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Month: January 2011

Is Essex really the only way?

The Only Way is Essex: Amy Childs

Before it even begins you are warned “This programme contains flash cars big watches and false boobs”. Despite the obvious punctuation error which I shall graciously overlook, The Only Way Is Essex, starts as it means to go on: In a cringe worthy, boasting manner. Filmed in Brentwood, the show follows the lives of varying Essex characters.

For example, a screen favourite is the stereotypical ‘Lady’s Man’ Mark, who just so happens to be the best friend of Jade Goody’s-ex Jack Tweedy, and the endless turmoil of his love life. He’d been dating the irritating Lauren since their teenage years, got with 19 year old glamour model Sam who looks ten years her senior and is now seeing younger girl Lucy who looks about fifteen. Each of these girls has their own charming characteristics which are emphasised in the scenes that quite possibly could have been entirely set up for the viewers’ entertainment.

Yes, that’s right. This is another series from The Hills’ School of Docusoaps where the audience are left guessing which of the scenes are real and which are completely hyped up for a reaction. All the characters, or ‘real people’ as the titles like to emphasise, have annoying sides to them. Actually they have annoying fronts and backs as well. They all know how to irritate and yet find it oh so easy to be irritated at others.

Essex is painted as a county of parties, glamour and vajazzling, but I can’t help feeling that other local residents will be more than a bit annoyed at these stereotypes. I live forty five minutes away from Brentwood in neighbouring Hertfordshire and have never known it to be as awful as the show makes out. From my memories, it is town with a decrepit High Street and annoying road works.

Although many Essex stereotypes are pretty accurate, programmes like this do nothing but encourage them. And they really don’t need to be encouraged. The show features characters talking about how everybody wants to live in Essex. I’m sorry blondie, but I don’t. Not in your version of Essex anyway. There are plenty of lovely areas of the county, but the aspects of Essex life that the directors have chosen to focus on are very distant from what I believe to be the reality.

So is Essex the only way? No. The programme, which has finally ended until series 2, is awful and makes me wince every time any of them open their mouths. Yet I still found myself watching every episode. I hate myself for it, but there’s something about TV this appalling that you just have to tune in to.

Resident Evil 5

I was asked recently whether Resident Evil 5 is worth buying. Well with the release of Gold Edition- a complete collection of the Resi 5 experience, including all add-ons, overpriced DLC, and compatibility with the new Playstation Move controller- let me tell you what kind of game Resident Evil 5 is.

Resi 5 is a game that takes so much from the 2004 Gamecube masterpiece Resident Evil 4, that it is practically its aesthetically prettier, yet emotionally and intellectually shallow sibling. Playing this sequel feels like you’ve made a decision to date the prettier sister, but over dinner realised that she is brain-numbingly stupid, has a massively inflated sense of ego, and has bastardised almost every perfection that my previous beloved tried so hard to create. For instance, Resi 4 gave the player a unique item storage screen that worked like a weapon based version of Tetris- you had to angle and sort items to fit into your backpack’s limited space. It complimented the survival-horror genre perfectly, as you decided whether it’s worth taking that spacious rocket launcher along and, if so, what to discard to squeeze it in. In contrast, Resident Evil 5 has decided that the world is not intellectually ready for Tetris and has butchered the item screen down to a grid of 9 squares, where an egg is apparently the same size as a grenade launcher, and where grenades can be stored in their baulk, but herbs, in this life and death situation, cannot be pressed together to take up virtually no room at all. In the same way, melee vests can somehow be worn on the torso and in the bag at the same time. I quickly came to the decision that Resident Evil 5’s sole purpose of being is to piss me right off.

Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5 is a game that has taken its predecessor’s over the shoulder view, enemies, weapons, premise, story, gameplay, animations, and practically a liver and two kidneys in its shameless butchering of a great game. Resi 4 took a detour from your typical survival-horror-with-zombies route and drove the car of innovation straight down human villager alley- a rather unvisited place in video games that added dashes of empathy to make the experience even more uncomfortable. Resi 5 has gone the same route, which is fine, but has added so little to the idea that it feels dated and over-familiar for a game that’s running on a highly superior console. It’s even more of a let-down when you see the same animations from 5 years ago.

The story is practically identical to any other game from this series, so isn’t even worth a mention. Any impression given by the stunningly realistic visuals are quickly ruined by unbelievably stupid and un-lifelike AI. The set-piece action from 4 is still alive in a way, if you can call breathing through tubes and an iron lung while slowly falling into a vegetative state ‘living’. Each set-piece or boss battle seems dumber and easier, only occasionally making you think in the puzzle sections and never really portraying the ‘horror’ element that is expected from this type of game. Anyone who played Resident Evil 4 will remember a particular set piece where you (as the slim, limp-haired, vulnerable character, Leon) , your helpless female companion, and some Spanish guy are trapped in a wooden house in the dead of night, while a surrounding horde of indoctrinated villagers slowly amble their way to your position. You’re given the shortest minute of your life to secure the windows and doors by barricading them with furniture, while your female friend hides upstairs and your Spanish chum makes some pant paella. Anyone who played the situation could give you a ‘Nam-like story about how they survived. Mine culminated with a last minute dash upstairs, running out off all ammunition, save for a grenade, and tossing it downstairs blindly in the hope that it would finish off the last of the horde, arming my melee weapon hopelessly, just in case. It worked. If this same scenario was ported to Resi 5, your female companion would be kicking ass, your Spanish chum would be doing the flamenco whilst shooting the invaders, and main character Chris Redfield would be checking himself out in the mirror and flexing before headbutting something! It’s got too much of a focus on the ‘oo-rah’ gameplay that has proven popular lately.

And perhaps that’s why Resi 5 is never particularly scary (like the best horror films), jumpy (like the best thrillers), or even gross (like the dregs of dumb horror). Chris Redfield- previously seen in the very first Resident Evil- is beyond your typical action hero: he has the gruff soldier like qualities of an action hero, a well equipped side-kick, and arms that make you believe that the enemies are not the only ones injecting themselves with killer substances. It’s why a foe will take ten of the best bullets to their vital organs before dying, or one of Chris’s standard kicks. It’s the reason why when confronted with a boulder big enough to plug the BP oil leak, Chris moves it- and this is in all seriousness- by punching it into a river of lava. It’s the same with the dialogue, which is riddled with clichéd lines that would be too cheesy for porn- who, in this day and age, can listen to the threatening and serious war cry of “not on my watch” without cringing? If it was tongue in cheek it would be bad, but never is it portrayed as anything but serious, making it so much worse.

So, when your main character has an arm-span wider than the circumference of his head, and when the game isn’t particularly testing, the feeling of vulnerability is lost, and as a result, so is the horror. When the game features enough ammo to start the next Great War, the survival element becomes nullified. As a result, what was once a fantastic survival-horror game is now neither of these things. The only thing it can boast about being is a game; and Resident Evil 5 isn’t even a good example of that.

Best of luck to Manchester occupation – Noam Chomsky

High-profile figures, including Noam Chomsky and Billy Bragg, have sent messages of support to the students occupying a University of Manchester building.

Protesters have peacefully inhabited Roscoe Theatre B since the protests in Manchester on Wednesday 24 November. The number of occupying students had remained quite small, until protests last week increased the number inhabiting the lecture hall to around 80.

The group voted to extend their stay “indefinitely,” until their demands are met.

Noam Chomsky, renowned political activist, linguist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor, sent a message of support to the protesting students. The message read: “Pleased to learn about what you are doing.  The savage cuts, hardly concealed class warfare, are likely to harm England for a long time to come.

“By coincidence, they were announced when I was giving talks in Mexico’s national University, UNAM, which presents a dramatic contrast – in a poor country, not one of the richest ones.  Ten years ago the government proposed tuition.  There was a student strike that was so successful that the government backed down, and tuition remains free in a university with quite impressive standards, and hundreds of thousands of students.  There surely are alternatives.

“Best of luck in your important efforts,” said Chomsky.

Other voices of support have come from folk singer Billy Bragg, Socialist Labour Party (SLP) leader Arthur Scargill and comedian Mark Thomas.

The University has not altered its standard procedure of locking the building and reducing the heating during evenings and weekends, despite the presence of the occupation. This essentially cuts off access to the protest outside of University hours. The University of Manchester is the only university that is not allowing open access to occupied buildings.

Occupying students have been demanding 24-hour access to the building. At 6pm, security staff lock the Roscoe building and further entry is prohibited.

