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Day: 24 October 2016

Manchester City 1-1 Southampton

City are now winless in five: a loss to Tottenham, a 3-3 thrilling draw with Celtic in the Champions League, a draw for Pep Guardiola against best bud Ronald Koeman at Everton, a thorough battering at the hands of Barcelona in midweek, and now a 1-1 draw with Southampton. Southampton set themselves up well and were difficult to break down, but City will be hoping to bounce back in the midweek Capital One Cup game against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Barcelona Battering

Midweek saw City fall at the hands of the mighty Barcelona. Despite being the better side in the first half, with a few great chances and to only fall behind after Fernandinho slipped in his banana boots, it was all looking rosy. Jordi Alba had picked up an injury, and Barcelona found themselves replacing Pique before the end of the match too. But the second half did not quite go to plan. Claudio Bravo got sent off for a handball outside his area, Messi bagged a hat-trick, and Neymar followed up with one of his own. A Wily Caballero penalty save was the highlight in a pretty disappointing night for the Blues. Just shows that in the Champions League you cannot switch off for one minute.

If this game was a song…

Red Red Wine

After another disappointing result, Pep Guardiola spent forty minutes in the changing rooms with his players after the game before talking to the press. When asked what he was doing in there, he replied that he was drinking some red wine.

Individual Errors

I am yet to decide if this is a positive or not yet, but most of City’s goals that they have conceded so far this season have simply been down to individual errors: all the goals against Barcelona were in midweek, and this weekend it was a John Stones error that allowed Nathan Redmond to around Claudio Bravo and score in the open net. Stones had played the ball back to the returning Vincent Kompany, but Kompany was further up the field, so Redmond collected and delivered.

This of course is not good for City, but Guardiola may find some positive in the fact that his tactics and the way the team are set up is not miles away from what City need—as it is just individual errors that are causing the problems. But it will be very difficult for Guardiola to find a way to stop this amount of individual errors; he’ll be tearing his hair out at the thought…

Man of the Match

Kelechi Iheanacho only played half the game, after coming on at half time, but he gave City hope. The first half City were far away from their best with sloppy passing and not a single shot on target registered. In the second half however it only took him ten minutes to score the equaliser, and they looked stronger. Kelechi’s goal came after Fernandinho played a nice long ball up to Leroy Sane on the left wing. Here Sane showed excellent skill, (Sane had a pretty good game, showboating down the left wing) brought the ball down and drove the ball in for Iheanacho to tap in from six yards.

Derby Day

City recently ran out 2-1 winners in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, in early September, but are returning again this Wednesday for a Capital One Cup tie. City are struggling for form at the moment, but so are United. United fell at the hands of Chelsea this weekend 4-0, as Mourinho struggled to get his team to perform at his old stomping ground. This is a game that neither will want to lose.

How the table looks…

There are whispers that this could be seen as a crisis at Manchester City – no win in five, disappointing performances, Aguero not in his usual form – but it must be remembered that City are still sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League. You know you’re pretty good when you’re still top of the league during a crisis.

Extra Match antics…

·         Kompany returned with a start at The Etihad!

·         Jesus Navas was substituted on late in the second half in order to play right-back.

·         John Stones had the ball in the net with a beautiful finish on the 32nd minute, however the goal was deemed offside, as Sergio Aguero was interfering with play.

·         With Iheanacho in better scoring form, is it possible that Aguero could be dropped for the youngster?

·         Guardiola has hinted that there will be lots of changes for the game against United and we could see some youngsters – with Zabaleta and Sagna out, this would be a great opportunity to see what young Pablo Maffeo is made of.

·         Two weeks in a row players have been booked for time-wasting at The Etihad. It seems that this is something that City are going to have to deal with. One week I’ll take my stopwatch and time how long the game is actually played for (I probably won’t).

Liang Trumps Judd in English Snooker Open final

It was the seventh ranking event of the snooker season as 128 of the world’s best snooker players arrived in Manchester, at Event City for the first English open, in this format. The UK open series ran from the 10th to the 16th of October, and featured players such as the world number 1; Mark Selby, legend ‘Rocket’ Ronnie O’Sullivan, Former World Champion Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy, plus many more. These players came to Manchester for a chance at the £70,000 prize money and to stick with a chance of winning the £1 million bonus, for winning the 28 matches for all of the British Open competitions.

This introduction of this new addition to the snooker season was praised all week long by competitors, with O’Sullivan telling me, “people have been asking for this for a while. The fans. The players. And finally, thankfully, they have listened.” Nothing was more special than when outsider and China’s own Wenbo Liang beat Englishman Judd Trump by 9 frames to 6 to win his first major title, and lifting the Steve Davis trophy in front of a sold out Event City Arena. He jumped for joy, when potting his final pink to guarantee the win and told us he was delighted to win, and that he is enjoying the snooker.

During the final itself Liang led going into the second session with a 2 frame cushion, but it was Trump who came flying out of the blocks, impressing with a break of 135 that reduced the deficit to just one frame. The response from Liang was strong, a big shot on the blue off the spot to open the gap back to 2. The response continued with a break of 115 and exhibition snooker to increase the gap, the score line now at 7-4. Just as Trump looks like folding, he comes out on top after a long safety play tussle to just do enough to maintain the two gap cushion going into the mid-session interval. On the return, Trump continues where he left off to continue the momentum, a break of 69 with Liang conceding to get within a single frame. Game on!

Things start to get nervy, with both players looking visibly edgy missing a string of simple shots. A cracking safety shot behind the green from Trump leaves Liang needing three attempts to hit the target red. Trump is able to make a break of 41 off the leave, but misses an easy red to allow Liang to take control of the frame, playing a blinding shot of the blue on the spot to bring the remaining red into play, the shot of the match so far. He is able to clean up and moves to one frame away from victory. Expecting Liang to feel the heat on his third major final appearance, a few missed pots from Trump allowing him to fire in a break of 79. He goes absolutely nuts in the arena, exciting the entire Event City venue into applause as he claims his first professional major title and his name on the Davis Trophy to be crowned winner of the inaugural English Open title.

The rest of the week entertained also. Notable moments include shock results, and the exit as some of the sports big names. O’Sullivan, Selby, Marco Fu and Murphy all exited the competition in the early stages, as did Neil Robertson who chucked away a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 to a player ranked well below him in the rankings. Alfie Burden’s 147 break was amazing, even if he was eliminated in the following frame. Ricky Walden, Mark Allen and John Higgins all had good showings reaching the latter stages of the tournament, with Stuart Bingham and eventual winner Liang contesting in the match of the tournament in their semi-final clash. In the end, this first of four nations series was a success and belonged to Liang.

However, what was clear was that there needed to be more marketing and advertising for this event. It wasn’t really advertised anywhere, with very few posters or flyers around the city, and there was nothing about it anywhere on the university campuses. Crowds were only around half full on average (apart from the final) leading to Ali Carter actually raising this issue on Twitter, questioning what had happened. In reality, the sport of snooker needs its profile raised. In a city such as Manchester, it simply cannot compete with the popularity of football, cricket, and rugby. Moving forward, here’s hoping that this English event will help do such a thing, and get snooker high on the agenda in sport once again.

I am an Essex girl and proud

I need to start this article by admitting that I have, in the past, been ashamed of my Essex roots. Now, the #IAmAnEssexGirl campaign had made me ashamed of my shame.

Ever since I left Essex for Manchester, wherever possible I avoided admitting where I was from, as to dodge answering the inane questions of whether I have been to the Sugar Hut, met anyone from The Only Way is Essex, or had a fake tan.

