Skip to main content

Day: 27 November 2017

Man Met rank number one green university in UK

Written by Aliya Ismangil on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

Now in its tenth year, the league table ranks scored 154 universities, awarding them a First class degree, 2:1, 2:2, Third, or Fail. These scores were based on criteria like environmental policy, performances in carbon reduction, recycling and more.

Results were released on Tuesday the 14th of November, and it’s part of a bigger campaign by People & Planet, a student-led network which aims to “end world poverty, defend human rights, and protect the environment”.

Hannah Smith, co-director of research and campaigns at People & Planet, says “The league table was a eureka moment; universities love rankings, and finally we would produce one led by students! By 2010 it was clear that this was going to be a game-changer.”

Manchester Metropolitan University came out on top with a score of 77.6 per cent — a university which sees green practices like electric car hire scheme, desktop recycling bins, and water re-use on campus. Education for sustainable development is also being introduced into all of the university’s courses.

“We had clear aims: to make transparent the sustainable development of publicly funded universities,” Smith adds, “to create competition in the sector that would drive environmental and ethical performance, and to empower students and prospective students with the understanding of whether and how an institution was taking responsibility.”

Newer universities dominate the ‘First class’ category, Russell groups, in comparison, trail behind. The University of Oxford rank 54th, whilst the University of Cambridge holds 58th position. The University of Manchester come in at 71 overall, with a total score of 39.1%, despite being the first university in the world to be named a ‘Carbon Literate Organisation’.

Last year, the university launched the ‘10,000 Actions’ campaign following the success of first-year students’ participation in ‘Ethical Grand Challenge’, encouraging staff to act more sustainably.

There is a substantial improvement across all universities since the first league table ten years ago. 85 universities now recycle more than half their waste, compared to only five in 2007. “The number of universities employing environment staff doubled and in 2013 we celebrated a milestone — 100 per cent of all universities had finally set policy on their environmental impacts.” Smith says, “Our table has consistently and unashamedly held universities to account over the last decade”.

Review: Abi

Written by Sarah Johnson on . Posted in Games.

Lilith Games, the same individuals behind other mobile games Shooty Skies and Art of Conquest, have recently had the honour of holding the front page title on the App store as Game of the Day for their latest release: Abi.

Following the story of Abi and DD, two robots built for different purposes, their adventure towards Metropolis in a post-apocalyptic setting takes them across familiar and yet divergent landscapes, solving puzzles to reach from A to B and learning about the backstories of other robots along the way.

Now, in terms of mobile gaming, people have different needs as to what kind of games they are interested in: whether they would like a freemium-type adventure where you dedicate hours and money to level up and connect with an online community or a simple, repetitive game that they can play in-between lectures.

Either way, little attention has been paid to indie games which are narrative driven or stem outside of the freemium structure. It is true that indie games are given a larger platform with game awards such as The Game Awards and BAFTA Game Awards, but in terms of having a larger community of players, there is a contrast. Taking this into consideration, Abi may just be the game you’re looking for.

You start the game as a WALL-E type robot, Abi, falling into an abandoned warehouse and told to explore this new area. Soon joined by DD, you are then taught how to switch characters in terms of function, how to move around your location by tapping on either the left or right-hand side of the screen, and how to interact with objects by tapping on the gear logo that hangs above each object.

The way the controls work was already proven to be problematic, especially when playing on phones rather than tablets with a larger screen. Before you learn to use the functions further, immediately you come across your first robot, and it is there that you learn of your quest: to find DD’s friend, a little white bird. From there, you leave through the barred doors and venture outside into the wasteland.

From just my first impression of this world, it is apparent that the sound design functions perfectly for this type of game, and accompanies the landscape so beautifully that you already feel for these characters and their situation. You come across robots that feel the need to stay where they are rather than venture forward because they feel abandoned or they have nowhere else to go.

Despite the repetitiveness of talking to these robots, or solving these puzzles, the locations are sure enough to keep up your interests. There are diners and warehouses, empty homes filled with letters and stories, laboratories with hidden secrets, caves under the Earth piled high with junk-metal and revengeful creatures.

Which is why I have just one question: why wasn’t this game longer?

The world is so immersive, that by the time you want to explore more, you have reached the end. This game can easily be completed within an hour, and for £2.99 (IOS), this is what truly sets the game back. There is so much material to work with and, if the game is successful enough, maybe a longer sequel will be developed. Either way, if such a game were to be in development, it would get my full support.

6/10

Live Review: Blondie

Written by Joe Hissey on . Posted in Music.

Blondie have had a hugely successful career which has spanned over 40 years and shows no signs of slowly down, a fact fully evident when they performed at the packed Apollo with an audience ranging from young to old.

There was a clear sense of the excitement before the band took to the stage which erupted when they came on. They were fronted of course by the iconic Debbie Harry, who arrived on stage sporting a jacket reading “Stop fucking the planet” and a honey bee mask intended as an environmental statement and which keeps with the theme of the 11th studio album released earlier this year “Pollinator”.