A student who is occupying the Roscoe building said: “The University has consistently denied us access to the building out of hours, which is a condition of any occupation that university management committees usually agree to. We remain the only University in the country not to have been granted this access.”

On the second day of national protests on Tuesday 30th November, close to 6pm, the protesters sat in the doorways and linked arms so that the doors could not be closed and locked.

A statement was later delivered to the students by security staff, from University authorities: “For the past week, the University has recognised the legitimacy of your concerns and your right to protest within the law and the Universities’ own regulations.

“However, we have had to notify the University authorities of your actions this evening, and we have been asked to formally notify you that you are causing significant disruption to the operation of the University and are compromising the integrity of this building as such.

“Staff and students, you are in breach of the University regulations. Any others, you are committing criminal trespass.”

The statement concluded: “The University is taking actions in relations to these breaches of its regulations and the law.”

Previous attempts had been made by the occupying students to gain 24-hour access to the building. The occupation originally stated that they would not disrupt any lectures in Roscoe B, and simply move to the side: “We were happy to sit in the back of lectures so as not to disrupt the education of other students.”

After demands for 24-hour access to the building were not met, the students briefly changed their policy, releasing a statement: “We put forward the proposal to the university that we would prevent them holding lectures in the building if they didn’t grant us open access. Management gave no concrete answer, instead ignoring our attempts at communication, so we decided to go ahead with our plans.”

The protesters refused to allow a business and management lecturer and students access to the theatre on Monday 29 November, the day before the national protests, and stated they would continue to do so until they were given 24-hour access.

“Not only did management not inform us of any decision on their behalf, but they did not inform the lecturer in question that the occupation would be within the lecture theatre. Rather than insist we leave, she postponed her lecture by a week,” read the statement.

The protesters then voted to not follow this course of action: “We regretted having to deny students of their lecture this afternoon and it soon became clear to us that this was not the course of action we wished to pursue.

“University management then got back to us implying legal action, but we plan to continue the occupation indefinitely whilst not disrupting any more lectures and we plan to look for new ways of acquiring the desired open access policy, as well as our demands as a whole.

“We recognise that disrupting the education of other students will not further our aims and we apologise to the students who had to get out of their beds for no reason,” the occupation stated.

One of the organisers of the occupation, who preferred to remain anonymous, also said: “On Monday, we needed to organise a protest. We told the University that we want open access, and we want lectures to continue. Why don’t we both get what we want? If you do not allow us open access, we will disrupt a lecture.

“We disrupted one lecture. That was a mistake. We admit that. We apologise to every student in that lecture. Instead, we are going to seek alternative routes to gain open access to the University, but we’d like to make it clear to everybody that we do not want to disrupt education. Any lectures cancelled, other than that one, have been the decision of the lecturer in question or the University management.”

Students across the country have occupied their universities; including Oxford, Birmingham, University College London (UCL) and School of Asian Studies (SOAS).

Aaron Porter, President of the Nation Union of Students (NUS), has come out in support of occupations as a “legitimate form of protest”, despite previously being, in his own words, “too cautious.”

Speaking at the UCL occupation, Porter said, “I think that, for too long, the NUS has been too cautious and too spineless with being committed to supporting student protest and student activism.”

This comment was widely agreed upon by the UCL students in attendance.

Porter continued: “If I am going to be critical of myself, I have spent too long over the last few days doing the same. I want to apologise for my dithering over the last couple of days.

“But I want to be clear and unambiguous right now that wherever there is non-violent student supported action, NUS should and will support that. What we are facing is utterly disgraceful, “ said Porter.

The University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU) has also given their message of support to the peaceful protests in Roscoe.

The occupation of Roscoe lecture theatre B can be followed on: http://roscoeoccupation.wordpress.com/

Politics lecturer charged with assaulting police officer

A University of Manchester academic was charged with assaulting a police officer last week. The arrest was made during the third national day of action against the planned cuts to higher education and the proposed rise in tuition fees.

Dr Emmanuel-Pierre Guittet, an academic in the School of Social Sciences, was arrested following an altercation with a police officer and will appear in court on Tuesday.

In total, five arrests were made last Tuesday as approximately 1,500 students from universities and further education colleges marched through the city centre. A second man was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer. Two further arrests were made for suspected public order offences and a fifth man was arrested for an alleged breach of the peace.

The march began at University Place, before moving to the city centre and then returned to the University of Manchester campus. Protesters then moved to the Roscoe building, where nearly 500 people filled the lecture hall.

Similar protests in London were largely peaceful. Metropolitan police reported 153 arrests. 146 of those arrests were attributed to one group who refused to leave Trafalgar Square after the protests.

Demonstrations also took place in Brighton, Birmingham, Bristol, Newcastle and Oxford.
A vote in the House of Commons on December 9 will decide the future of tuition fee rises and cuts to higher education. The National Union of Students (NUS) has called for mass demonstrations across the country on December 8.

The NUS also stated that, if the vote passes, they plan to organise a vigil to light 9,000 candles to represent the potential £9,000 tuition fees that students will face.

NUS president Aaron Porter said: “MPs can be left in no doubt as to the widespread public opposition to these plans or of the consequences of steamrollering them through parliament.

“For the third time in less than a month, thousands of students have taken to the streets to protest against the government’s attacks on further and higher education.

“Despite repeated dismissals by Nick Clegg that these are uninformed protesters, students are intelligent, articulate people who are not being listened to by those in whom they placed their hope for a different politics,” added Porter.

Porter had previously apologised for the NUS being “spineless” about supporting student protests and labeled his own actions as “dithering.”

Peaceful protesters charged by “heavy-handed” police on horseback

Police charged unarmed, peaceful protesters on horseback and used “heavy-handed” tactics to disrupt protests on Oxford Road last week.

Students returned from the town hall march and gathered near University Place. All surrounding University buildings were pad-locked and guarded by police in a bid to deter students from occupation. The surrounding buildings had been evacuated in preparation for the returning march.

After an attempted occupation of the Dover Street building, protesters staged a non-violent disruption of traffic on Oxford Road, outside the Manchester Museum. A large group sat in the road and were surrounded by police. The police then physically removed protesters and used horses to clear the road.

University of Manchester Students’ Union Women’s Officer, Emma Kerry, talked to the police before they removed the protesters. She said: “I completely disagree with police horses being used. It is quite cruel to the animals and it is intimidating to the protesters. The police informed us that they were going to tell the students when they were going to move in and give the students a chance to move.

“They then went in very heavy-handed and didn’t give students the opportunity to move. I believe students, who were not violent and simply worried about their education, have been caught up in, basically, police attacking students who were sitting in on a peaceful protest. All they were doing was stopping the traffic. They were not causing any damage to buildings or people. The only violence here, that I have seen, has been antagonised by the police,” added Kerry.

A local college tutor, who wished to remain anonymous, witnessed the events: “Police started coming in and picking people up. It got a bit rough. People started kicking off about it. A couple of people were arrested. It was a peaceful protest, and they started pushing everyone back and roughing everyone up. [The police] turned something peaceful into something that could become potentially violent.”

A 16-year-old student was hit in the face by a police officer while standing at the side of the road near the protest: “[A policeman] was pushing me back and, even though I was wearing glasses, he grabbed my face and pushed it,” said Kwame Menfah, a college student.

The crowds on Oxford Road included many young people, some as young as 11: “We want to go to university too. We’re protesting for the future; for us,” said Pablo Fernandez, an 11-year-old Trinity Church of England High School student.

After the students were dispersed from outside the Manchester Museum, they continued to march down the road, blocking traffic. Police followed, physically moving protesters on if they slowed down.

Jeremy Buck, UMSU Communications Officer, said: “The UMSU organised the part of the demonstration that ended in Castlefield. Students here chose to spend the rest of their afternoon marching from place to place in Manchester. The events that unfolded here just goes to show how active the students want to be. They are really passionate about it. “

Once the protesters reached Whitworth Park, they turned to face the police. Police officers marched towards them, and the students linked arms. Horse-mounted police officers charged the protesters at speed and hit the linked students. It is not known if anyone was injured.

Again, police physically removed protesters and made several arrests.

Lucy Allan, a University of Manchester student, witnessed her boyfriend, Joey Connolly-Wright, being beaten and arrested. She said: “He literally didn’t do anything. He’s really non-violent. We were barely even part of this protest.

“He was just standing there, and they kicked him in the balls and punched him against the railing. He wasn’t doing anything. They screamed at me and pushed me away.