I did not want to be defined by where I had grown up. In fact, I was quicker to bring up my Irish roots, where I spent only two years of my life, than Essex, where I spent the majority. Worse, I felt almost ashamed of the stereotypes that would come hand in hand with admitting I was an ‘Essex Girl’.

It seems, however, that I have been defined by none other than the Oxford English Dictionary.

I cannot fathom how I never before realised that every Essex girl I have ever known could  be defined as, simply, “a type of young woman, supposedly to be found in and around Essex, and variously characterised as unintelligent, promiscuous, and materialistic”.

A large and diverse group of girls have been summed up in 21 words. I would like to thank them for making it so simple; girls across Essex have grappled for years with how to succinctly identify the thousands of us from the county. It really helps that we no longer need to worry about finding an individual identity for ourselves; we can carry on happy that the semantics have been decided for us. It is relieving to know that we can be encapsulated by just three adjectives. We will get back to shopping, having sex, and being stupid now, thanks.

Some have commented that Essex boys have not an easy ride of it either—defined as, “a supposed new type of Conservative voter to be found esp. in London and the south-east of England in the 1980s, typically (especially contemptuously) characterised as a brash, self-made young businessman who benefitted from the entrepreneurial wealth created by Thatcherite policies.”

Shocking. Being described as “self-made” and someone who had “benefited from entrepreneurial wealth” definitely compares to the vacuous and sexually immoral definition us girls have been labelled with.

Looking closer at the well-crafted definition for girls, we can see some unfortunate contradictions. We are “promiscuous” (we decide what we do with our own bodies), “materialistic” (we want to lead successful lives in our own right), and we are “unintelligent” (our desire for the above is just outright stupid in an unequal society—we should get back into the kitchen).

On a serious note, this definition, however ludicrous it may seem, should not just be joked about. To label a whole cross section of society in such a way is incredibly damaging, like all stereotyping.

By implication, girls across Essex have been told they should no longer aspire, achieve, or define their own lives. The county they have grown up in has defined them already; they may as well give up trying to create their own future and identity.

Thankfully, the women in my family and the Essex girls who have acted as role models for me throughout my life have never let this definition stop them from being the empowered, intelligent, and brilliant women they are.

Because of this stereotype, and the credence of the Oxford English Dictionary, we have to remain ashamed of where we are from: we lose a part of our identity. However much we strive to define ourselves through our achievements, we will always have this shadow over us.

The definition must be reclaimed by Essex girls across the county and country. In fact, we should scrap all attempts at a definition, and instead celebrate the distinct and wonderful things every individual Essex girl does. I am an Essex girl, but that does not define me: I can do that myself.

University sexual harassment report published

The report, Changing the Culture, by the higher education representative body Universities UK (UUK) has put staff-student sexual harassment on the agenda in response to growing calls for the sector to tackle the problem.

The report was prompted by a growing number of reports published by The Guardian which exposed the scale of sexual harassment and violence carried out by university staff on students and junior colleagues.

Last week The Mancunion reported that sexual abuse scandals at universities were akin to ‘the Savile scandals’. The Guardian reportedly received approximately 200 statements, the majority from women. The statements included incidents of sexual harassment, assault and rape, all carried out by university staff with a large majority of cases including postgraduate and PhD students from a plethora of UK universities, including many from the Russell Group.

The government had asked UUK last year to lead a task force on violence against women, harassment, and hate crime in universities. The 1752 Group, an organisation working to combat staff-student sexual harassment in UK universities made a plea to the task force urging it to address staff-student harassment.

The report itself does not make recommendations to universities on staff-student sexual harassment but recognises that it is an area that requires further work. Dr Anna Bull, spokesperson for The 1752 Group said: “In this report, Universities UK indicates that staff-student sexual harassment is a significant issue which must be addressed by the sector. We formed The 1752 Group because of the lack of robust research and policy guidance around staff-student sexual harassment.”

The Group welcomed the report’s recommendations including leadership from senior management, training for university staff, partnership working, and more robust centralised reporting procedures.

The report comes as universities in Australia and the US are coming under pressure to address the same issue. A recent Freedom of Information request across Australia’s universities found that the vast majority of reported rape and harassment cases appear to have gone completely unpunished. It also found that as many as one in five cases may involve staff members committing sexual offences against students.

A large-scale study conducted in the US from 2015 revealed that one in six female graduate students have experienced sexual harassment from a teacher or advisor. Comparable data for the UK does not exist, which many argue highlights the urgent need for research in this area.

A University of Manchester spokesperson has said: “The University has a zero tolerance policy towards any form of harassment and bullying. Through the We Get It campaign, in partnership with the Students’ Union, which enables anyone to anonymously report any incidents, thousands of staff and students have signed a pledge to report any incidents they see and have accessed training and information.

“We have also recruited 12 more harassment advisors to provide a confidential information service to staff and students on issues relating to harassment, discrimination and bullying. Confidential advice is available to support anyone who wishes to make a complaint and the Students’ Union is also available to support students.”

Cruel Britannia: ABBA, Churchill and the new fiver

The new £5 note, issued by the Bank of England, has been causing a furore amongst the British public since its release in September. With collectors offering thousands of pounds for notes bearing low serial numbers—found in the bottom corners of the obverse and reverse of the note—many have been desperately checking their fivers, hoping to cash in on the lucrative collector’s item, with prices reaching the dizzying heights of £65,000, according to The Daily Mail.

There has been similar pandemonium in regards to the apparent durability of the new note. As opposed to paper-based material used in the old fiver, the new polymer based note is “cleaner, safer, and stronger” according to Bank of England Governor Mark Carney. Tear-proof, fireproof, and ovenproof, the new notes have been hailed as ‘indestructible’ (providing you don’t put them in the washing machine) and they can even be used to play Money, Money, Money by ABBA on vinyl, as a resourceful Michael Ridge from Norwich discovered.

However, the issue that is causing perhaps the most controversy amongst Brits with regards to the new £5 note is who the Bank of England have chosen as the new face of the plastic currency: Sir Winston Churchill. Located on the reverse of the predominantly turquoise note, Churchill fixes you with his instantly recognisable, defiant glare underscored by a quote from his now infamous “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech delivered to Parliament in the Summer of 1940, at the height of the German bombing campaign of British cities and the crux of the Battle of Britain. Now synonymous with British ‘defiance’ in the face of Nazi aggression, Mr. Churchill has clearly been chosen by the Bank of England thanks to his embodiment of the spirit of wartime Britain.

This image of Churchill and wartime Britain is a propaganda tool not isolated to the printing of new currency, but is something successive governments have used since the 1940s to gather popular support for their most morally ambiguous and divisive policies, from the sinking of the Belgrano under Thatcher, to the toppling of Saddam Hussein under Blair. The “spirit of 1945” and rose-tinted nostalgia for the bloodiest time in human history is a central tenet of contemporary British nationalism.

It’s possible then that the government are trying to utilise the image of Churchill to present to the nation their own ideas of what it means to be British in 2016; arguably nationalistic, jingoistic, and relating every facet of the British psyche as being rooted somehow in the grand old days of the Second World War.

In the wake of Brexit and with Britain facing a future outside of the European community, one cannot be blamed for thinking that this evocation of a time when Britain ‘stood alone’ against Nazi dominated Europe is no coincidence. Coupled with the increasingly xenophobic rhetoric of Theresa May’s government, this return to the mentality of ‘fortress Britain’ is not only a historical falsification but also a potential indicator of the society we are becoming. Isolationist, hostile to Europe, reactionary, divided—Britain seems to be going through major changes, and this growing social conservatism is being proliferated and encouraged by the increasingly right-wing May administration.

