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Year: 2017

Review: Scene Dining

Written by Samuel Pigott on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Scene is not your average Indian. The poppadoms upon arrival are the one and only similarity between your bog standard Indian restaurant. From here on in the focus is very much on sharing food — a sort of Indian tapas if you will. While there is a section of the menu devoted to your more standard curry and rice affair, the recommendations all lie on the previous page, the “sharing and street food” collection.

In a fashion similar to Wagamama, dishes will arrive as and when they’re cooked, and for £5-6 per dish from the street food collection one can try a wide range of dishes for a relatively low price. In order to get a real feel for the average quality of dish on offer from Scene, I decided to order one thing from each of the subsections of the street food menu, that is one from the chicken, lamb, fish, vegetarian, and finally the extras sections.

The ajwani king prawns were well cooked and flavoursome, with the flavour of the charcoal they are grilled over coming through well. The chicken 65, described as a streetfood classic in Chennai, was a touch disappointing, amounting to the equivalent of some overcooked and somewhat bland KFC. The lahsen mushrooms were also a little more bland than one would ideally like but still carried some good flavour. The aloo papri chaat was very good, and something that I have never come across before. The bombay aloo was brilliantly spiced and far from the bland affair that they can so often be.

The standout performer has to be the sultan puri roll, however. Described as a dish fit for sultans, this minced meat kofte served in a wrap alongside salad and a brilliant spicy chutney really was outstanding. The meat was soft and delicately spiced and the chutney went with it perfectly; perfectly being a word that I don’t like to throw around lightly!
I did also choose to get one of the curries from the other section of the menu in order to be able to point people in the street food or curry direction.

The Scene handi gosht came highly recommended, but I am afraid that recommendation comes from Scene themselves, and won’t be echoed by myself. It isn’t that it was unpleasant, the sauce was rich and thick and the lamb clearly slow cooked and falling off the bone. If this had been any other normal indian restaurant this curry would come with my seal of approval, the issue is that following on from the fantastic streetfood, the curry didn’t quite live up to the same standards.

Overall, Scene scores highly in the list of Indian restaurants I have tried in Manchester, although the scoring system here is slightly different. The decor is modern and trendy, with a shisha bar taking up the first third of the restaurant. The prices are good for the location and the service was warm and friendly. If you are someone who doesn’t like sharing a curry, and prefer to order your bog standard bhuna and get on with things then this might not be the place for you, but if you enjoy a more convivial dining experience then Scene comes highly recommended.

Review: The Death of Stalin

Written by Lucas Hill-Paul on . Posted in Film.

Armando Iannucci has been on top of political satire for years, casting a boisterous, glinting eye at some of the crudest and most ridiculous aspects of modern government. He now turns his offence to the twentieth century, namely Soviet Russia, yet his casting of deliberately accented British and American actors to occupy the lavish and oppressive USSR keeps reminding us — were they really that different?

Set in the final days of Stalin’s reign, and his subsequent passing, The Death of Stalin features a host of marvellous character actors. They play Stalin’s committee vying with various success, to inherit the Commander-in-Chief’s power. Its main players are Steve Buscemi’s Kruschev, the snivelling, advantageous Secretary, and Simon Russel Beale’s Beria, the Chief of the Secret Police who has more in common with London’s most aggressive bouncer than a Russian police chief.

Introduced in a secret boy’s club in which Stalin’s committee try their hardest to impress with war anecdotes that play like drunken tales and sexual jokes, this committee is hilariously anachronistic.

Though no direct parallels are drawn with modern politicians — at least not overtly — Iannucci’s intent to explore how the tendency for public school boys to go mad with power when given an obscene amount of authority and persuasion over the public is superbly done and consistently funny.

The guffawing and bumbling of Paul Whitehouse, Michael Palin, and Paddy Considine make for quintessentially British humour in a laughably authentic Russian setting. Subtle facial expressions and a naturally conversational back and forth really highlight the comedic strength of the actors cast.

Considine’s role in the film’s cold opening, as Chairman Andreyev overseeing a symphony for which Stalin requires a last minute recording, is particularly dry. It calls to mind the groundwork laid by Monty Python’s Flying Circus, who got away with making fun of Hitler all the way back in 1970. The concept of dragging in the homeless to a re-recording conducted by an old man in a dressing gown and slippers is marvellously Python-esque.

Iannucci is obviously aware of this legacy with the casting of Palin, sweaty and cartoonish as Heimrich Himmler in Python and still endearing here as Vyacheslav Molotov, giving a surprisingly touching, though always witty performance, that will make you seriously consider why he hasn’t featured in a good film for years.

What makes The Death of Stalin the year’s most unique comedy is the anachronistic use of its actors, through an embrace of anachronism rather than a flirtation may have been more in tune with the film’s tone. Intercuts of Soviet cars driving down quite obviously modern motorways are delightfully bizarre but few and far between, and feel disconnected when contrasted with the richly constructed sets that all too earnestly attempt to create the atmosphere of a costume drama.

Perhaps this is why the film’s comedy works so well; everything is competent except its characters. Gorgeous set dressing and vibrant, smoky camerawork, occupied by buffoons posing as fascists works as brilliant absurdism for the most part, but had Iannucci been more willfully ignorant of historical possibilities perhaps some more surreal humour would have poked through when the dialogue begins to fall flat.

Playing with a bigger budget, stripping back Iannucci to his In the Loop days, whose small budget confines US-UK relations during the Iraq war to offices and scruffy boardrooms, may have encouraged some more opportunities to be playful with its setting.

Thankfully all the performances are so contemporarily on the mark — standouts included Jason Isaacs as General Zhukov, providing most of the film’s ridiculous violence, and Paul Whitehouse’s Anastas Mikoyan, whose every line, sadly sparse, is ferreted out with all the working-class annoyance of a tired plumber. It’s difficult to think of a better way to make light of dark subject matter than having sardonic, dry comedians essentially play themselves in traditionally terrifying roles.

On the precipice of being banned in Russia, of course, The Death of Stalin stands triumphant as a testament to the truth that anything can, and should, be satirised. Though its central premise of anachronism doesn’t shake quite enough comedy onto the screen as it perhaps could, its intent is clear and hilarious from the first scene.

Captions of each character and their role could be accused of being spoonfeeding for idiots, but, as one of those idiots, I can happily say that only a passing knowledge of Russian history — and British politics — is required to enjoy this film. The Death of Stalin is charming, rough, and absurd, and absolutely the most deserving comedy of the year so far.

To hear more of Lucas’s thoughts, tune into Take Three on Fuse FM’s Mixcloud

4/5

Free IFS talk on whether rich pay enough tax

Written by Cameron Broome on . Posted in News.

Are the rich paying their fair share of taxes? Who are the rich? How can people be persuaded to pay more tax?

These questions will be discussed during a free event that will take place at the University of Manchester on Tuesday the 24th of October.

The public talk will be given by Helen Miller, Associate Director and head of tax research at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and University of Manchester Professor of Economics, Diane Coyle, will be on hand to give students the opportunity to ask Helen questions.

Explaining why she believes this debate to be so timely, Helen Miller told The Mancunion: “We hear stories about how much tax the rich are – or are not – paying all the time. This was a key issue in this year’s election, with the Labour party promising to put up the tax rate on top earners. They wanted to raise more money to spend on, among other things, scrapping tuition fees.”

The IFS head of tax research added that the amount of tax raised from the rich “matters for all us because it affects how much money there is to spend on schools, hospitals, roads, and other good stuff. It might also matter [to] you directly” and said, “if you care about who’s paying for our public services, you should come to our public talk on the 24th.”

