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Month: March 2012

‘Wonder material’ for less than noble causes

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

Distilling alcohol using graphene seems to be the latest use for Manchester’s ‘wonder material’. Graphene seems to have hardly strayed from news headlines since its discovery won the Nobel Prize for University of Manchester physicists in 2010.

By changing the chemical properties of graphene slightly, an international collaboration of researchers have created a membrane which allows water through but prevented some gases and liquids. These thin films, made of several layers of graphene oxide, were used to seal a metal box. Sensitive detection equipment revealed no leakage of gases from the box, even helium which is difficult to contain.

When the experiment was repeated with water sealed into the box, it was found that water molecules passed through unhindered. This is because there is a small gap between the layers of graphene oxide which is just big enough for water molecules.

Other types of molecules failed to imitate water water’s unimpeded passage. Instead, they were blocked by the water molecules or the structure within the graphene changed shape, preventing them from passing through.

For a joke, the researchers sealed a bottle of vodka in the box and found it got stronger over time. None of the researchers wished to drink the vodka, however. We, at The Mancunion are not sure if the vodka is available to be sampled.

Graphene is a material made of carbon atoms in a honeycomb structure. It is a sheet, just one atom thick which has already proved to have the potential for many uses. It conducts electricity as well as copper and transfers heat more effectively than any material currently in existence.

Like any new scientific discovery, the safety of graphene in food products has not yet been ascertained. Until this is known, we’ll have to stick to the vodka distilled using more traditional methods with the more traditional health risks associated with drinking it.

 

BLADE RUNNER ON THE ROAD TO LONDON 2012

Written by Aryan Safavi on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

To compete on the world’s biggest stage, athletes must be made of something special- unique attributes needed to break the distances and times of heroes past: nerves of steel, a determination set in stone and for Oscar Pistorius, legs of carbon-fibre. The South African athlete, known as Blade Runner, is a bilateral amputee set to potentially make history as the first amputee athlete ever to run at the able-bodied Olympic Games. After dominating the Beijing 2008 Paralympics, “the fastest man on no legs” won an appeal for eligibility to run at the London 2012 Olympics. Now Pistorius has his eyes set on a place in the South African 400m able-bodied team.

The Flex-Foot Cheetah, on which Pistorius has broken his own world record some 30 times, is a carbon composite prosthetic foot designed by the orthopaedics company Össur for primarily sporting activities, worn by almost 80% of Paralympic amputee athletes. The foot is passive, and is allowed to be worn by Paralympians because it neither bionic, as it employs no elements of artificial intelligence, nor motorised.

The shape and material have been meticulously designed to replicate the stance and swing phases of an able-bodied runner. On impact the prosthetic J-shaped blade is compressed, with the carbon fibre material absorbing energy and shock as a runner’s ankle, knee, hip and lower back would. As the J-curve returns to its original shape, 92% of the stored energy is released to propel the user forward, just fractions less than the elastic energy returned by biological tendons which have spent millions of years in the evolutionary design shed.

The story of this double-amputee competing on the track at the London 2012 Olympics is as controversial as it is inspiring; with many in the athletics community arguing the Flex-Foot Cheetahs give the athlete an unfair advantage over the other competitors on the track. In 2008 the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) claimed that Pistorius had an unfair advantage over able-bodied runners. The IAAF report claimed that his blades required him to consume 25% less metabolic energy to achieve the same speeds as able-bodied runners. But five months later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) concluded that the evidence from the IAAF study was inconclusive, with Pistorius himself arguing that he was at a disadvantage with less blood in his body and no calf muscles.

Even with the contentious blessings of the CAS and the words of welcome from the Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee Lord Coe, ranked at 17th in the world, a medal seems unlikely for Pistorius. However, if he does qualify for the South African team, his appearance at London 2012 will surely mark a new era in the Olympic Games, with technology at the forefront.

University Place turns poetic

Written by Hannah Tosh on . Posted in News.

Poet Lemn Sissay revealed his latest mural in his series of Landmark Poems in University Place on Tuesday February 28.

The poem “Let There Be Peace” is in the atrium of the building and is 15 metres high. The space is close to student services but also has space for private and group study.

The poem is the third mural by Sissay whose work also features on the side of the Hardy’s Well pub in Rusholme. Vice Chancellor Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell has said that she hoped the poem would “stimulate and inspire staff and students”.

