaign. We’re joining action days around the Manchester constituencies, particularly in the UKIP target seats, which we have a very good chance of winning. We’re also setting up debates with the other political societies, to increase awareness of UKIP’s policies amongst students.

Decisions made today impact everyone’s lives, including students, whether it’s now in higher education policy and the cost of living, or in the future when you’re buying a home. As many people as possible should get involved to ensure the best decisions are made for this country.

What is your political party’s stance in regards to tuition fees and higher education in general?

In the UK we are incredibly fortunate to have a world-class higher education system. However, the target of 50 per cent of young people going to university has seen the value of a degree decrease, whilst driving the cost skywards. UKIP would remove this target, and instead prioritise degrees in areas where there is high demand for quality students, offering free tuition to approved degrees in science, medicine, technology, engineering and maths. UKIP also believes that not everyone is suited for university, and that many people are better off doing apprenticeships and vocational courses rather than racking up huge debt for a degree that won’t get them a job at the end of it.

If your party wins the general election how will they tackle the issue of youth unemployment? And what would they do about exploitative unpaid internships?

We believe that youth unemployment is the result of two major issues: A mismatch of skills in training and education, and an oversupply of unskilled labour from uncontrolled immigration. To remedy this, UKIP would broaden our education system, allowing students the option to take an Apprenticeship Qualification instead of four non-core GCSEs. An Australian, points-based immigration policy would help alleviate the oversupply of labour, and we would allow employers to prioritise young British workers, ensuring they can get that first step on the career ladder. Whilst UKIP has not issued a specific policy on unpaid internships, we would condemn any form of labour which could be classified as exploitative.

What is your party’s position on lowering the voting age to 16 for UK elections?

UKIP is opposed to lowering the voting age. The majority of 16 year-olds are still living at home and in full-time education, and so don’t have any experience of independent living, managing a budget or dealing with the cost of living. Therefore, we don’t believe that a 16 year-old has the experience or maturity to influence decisions in these areas. In addition, if a 16 year-old is allowed to vote then they would also have to be allowed to stand for parliament, which for the same reasons we think would not be appropriate.

To sum up, why do you think your political party is best suited to run the country for the next five years?

The UK political system has been dominated by career politicians who have led us into unnecessary wars, crippled the NHS with debt, opened our borders to uncontrollable mass immigration and destroyed democracy by handing power to unelected bureaucrats and big business in the EU. The British people deserve better and UKIP is the only party committed to controlling immigration through a points-based, skills-focused system that is fair and ensures sustainable migration. The only party which will genuinely protect the NHS and improve social mobility through grammar schools. But above all else, UKIP will restore democracy in Britain by offering an immediate EU referendum, and championing direct democracy in British politics.

 

Liberal Democrats:

Photo: Liberal Democrats

Did not respond to all attempts to gain responses to these questions.

Interview: Paul Birch, founder of UK party for a review into cannabis law

Written by Anna Phillips on . Posted in News.

CISTA, which stands for Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol, is a newly emerged political party which is campaigning for a Royal Commission to review the existing UK laws regarding cannabis. The party is planning to field as many as 50 candidates in the May General Election in order to force the issue of cannabis legalisation centre stage.

Paul Birch, who co-founded social network site Bebo before it was sold to AOL for £548 million in 2008, is among the party’s election candidates.

Birch told The Mancunion he was inspired to found the party after he became aware that cannabis was significantly safer than alcohol and that the media had failed to be transparent with people about the reality of the drug. He spoke passionately about the UK’s failure in the War On Drugs and why legalisation would be so beneficial for society and the economy.

“More recently, I’ve been inspired by the success in Colorado and three other US states where they’ve got fully regulated legalised cannabis and I thought this was a time when the UK needs to get its act together and go and do it properly, not have an illegal market that supports criminals.”

Speaking in an article about Channel 4’s Drugs Live programme, in which viewers could watch national treasure Jon Snow being sent to a dark place after being given a huge amount of high strength cannabis or ‘skunk’, Birch suggested it was “the equivalent of forcing a teetotaller to down a bottle of vodka and then asking him how he feels.”

Obligatorily referencing Jon Snow, I ask him whether he thinks there is a misinformed stigma surrounding the drug and whether the media is partly to blame.