Helen said the debate was specifically of interest to students, telling The Mancunion: “plenty of university graduates will be rich relative to everyone else in the population. When you get a job, how much of your income should the government take in tax to ensure you’re paying your fair share?”

Diane Coyle, University of Manchester Economics Professor, echoed Helen’s sentiments about the issue being timely and relevant for students.

She said: “The subject of this talk is an issue much debated in the media, and concerns not only fairness but also what tax revenues are going to be available to pay for public services. The IFS event is a brilliant opportunity to engage with economics in action, out of the pages of the textbooks, in discussion with one of the country’s leading experts on tax policy.”

Though the event is free, due to expected popularity, students need to register in advance and acquire a ticket through Eventbrite.

The IFS public talk will take place on Tuesday the 24th of October from 4.15 – 5.30pm, with doors opening from 4.00pm.

The event will be held in the Simon Building, Theatre B, and will be filmed so that the discussion can be shared with others across the UK.

Are student societies safe from sexual assault?

Written by Amy Wei on . Posted in News.

Since 2005, at least six women have alleged sexual assault claims against an ex-committee member of the Speleology society.

The current society president, Sahil Maharaj, told The Mancunion that “quite a few women went to Greater Manchester Police” concerning the allegations against Adam Sharples, who used to be the Webmaster for the society.

Due to the fact “people were saying they felt uncomfortable” around Adam after the allegations came to light, the committee banned him in a unanimous blind vote in 2016. However, he has reportedly continued to harass members.

One woman, who was also a member of the Speleology society, described her experience on a society field trip to The Mancunion. While they slept in adjacent sleeping bags, Adam allegedly woke the woman up three times by groping her inside her sleeping bag.

The woman reached out to the Cumbria Police concerning the alleged assaults. Cumbria Police informed her that not enough victims had come forward in Cumbria to establish a modus operandi (MO) to open a case.

“This definitely should not have been an issue for so long,” president Sahil acknowledged to The Mancunion.

He continued however that “when I joined the club three years ago, I quite admired him at the time.” The figure was an experienced hobbyist and previously led sessions for the society. Sahil went on to say that some allegations had already been made at the time, but these were commonly dismissed as “rumours.”

When Sahil was elected as president last year, he was made aware of more recent complaints, which prompted a committee investigation. Findings were presented at the committee meeting where the figure was voted out.

After the vote, the banned society member “did not take the decision well. He stated that he would remain in the club. He began showing up at our weekly socials, he began showing up at our weekends away.

“Naturally this made people uncomfortable. We had to take further steps.”

The ex-club figure was barred from the pub where the society held regular socials, but began to “show up and stand outside the pub, which is fairly anti-social behaviour. There were people that would just leave our socials in tears because of him.”

Adam also allegedly created fake accounts on Facebook to stalk the club on weekend trips.

Speaking to The Mancunion, Adam Sharples addressed allegations of sexual assault as “demonstrably false statements… made as degrading and personal as possible.”

After multiple women contacted the Greater Manchester Police regarding the alleged assaults, they began receiving messages from him.

One of these women, who has a PhD in feminist philosophy, said that these messages were “cause for alarm — his general disregard for consent; victim-blaming mentality.”

The female society member who tried to open a case with the Cumbria Police is keen to collaborate with accusers in Manchester to potentially open a case with the Greater Manchester Police.

She expressed concern that women who suddenly dropped out of the club over the years could have experienced similar incidences of assault but chose to quit their hobby rather than report them.

She further discussed the fear of being judged when reporting sexual assault, but told The Mancunion that she hopes the #MeToo social media campaign — which 12 million women have participated in in the past week — will encourage more victims to feel confident in reporting crimes.

The Students’ Union advises students to take advantage of available support systems. In a written statement to The Mancunion, they wrote: “the Student’s Union Activities Department has a team of staff who support every category of society, these coordinators are available to offer students support, advice and help with any issues that may arise.

“If you are currently feeling at risk, if you have been the victim or know someone who has, we encourage you to come and seek advice from the Student’s Union advice service.”

The Students’ Union also emphasised existing controls to ensure societies are safe environments for students.

“If a society wishes to hold an event, a risk assessment must be completed and the relevant society coordinator must be made aware of the nature of the event.”

However, it is unclear whether event risk assessments sufficiently consider sexual assault as a hazard. In the Student’s Union sample risk assessment form, the activity “Crowds/Audience safety” conduces the hazards “Crushing, Anti-social behaviour, Gate crashers” — and does not consider sexual crime.

Consent workshops were also made newly available for students at the University of Manchester this September, but these workshops were not compulsory and sign-up was required as numbers were capped.

When asked by The Mancunion about implementation of mandatory consent workshops, the Students’ Union responded: “This is a great idea. We would encourage any students interested in this type of workshop to speak to the Student Exec officers.”

Deej Malik-Johnson, Campaigns and Citizenship Officer, called every case of sexual assault “really troubling.” He clarified that while consent workshops started with a limited roll-out this year at the University, they are still figuring out how best to apply the workshops in the future.

As it stands, Oxford University is the only university in the UK to include compulsory consent workshops in their freshers’ program.

Is the Champions League draught in England finally going to end?

Written by James Gill on . Posted in Sport.

The 2017/18 Champions League has been incredible for English teams so far. At the halfway stage every team was either top or joint top with all of them looking likely to progress. The last English team to win the competition was Chelsea in 2011/12, but if there are five teams present in the last 16, it wouldn’t be scandalous to picture at least one reaching the final.

On Tuesday evening three English teams were in action, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Manchester City, with great success. Spurs were the only one to not receive all three points, but Pochettino would have bitten your arm to before kick-off to walk away from the Bernabeu with a draw.

In Group H Spurs sit joint top with Madrid on seven points, with the exact same goals scored and conceded. APOEL Nicosia, fresh from their stunning draw at home to Dortmund, and Dortmund share just a single point. At this stage, the Lilywhites are all but guaranteed progression to the knockout stages of the tournament.

Even if they lose all remaining games, Dortmund or APOEL would have to win two and score a boatload of goals, or win two and get points in their final game. It wouldn’t surprise me if they relax this competition to focus on the league, starting youngsters or second string players, until of course the last 16 begins.

Elsewhere in Group F, Manchester City are flying high with nine points out of a possible nine. Their game on Tuesday was touted as the game of the midweek and it certainly entertained. City were utterly dominant in the first half scoring two and making Napoli look as Stoke did just days before, amateurish.

Late in the second half, Kyle Walker did as Kyle Walker does and dragged a player down in the box to give away a penalty. Ederson proved his worth and made a stunning save and the momentum remained fully in City’s favour. In the second half, the momentum did swing towards Napoli, who have won eight out of eight Serie A games.

Guardiola’s team managed to cling on by the skin of their teeth winning 2-1 after conceding another penalty, this time put away by Diawara. In the other game in the group, Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Feyenoord to go second on six points. Out of all the English teams, City look the most comfortable and it would take a truly tragic affair for them to miss out on the last sixteen.

The final game on Tuesday night was Liverpool, who reside in Group E. Their start was the weakest showing in Europe for England, drawing their first two games against Sevilla and Spartak Moscow. Klopp more than made up for that with a thumping 7-0 win away at Maribor, just one goal shy of their record European victory against Besiktas.