Although this may seem too many like unfounded pessimism, there has been much evidence to suggest that the forces of reaction have indeed sunk their teeth into the national psyche. According to Home Office figures, racially and religiously motivated attacks have increased throughout the country, and social media has been awash with individual’s experiences of violence and hatred. On 27th of August 2016, 40-year-old Arkadiusz Jóźwik from Poland was beaten to death in what is believed to have been a racially motivated attack in Harlow, Essex.

Unfortunately, incidents like this are becoming more frequent, and with new legislation being ushered in that directly targets foreign-born workers in the UK, one can only imagine this violence is going to continue to escalate in the coming months. There also been an increase in homophobic attacks (by the huge amount of 147 per cent) according to an independent study by LGBT+ anti-violence charity Galop, and the marginalisation of minority groups seems to have become a reality in post-Brexit Britain.

Although the link between the new fiver and a spike in reactionary violence in Britain may seem tenuous and melodramatic, it’s possible there is a tangible link between the two. The Bank of England, when releasing the £5 adorned with a stoic Mr. Churchill, said by issuing new currency they wanted to celebrate individuals “that have shaped British thought, innovation, leadership, values and society”.

By placing a man who once referred to the British imperial project as “a lot of jolly little wars against barbarous people,” and who claimed “I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes”, the Government and the financial sector have worked in cahoots to present to the British public the kind of beliefs that are to be valued in England now we have rid ourselves of European influence.

For all its faults, and indeed they are countless, this is a far cry from the image of Britain the Labour governments of the early 2000s tried to present to the world. In spite of the imperialistic and Bush-enabling foreign policies of New Labour, domestically they did at least give the pretence of trying to create a more tolerant, socially just society. This is arguably why in 2001, when the last £5 note was introduced, they chose to use social reformer and humanitarian Elizabeth Fry as the face of the fiver.

Dedicating her life to the alleviation of some of the worst inequalities in Victorian Britain, Fry earnt the moniker ‘the Angel of Prisons’ due to her tireless campaigning to reform the horrendous conditions prisoners and their families were subjected to in nineteenth century Britain. She established schools to train nurses, opened night shelters for the homeless, and even took her qualms directly to the monarch Queen Victoria, who was moved to contribute financially to Fry’s cause. A beacon of light in a very dark time in Britain’s history, Elizabeth Fry is the embodiment of what many would like to see as core British values: fairness, compassion, humanity.

With the soaring cost of living and the erosion of civil liberties and social welfare, millions of people are being pushed below the breadline in contemporary Britain. With millions of people reliant on food banks and private charities to make ends meet, the Britain of 2016 may not be as far away from the country that Ms. Fry rallied against as we would care to admit.

By choosing to use people like Churchill, a divisive establishment figure who was committed to the British imperial project, and has been used a symbol of anti-European sentiment by the British right wing, the Tory government has acted so as to position itself to the political right of its predecessors. Who we choose to represent as our national heroes, and the historical narrative this creates, massively reflects the kind of societal values we wish to consolidate.

The government’s actions, by putting Churchill on the new five pound note, suggest that we are a society who values our colonial past, our national hegemony, and our isolationism over our desire to build a more just and equal society.

Another successful year for JustFest

On the 18th October the University of Manchester hosted JustFest, a social justice festival centred on encouraging students to engage with community projects both in Manchester and abroad. A range of representative charities were present, from University led organisation RAG to more local charities operating in Manchester.

Manchester University prides itself on social responsibility, with several active schemes in place to make sure that students are as engaged as possible with projects promoting social justice in and around the university. The Executive Team in the SU spoke out about the importance of such an event, each stating their own social justice pledge. Wellbeing Officer, Izzy Gurbez, expressed her wishes to “fight the stigma and discrimination against mental health” acting in a particularly timely fashion after the establishment of the MIND society at the SU and, more recently, in light of Mental Health Awareness Week.

After speaking to a selection of the charities present at JustFest it became clear how important such an event was for encouraging students to give back to the community. For example, representatives from Greater Manchester Youth Network (GMYN) spoke of their need for students to help in their plight to inspire disadvantaged youths in Manchester. This year GMYN are recruiting for students to help in their ‘Boots and Beats’ campaign, aimed at building young people’s confidence and life skills through participation in sport and drama. They emphasized the great necessity of student support in order for their projects to continue, with volunteers both facilitating projects and fundraising on behalf of the charity.

Additionally, there were more internationally focused projects present, such as Travelteer Impact. They are a Sri Lankan based organisation improving local communities, environments, educating people, and generally striving to create a better lifestyle for those living in poverty. Travelteer work on a range of schemes from wildlife conservation to teaching, and running afterschool clubs. With such a vast variety of opportunities available to students it is safe to say that JustFest triumphed in supplying those interested with all the necessary means to make a real, positive impact through volunteering.

However, JustFest was not just the promotion of charities and projects, with performance teams such as the Mustard Tree drama group making appearances, as well as My Manchester photo exhibitions and two short films as part of the Homeless Film Festival. Organisers of the event stated that they wanted JustFest to promote the keen interest of the University in diversity and social engagement, as with 40,000 students currently studying at UoM they have a social responsibility to encourage students to become social justice ambassadors, both in Manchester and beyond.

Bursaries improve students’ chances of getting a better degree

A study carried out in nine English universities has shown that for each £1,000 of financial aid awarded, the chances of getting a good degree increases by 3.7 percentage points.

Researchers at the University College London tested data of those in receipt of financial aid against test scores and the number of students completing their course. Data for 35,879 EU and UK students were included in the sample who were receiving bursaries from £50 up to £3,200.

The conclusion of the study is that “results show that students receiving bursary aid persist further and achieve better outcomes than they would have done without the subsidy.”

The new results contrast with a similar study from 2014 carried out by England’s Office for Fair Access, which found that neither the size nor the availability of a bursary had a discernible impact on whether a student from a lower socio-economic background would finish a course or not.

Although the results do not show exactly why bursaries have a positive impact, it is suggested that bursaries can assist students with their financial strains such as having a part-time job alongside studying, buying course materials, and upholding a decent living environment.

The Professors behind the study, Gill Wyness and Richard Murphy, note one of their most interesting findings is that “students from richer backgrounds gain less than those from poorer backgrounds.” The estimated impact of larger bursaries on the poorer half of the sample is about six times greater than the cohort as a whole.

The University of Manchester boasts that more than a third of students have access to a cash bursary. Students are identified to be eligible for the bursary judged on their household income, which is provided through the Student Finance Application.

We asked Manchester students how the Manchester Bursary affects them:
Final year Maths Undergraduate Riannan Singh says: “It’s great not having the stress of having to ask my mum for money when I know that would put her under a lot of pressure. I also don’t know where I’d find the time for a part-time job outside of my studying; that would definitely have a negative impact on my grades.”

Politics and Modern History student Muneera Lula says: “The bursary also means I don’t feel like I have to miss out on things like playing sports and getting involved in societies which can sometimes have hidden costs”. She adds, “It also means that when I do work it is to top-up my income rather than to scrape by, the bursary softens my financial worries at Uni. So yes, it makes my life at Uni much easier.”

The study insists that bursary distribution is important in determining the outcome of students success. It advises that institutions should streamline their aid policies to improve efficiency. For example, at high performing universities such as Imperial College (ranked 8th in the World), it would be better to distribute resources across more students, as their students are likely to gain the most.