“I think there is a lot less of a stigma than there used to be but what’s happening now is that the media and some of the tabloids are trying to mislead people as to how dangerous cannabis is, hence this whole term ‘skunk’ which is basically a way of confusing people.”

He references an online article for the Daily Mail, which published some studies shown from America stating that cannabis is 144 times safer than alcohol.

“Daily Mail did publish it online but it didn’t make the newspaper print copy. Then The Telegraph covered the same story but couldn’t bring themselves to mention the number ‘114’ times, it was quite a bizarre article. The papers have definitely changed their tune a little bit in the last few years. They used to be more against cannabis than they are now. It is definitely a move towards being open to it but they’re still not honest with people about what is safer.”

According to a YouGov poll commissioned by CISTA, 44 per cent of the voters supported the legalisation and regulation of cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol, 42 per cent voted against legalisation and 14 per cent were undecided.

On the issue of comparing the safety of cannabis to alcohol, 18 per cent of voters agreed cannabis is safer than alcohol, 19 per cent thought that alcohol was safer than cannabis and 51 per cent thought they were about the same.

“What else we found out from our poll is that 82 per cent of people who said they thought cannabis was safer than alcohol, also said that it should be legalised which is why the media are so determined in part to confuse people about its safety, because they know that once people understand how safe it is, most people support regulating it.

“So we see that those people who think it’s ‘about the same’ can easily be tipped into understanding that it actually is significantly safer. Young people in particular are much more understanding of the safety element than older people.”

On CISTA’s website it states that the current drug policy costs the UK an extra £361 million per year, on things such as policing and the treatment of those who consume illegally traded cannabis. Based on research carried out by the Institute for Social and Economic Research, it also suggests that if cannabis was made legally regulated, the Exchequer would benefit from as much as £900 million, as the state of Colorado has already made $50 million in cannabis tax since legalisation in 2014.

“There are lots of economic justifications. There is basically no coherent argument against change; there are none. You will not find a politician who will give you a coherent answer, all they will give you is rhetoric and then move on to the next topic. They will say something like ‘cannabis is dangerous’, but alcohol is dangerous and yet it is licensed and legal and it kills anywhere between 10 and 20 thousand people a year depending on which stats you want to believe.

“I think it is considered a significant issue. I think it is a significant issue that the two major parties don’t really want to talk about. I challenge anyone to find any Labout or Conservative policy spending more than a minute quickly fending off the question and moving on to the next topic because they don’t have any evidence to support what they’re doing. Their arguments are non-existent for supporting carrying on what they’re doing. They don’t have any rationale apart from ‘I think I might lose a few votes if I decide to change it.’

“Obviously Liberal Democrats are very pro-reform and there’s going to be a lot of drug policy quotes in their manifesto, I believe, when they publish it in the near future. But typically parties like the SNP, either they don’t have any drug policy in their manifesto or they have one or two sentences and nothing ever progresses.”

So far CISTA has been campaigning across the UK for candidates to stand in May’s General Election. They currently have around 15 candidates and are set to gain at least 40 leading up to the election. Their candidates range from age 18 to over 50 and are dotted throughout the UK and Ireland.

“People have been applying at a rate of two people per day to be candidates, so a lot of people feel very strongly about the topic which is in part why we set it up. We think Manchester is a great place for us to be doing campaigns as there is a lot of support, partly because there is a significant student population.”

I ask him about the issue of young cannabis users, in light of statistics that revealed the legalisation of cannabis in Colorado lead to a significant decrease in the number of young people who used the drug. Colorado legalised cannabis and state-wide retail sales of the drug in 2014.

“In Holland they have a version of legal cannabis, and consumption amongst young people is less there than it is in the UK. The legal market is quite potentially protective of young people because they diminish the black market and therefore the regulated suppliers where people go do an age check, which no illegal drug dealer is ever going to bother with. There’ll be less criminals operating within the market as opportunity is diminished [sic].”

Ultimately, CISTA stands for harm reduction and wants to break stereotypes and cut the UK deficit while pushing people towards safer cannabis options. Birch suggests that in the long term, “people would be healthier as they are more informed and are consuming drugs on more of a level playing field, whereas at the moment people are pushed to consume alcohol.”