Spartak are exceeding all expectations in this group, sharing five points with Liverpool after an incredible 5-1 win at Sevilla, who sit third with four points. As it stands this is the tightest group in the competition, and Liverpool will have to fight hard to make it through, but I am confident that they will progress.

The second day of Champions play was a mixed bag with Chelsea and Manchester United both in action. Although Mourinho’s men were victorious it was the game at Stamford Bridge that was the spectacle of the night.

Starting off with Group A as United travelled to play Benfica at the Estadio da Luz. Having lost their first two games, the second 5-0, expectations were that United would bounce back from the shoddy performance against Liverpool and start scoring goals for fun once more, but that was far from the case.

Manager Rui Vitoria had them drilled and running to the letter. In defence they were immaculate and going forward they were incredibly dangerous, only lacking in that something special to create chances. Initially, the reds were taken aback and it took 30 minutes for them to calm down and start playing the game that they prepared.

Sadly the goal was the result of a bad mistake by 18-year-old keeper Mile Svilar. Rashford fired a free kick into the box but it instead almost lobbed Svilar. As he tried to save it he crossed the line ever so slightly. The win takes United to the top of their group and it would take at least two defeats for them to drop out of the competition, a scenario that I wouldn’t bet on.

Finally in Group C Chelsea played Roma in a thrilling 3-3 draw. Chelsea were utterly dominated for great lengths of the game but were the first to score. David Luiz got his initial shot blocked but the follow up curled in from just outside the box.

Hazard got a second late in the first half before former Chelsea player Kolarov got one back before the break. Roma continued their possession in the second half and were rewarded as Dzeko scored two great goals to put them 3-2 up. Not wanting to be the only English defeat of the third round of fixtures Eden Hazard scored another wonderful goal to level it up, and there it stayed.

Atlético Madrid surprisingly drew their game at Qarabag 0-0 which means it would also take utter capitulation by Chelsea to not progress, a feat I don’t see any chance of happening.

The record for most teams from a single country in the quarter-final stage of the Champions League is four, set by the Premier League in the 2007/8 season with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. Interestingly that was repeated the very next season by the same teams.

There is the chance, albeit unlikely, that all five teams progress, and then win their last 16 games to break the record. Though it is far more likely that two, or possibly four, English teams are drawn together. After failing to compete in Europe for so many years the stage is set for a change. The only question is, which English teams, if any, will be there when the curtain rises on the final.

Felix HB, Global affairs (Rohingya & Somalia) Not to be published

Written by Felix Hanif-Banks on . Posted in Uncategorised.

Somalis respond to deadly Mogadishu attack

A public demonstration of solidarity and strength signalled hope for the people of Mogadishu as thousands took to the streets in response to the recent terrorist attack that saw over 500 casualties.

Police presence in the city centre was strong, with protestors coming under fire as they neared the site of the attack. Protests were especially strong as this attack marks a peak of sustained terror campaigns across Somalia.

A smaller demonstration took place in Dusamareb, a town in central Somalia, as residents called the war against militant groups to be more strongly pursued.

Although no group has officially claimed responsibility for the attack, it is thought that Al-Shabaab, a group with links to Al-Qaeda, are behind the bombings. Both vehicles used to carry out the attack, each containing 350kg of explosives, were traced to Bariire, an Al-Shabaab stronghold, as was one of the drivers of the vehicles.

It is thought the attack could stem from anti-US sentiment, and was a protest against a controversial US operation in Bariire in August which saw 10 civilians killed.

 

Rohingya Massacre – A Month On

Over a month after news of the atrocities being committed against the Rohingya people in Myanmar broke in the western mainstream media, Amnesty International has released a report condemning the actions of Myanmar’s security forces as crimes against humanity.

The report contained deeply unsettling testimonies from 120 Rohingya people, with the village of Min Gyi worst affected, and has evidenced that at least scores of women were killed in five Myanmar villages.

Myanmar’s population of Rohingya people contains over 1.1 million Muslims, and their persecution has worsened immeasurably in the last year. Recent violence in the northern state of Rakhine saw 90,000 Rohingya Muslims flee to Bangladesh, and the persecution has since spread across the country, reminiscent of widespread anti-Islamic violence that the country saw in 2012 and 2013.

Fleeing seems to be the only option for Myanmar’s Rohingya population. Critics of the country’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi claim she has failed to adequately protect the Rohingya people, claims that seem valid given the state-backed nature of the violence.

Superb start spares City’s blushes

Written by Sam Cooper on . Posted in Sport.

Manchester City started this game where they left off with the last. The confidence provided by their 7-2 hammering of Stoke at the weekend was evident from the first whistle. In contrast to previous European nights at the Etihad, City started brightly. Moving the ball with pace and purpose, they were quick to dismantle the fluid Napoli defence.

Raheem Sterling was the first name on the scoresheet having put his side ahead in the opening ten minutes. Leroy Sane was directed by the pointed finger of David Silva as the German fed the ball into the path of the Spaniard. Silva, nearing the byline, cut the ball back to a queue of City attackers. Jesus dummied, Walker scuffed, Sterling finished.

Next was the turn of the most in-form player in the Premier League as Kevin De Bruyne beat his man on the right-hand side and slid the ball to the feet of Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian took the chance with joyful glee as he netted his fifth goal in seven days.
2-0 and fans were sensing another mauling. It is a testament to how far City have come that this all seemed quite normal.

After the second goal, two men behind me began to chat of which chippy to visit on the way home. Pep Guardiola has installed an elite mentality into both his players and the fans.

City continued to probe with the next chance falling to De Bruyne. Sane found an arriving Belgian on the edge of the penalty area and De Bruyne wrapped his foot around the ball. The curling effort hit the underside of the bar but the ball bounced down and then away from the goal.

Guardiola will be less pleased with the way his side struggled to cope against an athletic, possession-wise Napoli once the Italian side found their feet. Seemingly unfazed by the quick one-two of City’s opening goals, Maurizio Sarri’s progressed back into their usual game. A high press that looked to release Mertens, Callejón and Insigne.

The pressure worked and City’s back four began to make mistakes and conceding possession. Fabian Delph routinely drifted centrally from his left back spot and was guilty on more than one occasion in giving the ball away.

With half-time approaching, Napoli had their way back into the game. Kyle Walker rose alongside Raúl Albiol to meet a cross and foolishly wrapped his arms around him. Both tumbled to the ground and the referee showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Dries Mertens, a man who has seven goals in seven Serie A appearances this season, stepped up to take the penalty but saw his attempt saved. Ederson dived to his right but found his legs long enough to deflect Mertens’ central effort.

In truth Napoli most likely deserved a goal but they continued to peg City back in the closing stages of the first half. Unlike the opening minutes of the first period, the second half started in a calmer manner. Napoli were still seeing plenty of the ball but City did well to marshal them and keep them away from their penalty area.

City were drawing ever nearer that 90-minute mark and the chance to maintain their 100 per cent Champions League record this season but in the 72nd minute, the Italians were again given a chance back into the game.

A clumsy leg from Fernandinho collided with Faouzi Ghoulam and referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz again pointed to the spot. This time, there was no mistake. Amadou Diawara hit the ball low, hard and into the corner meaning that although Ederson dived the right way, his fingertips couldn’t reach the ball.

With now just one goal separating the two sides, City found themselves facing a nervy final 15 minutes. Looking to restore their lead, Gabriel Jesus, who had become increasingly isolated, managed to put the ball in the net but was judged to be offside when receiving De Bruyne’s pass.