Oxfam director awarded Honorary degree at Foundation day celebrations

The University of Manchester awarded an honorary degree to Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam International, during their Foundation Day celebrations.

On Wednesday 19th of October, Winnie, an alumna of the university, gave a speech on the ‘Advancing of Women’s Rights in an Unequal World: A personal perspective’.

As well as leading Oxfam International, Winnie also led Uganda’s first parliamentary women’s caucus, which championed ground-breaking gender equality provisions in the country’s 1995 post-conflict constitution. Alongside this she was a signatory to her country’s 1985 peace agreement.

She has a BSc in Aeronautical Engineering from Manchester and was on campus earlier this year to launch the University’s Global Development Institute, Europe’s largest research and teaching institute dedicated to international development.

Speaking of receiving her honorary degree, Winnie said it was a great honour “that my alma mater recognises the work that I have done—but it’s very much an honour for the African women that I have worked with and with whom we have struggled, won rights, and changed our communities and our countries.

“For Manchester to keep sharing knowledge and giving opportunities to young people from developing countries is just amazing—I am so proud to be an alumna!”

Winnie reflected on her own experiences as a student at the university and growing up in Uganda. The speech focused heavily on the debt she owed to her mother and grandmother’s legacies as empowered women in an unequal economic landscape.

After Winnie’s speech the floor was opened up to questions from the audience.

Naa Acquah, General Secretary of The University of Manchester’s Students’ Union, asked the first question of the night: “What advice would you give to young women in Africa and in the diaspora living across the world, about what they can do to progress women’s equality?”

Winnie answered Naa’s question by sharing her experiences of when she arrived here in Manchester as a student.

When she arrived she wanted to be a part of women’s groups, and she went to the Union, there first she found a group that said they were radical women.

When she got there she said the conversation was mainly around women’s bodies and the right to own their bodies and she thought “yeah, okay, next? And they didn’t say anything more than that”, so she left.

Then she saw another group and they said they were the Socialist Feminist group in the union, and she went; she spoke of how they “talked and talked and talked, and I liked it and I was inspired, but they kept talking about issues of women workers and I kept waiting, I didn’t know about women workers, I just knew about women farmers, they never talked about women in rural Africa, it was all about women in industrial societies, I felt left out and I left.”

Then she joined the peace activists, who went to Greenham Common, and again she said they “sat and talked and talked, all about the threat of nuclear war” but that “she kept saying to them, wait a moment, in Africa we are being killed by small and light weapons, what do you have to say about that?”, to which she said they would “listen respectively and then continue talking about the threat of nuclear weapons”.

Winnie said she felt like her own issues were not being addressed, but that slowly she started to realise that women’s rights cut across every continent, and that she could be a “nomad like my grandmother and keep traversing these movements, pushing for my interests.”

She ended her response to Naa saying, “that’s my answer to you about a women whose roots are in Africa or in another region, living in this region wanting to connect—you will never find one place where all your issues will be addressed, but go and connect on the issues that matter to you.”

She ended calling for women to “traverse various groups, be a nomad, sample, venture”.

Winnie received her honorary doctorate alongside Lord David Alliance, Professor Dame Sue Bailey, Mr Anil Ruia and Sir Norman Stoller as the university celebrated the anniversary of the bringing together of the Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in 2004, to form The University of Manchester.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “I am delighted that at this year’s Foundation Day celebrations we welcomed back an alumna, Ms Winnie Byanyima, to deliver our most prestigious lecture and to award her an honorary doctorate.

“Winnie’s drive to promote the roles of women and work to address global inequalities fully align with the University’s own activities.

“It is also an honour to be able to recognise the great contributions to society made by Lord David Alliance, Professor Dame Sue Bailey, Mr Anil Ruia, and Sir Norman Stoller with the conferment of their honorary doctorates.”

Tracks of the week: 24/10

‘Rainbow Lollipop’ – Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation

Swedish psych band Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation come of the gate hungry in this track from their sophomore album Mirage. Free from the pomp and pretence that too often accompanies modern psychedelic rock, Josefin and co. lay down a sticky, driven, shoegaze-inspired stunner of a track in ‘Rainbow Lollipop’. There’s a hypnotic swagger to it, sure to draw you in, as it saunters its way to just under the four minute mark.

‘Ordinary’ – Jagwar Ma

Taken from new release Every Now & Then, Jagwar Ma are back with a track that is slicker and sassier than anything on 2013’s baggy debut triumph Howlin. Rooted heavily in their dance influences, synth and drum machine man Jono Ma takes centre stage on this bouncy track packed with airy synths and sharp beats. A smooth refinement on their upbeat Manchester-inspired sound, the Australian trio show they’ve got a lot more to say.

‘No Plan’ – David Bowie

One of the three bonus tracks to be released along with the cast recordings from Bowie’s musical Lazarus, ‘No Plan’ debuted on BBC Radio last Tuesday. It’s a floatier affair than many of the other songs recorded around the time of Blackstar, but packed with its trademark instrumentation of eerie saxophones and stripped-back percussion. Dreamy synths and laid-back drumming carry a despondent and uncharacteristically frail sounding Bowie. If Blackstar was a final goodbye, this track feels like letting go and passing on, as ever with immeasurable grace and charm.

Is money poisoning English football?

The words “Gareth Southgate, the whole of England is with you”, rendered immortal by Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds in their song about England’s exit from Euro 1996, unfortunately no longer ring true. The whole of England is definitely not behind the interim manager or English football in general after yet another embarrassing performance in France this summer, and the even more mortifying experience of having manager Sam Allardyce sacked over corruption allegations. So is it the vast amount of money being thrown around these days the reason why the state of English football is at an all-time low?

Last season’s £5.14 billion TV rights deal saw inequality in European football tilt very much in England’s—and especially the Premier League’s—direction. It is undeniable that money from the media is the driving force behind football, with fixtures now being scheduled on Friday nights solely in order to maximise viewing numbers. This suggests that the Football Association have totally given in to the money that huge media corporations like Sky and BT sport have waved in front of their faces, with the view of making English football the pinnacle. But is this cause for praise?

Apparently not, as FIFA haven’t granted England the chance to host a World Cup since 1966, because they have openly voiced their dislike for the FA’s failure to tame commercialism in the Premier League, leaving supporters feeling deprived. Hiked ticket prices and the resulting change in the demographic of people attending games is also leaving diehard fans unhappy. Although supply does equal demand, clubs should show more loyalty to the fan base on which they are built, and should therefore not be allowed to get away with charging more each season for tickets: where will it stop? Why not put aside some of the billions received from TV rights to subsidise ticket costs in order to keep football accessible for the common man?

Even for the supporters who argue that we are lucky to be entertained week in week out by teams that on paper are head and shoulders above the rest of Europe, must be gutted with the plight of English teams in European competitions over the last few seasons. And it’s not only our clubs who aren’t faring well away from English shores but the national team too who are currently mid-way through what seems to be a never ending ‘unlucky streak’. This summer’s performance in France would be agreed by most as laughable, and unfortunately it’s not the first and will definitely not be the last time this is the general sentiment following an embarrassingly early exit on the international stage. What is going so wrong that we still fail to perform even after billions have been pumped into our football industry?