CISTA’s manifesto is set to come out at the end of this month and should see a mix of their own policies, as well as some from the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, and the Labour and Conservative Parties.

According to Birch, CISTA hopes that “one day one of those parties deals back elements of our manifesto when they want to progress their own manifesto in this area.

“If you think that cannabis should be legal either vote for us, or if they are really excited about it then visit our website which is CISTA.org and consider being a candidate. There’s no shortage of opportunity.”

A history of fossil fuel investment at the University of Manchester

Written by Andy van den Bent-Kelly on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

This article is a supplement to our fracking investigation ‘Are universities fuelling fracking?’

The University of Manchester holds shares in multiple oil and gas exploration companies, despite opposition from multiple politicians, environmentalists and human rights groups.

This was exposed in 2012 by the then News Editor of The Mancunion, Joe Sandler Clarke, in an article which saw him longlisted for Amnesty International’s Student Human Rights Reporter of the Year Award.

Following a Freedom of Information request, The Mancunion was able to obtain documents revealing the shares held by the university over the past six years.

The 2014 investment portfolio was already known following an earlier FOI request by Activities and Development Officer, Joel Smith. Data between the years 2009 and 2013 inclusively was then received.

The diagram below shows that there was a sharp drop in the number of shares held by the university in oil and gas between March 2011 and March 2013. A possible reason for this is the 2012 piece.

When the 2012 figures were released, his article had been live for nearly two months. It is unclear whether or not his damning exposé, which received national acclaim, influenced the university.

Of the various companies concerned, BP PLC suffered the most, with the university selling more than half of its shares in the oil and gas giant.

BP were found to be primarily responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in October 2010, the largest accidental marine oil spill in the petroleum industry’s history.

The subsequent plummet in the value of the shares may have caused the university to sell up, as well as the negative publicity generated by the disaster.

The chart to the right shows the number of shares held by the university in 2013 in the following oil and gas exploration companies: BG Group, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Tullow Oil.

Despite the drastic drop from previous years, the university still holds far more shares in BP than in any other oil and gas company.

In spite of everything, the university increased its shares in fossil fuels in 2014. This was revealed in a previous issue.

Top and bottom graphics regard the year 2013. Graphics: Marcus Johns

Another interesting revelation was that all of the university’s shares in Cairn Energy PLC and Soco International PLC, which combined were worth over £1.75 million at their peak in 2011, were sold at some point in the following year. Again, it is possible that the article may have been partially responsible for this decision.

However, all these figures could be potentially misleading, due to share price fluctuations over time. By researching the value of one share at the end of March for each year, the total worth of the university’s shares was calculated. This can be seen in the chart below.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is seemingly the only oil and gas company with whom the university have not significantly cut ties. Over the period 2009 – 2013, the total value of the university’s shares in Shell was consistently around the £3.5 million mark.

Shell has frequently come under fire for its human rights record and alleged environmental negligence, which has led to calls for the university to end its association with the company. However, these results clearly suggest that this has not happened.

Based on this most recent increase in oil and gas shares, the university is evidently not intending on cutting ties any time soon.

Preview: The Producers

Written by Luke Sharma on . Posted in Theatre.

One of Manchester’s theatre events of the year! This rendition of The Producers features an all-star cast including comedians Jason Manford (as Leo Bloom) and Phil Jupitus (as Franz Liebkind), alongside dancer Louie Spence (as Carmen Ghia). Directed by the masterful Matthew White (writer and director of Top Hat), you can be sure that this will be a show not to miss.

Adapted from Mel Brooks’ 1968 satirical comedy film starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, The Producers is about Max Bilaystock (Corey English), a failing Broadway producer who charms elderly women as a way to finance his plays. Enter Leo Bloom, an accountant who finds that Max is in fact committing fraud. In realizing that a producer could make much more money from a flop than a hit, they team up and hatch a foolproof plan to create the worst Broadway production ever. Naturally not everything goes to plan and after their Nazi-Inspired love letter to Hitler, ‘Springtime For Hitler’ written by real ex-Nazi Franz Liebkind (Phil Jupitus) becomes a hit, Leo and Max’s grand scheme comes crashing down around them.

This particular tour has been running since 6th March starting at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley and has been received to rave reviews with The Guardian stating that it “Puts the comedy back into musical comedy.”