Despite threatening, Napoli did not find the equaliser and the full-time whistle blew at 2-1 and with City maintaining a perfect start to the Champions League this season. Post-match, Guardiola continued the pre-match Napoli love-in. “One of the best teams I ever face in my career. No doubt about that, maybe the best.”

It was an important win that showed another side of City’s character. Not every game is going to be a 7-2 and the team needs to know how to maintain narrow leads if they want to progress far in this competition. City’s next Champions League will be the return leg in Naples on the 1st of November.

Green jobs suffer slow growth in Manchester

Written by Amy Wei on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

A new report found that green industries are growing at just half the rate of the UK average.

Joblift, a meta search job seeking engine, found that jobs in renewable energy industries in the UK are increasing by 1% monthly, lagging behind the UK average job growth of 2%.

London has been home to almost a fifth of all green job vacancies since last September. Manchester, in contrast, only shared 3% of the green job market.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, admitted to The Mancunion that Manchester’s current renewable energy goals were not “ambitious enough.”

Burnham recently announced a Green Summit which aims to move up Labour’s 2050 carbon neutrality goal by up to 20 years.

During the summit, a panel of experts and Manchester stakeholders will determine strategies to make Manchester the first city in the UK to achieve carbon neutrality.

The Councillor for Stockport, Alex Ganotis, is leading the agenda alongside Burnham. Speaking to The Mancunion, Ganotis specified that green jobs were a particular subject of discussion for the Green Summit.

“[Something] that we’re beginning thinking about in terms of this summit, is actually what are the green jobs of the future — because I imagine, that’s one of the key concerns of young people, especially in education.”

Image: Joblift

The Councillor expressed “concern” about Manchester generating enough “jobs to keep [students] there.” He emphasised the importance for the summit to answer the question: “What do we think the jobs of the future will be that are sustainable, [and] what skills will they require?”

Joblift’s analysis of the UK’s green sector revealed that solar energy is the fastest-growing green industry, with a whopping 22% increase in job vacancies monthly — 11 times the UK average.

Bioenergy, however, advertises the most positions in total, occupying 9% of all green job postings. Solar power accounts for 7% of open positions.

As well as slow total job growth in the sector, Joblift found that vacancies in renewable energy are harder to fill. Green sector vacancies remain active for an average of 18 days, 3 days longer than the UK average.

 

Image: Joblift

Collision of two neutron stars observed for the first time

Written by Lioui Benhamou on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

Last Monday scientists announced the first observation of two neutron stars colliding, as well as the observation of the gravitational waves it created. The event happened 130 millions light-year away in the galaxy NGC 4993.

A neutron star is what is left after the collapse of a normal star but which is still too light to become a black hole.

A neutron star is about the same size as London, and yet it is one of the densest of celestial bodies in the universe. If you could take a teaspoon of a neutron star and weigh it, it would weigh the same as 100,000 Eiffel Towers, or a billion tonnes. They are so dense that it is probable the two stars collapsed into a black hole.

When two such neutron stars collided, on the 17th of August at 12:41 GMT, multiple observatories simultaneously detected gravitational waves from this event for 100 seconds. Then two seconds after, a flash, and after that, over a number of days, X ray, ultraviolet and infrared radation were detected from the place the event occurred.

A gravitational wave is a vibration of space-time caused by an event that involves dense objects such as neutron stars and black holes. Although they have been theorised by Albert Einstein, it was only in 2015 that we made our first observation of them by using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detector. The detector uses a system of two lasers that cross with a mirror and when a gravitational wave comes by, the laser helps us see it because their signal is disturbed.

The Nobel Price of physics 2017 was awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne, the three scientists who contributed to the LIGO detector. They are to whom we owe our ability to observe gravitational waves.

This is the fifth time that gravitational waves have been detected. But this is the first time the event that allowed us to detect those waves was originating from two neutron stars colliding. It was said to be “the most intensely observed astronomical event to date”. It is the first time that we were able to know where in the sky the event that created a lot of gravitational wave happened and turn the telescopes towards it.

A dozen papers were published today as a result of the discovery.  It is described by Professor Matthew Bailes, the director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, speaking at press conference on the discovery, as having “hailed a new era in astronomy” and that “the avalanche of science is unparalleled in modern astrophysics”.

This observation is truly important for several reasons. First, it confirms that the speed of gravitational waves is equivalent to that of light, which scientists had theorised but needed confirmation.

Secondly, this observation will help to develop new ways to measure the expansion of the universe. According to Matthew Bailes, if astronomers are able to observe a lot of events like this, they will be able to describe the rate at which the universe is expanding.

Lastly, there’s confirmation that heavy metals such as gold and platinum, the origins of which for decades have eluded scientists, are forged when neutron stars such as the ones observed collide, as the immense pressures and forces push lighter elements together, forming heavier elements.

Review: Daphni – ‘Joli Mai’

Written by Will Baldwin-Pask on . Posted in Music.

I’ll level with you. I love Dan Snaith. The Canadian producer who sometimes goes by Caribou, sometimes goes by Daphni, is a modern master of the electronic genre.  As Caribou, his albums Swim and Our Love demonstrated a knack for matching mercurial beats with glowing melodies, resulting in two immediate genre classics.

With the more experimental, tech-focused Daphni project, Snaith designed songs to be uncompromisingly danced to whilst maintaining some element of weirdness, showcased in 2012’s Jiaolong. Critical acclaim and fattening fanbases have accompanied his ascension for the past ten years and rightly so.

He’s successfully remixed the likes of Hot Chip, Radiohead and Tales Of Us. At London’s Fabric this summer, he changed this reviewer’s life with a blinder of an all-night DJ set. He’s one of the best electronic artists around and will go down as an important contributor to the dance music of our times. So yeah, I love Dan Snaith.

Which is what has made this review of his new album under Daphni, Joli Mai, so hard to write. The problem with the album is that — unlike in Snaith’s other work — a lot of the songs don’t seem to have a coherent purpose.

As the charming Caribou and his evil twin Daphni, Snaith made time for beautiful high-rising soundscapes as well as thumping floor fillers. His ability to switch between and even blend the two was what made him distinct. Quite often on Joli Mai, he sounds unsure of which way to go, stumbling down insecure paths and coming across as unconvincing.

Take ‘Face to Face’, an album single that spends most of its time as a plain drum kit and bass riff. The two loop over and over, whilst every now and then Snaith delivers these weird full-band fade-outs in an attempt to make things more interesting. What is intended to give a sense of rawness ends up sounding like someone messing around with Garageband for the first time.

A similar thing happens on ‘Vikram’, which flirts with big beats and synths, only to sit annoyingly on the same merry-go-round of distorted vocal after distorted vocal, unable to stick with one idea.

Even on the blissful ‘Carry on’, Daphni ends with a minute of random erratic noises that add as much to the song as a poo emoji adds to a personal statement. ‘Vulture’ for all intents and purposes sounds like a reimagining of the Blade Runner soundtrack, the kind of song that comes on at an afters and gives everyone psychosis. There’s little evidence of the freaky quirk-funk found on old classics ‘Ye Ye’ and ‘Ahora’, just a man torn between trains of thought.

Perhaps the best example of what I’m talking about is ‘Hey Drum’. This could well be the worst song Snaith has ever come up with: 7 minutes of a crude bang-bang drum sequence underpinned by a loop of the words — you guessed it — “hey drum”,  interrupted occasionally by a corny clubland hook that’s as bait as the glittery gurn of a sixth form girl. How profound.

