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Month: November 2010

Thanks for the memories: the potency of perfume

Scent is a sensual subject, surely? Certainly, if you close your eyes and imagine the current object of your infatuation, one of the most memorable aspects of that person may well be – if you’ve managed to get close enough – their smell.

Indeed, scent seals and evokes memories more powerfully than any other sense  –  our sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than all other senses. Also, the  recognition of smell is immediate, due to the fact that other senses must travel through the body by means of neurons and the spinal cord before arriving at the brain, whereas the olfactory response is immediate, extending directly to the brain. Therefore, it’s not entirely surprising that many memories – most notably memories of youth and love / lust affairs – are enmeshed with some sort of smell.

However, the power of scent is by no means epitomised by the memory of another, as demonstrated by the very personal choice and application of perfume. When selecting a perfume, I am always hunting for a fragrance that smells like something I want to be: a reality that makes me feel like myself, yet with all the promise of fantasy. This scent isn’t about pleasing anybody else, but instead is a curious method of defining myself just for myself.

For the past couple of years now, my Bvlgari “Jasmin Noir” has performed the role of such a scent. Enclosed in a beautiful black bottle, complete with violet shadows and strong gold stopper, it gives me great pleasure to simply reach for this perfume. Having released the scent around my neck, “Jasmin Noir” opens with notes of green sap and gardenia, the heart notes of the scent – including sambac jasmine and satin almond – soon follow, accompanied by the base notes of precious woods, tonka bean absolute, and liquorice. The result is a rich yet subtle scent full of sophisticated yet sensual femininity, complete with incredible longevity – I can always smell it the morning after the night before. When the sun goes down (for it is truly a nocturnal scent – I use Tom Ford’s “White Patchouli” for a daytime sense of self), I never leave the house without enveloping it into my outfit. Clothes come second to a signature scent because, comparatively, nothing else seems necessary.

Silent and invisible, the consequences of fragrance are nonetheless tangible. Proust exemplifies the enigmatic power of perfume when he muses:

“But when from a long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remain poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection”.

When there’s no night left  for dancing and I fall into bed with the sunrise, on the brink of unconsciousness, reality in all its sensuousness begins to fade until I am left solely with the remains of the perfume that has pervaded myself throughout the night. My head hits the pillow, the heart notes swirl up from my hair; I sleep with a final intoxication.

Government announces immigration cap

The UK government have announced a limit of 21,700 on the number of skilled workers approved to work in the UK from outside of the European Economic Area. This is following recommendations from the Migration Advisory Commission to the coalition government on 18th November concerning how they can fulfil their promise of driving net migration down from current levels of 196,000, to ‘tens of thousands’ by 2015.  Net migration includes EU citizens, who have a right under freedom of movement laws to enter the UK. This leaves only non-EU migrants, over 50 per cent of who are students.

The issue of immigration, though increasingly scrutinized over the past ten years, has recently intensified. Questions are being asked about the growing population, illegal immigration and, more recently, the migration of skilled workers. The population is set to swell to 77m by 2051, ten million more than as estimated at the start of Labour’s government and largely due to migration.

Skilled workers account for 20 per cent of non-EU immigrants. The basis for their rights to work in Britain is currently a points scheme similar to that of Australia, in that the more desirable the skill the worker has, the more likely they are to be given the right to work.

In driving down net migration, businesses are set to lose out. Companies are aware of this and have successfully lobbied for a lift on the cap for intra-company transfers. As a result, the cap will not include employees transferred by their companies from another country providing they are earning over £40,000 a year (a special level of £24,000 was also set for IT workers).

The cap of 21,700 added to last years intra company transfers figure of 22000, leaves a total cap of 43,700, in line with the Migration Advisory Commissions recommendations. This leaves skilled workers down by 15 per cent from last years figures of 50,000. Whilst this is less than was first suggested by Cable, it is a blow for sectors that need such workers to succeed in the current Economic climate. The cuts in visa allocations will result in a key source of recruitment being lost by businesses, which could be a key factor in long term economic growth, since a well trained workforce is vital in fostering a strong and growing economy.

Further restrictions include reducing the amount of time a non-EU migrant can spend working in the UK after they have graduated. This may potentially prevent UK businesses from reaping the benefits of well-educated individuals who received their education from within the UK.