Although most English fans will find this hard to swallow, we should probably take a leaf out of the Germans’ book. Despite actually turning over less than the Premiership, the German league is much more profitable than the English due to the fact that their average player’s wage is a fraction of what it is here. Generally this has deterred the world’s best players in search of the big bucks, which has in turn allowed for domestic players to get more game time and—lo and behold—their national team are world champions…

Why not have a system of governance like they do for grade listed buildings? Although these historically buildings can be privately owned, the government is allowed to impose rules on certain things because of their importance to society. If the same sort of system was put in place within the parameters of football, then the government would be able to cap player wages as well as ticket prices in order to regulate media’s control over the sport. This would surely re-entice fans who are sick of money dominating football both on and off the field, and might even have a positive effect on the performance of our national team somewhere down the line.

If there is no way back from the multi-billion pound football world we now live in to the days of the football at its purest, then surely it should at least pay dividends? For English fans who aren’t disillusioned with the over-commercialised sport then money, money, money, please bring football home.

Parliamentary inquiry investigates football corruption

The House of Commons Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport last week met with Football Association (FA) bosses to discuss the recent football corruption scandal. They reviewed the allegations that cost Sam Allardyce his job as England manager and wider corruption allegations in football.

The chair of the committee, Conservative MP Damian Collins, said the lack of appropriate questioning before Allardyce’s appointment to England manager could be considered “institutional failure”. Allardyce was investigated as part of the 2006 BBC Panorama investigation into football corruption. The investigation was found four suspect transfers which concerned Allardyce. This did not dissuade the FA from appointing Allardyce as England boss in July.

Collins was forthright in his assessment: “The FA appointed a manager who was a central figure in the biggest ever investigation initiated by football into improper payments and bungs. I don’t believe the FA spoke to Quest or Lord Stevens [who led the investigation] before the appointment and to not be able to ascertain whether it was discussed with him before the appointment was made—I think a lot of people would find that astonishing.”

The committee also heard that Allardyce received a payoff from the FA, rumoured to be in the region of £1m, which they found to be “extraordinary” considering the circumstances of his departure.

Summarising, Collins mentioned comments by former Manchester United chief executive David Gill, who is on the board of the FA, who said that no one had seen the Allardyce situation coming: “I think lots of people saw this coming and it was only the FA that didn’t.”

Later in the meeting Collins used his parliamentary privilege, which grants legal immunity, to repeat allegations against Cardiff City Neil Warnock that date back to 2014. These allegations were first brought to public attention by the Crystal Palace player Jason Puncheon. In tweets which were later deleted, Puncheon said, “What I won’t accept is an opinion from a man who’s crooked and ruining the game. The man who signs players, gives them extra wages and appearance bonuses to make sure they pay him to get into the team or on the bench.” He was later fined £15,000 and apologised to Warnock.

When asked about why the FA did not contact Puncheon regarding the allegations, FA Director of Strategy Robert Sullivan stated that the case was lacking “hard evidence” so further action could not be taken. Warnock later responded to the allegations being brought up again in parliament. He stressed that the allegations were “completely and utterly false”. He continued, “The FA Commission considered all of the evidence in detail in 2014 and it found that the allegations which were published about me were unfounded. Any suggestion that the FA failed to investigate this matter is simply untrue.”

A damning assessment in parliament and fresh corruption questions does not help English football, at a time when faith in the FA is at an all time low.

Life after Fabric: What’s next for the future of British clubbing?

With the recent closure of famed London nightclub Fabric being blamed on the rise in ecstasy deaths the venue experienced, it has prompted many to wonder about the future of Britain’s clubbing scene, and what venues could do to tackle this problem.

The era of acid house and ecstasy in the 80s is one of Britain’s biggest youth revolutions, which generated an entirely new music scene and drug culture. Over two decades, dozens of DJs, new genres, and hundreds of dance floors later, Britain’s nightclub scene has unquestionably changed, but is most certainly not dead.

Similarly, to the legendary Hacienda night club in Manchester, Britain today is still filled with renowned super clubs that are crammed with house headed party goers; The Warehouse Project in Manchester, Motion in Bristol, The Ministry of Sound and XOYO in London. However, the most recent and controversial decision to close one of London’s most iconic clubs, Fabric, has caused a buzz of outrage across the country. “It’s a worrying thing really,” Al Bradley, a DJ who has played at the legendary Fabric discussed. “I mean where do you stop, if you can close Fabric? If you close a nightclub because someone has died from taking drugs, then really you are opening up a huge can of worms.”

The debate still plays on to whether the club is truly closing its doors once and for all due to the six deaths that occurred in the venue over the last four years, as well as it acting as a base for the consumption of illegal drugs. “By closing the venue, Islington Council have simply shifted the ‘problem’ to other venues,” Bradley said. “Which more than likely won’t have the same safety procedures as Fabric did; how is that helping the situation?”

Alistair Turnham, a researcher, planner, and leading specialist on the evening and night time economy, helped to put a paper together about the context in which Fabric was closed down. He discussed his opinion on the evidence that was provided by the police and council for the club’s license being provoked. “The evidence itself is anecdotal, amateurish, and weak. The reason I believe the evidence should be challenged is because nobody was implemented for selling [drugs], no drugs were confiscated. While not doubting police are being honest in their approach of what they saw, their evidence is very interpretative, subjective.”

“However the council, when two people tragically died recently, was within its rights based on that evidence, however poor, able to close the club,” Turnham said.

Cameron Leslie, co-founder and director of Fabric is convinced that it is in fact all down to a grudge the council had with the nightclub, he recently expressed in a documentary aired on BBC Radio 1 about the closure of Fabric. In the documentary, presented by BBC Radio 1 DJ B Traits, Leslie spoke out about how the relationship between the club, council and police changed after the first death in the venue.

“There has [been 6 deaths in the last four years] and you do have to take a step back and say, in the last 4 [years] what’s changed?” Leslie said on the documentary, comparing the clubs first nine-year reign that saw no deaths. Claiming nothing has changed, not even their Saturday night residences since the club opened, Leslie spoke of the noticeable changes in societal behaviour. “What it comes down to is the massive strength and increase in drugs, that when your dealing with a micro percentage of people coming through the doors, it only needs to go wrong (once), and you see the situation that we are dealing with here.”

“It’s difficult to say whether society has changed,” Turnham said. “There has definitely been an increase in the number of stimulants taken. Overall, recreational drug taking has fallen since the 90s. You have to look at each individual case separately, rather than looking at trends, as each individual’s reaction to taking drugs is completely different.”

Turnham, who has helped develop over 100 projects to improve town centres after dark with his organisation MADE, made a point in his paper on Fabric that many failed to tackle. “The people who died took drugs hidden in a purse or bra, which has been going on for years. If you hide MDMA or a tablet in your sock or down your pants, it is impossible for any door search to find it without going too far,” Turnham said. The only way to check that is with a cavity based search, like in an airport, that is not practical in clubs. “How can you close a club down when door staff have done everything and couldn’t have prevented that situation anymore?”

“However tragic those deaths are, those people bought those drugs into the club and consumed them themselves,” Turnham pointed out, “no matter how young and inexperienced they were.”

“There is a bigger societal conversation to be had about the drug taking, in terms of what society tolerates. The taking of drugs is not illegal anyway, that is just possession of drugs.”

Tim Millar, a Reader in Substance Use and Addictions in the division of Psychology and Mental Health at The University of Manchester, gave his opinion on the ecstasy-related deaths: “There are some signs of a fairly recent ‘uptick’ in the trend for ecstasy among younger age groups.”

Many have actually even seen the closure of Fabric as a potential danger to the rise in the misuse of drugs in London and across Britain if the night club scene changes, as the venue was such a safe environment for party goers to take the substances in if they are going to be taken. “I mean it’s just a fact that people do take drugs; there’s no point pretending it doesn’t happen,” Bradley said. “Fabric was one of the most well-organised, professionally run, safest environments for people to go out to.” Turnham also spoke of how Fabric’s strict search routine was amongst one of the most thorough he had come across.