These songs leave the listener, above anything, perplexed. At various points, I want to reach out to Daphni and ask a fairly obvious question: why did you make this song? If it’s not tuneful or ambient enough to sit and enjoy and not banging enough to get up and dance to, who do you think will listen to it? And most importantly, who are you and what have you done with Dan Snaith!?

That said, there are some moments of sheer ingenuity to be found amidst the madness. ‘Medellin’ and ‘Joli Mai’ provide a talented little Siamese twin of house tracks at the tail end of the album, the warm embrace of hi-hats and whomping bass restoring some faith.

The artist manages to find his normal euphoric stride on ‘The Truth’, which echoes old Caribou tune ‘Our Love’ but harbours the harmony and complexity you’d expect from the Canadian. ‘Tin’ is another stand-out, which shows off some stunning sampling and glittery synth work, an arm-raising set-closer of the highest calibre.

The album’s best move comes at the end though in the form of ‘Life’s What You Make It’. An italo-disco ballad that bangs, it’s every bit as optimistic as the title suggests, like a song used in that film Drive if Ryan Gosling had bothered smiling.

There are some cracking tunes on this album, make no mistake. But for a man whose work usually contains minimal filler, Daphni allows “boring” to trickle in too easily on Joli Mai. When it seems like it’s about to do something exciting or ethereal, it doesn’t. In fact, the only thing this album really does is disappoint.

It’s hard to watch a hero fall flat as Dan Snaith seems to here, but don’t be too disheartened — there’s enough evidence of his brilliance that we can keep an eye out for our hero’s return. After all, this is the same guy who made Our Love, which I can guarantee you will be on repeat in my house this weekend until the sobs subside.

5/10

Rude bus drivers or difficult students?

Written by Hana Jafar on . Posted in News.

A Manchester Metropolitan University student reportedly faced harassment while commuting to University one day.

The student claims to have gotten on the Stagecoach 197 bus at Hyde Grove with the exact fare and paid £1.60 to go to the University as she was asked to.

According to the complaint letter she later wrote to the company, she explains that as the bus approached The Royal Northern College of Music (still a stop away from her stop), “the bus driver stopped the bus, got out of the cabin, walked towards me [while] pointing at me and shout[ing].”

She continued and added: “I asked what was wrong and he said, “Get off the bus!”.

The student was then reportedly told by the driver that she had reached her destination and that in order to get to the Manchester Metropolitan University stop, she needed to pay £2. The student claims she had been told by other bus drivers that the fare was £1.60 but decided to stay on the bus and pay the remaining fare, as she had a sprained ankle.

However, the driver refused the 40p and, according to the student, asked for another full fare to get to the next stop.

“The driver embarrassed me, disrespected me, inconvenienced me and tried to exploit me”, the student wrote in her email to Stagecoach.

She added: “the driver was presented with multiple opportunities to use his discretion to allow me to continue with the journey and save the embarrassment. With [the] knowledge that there are thousands of new students in Manchester using these bus routes who don’t know prices etc., he could have been more empathetic.”

The student concluded her letter stating that she felt discriminated against, “whether it being [due] to the act that I am black, female or maybe he was having a bad day.”

When contacted for a statement on this complaint, Stagecoach Manchester told The Mancunion that they conducted an investigation after they received the complaint and that their investigation “provided no evidence that the driver behaved in an aggressive or discriminatory manner.”

They continued and said: “it does appear that the problem occurred because of a misunderstanding between the driver and the passenger about which stop she wanted to travel to, for which we are extremely sorry.

“We are particularly sorry for the inconvenience caused, in view of the injury she already had to her leg. Our driver should have accepted the 40p to make good the difference.”

They concluded their statement saying that they had contacted the student to apologise, and were providing the driver with additional training to prevent this from happening again.

However, an investigation by The Mancunion has found anecdotal evidence that suggests this is not an isolated incident.

A second year Psychology student at the University of Manchester told The Mancunion that a bus driver had shut the door after her and some friends requested that he wait for a minute, as she was catching up to them.

She said: “he shut the doors on us and drove away leaving my teenage female friend alone on the streets of inner-city Manchester, and he also shut one of my friends in the door of the bus in the process so she had bruises up her arm.”

Some students had very different experiences and even reported unexpected acts of kindness, suggesting that incidents like the ones above were isolated and didn’t reflect the behaviour of all bus drivers in Manchester.

Ruth, a second year Anthropology student at the University of Manchester, said that a bus driver once allowed her to ride to her stop even though she was 50p short of the fare, as it was raining heavily outside.

Another student, Gemma, told The Mancunion that a bus driver who didn’t have enough change allowed her to ride to her destination, and then accepted the money before she alighted, once he had more change.

Other students have commented that they have come across pleasant, polite and respectful bus drivers who treated them well and helped them if they were lost, or waited for them if they saw them running to catch the bus.

University launches interactive tree trail

Written by Cameron Broome on . Posted in News.

The University of Manchester has launched a new interactive Tree Trail encouraging people to learn more about trees across campus.

The trail has been designed as a web-based app which can be used on smartphones, and participants are encouraged to take their own tree photos and share their comments via Instagram; each tree has its own hashtag to make identification easier and there is a dedicated Instagram account (@UoMSust).

Led by the University’s Environmental Sustainability team, three distinct trails have been developed that highlight 50 of the 1,500 trees across Oxford Road Campus, North Campus and Whitworth Park.

Julia Durkan, University Sustainable Campus Officer at The University of Manchester said: “Trees are important for nature, the environment and our health and wellbeing but are often overlooked.

“We wanted a Tree Trail that would engage and connect with staff, students and the local community and believe the innovative use of smartphones and social media will help us appeal to a much wider audience.”

The aim of the project is to encourage students, staff and the local community to discover the “physical and mental health benefits associated with nature and the outdoors” and learn more about trees.

Working with Urban Green and City of Trees, the Tree Trail has been developed by the University’s Environmental Sustainability team as part of the University’s Living Campus Plan.

Scott Fitzgerald, Managing Director at Urban Green, said: “People have a very personal relationship with the trees that they see each day. We want people to use the Tree Trail to feel a sense of ownership — the trees on campus are ‘their trees’ and we look forward to seeing the Tree Trail grow as people share their own photography and comments.

“We hope the Tree Trail is both educational but also helps foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of some of Manchester’s many amazing trees.”

Last chance to stand in the student officer elections

Written by Kirstie O'Mahony on . Posted in News.

Students at the University of Manchester have until Wednesday 18th October to stand to be representatives of their Union.

The Students’ Union has a range of Student Officer roles which filled by a cross-campus election each October. They offer training, for the role and support and advice throughout the year. You will also receive resources to aid you in fulfilling your duties as an officer.

The officer positions are broken down into teams. They are Liberation, Faculty, Student COmmunity and Other. Within those categories there are lots of roles students can apply for, such as Black Minority Ethnic (BME) Officer, Humanities Undergraduate Officer, Fallowfield and Withington Officer and Working Class Students’ Officer.

To stand, students will need to go to the Students’ Union website and search student officer elections. There they will find full role descriptions, as well as a form where they can upload their manifesto and create a slogan for your campaign.

Voting will open on the 24th October.

 

Review: Malika Booker at the Manchester Literature Festival

Written by Maisie Scott on . Posted in Books.

The backdrop to the reading by Malika Booker on Sunday the 8th of October was the International Anthony Burgess Institute, an old industrialist building with red brick walls and lofty ceilings, an appropriately un-stuffy setting for an emerging London poet to perform.