Universities will be affected as well. Under the new proposals foreign academics may struggle to obtain a visa and a right to work within the UK. This will result in academic institutions around the country suffering from a smaller pool of quality staff. A reduction in their access to educated staff members is likely to be a severe blow to the quality of teaching offered to students, and to the standard of UK academic research. Joseph Akkinagbe, UMSU International Officer agrees: “If you look at the international research awards which were won in the UK, 33 per cent were won by people born outside the UK and a further 33% were won from people born outside the EU. Teaching has become globalised we should be getting the best talent, not just students but the best talent to come and teach our students.”

The reduction in work-based visas offered would only amount to 20 per cent of the government targets, with the remainder having to come from cuts to student and family migration. Universities are to be hit again under this proposal; since many institutions are reliant on the higher fees they are able to charge non-EU students for their economic survival. Akkinagbe ponders the effect this could have on the globally competitive international student market: “Because of the cap you could have less people granted visas and this could create a global impression of the UK being unwelcome to international students.”

The impending increase in tuition fees is also of some relevance. These may reduce the number of home grown skilled workers available in decades time. Courses such as engineering, architecture and medicine all involve lengthy study and these skills may become scarce and prompt a higher need for foreign workers. With fewer skilled workers offered the chance to work in the UK, and less chance for young people to develop those skills, the workforce of the future may be very unskilled leaving a negative impact on the economy.

 

Combat Fatigue

Despite coverage on nightly news bulletins and round the clock news channels, the wars in Iraq and, to an extent, Afghanistan seem to have slowly faded in our collective subconscious. Regular reports of violence, be they suicide bombings, or atrocities like the recent attack on a Catholic Church in Baghdad, appear to elicit little public reaction. Turning on the television to find out that yet another British soldier has died serving in Afghanistan used to be a tragic news event. Now in some ways it is a regular occurrence, a part of the average day.

After being exposed for the best part of a decade to media coverage of British soldiers fighting in foreign fields, it is getting easier for us to become desensitized, only to box it all up and store away in our minds. If these ongoing conflicts can be ‘zoned’ out, what of those of the recent past? Bosnia? Kosovo? Will our awareness of those simply peter out as well? Encounters with people like Nigel [see last page] brings these issues back into sharp focus.

This syndrome in some ways mirrors the phenomenon of so-called ‘Compassion Fatigue’ or ‘Oh Dear-ism’ that is experienced in public life in response to natural and humanitarian disasters. Scenes of disasters like the Pakistan floods, the earthquake in Haiti and now the Cholera outbreak there don’t elicit the kind of public reaction that they once would have done. We have seen it too many times before. There has been no Live Aid for Pakistan, nor has there been a flotilla of boats, filled with people sending aid to Haiti. This is not to say that we do not care at all, quite the contrary. Around campus today many good, selfless people work tirelessly, fund raising for these same charitable causes. However these people are a minority.

With the proliferation of television news media especially, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that many of us now have a similar reaction to hearing about Britain’s war dead. We mark grim milestones with little ceremony; 100, 200 and now as of last month 300 British combat-related deaths in Afghanistan since invasion in 2001. [Source: BBC News]

Of course it would be insanely presumptuous of me to think that what I write here reflects the views of all those who read this paper, especially when it comes to as contentious and important an issue as the way in which we view war. I can be confident in saying that a vast proportion of students here are aware of the fact that British soldiers are fighting overseas and are aware of the reasons this is the case, even if they disagree with them.

However can some of us help but feel this ‘fatigue’ given that we are constantly surrounded with reminders that our country is still at war, albeit on the other side of the world?

A view of life from an ex ‘Bootie’

A month ago Nigel Le Fanu was attacked on Mancunian Way. His callous mugger pulled a knife out and waved it aggressively, demanding the war veteran’s wallet and mobile phone. Reflecting on the attack, Le Fanu says: “As it is approaching Christmas, I just want to give a warning to all students  – if the same thing should happen to you, don’t try and be a hero. Don’t try to be a big boy or a big girl.”

Arriving for our meeting, Nigel Le Fanu is dressed impeccably, complete in dark navy suit and old school tie. Sipping his coffee, he speaks slowly, but by no means minces his words.  A wicked sense of humour belies the distress he regularly feels due to the way he is treated by others, particularly his fellow students; he has been the subject of derision by other students due to his disability, the result of a gunshot wound to the head whilst serving in Afghanistan.