The Producers has won many accolades during its various runs on Broadway and The West End, including (a record-breaking) 12 Tony Awards and 3 Olivier Awards. You can be guaranteed to be in stitches. A must see for any theatre goer this year.

Keep an eye out for our review!

‘Heart’ Attack: British Sport’s Obsession With Passion Is Misplaced

Written by James Houghton on . Posted in Sport.

The England’s men’s cricket team defeat to Bangladesh consigned them to a group-stage exit, a sorry end to a miserable campaign. It is not just the cricketers, however, as England’s men’s football and rugby union teams suffered early exits from their last World Cups, and England’s women’s football side were terrible at the 2013 European Championships. After each one of those tournaments there were inquests about why such lacklustre results were achieved and what improvements were needed to rectify the situation, and the England Cricket Board will undertake a similar process after England’s final group game finishes.
But these post-debacle outcries highlight one of the main problems, I believe, with British sport: the tendency from some in this country to blame below-par performances on a lack of passion and gut, rather than on technique and tactics.
Take the men’s football team’s exit at the last World Cup. Much of the talk in the aftermath centred on the players’ supposed lack of passion. But I ask this? If these players, all millionaires, did not care, why would they spend over a month of their break in Brazil, often cooped up in a hotel and kept away from their families, knowing they will be pilloried at home if they fall below expectations?
If they did not care about winning the World Cup, they would have retired from international duty and been free from the scrutiny that playing for England brings. Each one of the England players wanted to win the World Cup because being a World Cup-winner is the greatest accolade that a footballer can achieve.
The Spanish and German squads that won the last two World Cups were full of multi-millionaires, so large wages are also not the reason why England’s players cannot win a World Cup, either.
What all World Cup-winning teams need are immensely talented players and coaches who ensure that the team is an expressive and cohesive unit. The Germany side that won last year’s World Cup contained players like Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos; and the Australia side that won three consecutive cricket World Cups included such phenomenal talents as Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist. A dearth of world-class talents, especially creative ones, is what hampers England and the other home nations at major tournaments.
However, some still insisted with the notion that England lost in Brazil because of apathy, as if World Cup winners are chosen based on who can sing the national anthem the loudest. In the Daily Mail, Neil Ashton bemoaned the lack of England players willing to die for the country before losing a football match, and Stan Collymore (ghost)wrote an article for the Daily Mirror titled: “Passion, pride and belief: I dream of a day when our England players care as much as the Brazilians.”
However, it was plain to see that the Brazilian players were far too emotionally invested in the World Cup, with Thiago Silva, for instance, crying during the national anthems and turning into an emotional wreck before a ball had been kicked.
In the defeats against Italy and Uruguay, England lost because they were unable to create enough clear-cut chances against two resolute sides and the defence looked fragile whenever Italy or Uruguay attacked, exacerbated by the lack of a Javier Mascherano, who not only stops opposition attacks, but now regularly takes the ball out of defence and starts attacks for Barcelona, in midfield.
Talented English players have endured a chequered history with the national side. Michel Platini claimed that Glenn Hoddle would have played for France 150 times if he had been born in France. But Hoddle is English and only played 53 times for his country. John Barnes’s England career is famous for two things: his brilliant goal in the Maracana and his inability to replicate his club form for England more often. Plus, Matt Le Tissier only played eight times for England.
English sport’s obsession with passion and guts is detrimental in other ways, too. Until 2014-15, children as young as eleven played eleven-a-side matches on full-sized pitches; consequently, the emphasis for young British footballers was not on learning to skilfully navigate their way past opposition players, but on being able to quickly run long distances.
A lack of highly qualified coaches in this country also stunts the development of youngsters. In a Guardian article published in May 2013, Stuart James wrote that, “according to UEFA, there Germany has 28,400 (England 1,759) coaches with the B licence, 5,500 (895) with the A licence…” Consequently, in Germany there is a country-wide talent development players in which promising young footballers – some members of professional academies, some not – are trained and scouted by a network of over 1,000 coaches who have at least the UEFA B licence. This coaching and talent-spotting is not present in England, due to a lack of qualified coaches, so is it any wonder why the Germans produce more vibrant, skilful young players than the British?
It is not just football, however, where England have misused their most talented players. The obvious example is Kevin Pietersen, whose England career was as traumatic as it was record-breaking and seemed to be overly short for a genuine match-winner who scored over 8,000 runs in test cricket. Furthermore, England men’s rugby union side, under Stuart Lancaster, is seen as being functional and dependable but lacking the creativity needed to win a World Cup.
The desire to win does not need to be sacrificed in the pursuit of technical ability; in fact, an improvement in the skill levels of the England players – and hence the aesthetic quality of the performances – will lead to winning more matches, improving confidence amongst the squad and fostering a greater desire to play for their country.
I would go so far as to write that anyone in this country who chooses to blame below-par performances at major tournaments on a lack of passion is actually hampering the chances of future generations by diverting attention away from more fundamental issues. So instead, let’s concentrate on increasing the number of highly qualified grass-roots coaches and on eradicating the deep-seated mistrust in talented eccentrics that seems to be so prevalent within British sport.