The rows of red velvet clad chairs set out for the audience to sit on and the upturned wooden crates for the water jug and microphones to rest, oozed a characteristically Mancunian edge. Arriving “just off the train,” Malika Booker instantly dazzled as she took to the stage, stopping to enthusiastically greet a friend on the cheek as she walked up to the stage it became evident that some familiar faces had come to support Booker with her performance.

The focus Malika Booker was asked to work on for her commissioned event was based on U.K. politics, but her approach also knitted it tightly to her own Caribbean background. Seamlessly, Booker unified British political turbulence with Black History Month, which runs throughout October.

However, she confessed it was not without complication due to the fear that you may “lose the poetry” because you are trying to respond to current affairs.

Understandably, it can be hard to find poetic beauty whilst considering a dismal political climate that contains deeply divisive figures such as Donald Trump and our very own Nigel Farage.

Despite this, Malika Booker was still able to offer her captivated audience a new poetical compass by which to navigate the post-Brexit seas by breaking down speeches by key players such as the headmistress tones of Theresa May, adding an extra Caribbean flavour.

First, she dissected the actual speech of the political figure in question and then she placed it in a couplet with her own Caribbean-inspired response. To considerable comic effect, she made a distinction between the political jargon and her own response by leaning to stage left when quoting from the speech, and to stage right when speaking her own thoughts.

On some level Booker’s use of bodily movement to show the distinction between the fat cats of politics and her private reactions, is reflective of a general feeling in society that those with all the power aren’t actually able to — or choose not to — enact the will of the people. Her theatrical movements reinforced the top-down nature of British politics, leaving UK politicians seem like little more than trustees of an unquantifiable amount of power.

She swiftly undressed UK politicians in her poetry by linking their characters and manner to her chosen animals, which subsequently informed her poetical response to the politician’s speech. An unforgettable set of distinctive images of Caribbean animals were planted into the audience’s minds — Theresa May as the ram goat and Nigel Farage as the crapo frog.

Brexit was powerfully presented as analogous to a divorce. May’s Florence speech was used to encapsulate this sense of two lovers parting. A highly transactional divorce was exposed in which one party knew they had to part, but for the sake of the children, it was decided that it would be best if the couple could still work together.

Cheekily stated in her poetic response, Booker exclaimed:

“we do wish for the EU to succeed like outside woman creeps to please”.

Manchester itself had a heart-warming starring role in Malika Booker’s performance as she spoke highly of the tender, lyrical qualities the speech that our Mayor, Andy Burnham, gave following the Manchester Arena bombing. Labelling the speech as a “delight” and praising how he so astutely grasped the spirit of the people at such a sorrowful time, Booker certainly knew her crowd with her tribute to Manchester, telling us we’ve “Got to be proud of Andy”.

A few highlights from Booker’s previous poetical works were also read. A recent piece, Nine Nights took centre stage, due to the charisma with which it was delivered and the way it spun a traditional Caribbean funeral on its head.

Booker emphasised that in the Caribbean community funerals are a big affair and that it is all “what happened?” and “what was she wearing?”. The timely resurrection of the dead young man, Lazarus, midway through the poem shattered this sense of social order most spectacularly. The greatest tragedy no longer being a youth’s funeral, but that a mourning dress is to go to waste “Mr Power start moan bout the good good money he dash way on pretty funeral frock for Betty and now she can’t even use it.”

The background to the poem consisted of primary research into how Caribbean people perceive funerals which she achieved by interviewing people on the streets. This first-person basis to her poem, adding an element of social anthropology into her work as well as considerable laughter, was a recurring theme throughout the evening.

Malika Booker was keen to praise the Royal Literary Fund who supported her when she was at her most “dire — financially” prior to becoming a fellow at the University of Leeds.

The RLF also can be credited for the motivation behind the event. The association works as a benevolent fund to help writers suffering from economic hardship; previous benefactors include writer, James Joyce and poet, Dylan Thomas. Many partnerships have been established between the RLF and universities including our very own.

RLF writing fellows can be contacted through the University of Manchester to help give students guidance with their writing style and essay structure, independent of the university.

What was most striking about Booker’s work and her manner was her honest, playful approach. She maintained that poetry is becoming increasingly popular as people are realising that the language of politicians is failing them. Booker’s energy bounced off all four walls and left us not with a taste of despair about the current political state, but rather a final warming message that if our newspapers and politicians are failing us then poetry can be used to help find meaning in the midst of this political zoo.

Interview: The Strypes at Neighbourhood Festival

Written by Jack Greeney on . Posted in Music.

It may be AM hours but the Strypes are already off their coach preparing for their set at Manchester’s Neighbourhood Festival. Lead guitarist Josh McClorey leads me upstairs backstage at the Ritz and we’re chatting about the buzz an inner-city festival brings to a place like Manchester. “No need for wellies either,” he adds. We join the others, singer Ross Farrelly, bassist Pete O’Hanlon, and drummer Evan Walsh in the dressing room. The boys had just arrived from playing Glasgow — “always fucking crazy” — and despite the considerable coach journey, all come across exceptionally accommodating and friendly.

There are scarcely signs of grogginess; although young (jealousy-inducingly so) The Strypes are seasoned tourers. “It’s nice to be on the cycle again. And we remembered our last show at the Ritz as being a particularly good one.”

The band are on the road touring Spitting Image, the third album of their short career. It’s another record of exactly what we’ve come to expect from The Strypes: fast paced Indie rock with an underlying blues the band describe as “unconscious”. After all, a shared interest in the genre was what got them together in the first place. “Blues is naturally ingrained into us, I think. As well as being the only fucking scale I know how to play.”

This album feels important. The weight of pressure and expectation from the previous album lifted, this time the recording freedom was the most they’d ever had. Producer Ethan Jones “let the songs breathe” and let the boys stay independent. “We’ve been lucky, they let us have it.” Spitting Image, they say, is the closest one of their albums has ever sounded to live performance: “unhinged.”

Photo: Jack Greeney

Speaking of live action, I ask how they handle the relentless schedule they’ve had and still have to come. The answer seems to be the necessity of it, to “push yourself through.”

Next: back to the US (“a dream”) and Japan, where they recorded their live album, soon after. First though, they’re here in Manchester as one of the biggest names on the festival ticket; their show is expected to draw one of the largest crowds of the day. They’re seeing Declan McKenna while they’re here, Man and the Echo, and David Keenan, who they toured with before. “The Subways have a cool logo too.”

An often probed area of any Strypes interview is their beginnings. One minor Irish radio hit recorded around school hours lead to a “flurry of buzz and hype”; one week playing in London and the band from Cavan signed a record deal. They truly exploded onto the scene by late 2012, everyone from Dave Grohl to Sir Elton counting themselves fans soon after. They played Jools Holland, Castlefield Bowl, toured with Arctic Monkeys, even got themselves on Letterman in the US. But as we talk it’s clear there’s far more to this band than just pace out the blocks: they’ve got the legs to run the distance too. “It’s all about the gigs” says Josh, “and the testament to it is today.”

This is a band who feel at home on a stage. They only got together to have fun playing live music originally anyway. Things have come a long way since though; now there’s far finer details considered. We get talking about image: “It should be one of the most important things, every aspect about a band should tie in. There hasn’t been a musical movement that’s come without an image.”

Still, there’s far more to it than just the serious stuff. For all that’s been written of their maturity at young ages, I ask them the least mature thing they’ve ever done. Pete says covering everyone’s beds with cheese.