This is obviously upsetting, but Le Fanu remains resilient: “They’re just ignorant. They stare and they laugh at me. I try to keep my feelings to myself and bite my tongue until I get home – but tell them I forgive them.” Whether it is getting sneered at whilst cycling past Owens Park, or students pointing and laughing around campus, this debasing behaviour is an unflattering depiction of our ‘enlightened’ times.

Currently in his first year of post-doctoral Astrophysics research into event horizons, black holes and neutrinos, Le Fanu is a unique character with a fascinating story. Speaking about his life and time in the armed forces, his words are beguiling, touching and at times harrowing, but they are certainly never tinged with self-pity.

Before coming to study at the University of Manchester, Le Fanu was in the armed forces for 24 years, as a Royal Marine. Joining in 1980, he made the rank of Major just a year later. The Marines’ have a fierce reputation. Le Fanu explains their nickname “Booties”, or “Bootnecks”, a moniker referring to the neck collars they traditionally made out of boot leather, in order to prevent sailors slitting their throats whilst they guarded officers aboard British ships.

On paper, the list of places in which Le Fanu served reads like a comprehensive history of British military intervention over the last thirty years. His illustrious CV includes time served in The Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, yet he remains modest: “I can take the blood, bullets and bombs, but I don’t need any medals”.

On witnessing extremely active student groups debating and protesting the Israel-Palestine conflict around campus, Le Fanu reflects: “The conflict in Palestine has been going on since the year dot. I attended a talk on Palestine recently, and it struck me that more people should know about matters closer to home, like ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and the insurgency in Northern Ireland.”

Le Fanu described in graphic detail the horror that confronted him whilst serving in Bosnia: “Because of the nature of my capacity in the armed forces, I’ve seen horrible things. I saw pregnant women shot dead in the Siege of Sarajevo”.

Le Fanu took the decision to adopt a Bosnian orphan, with help from the British Consulate. Both of her parents had been Bosnian Muslims, murdered during the period of ethnic cleansing that marked the break up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. She is now in her twenties and also lives in Manchester.

Being initially based in northern Iraq in 2001, deciding to move from one battleground to another, Le Fanu elected to be placed in Afghanistan, which is where he was wounded three years later.

“Six years ago I was tasked with taking command of ninety Royal Marines while posted in Afghanistan. We were stationed near the Kajaki Dam in Helmand Province. This was on my fifth tour of duty in the country. Each tour lasted six months. The Taliban had compounds approximately eight miles away from where we were stationed.

“We were given orders to take out the compound. This is what is known as a Tactical Advanced Battle. How long does it take you to walk eight miles? It took us two hours to reach the compound with all our weapons and ammo. We started to engage the enemy at 05:27. We were still taking incoming fire at 15:12, so I called in an air strike. A United States B1 bomber dropped 6,000 pounds of ordnance on the compound. Much to my consternation and perhaps even admiration they were still firing at us.

“An IED [Improvised Explosive Device] blew the arm and leg off a Marine in my command. He was only 22 years old. He was killed, then and there. But in a perverse way, [Le Fanu pauses] he was the lucky one. He died instantly.”

An all too common story, yet hearing these words from a fellow student, shocked me more than any news report could.

Le Fanu then makes a point of showing me the exact spot on the left side of his head, where he was shot during his sixth and final tour.

A widespread criticism of the government’s handling of the current war in Afghanistan is that those on the frontline are simply not being given the sufficient equipment needed: “We simply didn’t have the equipment we needed to do the job. There aren’t enough Snatchers (Purpose-built jeeps), and for 10,000 troops there are only eight Chinook helicopters, two of which are used for medical emergencies.”

I am shocked and appalled to discover that a typical Royal Marine earns the equivalent of £2.18 a day while on tour: “If you’re thinking about joining the armed forces,” Le Fanu intones, “approach me in the Union bar, I’m willing to give you advice.”

I feel humbled by the stories that Nigel Le Fanu chose to share with his fellow students, and find it difficult to stop thinking of his final words to me: “Those of us who were injured bear the legacy of the Blair/Brown ‘ideal’ in so much as they want something for nothing. This sentiment is shared by most people who work in the public sector.”