The infamous Hacienda, first opened by legendary music label, Factory Records and commonly compared to the Fabric of the 80s and 90s, was also one of the many nightclubs home to the distinguishing musical ethos of Madchester in 1988-89, the ‘Second Summer of Love’. More widely known as the name given to the ecstasy driven period in Britain, it was at a time when there was an explosion of un-licensed MDMA-fuelled drug parties. “In the early 90s it [ecstasy] played a very big part to the culture—the electronic music club scene frankly wouldn’t have happened [or] developed without it,” Bradley said.

“It allowed people to really escape in a way they’d not ever have done on a night out before. It sounds a bit cheesy, but it genuinely did bring people together; if you were at a club and the vast majority of people were taking ecstasy, then you really did feel like you were all ‘as one’.”

With the rise of nightclubs all run by top DJ’s such as Shoom, widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK rave scene Danny Rampling, the club Future that was led by the legendary Paul Oakenfold, Nicky Holloway running Trip, and of course Mike Pickering running Hacienda in Manchester, the beginnings of rave-infused MDMA nights took off in the UK. “It was simply unlike anything else I’d seen,” Bradley remembers about Hacienda. “People cheering in a nightclub—that only happened on football terraces!”

The UK continues to have the highest rates in MDMA use in Europe, with 3.9% of 16-24 year olds reporting having used ecstasy in the past year in the latest Home Office Crime Survey for England and Wales. The rise in ecstasy-related deaths has in fact increased: in 2010, there were ten ecstasy-related deaths, in comparison to 2015’s figures of 57 deaths. However, the rise in deaths is not related to increased use, the level of ecstasy intake has remained quite stable over the last ten years. It is the increase in the purity of ecstasy tablets, compared to five years ago; tablets are now stronger, and are being made with harsher and even life-threatening chemicals, Professor Fiona Mesham, a Criminology lecturer from Durham University says in an interview with BBC Radio 1.

“The number of deaths involving ecstasy is very low compared to the number of people who use the drug,” Millar pointed out. “For example, there were almost 2,000 drug deaths involving opioids, even though the number of people who use illicit opioids is very much less than the number who use ecstasy.”

Many other European cities have also been confronting the issue of drug use in clubs. Zurich, for example, have been using front of house testing for the last seven years, and have had zero party related deaths in that time period, while the Netherlands put out a warning about the dangers of the ‘superman’ pill circulating their clubbing scene, that contained a deathly substance called PMA, and also, as a result, had zero deaths caused from the tablet.

“As someone who’s also played over in Berlin a few times, it’s amazing to see the difference in their attitudes; it’s accepted that people go out and take drugs, but their venues are treated as ‘high culture’,” Bradley said.

Many clubs and festivals all around the Britain are similarly choosing to tackle this problem head on, by introducing forensic testing on sites and in nightclubs. The Loop is an organization that conducts such testings and provides welfare support. The forensic testing reflects the high purity rates, with the MDMA crystal currently in circulation in the UK at a high purity level of 83% and even higher at recent festivals.

“The need for a better education in young adults is vital,” Turnham said: “The education we have in this country is terrible.” Turnham also spoke about how the likes of Amsterdam and Berlin were miles ahead in terms of getting a handle on their drug culture.

This also begs the question whether having such drug testing stations, that inform clubbers whether their drugs are safe to take, is encouraging young people to take drugs.

“At the moment it seems to be a very sensible approach, I think evidence exists it would work, speaking generally,” Turnham said. “I agree that we should do all that we can to reduce the potential harms that arise from taking drugs,” Millar added.

The Loop has also partnered up with some of the biggest organisations and festivals in order to help prevent potentially life threatening drugs coming into contact with party goers, including at Warehouse Project, Fabric, Secret Garden Party, and Kendal Calling. They take a sample of drugs from people who choose to use the service, and then inform them about their drug, what it contains, and the relevant risks or impacts they can have. A quarter of people that have used their services asked The Loop to dispose of their drugs immediately, while another large portion of people came back at a later date to ask about drugs they have taken in the past. They are eager to convey that though do not condone drug taking, their mission is to inform and educate.

With Fabric all set to return on November 26th, to appeal the withdrawal of its licence, can we learn from the closure of one of London’s most iconic clubs? “I don’t think by closing Fabric it really gets the heart of the problem,” Turnham answered. “We need measures, about reducing the potential harm for those who are choosing to take drugs.” Such goals are to be met through education and initiative, not by closing the club. “Those who are taking drugs will not stop, they will only take them in a place with not nearly as many precautions.”

The obvious conclusion here is that there has to be some coming together of venues, clubbers, councils, and the police. The revolution of a generation obsessed with dance music combined with substance consumption is a culture that has long been brewing in Britain, and worldwide. The clear awareness now that people will and do experiment with a range of substances—whether that be MDMA, cocaine, legal highs, or alcohol—is evident, and the aim should be to make these environments safer for party goers, not eliminate them.

“If the closure of Fabric leads to a greater understanding and working together across all nightlife…” Bradley said, “then I guess that can only be a good thing.”

Review: The Book of Dhaka

The Book of Dhaka, due to be released on the 26th of October, is a lovely little anthology consisting of ten short stories, written by prominent Bangladeshi authors and edited by Pushpita Alam and Arunava Sinha. Comma Press’ latest addition to the City in Short Fiction series aims to conceive a sort of literary map of the city, something that is achieved by weaving wonderful tales of love, learning and growing up in Dhaka. The book begins with a short introduction detailing the significance of the novel, which was surprisingly helpful (I’m not usually a massive fan of introductions as I find they can be tedious). The Book of Dhaka shows us a city full of vitality and hope whilst expertly contrasting this with tones of desperation, portraying a mixture of emotions which emanates from within the city.

Although I found the book interesting enough, I was unsure of the structure of the stories. It frequently read too much like a work of non fiction, which doesn’t exactly get my heart pounding. What I was hoping for was something which would make me feel more fully engaged with the plot and the characters as opposed to what it really felt like — coming across as something that read more like a text book. I understand that these stories are trying to teach us about the morals and culture in Dhaka however, for me anyway, a lot of these plots could have been a lot more engrossing if they had felt a little less educational and a little more magical.

Another thing that didn’t appear engaging was that most of the short stories didn’t seem particularly unique or different to anything else I’d read before. It was quite ‘been there, done that’. Very few of the stories grabbed my attention and had me widening my eyes in shock at some crazy plot twist. Reading back on this review, you may guess that there is a general sense of dislike for The Book of Dhaka, however there were some stories that tickled my funny bone. ‘The Circle’ by Moinul Ahsan Saber brought a smile to my face, with the plot revolving around a woman who is taken on a trip around the city for the first time by her husband on his motorbike. Wildly though, the motorbike seems to have a life of its own as it forces the couple to go round and around the same streets and see the same sights, much to their annoyance. I must confess that this short story is perhaps my favourite within the whole anthology. It stood out to me in a way that the others didn’t, the tone suddenly picking up and becoming faster paced, which made it a lot easier to get stuck into than some of the other stories.

The Book of Dhaka is a collection that at times was hard to get into but also provided some entertaining and stimulating reads, taking us through the vibrant city of Dhaka and allowing us to enter the minds of many of its citizens, from gangsters to slum kids.