Exclusive: President and Vice-Chancellor Rothwell defends her salary and flight expenses

Written by Aidan Gregory on . Posted in Features.

Given that she works a 70-hour week, regularly advises the great and the good of British politics, and has previously been named as the 15th most powerful woman in the country, it is a rare moment as an undergraduate to find yourself sitting in the grand office of Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell.

The obvious topic to begin an interview with the Vice-Chancellor and President of the largest university in the country is fees. Two weeks ago Ed Miliband announced that if Labour win the next election they will cut fees from £9000 to £6000 and described the coalition’s introduction of £9k fees as “one of the most expensive broken promises in the history of British politics”. I ask Rothwell whether she supports the proposal.

“I certainly would not oppose the £6000 fee,” she declares. “What [UK Vice-Chancellors] have said is that they are very concerned about the ability to make up the gap, because without being able to make up that gap universities will have a huge deficit.”

Following Miliband’s announcement, Vince Cable described the proposals as “financially illiterate”. Reflecting on Cable’s comments, Rothwell says she doesn’t know anybody “who has looked at the economics and seen how it can work. Even if it could be made to work, there will be a time gap. If a Labour government was to commit to filling that gap, which is nearly £3 billion a year probably, great, fantastic. But it has got to come from somewhere. That’s the big worry. But a £6000 fee I’d be very happy with.”

“Would £6000 fees even solve the problem?”, I ask. “Even if Labour get elected and reduce fees, there will still be a cohort of students, myself included, who will have been paying 9k fees for three years.”

She responds: “Well we don’t know what will happen actually, because they haven’t come out and said what will happen to students who fell into that period that did pay £9000, or the students that will be in the system during the change.

“The other thing we don’t know what will happen is to the offer agreements for widening participation. Any university that charges over £6000 has to pledge a significant part of that extra towards helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds. We’ve put a lot of money into that, about £20 million a year. So if it was dropped to £6000 would we still have that requirement? We don’t know yet.”

Moving on from fees, I remind the Vice-Chancellor of a lecturer’s question time that took place in Fallowfield last week, which featured a panel of five senior lecturers from the School of Social Sciences, including the Head of Politics Professor Andrew Russell. They were asked whether the university should divest from the fossil fuel industry, in which it has invested almost £40 million, and concluded unanimously that it should. Given the support that clearly exists amongst staff and students for divestment, I ask if it’s time for the university to think seriously about divesting from fossil fuels.

“I think possibly we should. It’s not my decision. It’s the decision of the finance committee of the board. They wrestle with this frequently, because we don’t choose who we invest in. We give [the responsibility] at arm’s length to another body, but we give them parameters, and those parameters don’t include ‘not fossil fuels’. But they might do in future.

She appears to be referring to the university’s ethical investment policy, which includes the clause that the university “will use its influence in an effort to reduce and, ideally, eliminate, irresponsible corporate behaviour leading to environmental degradation” – a condition which the Fossil Free Campaign have argued is breached by the university’s financial involvement in companies such as BP and Shell.

Rothwell continues: “What we’re going to do is raise it again at the next finance committee meeting, saying this has been brought up, and that there’s a lot of feeling. Then they may choose to change the parameters that are given to the investment company. I can’t comment on whether they will or not.”