Photo: Jack Greeney

Later at the festival, the band put on a hell of a show. The crowd are fully involved in every direction. Josh’s guitar solos roll out effortlessly. Ross’s voice is strong and Evan’s drumming tight. Pete throws off his bass and leaps into the crowd as the show comes to a close. They were right: they are living for the live performance. And as a result, a live performance from The Strypes is certainly one to behold.

Avoiding the study abroad blues

Written by James Johnson on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Partaking in a year abroad is a leap into the great unknown, and can be a daunting prospect for many. Grappling with new cultures and everyday experiences can be extremely exciting but equally unfamiliar, and while we would anticipate struggling during the first couple of weeks in a foreign land, we don’t give as much thought to when we return to our home country — we’ve lived here before, we know how it works, what could be difficult about that? However, this can be just as difficult, if not far more so.

Returning home after a great year of unrelenting tourism can seem a little bit of a step backwards. You’re likely to be thrilled that you’re reunited with your friends and family, but once all of the anecdotes beginning with “on my year abroad” have been told, you may find yourself experiencing a ‘reverse-culture-shock’. It can feel difficult, but it need not be — welcome back to one of the world’s greatest cities!

If you’re returning from a year abroad, you’re likely to have lived here in Manchester for at least a year or two. You’re also likely to feel as though you know everything there is to know about Manchester. Thankfully, you’re coming back to one of the most dynamic places in the world. Take a trip home for a month or two and you’re likely to find a mass of new coffee shops, public events, and shops have sprung up, almost out of nowhere.

Fall back in love with your city! 

There really is no limit to the number of different things to do and see while you’re in Manchester. You may have lived here for quite some time, but there is likely to be a checklist of things you’ve never actually gotten around to. Perhaps you drive past the Whitworth every day without going inside, or perhaps there’s a part of town you’ve yet to check out. Either way, the sheer variety on your doorstep is likely to help that transition back to your hometown, helping you to continue to discover new things and experiences, just like during your year abroad.

Chances are if you studied abroad at a beautiful foreign institution, you’ve been surrounded by stunning Canadian vistas or glorious continental European architecture whilst undertaking new classes. The thought of returning to a corner of the library’s blue section can seem a little underwhelming so — change it up! The university’s campus is strewn with gorgeous and underused study spots for you to take advantage of. Try writing up your lecture notes in The Manchester Museum’s study space, or revise for your January exams in Christie’s Bistro in the old quadrangle.

Coming back to your home institution after a year abroad is a difficult transition that many fail to anticipate, but it really doesn’t have to be as gloomy as it seems! Get involved, change it up and fall back in with the city that you can’t help but love.

 

A Student Life: Matt Harvison, creator of the Fallowfield safety petition

Written by Kizzy Bray on . Posted in Features.

Matt Harvison is a third year UoM student studying Fashion Buying and Merchandising with a big fight on his hands.

After a surge in criminal offences in Fallowfield in the last couple of weeks, as previously reported by The Mancunion, Matt took the initiative to start an online petition directed to the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, to make Fallowfield a safer space for the students and the wider community that live there. I talked to Matt to discuss how the petition came about, what it aims to achieve and it’s incredible response from students, families, friends and even the national press

At this moment in time, the petition holds almost 8,000 signatures from those who feel like Fallowfield’s protection by the police and government is inadequate, and who are seeking preventative action and acknowledgement of the increase in burglaries, muggings, and assault in the area.

Matt lives in Fallowfield himself. I greet him at his third year house, which happens to be situated on a road that is frequently reported for crime on the Facebook page ‘Fallowfield Students Group’ (FSG), which has become what I can only describe as some sort of Manchester neighbourhood watch scheme in recent weeks. Daily posts litter the page warning students of recent attacks, muggings and ‘dodgy’ looking guys clambering over bins to stare into the windows of residences in the area.

“I just saw every single day there was a different post about crime. I started the petition around the time of the guy that got attacked with a crowbar” Matt tells me. “The same week a close friend got burgled in broad daylight, which just made me think that this could honestly happen to anyone. I decided enough was enough.”

Matt’s house is warmly lit with candles and two readily waiting pumpkins, uncarved on the table. Matt’s house is a home, and I’m sure all of us will agree with him when he exclaims “your home is supposed to be the safest place in the whole world!” Yet the safe haven we seek after a long hard day of university stress is beginning to be compromised. Not feeling safe in your own home, even with the doors locked, is not a small issue; the petition seeks change, and within the first 24 hours of it going live it had already garnered 4000 signatures.

“For me, that was proof that it was a big enough issue for everyone and something that needed to be tackled.” Matt explains. “It wasn’t just students signing but other members of the community too — the families and elderly people in the area are just as much at risk to attacks.”

Within two hours the petition attracted journalists from The Tab and after contacting the press, coverage of the petition was becoming national news, with Matt appearing on BBC Manchester radio, in an article with the Manchester Evening News as well as having his face (unknowingly) splashed on the ITV Granada news site.

Making some big noise for Fallowfield is what the petition needs, but with the central focus being Andy Burnham and the police, I asked Matt whether he had heard from the mayor himself yet. “His office has definitely been made aware of the petition” Matt nods, “but I haven’t heard anything from him yet. The Students’ Union has spoken on student safety and though some of their statement did seem good, half of it to me seemed like empty promises.”

Matt is referring to a statement made by UoM Community Officer Jack Houghton. The document, released online talks about a ‘night owl’ scheme “consisting of student volunteers that will be trained in first aid, safeguarding, well-being training and self-defence” and an increase in street lights around Fallowfield amongst other proposals. “The street lights thing has been said for years and it still hasn’t happened” Matt points out. “I know they have an increase in police patrol for big events like Halloween and Freshers’ Week but to me, that implies the crime is brought about by students. We can be rowdy and have house parties, but here we are talking about people’s safety, people’s lives.”

“I think the patrol of G4S should be implemented more in student accommodation, but in private tenancies where most of the crime is happening, we deserve police protection as much as any other members of the community. In a way, I don’t think the responsibility lies with the uni. They should pick up some slack — surely this will affect their student intake — but this should be a priority for the police.”

Matt doesn’t seem to hold any anti-establishment views when it comes to the police, in fact, he praises their work in the months after the Manchester terror attack, but believes that there is more that can be done. “It’s an issue of coordination. At the Tory conference, there were around 100-150 officers around, which I’m sure was necessary, but it shows they do have the officers and it’s a matter of priority. ”

So what’s next for Matt? Though he hasn’t heard from Andy yet, he hopes the petition will lead to the two meeting sometime soon. “I’d love to have all this out with him!” He laughs. “I voted for him because I thought he was going to be a good leader and I believed in what he stood for. I still think he is a good guy and hopefully will come and talk to me about this.”

If you don’t feel safe in Fallowfield and want government action, you can find Matt’s petition here. For all Matt’s qualities and ambition, one man’s voice is not enough. Together we could really make some noise.

Speed running

Written by chrisglover on . Posted in Games.

“Speedrunning” is the act of playing through a game with the sole purpose of completing it in the fastest time possible. Whilst the concept has been around since the very beginning of video games, the practice has evolved over the years to form one of the largest subcultures in gaming today.

Game developers eventually took notice of players’ passion for speedrunning their games, and from as early as the 90’s began to facilitate and incentivise playing through levels as fast as possible.

Classic first-person-shooter DOOM allowed players to save “demonstrations” of their runs using in-game software, whilst 1997’s GoldenEye 007 gave access to cheats if players could complete levels under certain time limits.

Fast-forward to today and speedrunning has transformed from a small number of obsessive players in niche internet forums to a huge, structured community.