Crowdfunding success at Manchester

Crowdfunding has become a common part of internet life in the last few years, with sites like Kickstarter, GoFundMe and Patreon regularly funding projects, charity work and art. Where though, would you turn if your society wanted to buy expensive equipment or if you needed help funding a research expedition?

In May this year the University set up its own crowdfunding platform, Crowdfunding at Manchester, and the platform has already been used to fund five student-led projects. The platform, hosted by Hubbub—a company that specialises in crowdfunding for universities and non-profits—operates in a similar way to Kickstarter: Money put forward by backers is only actually taken if the project’s minimum target is reached.

Successfully funded projects include Madex2016: A medical expedition to Madagascar during which the team was researching Schistosomiasis—a parasitic tropical disease—whilst also administering treatment to children suffering from the disease. Money raised through the crowdfunding platform allowed the team to cover the costs of their expedition not included in grants and led to the completion of the team’s research, as well as treatment of nearly 2000 children.

Closer to home, the University of Manchester’s Men’s Lacrosse team raised £625 to purchase new helmets for the club. One of the problems the team highlighted in their campaign is that getting into a new sport such as lacrosse can be very expensive (with helmets alone costing  around £75) and therefore off-putting to newcomers. With the University of Manchester serving a large proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the club believed it was important that a good stock of kit was available for members to train and play with. The campaign allowed 8 new helmets to be purchased (supplementing 12 purchased with other funding), providing enough to kit-out two teams and significantly reducing the cost to participate in the society.

Part of what the crowdfunding platform provides is support from the University’s Development team in setting up and raising funds for a project. Elizabeth Ogilvie, a medical student who was part of team raising funds for medical outreach in Uganda said “without the support of the Development team we would’ve really struggled to make it to our target—they really carried us through when we were dealing with all the other stresses of setting up our project.”

If you want to find out more about how to fund a project you’re interested in, a crowdfunding information session is being hosted on Thursday 27th October at 5 PM in University Place 3.209.

The art of the penalty

‘Top bins’? Down the middle? Giving the keeper the eyes? There are many weapons in a player’s arsenal when it comes to taking a penalty. However, with such variety, are they over-complicating what appears to be a straightforward task? Conversely, are there hidden complexities below the surface of the penalty? Having only played football to a Sunday league level, I don’t claim to know all the answers. Yet, recent events, namely Manchester City’s penalty horror show against Everton a few weeks ago—both De Bruyne and Aguero missed penalties—and Zaza’s catastrophic attempt in the Euro quarter-final in the summer—look it up on the internet, it’s shambolic and utterly hilarious—provoke a fresh consideration of the penalty.

Initially, there are certain maxims that exist in football culture related to the penalty. Every football fan would have heard them painfully reiterated by blithering commentators. Statements like “don’t change your mind on the run-up” and they’ve “put it beyond the keepers’ reach” or “given the keeper the eyes”; if a penalty is saved, the phrase “it was a nice height for the keeper” is usually peddled out. These notions form the fundamental thinking when it comes to taking a penalty.

However, the modern game has added to, and further complicated, the process of taking a penalty. While the chip down the middle may appear highly innovative, the method has been around since 1976, pioneered by Antonín Panenka for Czechoslovakia at the Euros of that year. This method has proved very popular, players both successfully and unsuccessfully emulating it: Pirlo’s decisive chip penalty in the shoot-out against England at Euro 2012 resonates in the memory. The stuttered run-up is a truly modern addition, brought into the game in the mid-2000’s. This method, in which a player will break, sometimes varying breaks in, stride when moving to take the kick, is an offshoot from the ‘feinted’ penalty. The ‘feinted’ penalty, when players could stop, and move back and forth, during their run-up, was rightfully banned in 2010.

Moreover, Goalkeepers have developed responses to modern development: They attempt to impose themselves. They bend the rules, stealing a few yards in front of the goal-line even though laws state that goalkeepers should be on the goal-line when the ball is kicked. Similarly, they employ distraction methods: Manuel Neuer is known to bounce around in his goal, hanging off the crossbar like an orangutan, while Joe Hart has previously taunted the opponent with fake laughter and childish faces.

On the evidence of this season, the complications to the methods surrounding penalty kicks have had a negative effect. The Telegraph reports that only 71% of Premier League penalties have been scored so far this season, the lowest since the 2001/2002 season, while in the Champions League before last week’s games, only six out of 14 penalties had been converted. Neymar’s terrible effort against Manchester City last week was further evidence of the malaise that has overcome European football.

Perhaps goalkeepers have got better at anticipating, and subsequently saving, penalties? In 2014, Brunel University suggested that ‘world class’ goalkeepers have an 80 millisecond head start when it comes to predicting the actions of their opponents, citing minute movements and body signals that provide clues.

It is true goalkeepers do a lot of homework these days, studying videos of future opponents and their penalty tendencies. However, for me, it is the unnecessarily complex methods that players bring to the penalty kick. Attacking players are forgetting that penalties fundamentally favour them. It is a psychological standoff with the goalkeeper: Removing unnecessary complexities would enable clear focus and greater success.

The inflated egos of modern players have spilled over; the penalty kick has become a vanity show, players attempting to show how skillful and alternative they can be. Moreover, they are desperate for the limelight, desperate to score a potentially match-winning goal for the team. Twice already this season, players have argued with teammates over who would take the penalty; Eric Lamela with Son Heung-Min and Alexis Sanchez with Santi Cazorla. In both cases, the subsequent penalty was missed.

The penalty kick has been unnecessarily over-complicated by modern footballers. Alan Shearer and Matt Le Tissier were experts when it came to penalties: Shearer converting 62/74 (Premier League and international) and Le Tissier converting 48/49. Both maintain that simplicity is the key. On his method, Le Tissier stated “I stuck it in the corner, and if the keeper went the right way it was hard enough to beat him,” while Shearer’s emphasis was on “stay[ing] in control of the situation.” The adage goes ‘if it ain’t broken don’t fix it’. When it comes to penalties, modern players should follow the lead of Shearer and Le Tissier: drop the complexity and the rewards will follow.

 

Brexit decisions will not affect funding for EU students in the UK

The government has reassured worried EU students that they will still receive financial support to study in the UK.

As an ambiguous Brexit continues to instil confusion and doubt among many UK and non-UK students, they have been assured for now that their time studying together within British universities is not over yet. It has been confirmed that EU students wanting to apply for places at UK universities will still be eligible for funding, despite Brexit.

Uncertainty has hovered over the thoughts of many internationals since the UK made the decision to leave the European Union in June. However, the government has reassured university goers that student funding will still be available to those that want it. The number of international students choosing higher education within British universities makes up a large proportion of the overall student count and their skills are highly valued within academia. Many fear that decreasing the number of talented and creative minds entitled to study in UK due to lack of government support would be a step in the wrong direction.

Clarity has been needed for current and prospective EU students about their future and the UK education system for a while now. The government has been encouraged to consider the role that international undergraduate and postgraduate students play, when developing a post-Brexit plan for Britain.

President of Universities UK, Dame Julia Goodfellow, spoke of the UK as being an “attractive destination” for all qualified international students and that such students play an “important role in towns and cities, creating jobs and supporting local businesses.” Following government claims that funding will continue, pressure has now been put on SNP ministers to do the same for those wishing to study in Scotland.

Great Barrier Reef dying from climate change damage

If you’re planning a year abroad off the beautiful east coast of Australia, you might be a little disappointed. A recent tongue-in-cheek obituary by popular environmental journalist Rowan Jacobsen claims the Great Barrier Reef has “finally died in 2016, after a long illness. It was 25 million years old.”