Mr Sissay also commented that “Let There Be Peace stands with my Landmark Poems as testament to the creativity and pride of a world class city with a world class university.”

The work has been part of the award winning Poetry as Landmarks project in Manchester, which also includes ‘Flags’ in the Northern Quarter and ‘Rain’ along the Oxford Road.

Live: The Jezabels @ Ruby Lounge

Written by Katie Shepherd on . Posted in Music.

The Jezabels
Ruby Lounge
2nd March
4 stars

I can’t lie. I was worried that the crowd for The Jezabels’ concert at The Ruby Lounge would be sparse. As lead singer Hayley Mary said during the band’s set, “We’ve been told we aren’t doing well in England. Apparently we sound too Australian or American or something. But we like England, so we thought we’d give it a go anyway”.

The band were competing against other big name performers within their genre with concerts in Manchester on the same evening. Sleigh Bells, who are fresh off the release of a new album, and Gotye, whose single ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ has recently taken off in the UK, both had highly anticipated concerts on the same night causing me to worry that The Jezabels would go unnoticed.

I have to hand it to the Aussies, however. The house was almost full and while no one in the crowd knew the words to most of their songs, apart from their well-known tracks like ‘Endless Summer’ and ‘Mace Spray’, the band still brought a performance that showcased the reason for their popularity in Australia. With the hardest working drummer I’ve ever seen perform live paired with dreamy pop sounds pouring from the guitar and keyboards, vocalist Hayley Mary led the helm wearing combat boots and spitting on the floor between sips of her beer.

Coming from Australia where they have a huge fan base and receive excessive amounts of radio play to Manchester where, until now, they’ve had virtually no exposure, didn’t stop the band from playing a great set. With a new album coming out on the 15th, The Jezabels, who have been compared to the likes of PJ Harvey and Paramore, filled the venue, pleased the crowd, and proved their place in the Manchester music scene.

The Jezabels – Rosebud

The Jezabels after their show at Ruby Lounge.

Student sentenced for selling still born snaps on eBay.

Written by Hannah Tosh on . Posted in News.

A student midwife at the University of Manchester has been found guilty of 13 charges of fraud and theft after stealing cameras from the midwifery ward on her course placement and attempting to sell them on eBay.

Lucy Prescott, 19, was on course placement at Tameside Hospital when she stole two of the hospital unit’s cameras, one of which contained photos of stillborn babies. The photos had been taken as a personal last memory for distraught parents.

During seven months on placement Prescott also stole credit cards and belongings from the lockers of her own colleagues and then used the cards to buy clothes and books at the value of £1,400.

The student pleaded guilty to seven charges of theft and six charges of fraud by false representation; five other offences were also taken into account. The student was given a two-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid community service.

Prescott first stole from the hospital in December and continued unnoticed until June. She then attempted to sell a camera with the photographs of stillborn babies still on its memory on eBay, but was unsuccessful.

The courts were told that “the offences were a serious breach of trust over a period of time”.

Ann Haggerty, a matron on the hospitals maternity ward, said that no patients had been affected by Prescott’s actions. “It is important to stress that, as with all first year midwifery students, this individual was supervised at all times on the days she was here and the found no evidence that patients were targeted or affected,”

“Our overriding aim is to protect patients and staff, which is why we contacted the police and co-operated fully with their investigation. As soon as we were made aware the individual had been arrested, we liaised with the University of Manchester to ensure the placement was suspended until further notice. We understand she later resigned from the course.”

999 call during murder of MMU lecturer’s family “badly handled”

Written by Hannah Tosh on . Posted in News.

The phone call to police during the murder of Manchester Metropolitan Lecturer Jifeng Ding and his family was “badly handled” according to an independent police report about the tragedy.

Ding, his wife Helen and their two teenage children were all found stabbed to death at their home in Northampton on the weekend of the 1st May last year. It is believed that Ding’s daughter made a 999 phone call on her mobile at the time of the murder.

According to the police report screaming was heard on the call and then it was abandoned. Protocol dictates that abandoned screaming should result in an immediate police response, which did not happen. An incorrect result on the origin of the phone call also led to further wasted time.

Northamptonshire police said that it was “unlikely the lives of the Ding family could have been saved but there was a possibility the main suspect, Anxiang Du, could have been at the address if the call had been correctly handled and officers dispatched.”