‘They have taken him to the station. I have no idea why he was arrested. They said it was for obstruction of the highway, but we were on the pavement – and they kicked him. What the fuck?” said Allan.

The police officer told the protesters: “If you walk back onto the road, you are causing an obstruction of the highway. We will have no choice but to arrest you. You can protest wherever you like, but we need to keep the highway open.”

After approximately 20 minutes, the crowd then marched back up Oxford Road, past the UMSU and blocking traffic as they went. As they reached the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), several more arrests were made and the protest seemed to, after six and a half hours, come to an end.

Student Direct: Mancunion runner up at Guardian Student Media awards

Student Direct: Mancunion, as The Mancunion was known last year, was awarded runner-up in the Guardian Student Media Awards. The River, a Kingston University publication, took first place.

Jennie Agg, the editor for 2009/10, said: “I am so happy. Being named runner up in the best publication category is such an achievement. It’s the pat on the back that every single person who contributed to last year’s paper thoroughly deserves. As Editor, I was very proud of the paper we put out each week, and it’s an amazing feeling to know that people like Jon Snow and Alan Rushbridger saw something in it too.”

Girish Gupta, last year’s news editor for Student Direct: Mancunion in 2009/10, came runner-up in the Reporter of the Year category. Gupta is currently working as a freelance journalist in Mexico, and writes for various papers including The Times.

“I had such an amazing time with the student paper last year and am already missing it. Receiving these awards is a testament to the quality of the team we had and I hope we all remember the fun we had producing the paper, and the skills that gave us, which is worth more than any award,” said Gupta.

James Harker, writer and editor of Manchester Metropolitan University’s (MMU) Pulp magazine, won the award for Writer of the Year.

As reported by SD: Mancunion last year, Pulp was forced to disband following a financial decision by the MMU Students’ Union marketing department.

“This just shows how stupid the MMU marketing department are,” said Harker.

Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian and editor-in-chief of Guardian News & Media and judge for the awards, said: “The students entering this year’s Guardian Student Media awards produced work of a high quality in one of the most challenging journalistic environments.”

“This year’s winners have all shown that they understand the value of journalism and have produced work that shows the best of journalistic qualities – passion, knowing how to achieve impact, being well researched, having the right amount of humour and a connection with their communities,” added Rusbridger.

The panel of judges also included Jon Snow and NME editor Krissi Murison.

Reporter of the year was awarded to Camilla Turner of Cherwell, an Oxford University publication. Photographer of the year was awarded to Susan Swindells of Newcastle College. Will Benton of Kings College London received Digital journalist of the year. Finally, Broadcast journalist of the year was given to Rob Setchell of Forge Radio at the University of Sheffield.

5000 protesters bring Manchester to a standstill

An estimated 5,000 students from Manchester’s universities and colleges marched through the city centre last week. Lecturers, parents, and local politicians joined students in bringing Oxford Road to a standstill.

The protests remained peaceful until later in the day, when police were accused of using excessive force after rushing non-violent students on horseback and manhandling students without warning.

The organised event on Wednesday 24th November was part of a National Day of Action, which saw an estimated 130,000 students protesting across the country, with 10,000 marching in London alone.

University of Manchester students gathered outside University Place before marching down the middle of Oxford road and stopping the flow of traffic. Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) students joined the march as the two groups met near All Saints Park and then marched to Castlefield with a police escort.

Greater Manchester Police controlled the event on foot and by horse and although there was no violence reported, four arrests were made during the protests in the city centre.

A man and a woman were arrested for a public order offence, one man was arrested for obstructing a police officer and another man was arrested for failing to remove his face covering. The march was also monitored by a helicopter, which prompted cheers from the protestors.

Emma Kerry, UMSU Women’s Officer, said: “This is an event where students have taken democracy back into their own hands. Our students peacefully protested throughout the day, they have shown they believe peaceful protest is the best way to get their voices heard.”

“Today isn’t going to achieve shit all, but it’s fun,” said Charlotte Peirs, 18, a MMU student.

“I’m here today because I don’t want them to take away my EMA and raise university fees, because without that money, I wont be able to get an education,” said Erin Swift, 16, Xavarian college student.

The march continued through Manchester city centre, towards Castlefield where organisers had arranged for speakers to talk to the 3,000 strong crowd. As protesters reached the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), up to 500 protestors broke away through police barriers and marched to Manchester Town Hall.

The police seemed to lose control of the marching students at this point, as larger numbers of police moved to keep the remaining students at Castlefield. The students who marched to Town Hall found the front entrance blocked with approximately 20 police officers guarding the door. The students were then joined by polices on horses in an attempt to control the crowd.

Younger protestors climbed a portacabin outside the town hall, climbing poles and trees, and chanted to the crowd. Police made arrests outside the town hall, as the remaining protestors made their way from Castlefield to join those who had broken away.

Samia Yasmin, a student at the University of Manchester, was among the students at Castlefield: “They seated everyone in the open arena at Castlefield and were telling all of us to sit down. But the majority of people were really unhappy with what was happening. I came to stand up and march, not to sit down. Our intention was to go to the town hall, and that’s what we did.”

However, the peaceful protest was marred by police violence as it neared the end of the day. After the march back from the city centre, students were forcefully removed from a sit-in protest on Oxford Road, and a number of students were arrested for obstructing the road.

The University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU) Welfare Officer, Hannah Paterson, expressed shock at the escalating violence: “We worked closely with the police throughout the planning and on the day, however, we were shocked by their violent tactics and appalled that they knowingly charged horses into a crowd of peaceful students, some of whom were as young as 12 and 13.”

A statement released by GMP stated: “Our operation allowed around 3,000 people to march to the city centre, make their legitimate protest, and return to the university area.

“There were a small number of arrests, 17 in total, but they were mainly for obstructing the police and the highway and most were dealt swiftly by cautions or fixed penalty notices.”

GMP also released a statement from Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan stating: “I am delighted to say that today’s protests have been on the whole peaceful. GMP is committed to facilitating peaceful demonstrations and ensuring minimal disruption while protecting the local community.

“Today’s events demonstrate what can be achieved when police, universities and protestors talk to each other with that aim in mind.”

However, the police tactics were labelled “heavy-handed” as force was utilised by police officers on foot and on horseback on students.

Emma Kerry, UMSU Women’s Officer, said, “Generally, the police were peaceful until the end of the march, at which point they seemed violent and aggressive. I personally witnessed incidents that I would class as violent. We are currently looking for anyone who has experienced or seen police violence to come and talk to us in the Union.

“We are collecting all the information together, and depending on the information we may be lodging a formal complaint,” added Kerry.

As the day of protest neared its end, up to 30 students also occupied the University of Manchester Roscoe Building. A statement during the occupation, which read: “We the students and residents of Manchester are occupying the University of Manchester’s Roscoe building Lecture Theatre B as a peaceful protest against the proposed increases to the cost of attending University as proposed by the Coalition government.

“We therefore call upon the management of the University of Manchester to release a statement condemning the proposed increases in fees and call upon our lecturers to sign the statement of support for the Millbank protestors.”

The group criticised the actions of the police: “We condemn the heavy-handed approach the Greater Manchester Police Force have taken in their handling of the entirely peaceful protest held on Oxford Road and at Whitworth Park. We call for there to be no repercussions, either from the University or from the Police, for those who have engaged in protest actions against the fees.”

As The Mancunion went to press, students were still occupying the Roscoe Building.
Pockets of violence also took place on Wednesday night in Trafalgar Square, London. Demonstrators broke windows of buses and offices smashed, including the Treasury.

An unattended police van was vandalised during the London protest. A group of young students then surrounded the van, preventing it from being further damaged.

Voting Referendum: Yes or No?

Voting is underway to determine whether future Union policy should be decided by an online voting system.

The referendum, accessible via the Student Portal until the 26th November, requires a quorum of 3000, ten times the number required for General Meetings.

Under the proposed new system, students will be entitled to vote via the internet at four General Referenda held throughout the year.

The campaign for online voting has gathered pace in recent years, with poor attendance at the General Meetings prohibiting the Student’s Union’s ability to shape new policy.

Having not reached the 300 people needed for quorum in 18 months of trying, October’s successful General Meeting brought to an end almost two years of political stalemate which saw many of the Union’s policies pass their three year expiry date.