Jacobsen’s claims, although greatly exaggerated, are not far from the truth. The recent survey by the Australian Government Marine Park Authorities have found that earlier this year there was the worst mass coral-bleaching event on record; where by the coral tissue cells turn white and die due to environmental changes. This is on top of the 93 per cent of reefs on the Great Barrier Reef that are believed to already be in the process of bleaching. Historically, there have only been three mass bleaching events recorded in this area, all of which have occurred since 1998.

The process of coral bleaching is not a new event, but never has it occurred on such a mass, global scale before. Unfortunately what is being seen on the Great Barrier Reef can be seen on reefs all over the world. The reason being a combination of human caused climate change, pollution and El Niño events – natural climatic temperature cycles, which are also getting worse as a result of climate change.

But this catastrophe should not just be a matter for the marine biologists and divers, because coral reefs have given more to people than we can imagine. Other than being the most diverse – and arguably the most beautiful – ecosystem on the planet, some of the most important anti-cancerous, heart disease and potential HIV drugs have been discovered and resourced from coral reefs. Along with most fancy imported fish and shellfish, and being the worlds greatest water filtration system.

In fact the Great Barrier Reef alone generates more than $1.5 billion a year to the local economy and even more globally, as well as acting as a protective energy barrier to everyone that lives along the east coast by absorbing the impact of potential tsunamis. It also produces almost equal the amount of energy as rainforests do, so its destruction should be equally as controversial.

But is the Great Barrier Reef really a lost cause? Experts believe there is some hope if we act fast, with an emergency global reef summit is being staged as a result of this year’s disaster — bringing together 20 experts from around the world. Manchester University’s Dr Simone Turchetti specialises in the history of international decision-making, specifically in regards to conservation and environmental science.

He believes that damage to the Great Barrier Reef is of worldwide concern and that global government policies are not doing enough to protect out world’s oceans. But a major problem is how well current rules preventing damage to our oceans are being enforced. He highlights the less famous example of the Mururoa reef, which was destroyed by French nuclear testing in the 1990’s. Despite the reef being part of a nuclear-free zone sanctioned by an international treaty in 1985. So Turchetti states, “how many reefs’ obituaries should have already been written?”

Although Jacobsen’s prank will be forgotten in a month or so, the damage to global reefs will persevere, without effective interventions or regulations being obeyed. It can be easy to ignore the destruction of such a beautiful ecosystem, since its so far away. But its services to humanity make it an international concern — if rainforests are considered the lungs of the earth, then coral reefs should be considered the gills. Only through global governmental cooperation can we start to fix the problem.

Preview: This Week at HOME

Queen of Katwe

Making its debut as part of the BFI London Film Festival’s Black Stardom incentive, Queen of Katwe received great reception. The story explores the constant struggle of Phiona (Madina Malwanga) in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. Yet, when Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) visits the area on a mission, her life is transformed by his chess teaching. Under his supervision, Phiona matures both on and off the board. With her success in the sport, new opportunities arise and a window of possibility opens up to escape poverty. Alongside Lupita Nyong’o and the direction of Mira Nair, the film celebrates diversity at its finest. With emotive story telling at hand, the film pushes a subtle nuanced approach, whilst cementing race as something more than background noise. As Oyelowo himself says on diversity: “It is only going to happen if the demographics of the decision makers changes.”

Photo: Sixteen Films

I, Daniel Blake

At 80 years old, Ken Loach shows no signs of losing his ability to create powerful cinema that transcends the medium in a political sense. As a direct response to the government’s increasing cutting of benefits to those in need of support, I, Daniel Blake does not shy away from true realism. Scripted by Paul Laverty, the story orientates around Daniel Blake (Dave Johns), who has recently been involved in an almost fatal accident at work. With the government rejecting his benefits claims, whilst his doctors tell him that he cannot work, Daniel is stuck in a state of purgatory. What is so touching about the film is it accurately captures the social injustices of our time, alongside it being a calling of political change. If there is any film to see in this calendar year, then I, Daniel Blake is the one.

Photo: British Film Institute

American Honey

Andrea Arnold’s coming of age drama and road film explores how the life of a teenage girl called Star (Sasha Lane) is changed when she joins a travelling sales crew on the road, leaving her previous life behind. During this time she experiences plenty of parties, alcohol, and falling in love. With bold and vibrant cinematography layered over a bleak political and economic backdrop, this montage of youth, danger, and fun is certain to be a breathtaking watch.

Live: Death Grips

16th October at Academy 1

8/10

It’s the 16th of October, Sunday at 8:30pm and the Manchester Academy is already packed full of Death Grips fans, anticipating their promised early start. In place of a support act is a somewhat sinister electronic buzzing sound that continues to build and build, adding to the growing excitement.

At exactly 9pm, MC Ride appears on stage and, without directly addressing the crowd, opens with ‘Whatever I Want (Fuck Who’s Watching)’. Usually there is a huge surge forward at gigs, but with Death Grips this is less of a surge and more jumping, pushing and shoving in all directions. The performance of each song is delivered with such high energy that there is barely a dip in the movement in the crowd and the noise created by both Death Grips and their fans singing—or, rather, shouting—along.

Towards the middle of the set I find myself three rows from the front, drenched in sweat and struggling to stay upright. This is all part of the fun, and I’d expect no less from a Death Grips gig, but it is still extremely intense and I wonder how some fans have managed to stay at the forefront of this mass of limbs and perspiration for the entirety of the evening. I also wonder how MC Ride, Andy Morin and Zach Hill have managed to perform each song (25 in total) without seeming to become tired at any point—every vocal and beat is perfect, there are no pauses and no song goes under-performed.

The entire night is sweaty, rowdy and a resounding success: It’s everything that anyone could want from a Death Grips gig, and the change of venues from the smaller, more intimate Academy 3 to the much larger Academy 1 was certainly not a sacrifice as many initially thought it was.

Ending with ‘The Fever (Aye Aye)’ and no encore was yet another excellent move by the group, leaving the crow fully satisfied and beginning as abruptly as they began. Any support act or encore would have detracted from the mass of energy which was maintained throughout, and despite leaving feeling extremely bruised and dehydrated I cannot find a fault in the entire gig.

Bloody chokers, they’re back in fashion again!

It might frighten you to find that those tight-fitting necklaces we call ‘chokers’ have a long and dark history suitable to their name.

Subtle, small and discreet chokers are currently seen as the perfect accessory to add an edge and vamp up any outfit. However their past in fashion has not been short-lived and their significance bears a tribute to the short-lived, making their presence throughout time decidedly spooky.

‘A la victime’ was a horrifying and defiant movement in late 18th century French fashion. It mirrored the image of those who met a swift yet brutal public execution during the Reign of Terror, a bloody period of the French revolution.

High society mocked and mimicked death by adorning the neck with red ribbons in literally cut-throat fashion. Not only was this the case but decadent and exclusively aristocratic balls are rumoured to have been held in honour of murdered relatives.

At the ‘Bals des Victimes’, the elite wore extraordinarily precious red rubies around their necks to emulate droplets of blood.

If you opt to follow in the footsteps of modern day beauties such as Lily Rose Depp, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Poppy Delevingne for Halloween, allow yourself to feel not only justified but proud in your minimal effort to look elegantly intimidating.

On the other hand, say what you will, but the ruthless irony with which vampy teenager wears the choker today is nothing on the gothic grotesque of the 18th century aristocratic French elite. A revival of the 90s is not quite the same as a revival of the dead and buried.