The conversation turns to Vice-Chancellor’s pay. Last year, despite taking a pay cut of 0.3 per cent, Rothwell earned £291000—an eye-watering sum of money to a student in their overdraft. I ask whether or not it is right that Vice-Chancellors earn on average £260000, at a time when increasing numbers of students in Manchester are resorting to food banks in order to get by, disabled students’ allowances and bursaries are being cut, and £9k fees are in force.

“I guess the answer depends on what you want from Vice-Chancellors of universities. The UK is one of the lowest paid countries for Vice-Chancellors. Is it fair in any society that people should earn twenty or a hundred or a thousand times more than other people? In my opinion, possibly not. But on the other hand, you wouldn’t get reasonable Vice-Chancellors unless you pay a reasonable rate. I’m paid less than the average, for the largest university in the country. You quote my salary as £291000, but that includes pension. And I’ve never had a pay rise.”

“There is an issue, and I’m not sure that it’s right, but it happens in the private sector quite a lot, that there’s a sense [that] if a Vice-Chancellor or CEO is paid less than the rest of the sector, they must be not very good. I don’t quite buy into that because you should judge someone on their merits rather than what they are paid. But that is certainly something that prevails. I mean US salaries, [they’re] probably four times higher.”

With regard to American salaries, she perhaps has something of a point. In 2013 for example, it was reported that the Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, a public institution with exchange links with the University of Manchester, earned a salary of $784468. In the same year, the University of Chicago’s President Robert Zimmer was paid a staggering $3358723, although 40 per cent of this income was a result of deferred compensation.

In a time of food banks and cuts, the 2010 parliament has been one of the most elitist in recent memory. A report by the Sutton Trust in 2010 found that over one third of sitting MPs attended public schools. The house is also only 20 per cent female. In a similar vein, until quite recently, Rothwell was the only female Vice-Chancellor of a Russell Group university and for this reason is seen as a role model to many. Given this context, I ask what advice she would give to female students who aspire to the higher professions such as politics and academia.

“I think it’s easier than it has been in the past because there is a genuine predominance of the view that we need more diversity, whether that’s gender or ethnicity. It’s much, much stronger than it’s ever been before. I would encourage female students to absolutely go for that profession if they want.

“One of the sad things I find is that in academia, some outstanding women get to a point in their career and say, ‘I just don’t want to go onto that next step because it’s so hard and it’s such long hours.’ We have to change that view and make them think: ‘You can do it!’ There is a significant confidence issue amongst women.”

It isn’t exactly a controversial thing to say that the Russell Group is still a very elitist group of universities. The University of Manchester has a better record than many of the other universities in the group. But it still suffers from of a distinct lack of black professors and students from state schools and ethnic minority backgrounds are still under-represented.

Rothwell appears to share this concern: “It’s a big worry for us; we’re doing a lot of work on race equality. One of the issues we do find is that [of the] Manchester Access Programme students who come through from very disadvantaged backgrounds, quite a few choose not to apply to certain universities because they feel that they won’t be at home there. So they might be more likely to apply to Manchester and Liverpool, than they might be to some others because they feel that there will be more people like them there. It becomes a bit self-perpetuating. My father pushed me to go to Oxbridge, but I said I just don’t want to. I was from a state school.”

At this point Rothwell laughs and asks me why I haven’t yet grilled her for claiming £22000 on flights, seeing as the story was on the front page of The Mancunion this week. I put it to her that I personally would expect someone who has worked their way up to being Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Manchester to be flying business class.

“I don’t think it’s an expectation,” she responds. “I didn’t comment on the M.E.N article because I didn’t think there was much point. It was interesting actually. In the vote at the end of the article, 40 per cent thought it was reasonable. But it’s not reasonable for the luxury. I flew to France and back for a conference and I went economy obviously. You only fly business class if it’s more than six hours. I went to Singapore. I arrived at 5pm; my first meeting was at 7 that night. I did a dinner, I started the next morning at 8, worked all day, had dinner, took the 1am flight and was back in the office at 9am the next morning. There is no way I could do that on economy.”

Before becoming Vice-Chancellor and President in 2010, Rothwell had a long and successful career as a scientist, conducting vital research into the causes of stroke and the role of inflammation in brain disease . She was made a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2004. Given her scientific background, I wonder what she would say to humanities students like me, who often feel marginalised in a society that appears to favour science students.