Sports teams, whose fixtures often fall on Wednesday afternoons, look set to benefit from the proposals. Agi Duhig, Athletics Union Chair, welcomed an alternative to the current system in which “most are excluded”, saying she was “totally in support.”

Jeremy Buck, Communications Officer at the University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU) and member of the ‘Yes to online voting’ campaign, insisted the key benefit centred “on all 39,000 students being able to vote.”

“Sports people should have a say in the Union.  So should those on placement, those with timetabled teaching or labs on a Wednesday, our students that are abroad, students with caring responsibilities, the list goes on,” said Buck.

However Amanda Walters, UMSU Campaigns Officer and coordinator of the ‘No to online voting’ campaign, suggested an alternative to both online voting and the current system: holding the General Meeting at 5pm or 6pm, when most sports teams and societies are free.

Walters insists that online polls would create less debate:  “Many people go to General Meetings and change their mind. [Online voters] would be less likely to listen to both sides of the argument.”
Jeremy Buck maintains that the debating element of the existing system would be preserved, as “formal debate events will happen each time the Union votes online.” The motion, if successful, promises that the Union “will actively support” exciting and engaging discussion.

Miles Battye, UMSU Student Activities Officer, commented that the lack of quorum in recent months has increased apathy among students who feel “disempowered.”

Despite raising concerns that a sense of the Union as a community might be lost by voting via the internet, Battye voiced his opposition to an “elitist” approach, which allowed those actively engaged with the Union to make decisions affecting the entire student body.

“People are frustrated that General Meetings are broken”, he said, continuing that online voting would offer the direct democracy that the Union strives for.

But there is concern that the proposals don’t allow for certain key democratic functions to take place. Jess Bradley, a second-year student campaigning against online voting, said: “The power to ‘take parts’, to remove a small part of a motion that you mainly agree with and discuss it separately without throwing out the whole motion, will effectively be removed under the new proposals and so a reduction in democracy will take place.

“I think that on paper, online GM’s could be a good thing, it’s just these particular proposals that have huge holes in them.”

The effects of online polls on voter turnout are still unclear. Walters said it could lead to a decrease in participation, citing a 16 per cent drop in 2009 when voting for Executive and Council members shifted to the internet.

However, the General Secretary of the London School of Economics Student’s Union (LSESU), which moved to online voting in September, warned that online voting produced conflicting outcomes. While it had undoubtedly increased turnout in online polls, it had “stifled engagement” as fewer people attended the General Meeting discussions.

There was a malaise surrounding union politics, the LSESU’s Charlotte Gerada said, but if a cultural shift was encouraged, more people would participate. Hinting that a more effective forum for debate could be found online, she commented that face-to-face debates at General Meetings were often divisive, “taking several weeks for the union to recover.”

Leeds University’s Students’ Union has adopted a similar method for union voting. Their Activities Officer emphasised that “having an online element means less engaged students can keep tabs” on the Union.

Despite energetic and deeply polarised campaigns by both those supporting and opposing the motion, there have been claims of impartiality. One student involved in the campaign, who spoke to The Mancunion anonymousely, claimed that last Wednesday’s General Meeting had been “massively under promoted” so as to make the current procedure appear obsolete, in order to shore up support for the online alternative.

In memorial: Tom Hurndall

Tom Hurndall, a Manchester Metropolitan University student, was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper in April 2003. Hurndall was a photographer, and a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), an organisation that use non-violent protest against the Israeli military in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Hurndall had been observing and protesting near Rafah refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip, when shots were fired. Photographic evidence of the incident shows that Hurndall was unarmed and was dressed in the bright orange jacket of ISM, indicating he was non-military.

According to witnesses, Hurndall was steering three Palestinian children away from machine gun fire that was getting dangerously close. A single sniper bullet hit Hurndall in the head, and put him in a coma that he never emerged from. He died in January 2004, aged 22 years old.

An annual lecture has been established to memorialise Hurndall’s life, and to celebrate the ideals that he supported.  This week, the sixth annual Tom Hurndall Memorial Lecture will take place at Lecture Theatre C0.14 of John Dalton Building of MMU on Wednesday 10 November at 6pm.

The speaker will be Karma Nabulsi, a University of Oxford lecturer and award-winning academic, speaking on ‘Overcoming Fragmentation: Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return.’ Nabulsi is the co-founder and trustee of the HOPING Foundation a charity which raises awareness of Palestinian refugee youth and sponsors art, music, scholarships, education and sport for young Palestinians in refugee camps across the Middle East.

Nabulsi tells The Mancunion that: “Tom Hurndall represents all that is best about the great British tradition of liberty and the struggle for justice and dignity. His commitment, courage, and love of life reminds us of the universality of human rights for all peoples – Tom’s decision to drop everything and go to Gaza to stand by Palestinians there, his generous gesture, encapsulates the principles we all hold dear. We salute him, he represents the best.

“I am going to speak about the issue of the Palestinian dispossession in 1948 [at the lecture], the Nakba, and how it is so important to understand as the means of reconciliation for the peoples of that land. In order to understand what is happening today in Palestine, it is crucial to understand that the majority of the people in Gaza today are refugees from 1948.

“The fate of the Palestinian refugees, the core of the conflict, needs to be understood more than ever now, especially as the official peace process does not begin to address the issue with the dignity and humanity the victims of this conflict deserve.”

Professor Ian Parker, who is organising the event, said: “The memorial lecture is an occasion for colleagues at Tom’s university, MMU, to honour his brave decision to spend time working for the Palestinians, a decision that sadly cost him his life.

“Tom’s family have supported this lecture series since its foundation in 2005, and since the lectures’ inception in 2005 we have had Arab and Jewish speakers speaking out against injustice committed against Palestinians,” added Parker.

Hurndall kept a journal throughout his travels and one of his final entries read: “What do I want from this life? What makes you happy is not enough. All the things that satisfy our instincts only satisfy the animal in us. I want to be proud of myself. I want more. I want to look up to myself and when I die, I want to smile because of the things I have done, not cry for the things I haven’t done.”

“Marching alone isn’t going to cut it”

Demonstrators from Manchester were among the first to break into Tory headquarters in London last week, as up to 50,000 marched on Embankment to protest education cuts and a rise in tuition fees.

Following the action in London, an emergency meeting was held at the University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU) the next day, which culminated in a spontaneous occupation of the finance department at the University.  The demonstrators demanded that the University open its account to reveal “when and where, upon which staff and which departments the cuts will fall.”

Members of security staff at the University have unofficially expressed support for the demonstrators, citing concerns about cuts to their own workforce.

The peaceful occupation received coverage in the national media, just one day after protesters in London were berated for acts of mass vandalism at the Millbank complex, which houses the Conservative Party’s head office.

The violence at the national demonstration marks the most vitriolic response to the coalition government’s spending cuts so far.

One unidentified demonstrator threw a fire extinguisher from the roof of the building, eliciting boos and chants of “stop throwing shit” from the crowds below. A Sun photographer claims that the missile “missed [his] head by inches.”

The march was organised by the National Union of Students (NUS), though NUS President Aaron Porter has censured the action at Tory headquarters, describing the protesters there as “absolutely deluded.”

Porter told The Mancunion, “Let me be clear: I absolutely condemn the actions of anyone who thinks it’s appropriate to use violence.

“We organised a peaceful protest, which 50,000 students came along to, to make a serious point about cuts to university funding and the trebling of tuition fees.

Porter continued: “I’m really worried we’ve been completely undermined by a minority of people who came with preconceived plans to cause trouble. We don’t represent them and they should be ashamed of themselves.”

Amanda Walters, Campaigns Officer for UMSU, was present at Millbank as demonstrators invaded the building. In response to Porter’s statement she said, “It’s a shame that he’s not supporting his students. He’s claiming that those [inside Tory headquarters] were anarchists and yobs and weren’t affiliated with NUS. But I was there; I’m part of NUS.

“Many students that were there were also NUS, there were other Executive members from other Students’ Unions, and there were ordinary people, ordinary staff and ordinary students. It wasn’t just anarchists going into the building.”

She continued, “It’s time to start using other tactics and that’s why I think the occupation [of Millbank] was a good idea and I think it was successful.

“It was a shame that people got hurt and a shame that people were throwing things off the roof, both of those things I condemn, but I do condone occupations.”

Capturing the aftermath: Sean Sutton talks to The Mancunion

“My camera was pointed so close to the cluster bomb, I didn’t notice his children running away from him as he attempted to knock off the fuse to show me how to make a lamp out of it, a lethal trade that claims lives daily.”