Today, many world-class speedrunners make a living from live-streaming their record attempts on popular video games, and the format of live speedruns has proven popular enough to launch a biannual charity marathon named Games Done Quick.

Since its inception in 2010, it has raised over $12 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Doctors Without Borders charities, whilst the youtube page which documents the live runs has clocked up an impressive 100 million views.
Speedrunners compete in different categories such as ‘Any%’ — simply reaching the end of the game as quick as possible, ‘100%’ — reaching the end of the game and picking up all collectibles, as well as variations on these which stipulate whether the player can use glitches or not.

There are also game-specific categories which add extra challenge or fun to the competition — completing the notoriously difficult Dark Souls series whilst blindfolded, for example. My personal favourite of these is undoubtedly a speedrun category for getting banned from Club Penguin in the quickest time possible.

Often, when an Any% speedrun gets shared to mainstream and casual gamers via platforms like the UniLad Gaming and Gaming Bible facebook pages, the comments are flooded with people complaining about the player abusing glitches in their speedruns.

The detractors are quick to label such speedruns as ‘cheating’, with some branching out into philosophical arguments about how speedruns are not how games are meant to be enjoyed.

For me, it’s the exploitation of what are, in many cases, game-breaking glitches that make speedrunning such an artform. Every speedrunner competing for the world record is acutely aware of the same glitches and uses them too. It’s like watching a 100 metre sprint in which every competitor is up to their eyeballs in steroids; a super-enhanced spectacle in which because everyone is cheating, no-one is.

Furthermore, these glitches aren’t just easy, cheap tricks — they’re almost always significantly harder than completing the game using conventional means. I recently watched a speedrun of a Ratchet and Clank title in which the runner proudly admitted to spending over 100 hours perfecting just one jump glitch on the entire run.

Many such glitches are ‘frame-specific’, which means the relevant button(s) must be pressed during one specific frame; which, for 30 fps games means it must be timed to 1/30th of a second.

Because every game and its mechanisms must be studied and manipulated in completely different ways, each title that players speedrun has its own subculture, with its own history, its own jargon, even its own celebrities.

Yes, Any% speedrunners are mostly not playing the game as it was intended to be played, but this does not mean they’re going against the spirit of gaming.

All gamers fundamentally undergo the same competition: player vs game. Speedrunners simply take this one step further: instead of merely competing against the game in its intended format, they compete against its very mechanics and coding, applying pressure every-which-way until something gives, and they can shave one more second off their playthrough.

It’s easy to not immediately realise how technically impressive and complex world record speedruns are. Each one represents the culmination of what is, in some cases, decades of knowledge gained from the tireless trial-and-error of a group of dedicated runners. Each run is like a fleeting piece of art, relevant only until a quicker run is achieved.

UK’s largest meat supplier violates food safety standards

Written by Leah Sophie Marlow on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

‘2 Sisters’, the UK’s number one supplier of poultry meat, was outed by an undercover investigation for serious food safety breaches.

Following the investigation into food safety breaches and professional misconduct within a ‘2 Sisters’ poultry factory, the University of Manchester’s European Food Crime Research Group called for a re-examination of the functionality of the whole food system.

Last week, footage was released showing employees of the largest supplier of meat to UK supermarkets failing basic hygiene practices, manipulating food safety dates, repackaging unsold meat and mixing older meat with new. The Food Standard Agency say its inspectors had previously audited the site as it announces its own investigation on the back of The Guardian’s and ITV’s evidence of potential regulatory breaches at the chicken processor.

Video evidence depicted employees re-labelling the ‘date of kill’ of the poultry meat, potentially to extend the use-by dates of these products on show in supermarkets, thus furthering the value of the product. The ‘2 Sisters’ company supplies over a third of poultry products eaten every day in the UK, and is stocked by major supermarkets including Marks and Spencer, Aldi, Lidl, and Tesco.

The University of Manchester’s European Food Crime Research Group expressed little surprise at the nature of the malpractice. This comes from the investigative findings for the Economic and Social Research Council’s “Understanding the Challenges of the Food Supply System,” which argues there are structural problems within the food market. This allows unethical and unhygienic practices to become commonplace in routine food processing, production, and distribution procedures.

With profit being the main motivation of food processing for many supermarkets, some of which struggle to compete within the highly competitive food market, it is clear hygiene practices are being compromised. Given the extortionate amount of food fraud incidents, it seems unethical behaviours can be easily concealed behind usual business practices. This indicates a large-scale problem within the food system.

The Food Crime Research Group emphasised that it would be a mistake to individualise the ‘2 Sisters’ company as solely responsible for committing such ethical malpractices. Such attacks on individual companies and suppliers defer from the main issue of the flawed food system itself, which lends itself to fraudulent practices becoming normalised in the pressured environment of the current market.

Jon Spencer, Dr Nicholas Lord, and Dr Cecilia Flores Elizondo from the University of Manchester’s European Food Crime Research Group stated that if the food system is to be “more transparent and fair,” we need to “urgently reform our food supply markets in order to ensure authenticity, sustainability and market resilience.”

Half-Life 2: The Past and Future

Written by Ciaran McLaughlin on . Posted in Games.

Ten years after the release of Half-Life 2 Episode 2, let’s look back at the series and its future.

What’s the longest you have waited for something? I doubt it gets much longer than ten years because that’s been the case for Half-Life fans.

The Half-Life franchise has always innovated. The first game revolutionised storytelling in video games. It told a story through the medium of the gameplay itself, making it far more immersive than anything before.

Half-Life 2 changed the way that games used physics engines. The engine was impressive compared to its contemporaries and with the ‘gravity gun’, the depths of the engine were truly on show. Even the episodic format tried to innovate – even though it never reemerged as a convention in gaming until popularised by Telltale games some six or seven years later.

With all of the success of the series there is still that one lingering question: where is Half-Life 3? Well, no one is sure. The episode format has been ditched by Valve but this surely doesn’t mean that the whole series has been abandoned — it was a critical and commercial hit, after all.

People have suggested that Valve is waiting for the next innovation. Virtual Reality was hailed as the saviour for the series but seems to have gone the way of motion controls, with the technology and its associated games still not quite ready for mainstream consumption.

There has been speculation if Valve are still interested in making another Half-Life, or indeed any other games. Their online game distribution platform, Steam, has proven to be a major success with them making more money off that than making their own games, which may signal a shift in business model.

The last game they released was Dota 2 in 2013. The last linear story-driven game was Portal 2 in 2011, so it does seem that their interest in making such games has faded.

The writing may seem to be on the wall for Half-Life, but earlier this year Marc Laidlaw, the lead writer for the Half-Life series, dropped a blog post enigmatically titled, “Epistle 3.”

It details a letter written by the mysterious, “Gertie Fremont,” detailing his final adventure. This article is clearly a reference to Episode 3 and how it would have ended the Half-Life 2 story arc.

I won’t spoil it here but there are implications. Laidlaw could have known that we would never see another game so tried to give use some closure, or maybe he just wanted to say how it would be if he was still at Valve.

Either way, he does comment about the current state of Valve in the final paragraph. He mentions that most people he knew that worked on the games have left, so while this doesn’t mean the end or that no one in Valve is interested in making another Half-Life game, it does seem less likely that we’ll see the end.

Ten years since Episode 2 the effects of Half-Life can still be seen in the industry. It’s a shining example of what some would call the golden era of Valve and it’s a shame that we may never see another game in the series.

Though I’m thankful for the original games and all the times I’ve spent playing them, I just hope that this isn’t the end for the Freeman.