The band surprisingly opened with one of their biggest hits “One Way or Another” which provoked a huge response from the crowd — something they didn’t always garner as they performed newer material. It was clear to see how comfortable the band was with material both old and new, but also with each other, effortlessly breezing through the set list on top form.

At times, perhaps too comfortable with the classics, Harry only performed the bare minimum of effort expected. She did however show an impressive vocal ability throughout, highlighting her incredible talent.

The rest of the band complemented one another as each member had their own moment to shine, demonstrating the band’s cohesion as a unit. Despite the band having multiple change-ups throughout their history they were extremely strong and it seemed as if they had been all together since their inception.

One of the main highlights was the band covering The Beastie Boys’ ‘(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right’ which caught the audience off guard and raised the atmosphere after they had perhaps lost it somewhat with newer material.

At times, the 70’s rock attitude did start to wear thin and obviously the performance didn’t have the same impact it would have garnered back in their hey-day. Although, this exact type of punk rock is what made them so successful. With Harry’s attire they had taken a more modern approach with issues that are clearly very important to them.

By the time they finished the main set with ‘Heart of Glass’, the crowd was without a doubt wanting more and left on an extreme high. The band returned for the encore in which Debbie gave thanks to the crowd for their continued support and as they finished with ‘Dreaming’ it was evident that Blondie are as popular as ever and showed no signs of going away anytime soon.

Manchester University criticised for links with AstraZeneca

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

Students’ Union Education Officer, Emma Atkins, has criticised the revelation of apparent links between AstraZeneca and the University.

The influence of the pharmaceutical giant over the directive of the University’s Board of Governors has been revealed following recommendations from the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education to reduce the number of members on the Board.

Lay members of the board, Isabelle Perrett and John Stageman are both ex-employees of AstraZeneca, with colleague Dapo Ajayi also assuming a day job as Chief Procurement Officer at the same corporation.

President and Vice-Chancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell herself was a non-executive director for nine years at AstraZeneca. Will Spinks, Rothwell’s advisor & registrar, also worked for the corporation before assuming his role at the university, and their team receives legal advice from general counsel Chris Petty, who also spent 32 years at the pharmaceutical giant before transitioning to work under Spinks.

Commenting on their influence, Emma Atkins, Students’ Union Education Officer, stated: “This poses a lot of questions for management: how can we be sure that they are making objective decisions, and that the board of governors are making decisions best for the university and its students, not decisions that will make their friends, Nancy and Will, happy?”

“I would like written assurances from the management about how they are declaring their interests, and how they are making sure they make objective decisions. I would also question who made the appointments of Isabelle and John to the Board of Governors.

“Whilst it is not a crime to work in the same business as some people, and then proceed to work in a university with them, given the way the university has acted and responded around various issues, it’s imperative they are transparent about commercial links.”

A spokesperson for the University commented: “AstraZeneca is a significant local employer, specialising in life sciences and biomedicine. It is entirely to be expected that a number of scientists, senior managers and board members have links to both organisations.”

In 2015, AstraZeneca invested £11.5 million to support clinical bioinformatics research conducted within the Centre for Cancer Biomarker Sciences at the Manchester Cancer Research Centre. Stated explicitly on the University of Manchester News page, it was deemed that “this collaboration builds on existing extensive and close scientific collaborations between AstraZeneca and The University of Manchester.”

 

Live Review: J Hus

Written by Yasmin Duggal on . Posted in Music.

Friday 10th November, Manchester Academy

From the instant a flashy Merc was ostentatiously revealed from behind a plush cloth, and as two hype men were enthusiastically introducing the crowd to the gritty underbelly of black British culture, it was clear J Hus wasn’t going to do things by halves.

Credit where credit is due, he made an entrance, encouraging a young crowd that if you believe in yourself then you will eventually earn respect. Shirtless and brimming with confidence, the young grime star flowed through lyrics and tracks effortlessly. Unfortunately at times he became lost in a conflict of style over substance.

Common Sense tracks dominated the show, but due to a series of time-filling reloads by the DJ, tunes merged into a pool of similar beats and rhythms, making the set mundane at times. The opening was explosive, with tracks Bouff Daddy and title track Common Sense tangibly elevating the energy level.

J Hus is clearly a natural at what he does. A fusion of grime and Afrobeat influences automatically gave him a head start with a unique live sound and a party-esque atmosphere heightened by the multiple bodies on stage and the intrinsic passion born out of music from the streets.

But there was something missing, and that was variation. He’s a master of capturing his life through lyricism and presenting it in a form unique to the current landscape of British music, but there was an element lacking from his live presence, and it is debatable whether the force behind those lyrics was translated on stage. Maybe it came from a distinct lack of movement, but there was potential there with the strength of his music to blow minds in that environment with the right crowd, and unfortunately it felt like this opportunity was missed.

Highlights came at the end of the set with singles Did You See and Spirit, which pulled the set out of its repetitive slump and injected some variation into the performance. Call and response moments worked effectively with the crowd, as fans idolised the hooks of the J Hus success story.

For a young artist on a headline tour, it was a mighty effort to impress with style. But if J Hus had concentrated more on how to present his powerful music with a physical platform, the show would have achieved more successfully what his music strives to do.

6/10