These are the words of Sean Sutton, war photographer and Marketing and Communications manager of Mines Advisory Group (MAG) at a presentation of his work at the University of Manchester last week.

Working in warzones throughout his career, Sutton’s images tell powerful and unbelievable stories about the lives of people affected by conflict and MAG’s work in clearing the remnants of combat.

A photojournalist since 1989 when he found himself embroiled in Burmese offensives against the Karen people on the Burma-Thai border, Sutton’s first-hand experiences in countries as far removed as Cambodia, Afghanistan and Angola helped turn his focus towards what he calls the “residue of war”.

He said, “I decided to centre my work on the indiscriminate effects mines and other ammunition continue to have on communities long after conflicts are officially over.

“There were times during active battle in Yugoslavia where I thought I wasn’t going to come out but often the dangers come when you don’t expect them; in post war societies that are peppered with mines and other explosives.”

Heralded as a pioneer in photographic style, Sutton’s news photography has distinctly a humanitarian focus: “Initially I got sponsored by the Guardian then worked through photo agencies but found myself drawn to NGOs who worked in the areas I was capturing on film and through whom I could get better access to situations the mainstream media found it hard to.”

It was in the mid ‘90s that he was introduced to MAG, where he was able to give his photography skills the chance to affect change in a way he found he was unable to do as well through the international press. His work helped MAG to secure more funding.

Sutton continues to return to the field despite the impact on family life, “What continues to amaze me and keeps me coming back to these places are the extraordinary displays of human strength and character in the most appalling of situations. One woman I came across in Cambodia told me how her husband stood on a mine outside of their family house, blowing off his leg.

“When he came back form hospital several weeks later he asked her to go get some painkillers from the neighbour and upon returning she too stepped on a landmine, the same happening to her, and she said to me, joking ‘so I took the painkillers because I needed them more!’ When people try to rebuild their lives and even joke about what has happened to them after years of turmoil it can give us all hope about the resoluteness of humankind. I want my images to show them not as victims, but survivors.”

During a trip to northern Iraq after the 2003 invasion, Sutton photographed eight village children playing with mortar bombs as toys, only days after they had been dropped. He tried to highlight the dangers to the families by showing them pictures he had taken earlier of those who had been injured in the same way. He returned to the site the following morning to find that 3 of them had been killed. Although support is there, he says, the problems facing these citizens are so widespread that they don’t always get help and are left to fend for themselves.

More recent experiences in Laos have culminated in the publication of ‘Laos: Legacy of a Secret’, a narrative set in the most bombed place on the planet per capita. The country suffered the equivalent of a B52 dropping its tonnage every 6 minutes, 24 hours a day for 9 solid years by American forces. Sutton’s book follows the incredible resilience and resourcefulness of its citizens who continue to live there and fashion everything, from buildings to boats, out of the scrap metal that litters the ground.

The intention of Sutton and MAG is clear. With black and white Leica images they aim to highlight the urgent need for mine and artillery clearance so that countries once riddled with war can develop. The work MAG does has seen “the transformation of minefields into thriving villages.”

Sutton continued, “It is important to get the message across to governments that before these countries can develop we must give them land free from bombs so they can produce for subsistence. This has to be done before you can build hospitals, schools and industry.”

Sean Sutton’s exhibition ‘Surviving the Peace’ will be at the Royal Armouries in Leeds from 15-29 November before travelling around the UK. His book, Laos: Legacy of a Secret will be published 1 March 2011.

‘Ed Miliband in Conversation’ at University, hours before Labour victory

Ed Miliband held a Q&A session at the University of Manchester just hours before winning the Labour leadership race. The new Labour leader answered questions put to him during ‘Ed Miliband in Conversation’ by a 300 strong student audience and spoke to The Mancunion afterwards to talk student politics and activism.

Ahead of the Labour Party Conference and the announcement of the new party leader, Miliband, alongside MP for Manchester Central, Tony Lloyd, took to the floor for the Labour Students and UMSU organised event. The evening was kicked off by Manchester Labour Students’ Chair Andrew Campbell, who welcomed students to the event.

The high profile ‘Ed Miliband in Conversation’ event was marred with controversy before it even began, when students were turned away at the door, and it was announced Miliband would not be attending the social at the Union Bar as advertised.

The Q&A session itself went ahead without any problems. Miliband and Lloyd conducted the event together, with Lloyd picking students from the audience to ask questions.
Tony Lloyd also discussed the state of the Labour party and his constituency in Manchester before Ed Miliband appeared on stage: “I’m just going to say a few things actually; thank you for coming, my party has just been through a very intense period, between the election campaign and getting a new leader. What this means now is we can actually start talking politics, because your generation is the generation that is going to change the nature of this country.
“I love Manchester; it’s one of the greatest city in the world, certainly for students.”

Amidst a red background reading “Ed Miliband for Labour Leader” and “Campaigning for the future” Ed emerged from a side door and showed why he had been billed as the candidate for change and the dark horse of the competition.

“Thank you, the first thing I won’t say is ‘Please vote for me’ – because voting is over”, said Miliband. The former Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary then addressed the audience before the Q&A began.
“What I’ll talk about is the future of Labour and politics briefly, and then it’s your turn to ask the questions. For the future of the Labour party and British politics it is really important you get young people involved, and the world faces an enormous challenge.”

Ed Miliband showed some of the personal charisma that commentators claim won him the election when he spoke of how he got involved in politics.

“I’ll tell you how I got involved in politics. My parents were refugees who taught me that life experiences matters in life and death and they taught me why politics matters. It’s a sense that you can’t walk on the other side and say injustice happens – do something about it. And that’s why I stood in the leadership contest.

“I believe politics makes an enormous difference to people’s lives and as we face massive challenges ahead it’s important to encourage political engagement. There’s the issue of ageing, higher education and gradual unemployment.

“I want to win back people’s trust and engage people in politics. I believe the gap between the rich and the poor is far too wide and that climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face.”
Perhaps referring to student’s disengagement with politics, Ed Miliband addressed political apathy by arguing, “Politics is an imperfect vehicle but it is the best vehicle we have for making change. Politics is about changing lives.”

Branded as the student-friendly Labour party candidate, Miliband spoke of the next generation and the importance of student engagement.

He also marked his vision for change, “One of the most important parts of this campaign is admitting where we went wrong and showing a sense of humanity. I’m not going to quibble with you but there were things we got right and things we got wrong. I believe that there should not be a market in higher education, and there is a big divide in British politics over this.

“Whether I disagree with the deficit is a really important argument – it is not about the detail in the deficit it’s about the argument whether the only thing that matters in society is deficit. If we make the deficit the only thing that matters in society then it’s a bad society.”

The Mancunion also spoke briefly to Ed Miliband after the lecture, when he told us what his proudest moment was in student politics: “I was leading a rent dispute with my college, because they tried to put up our rent by 39% and I was a President of the College Student Union, and everyone was up in arms, and we had four weeks of great fun, I have to confess.

“We sort of won a partial victory, we didn’t win a complete victory but it gave me the passion for politics, and it was my best student politics experience.”

When asked whether his social activism as a student different from his politics, Ed Miliband also said, “I found when I was doing the job of Climate Change secretary, part of what I sometimes wanted to do was get on the other side and campaign against myself.

“You want and need to be someone who is always pushing and always pushing for more and you don’t actually want to become an established politician who is remote from pushing the boundaries and that’s a really important lesson.”

Towards the end of the session, Miliband showed more of his vote winning charm when questioned by Adam, a first year Economics students, “How’s economics?” Miliband asked, and Adam bantered back “Better than ever, but too much maths”. After talking for a couple of minutes, Tony Lloyd commented, “You’ve certainly proved you’ve got questions.”

Ed Miliband left by emphasising he was keen to work with students in the future, “I will be engaging with young people if I become Labour leader tomorrow. It’s quite simple – we’re no longer the party of establishment, we’re not in government, and we need to start thinking about civil liberties and foreign policies. We need to attract young people to politics.”

Student assaulted in Withington

A 20-year-old female student was attacked in Withington last week as she made her way home from a night out. Police are warning students to take extra care when walking home alone.

The Manchester Metropolitan student was raped after 4.20am on Friday 24th September 2010 in Withington. The student got out of a taxi at Sainsbury’s, Fallowfield, with a friend but they then walked home in opposite directions. On Amhurst Road the victim saw a man standing beside a black five-door car, he initially asked her for a cigarette but then grabbed her, and pushed her into the back seat of the car. He then drove around and stopped on Atwood Road where the assault took place.