“I don’t think they should feel that at all. Most employers, unless it’s for a specialised career, want a student from a good university with a good degree. Humanities degrees are highly valued by society. I think humanities almost has a chip on its shoulder at the moment and I don’t think that it should. Get a good degree, never mind the subject.”

To conclude, in a moment of idealism I ask the Vice-Chancellor whether she thinks that we will ever reach a point of deficit reduction where fees can be abolished altogether again. “I think we might,” she reflects. “It depends on whether society accepts that university education is beneficial to society as well as to the individual.”

Live: The Chief Of Seattle

Written by Rachel Connolly on . Posted in Music.

28th February

Deaf Institute

7/10

I headed along to the Deaf Institute having deliberately never listened to Manchester-based The Chief of Seattle—the intention was to shape an opinion around their live performance. The only prejudice I had formed was based on the name, which refers to the red Indian founder of the settlement now known as Seattle, so I expected folky Western guitar music and potentially denim and plaid.

I took my seat in time to catch the tail end of the weird, weird support act. There were: two keyboards; crazed musical theatre singing through clenched teeth; strange, frozen smiles; and the bands collective face was tilted upwards, as if to some great power above, throughout the few songs that I watched.

In a complete juxtaposition, The Chief (or should we say Chiefs?) of Seattle walked on stage sedately, lead singer Anne-Marie Gibbins shuffling ahead, eyes floorward. The musical style of the band is unreadable from the range of member ages and nondescript clothing.

“Right, thank you all for coming,” nods Gibbons gruffly, still avoiding eye contact, and they start playing abruptly. And they are surprisingly, bafflingly good. Gibbins’s singing voice is far from gruff and sails over songs that serenade the Chief. Central themes are freedom, feeling out of place in the new world, ‘that you discovered’ and adventure. The concept, like the band, is a bit off beat but I like it; it’s clever and unexpected. There is often a twee Western element to the guitar which adds a layer of instrumental interest. They really have created a sound that is interesting and offbeat. Gibbins’s performance style also has this distinct offbeat charm: gruff, unshowy and humble, it is remarkably refreshing. The Chief of Seattle are an unexpected treat.

Album: Only Real – Jerk At The End Of The Line

Written by Robin Davies on . Posted in Music.

Released 30th March

Virgin EMI

7/10

Niall Galvin releases his first album as Only Real amidst a rising tide of anticipation. The London based artist finds himself signed to a major record label on the cusp of a UK/European tour, and it’s not hard to see why.

In Jerk At The End Of The Line, Galvin has deftly produced an album that feels very much at home amongst other contemporary offerings. With a seemingly broad melting pot of influences there’s a real diversity in sound, making it so hard to pin down to one genre. At times the songs evoke an almost Mac Demarco-meets-King Krule feeling, ‘Jerk’ and ’Cadillac Girl’ to name but two; in others the tone takes on a somewhat darker, more brooding, quality (‘Petals’ and ‘Break It Off’). With a constant sun-drenched jangle permeating most of the album, this is very much one for the long-overdue summer.

To totally define this album in terms of comparisons to his peers, however tempting it may be, would be to do Galvin a disservice. Diversity in the song writing facilitated, perhaps in part, by this genre spanning approach makes the album eminently listenable, with a smoothness making the songs often feel as though they might melt together. Whilst this does yield some fantastic pieces of music, at other times it gives the impression that perhaps the album isn’t going anywhere. Occasionally, some tracks are reduced to a blur between their more memorable companions.

In some ways, this chimes very well with the overall feel of the work, with a playfulness, humour, and relevance to the quotidian running through the vast majority of the songs. When Galvin delivers lines such as “You stay born for the baby’s life/Frightened minds, since 99/And you hate mornings, it’s crazy, right?” you get the impression that the album is a surreal take on the everyday and growing up as much as anything else; almost forgiving how some things pass you by.

Overall, Jerk At The End Of The Line is an impressive pop album well worth your time. The combination of hip-hop influence with twangy guitar yields an often-catchy result that would gladly soundtrack the very events that the songs themselves often deal with. It is a laudable debut that is surely only a taste of what is to come from Only Real.