The student was attacked with a weapon similar to a skewer or long knitting needle and was left with injuries to her eye and back. The attacker then let the student out of the car but drove off with her clothes and handbag. The student made her way to a nearby house where the police were then called.

The man is described as Asian, overweight, 5ft 10inches tall and aged in his late 20s to early 30s. He had a shaved head with dark eyebrows and spoke with an English accent. Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.

The rape is thought to be linked to an incident days earlier when an attacker fitting the same description stood beside a black saloon car on Alan Road, and tried to grab a woman who ran off and called the police.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Eckersley of South Manchester CID, said of the attack: “The victim has been through a horrific and traumatic ordeal and she is currently being supported by trained officers.

“Many students may be going out in Manchester after the summer break and I would urge them to take care when planning their route home. Please don’t walk home on your own, arrange for a taxi to drop you off outside your house and if you are walking and become concerned about someone, go to the nearest house for safety.

“There are dedicated officers patrolling the area to deter offenders and keep students safe and I would ask if anyone has seen anything that seemed suspicious, no matter how small or insignificant to please call us.”

As reported in The Mancunion last week, Operation Safe Return is currently in action, and over 50 police officers are patrolling student-populated areas on car, by bike and on foot to tackle student-related crime.

Hannah Paterson, the University of Manchester Welfare Officer, makes it clear that this type of incident is rare: “It’s really rare and not an everyday occurrence, but be vigilant and watch yourselves.

“People who come from smaller towns may assume that it’s safe, and walk through parks, but just don’t do it. Unfortunately parks are dangerous places, and alley ways as well, and it’s worth walking that extra five minutes and down a brightly-lit road then down a badly lit alleyway – it is your safety that is at stake.

“Students should walk home together in groups, get a taxi straight to their door and not get them to drop them off somewhere else where they walk the extra bit. Get home safely together.

“There are support services within the city including St Mary’s Sexual Assault Centre and Trafford Rape Crisis Centre to talk about any issues you might have faced and regarding the attacks that have happened.”

Detective Chief Inspector Eckersley reassured the community: “We are determined to find the man responsible and if you have any information that will help us do it, please don’t hesitate to call us.”

Paterson is also issuing attack alarms, and is available for advice and extra information. The Welfare Office is located on the First floor in the Students’ Union building, in the Advice Centre.

The Mancunion also encourages students to ask about the Union £1 safety bus, that drops you right at your door. Information and pick up is available at the reception of the North and South campus Union buildings.

Chemical Intelligence? – Modafinil

This is not an abstract question or science fiction: this is a choice students may have to make in the future.

Concentration drugs boost the brains’ level of neurotransmitters, particularly noradrenalin, acetylcholine and dopamine. This improves the communication between brain cells and creates heightened states of alertness and attentiveness.

The neuroenhancers are available over the internet, the cheapest being available for around £2 a pill. Modafinil and Ritalin are the most commonly used ‘smart drugs’, and are used to increase alertness and stave of tiredness for long periods of time. The prescription drugs are normally prescribed to sufferers of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcoleptics. But they are increasingly being used ‘off-label’ by students in the UK.

Barbara Sahakian, University of Cambridge professor, is calling for an ethical debate on these drugs after a rise in use by students in the UK. Sahakian, a professor of clinical neuropsychology, is suggesting the Universities bring in measures to test for usage. But is random dope testing going to become part of University life?

“Since exams for entrance to university or for degree marks are competitive situations, it may well be that in future some universities adopt this procedure,” said Professor Sahakian.

“But, as yet, from the informal survey that I did with Sharon Morein-Zamir; few universities have a formal policy as yet about the use of cognitive enhancing drugs by healthy students,” she added.

The Home-Office consider the possession of prescription only drugs without a prescription a “serious criminal offence.” But as yet, few universities are taking steps to bring about a change in policy. This includes the University of Manchester. A spokesperson from the University said: “The University has no official position on neuro-enhancing substances. However, the University does not condone the misuse of prescription drugs to enhance educational performance.”

There are very few known short-term side effects, besides weight-loss. The long-term effects of healthy people using these drugs are not yet known, and those using the drug off-label are doing so without the consultation of a doctor.

Sahakian adds: “You do not actually know that the substance you are buying is quality-controlled modafinil. It may be a placebo or a contaminated substance. You may have a pre-existing medical condition, which is counter-indicated for taking modafinil. You may be on other drug treatments for medical conditions that are counter-indicated for modafinil, as they cause drug-drug interactions.”

Surveys in the United States suggest that around 20% of university students are using concentration drugs regularly. A Varsity study earlier this year claimed that 10% of University of Cambridge students were using neuro-enhancing drugs.

Are there any ways for students to increase their concentration levels naturally? “Yes,” Professor Sahakian shouts emphatically. “My favourites are education and exercise”

Modafinil has broader uses. The British military stockpiled large quantities of Modafinil before the invasion of Iraq in 2004, for soldier use on the ground. The drug is also used for shift-workers and pilots who require intense periods of alertness.

Modafinil Diary

During the exam period, a student took Modafinil to see how it would affect their revision and concentration.

Day One

Exams are about to begin and the pressure to perform is intense. This morning, a flat, brown, cardboard envelope is pushed through my door, with post marks from India. I peel open the seal to reveal two strips of silver foil, with 30 airtight sealed pills. Modalert is printed in purple lettering across the front. I pull one out and break it in two. I take half, just to be safe, and head off to the library.

On the bus, a warm sensation comes over my frontal lobes. My thoughts are beautifully clear and purposeful. I get excited and pop the other half.

I find a quite spot in the library and take out the most difficult piece of revision on my poorest subject. I don’t look up from the book for the next four hours.

My first bathroom break shocks me. An unusual smell, metallic and acrid, is coming from the urinal I am using. It turns out to be my urine.

Ten hours in the library and I am finally worn out. I feel empty. I meet some friends on the way out but I have no idea what to say to them. The constellations of thoughts and ideas that are usually brimming over in my mind are dulled. I must get some sleep.

Day Four

It dawns on me how foolish I am. These are prescription drugs and I am taking them with no advice from a doctor. Perhaps I would be working this hard anyway, without these pills. How can I tell?

Each time I take a pill, I feel as if the effect is less substantial. But I am still in the library, doing 10 and 12 hour days. I am feeling less and less like myself but I attribute it to stress. Still a long ways to go before my exams are over.

Day Ten

I have a Modalert tablet at nine o’clock at night because I missed a whole days worth of revision. My mind is still working at five in the morning, but I stopped revising at three. My body is exhausted but my brain is reeling.

Day Sixteen

Seven exams finished, and I’m so thankful that I drink myself into oblivion.

Revision was easier, with far less distractions, but I feel a fraction of my creative self. Productivity was up, but thinking of new ideas near zero.

Image: Pills by Mattza via Creative Commons

We didn’t make a fuss in case they abolished us – former drugs advisor

Eric Carlin was a government advisor on drugs on the same council as David Nutt, the professor sacked by the home secretary after claiming ecstasy and cannabis were safer than alcohol.

After Prof Nutt’s dismissal from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), Mr Carlin considered resigning but remained, believing he might still be able to affect change. Months later he finally left. In his letter of resignation he accused the government of heeding media pressure instead of scientific evidence when outlawing the ‘legal high’ mephedrone.

Mr Carlin now works with Prof Nutt on a rival body to the ACMD. He agreed to talk to The Mancunion whilst on a presumably rare holiday:

Is the current ACMD more placid than the one led by David Nutt ?

That’s a difficult one. I mean ACMD was never a radical committee; it was never a committee for people arguing for legalisation. I’m still in touch with several people on the committee. The situation changed in the last month of the Labour government and they did become far more hard line on drugs and far more direct with the committee. Are the ACMD more compliant? I don’t want to be too critical of them but what I do know is that the committee were set up as part of the Misuse of Drugs Act so looking at classification of drugs was obviously a key part of what they did.

With us, when it got to the stage of Alan Johnson sacking David [Nutt], I don’t think he anticipated how problematic that would be. I can understand why they had problems with him, he was very outspoken and perhaps not as politically sensitive as he might have been. But they sacked him by email. You don’t just send an email to an eminent professor and chair of a committee if you’re sacking them. The first he heard of it was when the BBC rang him and asked him if the rumour was true and he didn’t know. It’s bizarre.

Andi Sidwell of Students for Sensible Drugs Policy tells The Mancunion there isn’t a lot of research on drug use among students.

I do know SSDP, I didn’t know they were in Manchester. I think they’re actually a really good campaign group. Yes, I think he’s right. There’s not a lot of social research on drug use generally. When ACMD looked at mephedrone we relied on a small survey carried out by Dr Fiona Measham at Lancaster University and also on a Mixmag survey. That was the best information we had. It tells you something but it’s not exactly a survey of the general population.

I don’t think we properly know the statistics because there is an overwhelming emphasis on looking at the information in terms of banning and making use of the criminal justice system. As well as that there’s far, far too much emphasis on supply and not enough on looking at demand.

Do you have any pet hates in terms of the way the media handles stories about drugs?

The worst thing is that the media is always very concerned when someone middle class who’s never used drugs before suddenly takes an ecstasy pill and they die. Ecstasy still gets far more media attention [than any other drug]. There was a media review that showed that every time there is a story involving someone on ecstasy it gets covered, every death. But you could have three hundred deaths from paracetamol overdoses and it wouldn’t get covered because it’s not a glamorous way to overdose.

The image of drug users in the media is so far away from the reality of people’s behaviour. Someone using mephedrone or ecstasy in a nightclub is a million miles away from someone injecting heroin. They need to cover the various social elements of drug use.

You talk about experiencing government pressure in the ACMD. What form did that pressure take?

Well we were always sworn to secrecy, even though I would much rather have had as many of our discussions in public as possible. We had a lot of discussions in private when they really didn’t need to be and it might have been good for the public to see what we were saying on a whole range of issues.

I think the biggest issue is that we – several others and myself – felt we were being sidelined and weren’t being taken seriously. We didn’t want to make a fuss because we really got the impression that these politicians didn’t care and if we caused too much of a stink they’d just abolish us, which would be worse. That was the pressure we experienced. [With regards to secrecy] they were just really incompetent. For example, there’d be papers delivered and they’d been marked “Not to be shown to anyone” on the inside but they hadn’t been marked on the outside so I’d get my secretary opening these papers that were supposed to be top secret.

Did you ever directly experience any unpleasantness from anyone in the cabinet?

I didn’t have that specifically with the ACMD, I’ve had it previously with Caroline Flint, who was a Home Office minister, when my organisation did a piece of work on cannabis when it was first declassified to Class C.

The Home Office had asked us to do some information leaflets for young people. At the same time I was also Chair of the English Drug Education Forum. As part of that we issued a press release criticising Labour’s decision to, whilst declassifying Cannabis to C, get rid of school drugs advisers – that got to the front page of the Observer.

I was called in by Caroline Flint who had instructed a room full of top civil servants to tell me off, to tell me that my charity shouldn’t be taking money from government if we’re going to be criticising them. [JC: What did you say to them?] Well the government set up something called the Compact with the voluntary sector which is supposed to govern how the voluntary sector and government interact and guarantee the independence of the voluntary sector. I just took along a copy of it and gave it to them.

Have you ever used drugs?

I don’t answer that one. I love alcohol. I don’t smoke but I do drink a lot of coffee. The reason I don’t answer it is because I thinks it’s a distracting question. The whole drugs issue is so politicised that if I were to say to you I’ve either used drugs or not used drugs, I’d become part of something. I don’t think it enlightens anything.

Combined Studies students left to ponder their future after the discipline is dropped

Combined studies will no longer be offered as a degree option by the University of Manchester. The course will be phased out, allowing this year’s new undergraduates to complete their final year, but no candidates will be admitted in 2011/12.

The course allowed students to study in two separate and otherwise unrelated academic areas. The first year of the course featured a mandatory volunteering project, where students raised money and awareness for charities in Manchester both nationally and internationally.

Students were not informed about the possibility of the course being withdrawn until the decision was finalised. In the final weeks of the last academic year, students were shown around the potential location for a new combined studies common room, and encouraged to give their feedback.

In July, new and returning students were sent a letter informing them that “following a review of the programme by the Faculty of Humanities[…] Combined Studies will admit its final cohort of first year students in 2010. “

The letter, from Alistair Ulph, then Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, contained no information as to what the review had found or why the action had been taken.

“Cutting combined studies is a sign of things to come rather than a one-off,” said Jamie Woodcock, Postgraduate representative on the Student Council and a member of Manchester University Against Cuts.

“When we approached the head of combined studies, they said that the university could not provide students with the support they would like to provide. We were told that there had been consultation with students on how to improve the course.

“The problem was with the number of tutors. We asked if it was an issue of funding, which they refuted. But with the right money, could there not be enough tutors?”

“We are going to see a lot more of this over this year and years to come. The problem with combined studies was the nature of the degree. It is symbolic of university education. It was not a profitable course.

“If you want to study history and life sciences, why not? We are going to see more streamlining and less module choice as the university focuses on more profitable education,” added Woodcock.

“I think combined studies is one of the best things the University offers,” said Martyna Sataite, second year combined studies student. “Not giving that choice will mean the University will lose very good people. More independent people with the ability to study multiple disciplines at once tend to choose a combined studies degree.“

Neil Ferguson, Head Of Faculty Academic Services for the Faculty of Humanities, said: “This has been part of an ongoing review. Courses are opening and closing all the time. It’s just that Combined Studies comes to more people’s notice because it is a larger program.

“It is not part of [a policy to streamline courses and reduce costs]. Combined Studies, it allows students to study over a number of pathways. Many of those pathways are replicated in other areas of the university. If you want to study French and German, you can do that within Languages, Linguistics and Cultures.”

When asked about more diverse combinations of subjects that will no longer be offered, Ferguson said: “You would be able to study aspects of these different subjects, albeit in a different way. It is always possible to take a couple of outside subjects within the context of a normal degree program. Much of the provisions of Combined Studies are replicated elsewhere in the faculty.”

Interview: Everything Everything

Music Editor Eoghan Bennett chats to front man Jonathan Higgs ahead of two very special gigs.

There’s a rumour that you’re back in the studio?

Yea we just got a load of new equipment that we’re trying out, so there’s a few new songs we’re working on. We haven’t got to the recording stage yet, we’re just still in the rehearsal room!

Are you planning on getting something on tape fairly soon?

I’m not entirely sure, there’s talk of us going into the studio early next year. Everything in the music industry kind of shuts down in December.

That’s fairly quick considering you’re debut was out fairly recently?

Yes, but some of the songs on it are a couple of years old now. We recorded Man Alive in February so we’ve had almost a whole year of playing it again and again! We’d like to have some new material for our live shows.

The second album always seems to be quite pivotal in a band’s career. How are you approaching it? Will it be a new departure?

Well we tried to make the first album as diverse as possible, with the intention of opening up doors early on that we could explore later, and to give us a bit of freedom with developing our sound. It’s too easy to just block yourself into a musical corner with no scope for progressing, and we wanted to avoid that. For the second album I guess it’s about finding our niche sound and refining it.

 

Musically, do you ever listen back to some of your earlier songs and think you’ve matured since then, or that you could have done better even?

We’ve certainly matured a lot in the last year or so, but we’re very happy with what we’ve done so far. All of the songs on Man Alive have gone through several lives, both in the studio during the recording process and through re-writing them after gigs… Well all except one anyway, which funnily enough is the song we’re most pleased with! I think if we could have done anything differently which would have improved the songs, we’d have figured it out long before the album came out.

You’re on tour at the moment, what are your favourite places to play?

 

We always get a great response in Manchester, but London and Newcastle too, as the other members are from there.

How did the gig with a full orchestra come about?

 

We did a show last year for the Mencap charity which we did as an acoustic set with a string quintet. We really enjoyed it so though we’d give it another go. This time we’re playing with 15 other people; it’s a huge sound when everybody plays together!

Are you re-writing all your songs then?

 

We’re not doing it ourselves this time as it’s a big task. At the moment we’re going into rehearsals with the orchestra playing our own music back to us; it’s a bit surreal! A lot of the songs have been re-worked, and there’s a few new bits that have been added here and there.

Between the four of you, you seem to play about 10 different instruments. How does that work when playing live? Are some aspects of the album difficult to pull off in a gig?

 

It is a problem but we try not to let that stop us! When we’re in the studio sometimes there’s a temptation to just add another guitar part to a song for the sake of it, but for Man Alive we had a really good producer who made sure things didn’t get too complicated. When we play live we sometimes have to leave out a few parts for practical reasons, but it doesn’t affect our overall sound and the audience sometimes doesn’t even notice.

What can listeners expect from any new material?

Well we’re using a lot more technology now and looking into what we can do with that. One cool piece of gear we’ve got recently is a keytar! It’s basically a guitar that you play like a keyboard, that can trigger samples and stuff. Also our drummer Mike is using a lot more drum pads and synthesised sounds to create drum loops. We actually got a lot of ideas from Delphic when we toured with them.

Speaking of Delphic, obviously you’re both breaking into the music scene at the same time and from the same city. Do you feel a particular affinity to other Manchester bands, or the music from the city’s history?

 

We do take few influences from other Manchester bands, but no more strongly than a band from London or Edinburgh would. None of us are even from Manchester, we’re all from different cities and just happened to meet here while we were at university. Obviously we love Manchester and we love the history of the city, but I think the influences of Manchester music can be heard across the whole country. A lot of bands now aren’t particularly interested in music from the 80s and 90s because we’re all too young to remember it, and we certainly don’t want to hang off the coat tails of it. If we were from Liverpool we’d probably be constantly asked about how the Beatles have influenced us. We’re just trying to do our own thing.

Everything Everything play Manchester’s RNCM on Monday 13th December, and London’s Union Chapel on Wednesday 15th December. www.everythingeverything.com

Manchester Literature Festival- Grimm Reading

In a back room at Manchester’s Cornerhouse, a small audience was joined by a panel of three authors who have all won awards in the field of horror fiction. Matt Haig, Conrad Williams, and Tariq Goddard each read from their latest novels before beginning a conversation on the breadth of the genre, chaired by a genuine British Horror legend Ramsey Campbell.

The discussions quickly swung to the long-running debate, concerning the snobbery that horror writing faces in the literary arena. Both Matt Haig and Conrad Williams had some fascinating insights and there talent, coupled with their relative obscurity, suggests that horror may still be receiving a raw deal.

Manchester Literature Festival- Face 2 Face with Heidi Thomas

Thomas is an award winning script writer for both television and stage. She has done a prolific amount of screen writing based on book adaptations including Madam Bovary, I Capture the Castle, Lilies, Ballet Shoes and, the extremely popular (although I never really saw why), Cranford.

Thomas gave some interesting insights into writing and the creative industries. She answered questions ranging from how she creates a character, to how she found moving from theatre production into screen writing. However, as for getting that much wished for big break into the industry, I’m sorry guys she didn’t give much away!

What are the alternatives?

With the results of the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review now published, Sarah McCulloch considers potential alternatives to the impending spending cuts. From getting rid of Trident to clamping down on tax evasion, she found a few.

Sarah McCulloch

On Wednesday the 20th of October George Osborne announced £81bn in cuts to public spending. This includes a 40 per cent cut, that’s £2.9bn, in higher education funding. Although it is still unclear where exactly the axe will fall at our universities, previous experience tells us that we can be sure these cuts will lead to course closures, staff job losses and a poorer quality of education.

As a Students’ Union we will not stand for these cuts. During the summer, we agreed to make our priority taking a stand against cuts to higher education. Since term began, we have been raising awareness amongst students about the cuts by running stalls at the Welcome Week Fair and every day at lunch times in the student union building. We have also been doing lecture shout-outs and door knocking. On the morning of the Comprehensive Spending Review we held anti-cuts fairground games, encouraging students to play Hoop-liar, throwing hoops over the faces of Nick Clegg and Vince Cable.

Support

At the last General Meeting, the student body passed policy endorsing everything we have done so far and empowered us to work further on the campaign. On the 10th of November we are hoping to take 600 students down to London to demonstrate against the cuts to our education and the lifting of the cap on tuition fees. This event is being held in conjunction with the National Union of Students and the University and Colleges’ Union. Coach tickets are £5 from the box office in the student union building on Oxford Road, so why not join us?

Speaking to people about the campaign against higher education cuts generally gets a positive response; most students instinctively oppose the commodification and reduction in quality of their education. Every so often someone comes along asking, “But what is the alternative?” It’s a very fair question. How can we deal with the deficit without cutting public services?

Robin Hood?

The most immediate and effective option is to enforce taxation. Every year £70bn is lost through tax evasion and £25bn in tax avoidance by wealthy businesses and individuals. Due to cuts in staff £27.7bn in tax is uncollected by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs every year. In September 2010, George Osborne intervened in an ongoing dispute between the HMRC and Vodafone, canceling Vodafone’s outstanding tax bill of £6bn. You read that correctly, £6bn. Andy Halford, Vodafone’s financial director, has been “advising” George Osborne on company tax.

That’s just enforcing the tax rules that we have already. Introducing a tax on financial speculation could also raise a great deal of money without unduly penalising financial speculators. Known as the ‘Robin Hood Tax’, a 0.05 per cent levy on risky investments could return almost £252bn globally a year.  Given that risky investments can make a return of up to 13%, this is hardly squeezing the rich.

Other alternatives include scrapping Trident, our nuclear deterrent. Yes, this is almost always mentioned by anti-government campaigners, but as we really aren’t going to be using a nuclear weapon any time soon, now or in the future, it’s not much of a deterrent. Scrapping Trident completely would save us £2bn a year (free education for everyone in the country costs only £3bn, remember).  We could also end the drug war, on which we spend £13bn a year prosecuting addicts and recreational users and imprisoning non-violent drug dealers.

Added together, these alternatives exceed the £89bn in cuts that George Osborne has announced that will “bring Britain back from the brink of bankruptcy”. These cuts are political choice, not inevitability. It’s important to remember that we are paying for a crisis we did not cause. The banking sector collapsing caused the crisis not the public sector. The coalition government talks about fairness, but why is it fair for the United States embassy to be exempted from £382 million in parking fines but we have to pay up to £7,000 a year for an inferior education?

The future

As a consequence of the reduction in public spending, the Comprehensive Spending Review looks set to create even further job losses. George Osborne himself estimates that there could be up to 490,000 public sector job losses.  What he hasn’t factored in is that because many businesses are dependant or heavily reliant on public sector contracts, dismantling the state will devastate the private sector as well, meaning nearly 700,000 private sector jobs could go.

This will create even more unemployment and an even heavier bill for taxpayers as hundreds of thousands of people land on Jobseekers’ Allowance. Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary has unsympathetically stated that people need to “get on the bus” and look for work. Duncan Smith and Osborne calculate that by reducing ‘welfare dependency’, the benefits scroungers they see everywhere will be forced to find work. However, for the tens of thousands of people who are disabled, sick, or just desperate to find work and unable to get it, the coming changes to the benefits systems simply mean more anxiety and uncertainty over how they will survive.

With businesses tightening their belts and the public sector being reduced by 19% over  the next four years, there simply aren’t half a million jobs out there to be had. Being in  education, students are currently insulated from this, but not once we graduate. Graduates are finding it hard enough to get a job after leaving university: with an extra half a million people with work experience also competing in the jobs market, the idea of putting yourself in £20,000 worth of debt with no guarantee of a job at the end of three years seems much less attractive.

The last Conservative-Liberal coalition government was in 1931. The government embarked on an austerity programme to deal with the deficit and promptly plunged the country into an economic crisis so deep that only the massive military expenditure and loans of World War II brought us out again – and the Prime Minister at the time, Ramsay MacDonald, lost his seat at the next election. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman warned: “The best guess is that Britain in 2011 will look like Britain in 1931, or the United States in 1937, or Japan in 1997. That is, premature fiscal austerity will lead to a renewed economic slump. As always, those who refuse to learn from the past are  doomed to repeat it.”

There is another alternative to this scary future. Instead of cutting public spending, we could increase it. We have plenty of work to be done that would create new jobs and encourage our ailing economy. We could invest in renewable energy and high-speed rail links. We could build new housing for the 1.8m families on council house waiting lists. We could repair all those dodgy roads that make it a nightmare to travel on the bus.

There’s so much public infrastructure that we could invest in which would provide a public service while employing people. Employment means people have money to spend, people with money to spend want services and goods, which are supplied by businesses who pay tax – and suddenly we have a balanced economy again.

Unfortunately, George Osborne has made a different choice and taken a risk with our economy and our future that history has shown does not pay off. Soon we are all going to feel it, as our GPs become even busier, as our buses and trains become more expensive, and as our universities shut down courses, lay off staff, and introduce charges for once-free services.