Northamptonshire police said that it was “unlikely the lives of the Ding family could have been saved but there was a possibility the main suspect, Anxiang Du, could have been at the address if the call had been correctly handled and officers dispatched.”

Jailed: the fast food worker who stalked and raped students.

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

A fast-food worker who brutally raped two students in south Manchester has been jailed indefinitely and will serve a minimum of eight years.

Asim Javed, who worked at Dixy Chicken in Fallowfield, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape at Manchester Crown Court in July, and was sentenced at the end of last month.

Javed used his job at the takeaway to identify victims.

The detective who helped catch Javed said the attacks were “some of the worst” he had ever investigated.

The Students’ Union (UMSU) offered self-defence classes and gave out free rape alarms in the wake of the attacks.

Javed committed the rapes in December 2009 and September 2010. In both cases he targeted young women walking home alone late at night and used his car to stalk potential victims.

Javed was caught on CCTV stalking his first victim in Didsbury. He passed by her several times in his car before pulling up and offering her a lift home. He spoke to the girl’s father on the phone to assure him she was safe, before parking nearby and raping her.

During the second attack, Javed forced a student into the back of his car and threatened her with a weapon, believed to be a knitting needle, and forced her to perform a sex act on him.

He has been jailed indeterminately and will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

It took a team of thirty officers, cutting-edge photo-fit technology and DNA profiling, which proved both attacks were by the same man, to catch Javed.

Police received scores of calls from members of the public who recognised Javed from the “evo-fit” image released earlier this year. The technology is more accurate than traditional e-fits; witnesses are asked to choose the six most likely faces from a number of options.

This in turn produces dozens of other faces, from which the witness chooses six more faces with the closest likeness.

The process is repeated until a close likeness of the suspect has ‘evolved’. Older technologies used components of faces to compose an image of the suspect.

Student Sam Falk used to live in Owens Park, close to where Javed stalked his victims. He said, “It’s important for everyone in a student area to feel safe. Bringing people like this to justice is all part of achieving that feeling of security”.

Sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Clement Goldstone QC told Javed, “The circumstances of these offences make you out as a highly dangerous young man. I have a duty to protect the public until such time as it is safe for you to be released.”

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Marsh praised the victims for contacting the police.

He said, “Javed used his job in the heart of Fallowfield to identify potential victims then used his car to essentially stalk them.

“I have to pay tribute to both victims for having the courage to contact police and then fully helping us with our investigation.

“I know these attacks caused a lot of concern in Fallowfield and among students at the time. I hope this sentence acts as some reassurance that we will not stop until we bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Figures obtained by The Mancunion reveal that out of 2062 rapes and sexual assaults in Greater Manchester last year, only 600 resulted in suspects being charged.

 

 

Album: Robert Glasper Experiment – Black Radio

Written by Ollie Cartwright on . Posted in Music.

Robert Glasper Experiment
Black Radio
Blue Note
5 stars

“You’ll need only two things to direct your course, your ears and your soul”. So begins the latest release from the unstoppable Robert Glasper, featuring special guests including Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Ledisi, and Musiq Soulchild. If you’ve not heard the name before, take note.

At the core of this album is the Experiment, featuring Derrick Hodge on bass, Casey Benjamin on Vocoder and Chris “Daddy” Dave on drums. The band melds itself to each guest’s style whilst remaining true to the artistic thread that runs through the album. This is not a ‘Glasper plus Special Guests’ album. This is a concise and powerful statement.

Robert Glasper’s acoustic piano permeates the music almost like a signature, accenting certain patterns and phrases and binding the album together. Prominent backbeats and subtle synths build on the hip hop aesthetic while Casy Benjamin’s otherworldly Vocoder shades the vocals. The diverse background of the group (Glasper is a product of the same High School that gave the world Beyoncé) means that they have a real flexibility in the influences that they reach for and have a particular kind of jazz-like suppleness throughout. Recorded with little advanced preparation, the music has a sense of spontaneity that is so often lost.

One of the highlights of the album is the Experiment’s tribute to Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ which builds in layers until it collapses into muddied drums, echoing synths and cosmic ringing.

Overall, this is an album about songs. There is a noticeable scarcity of solos of any kind which just makes the album more accessible. There are no self-indulgent odysseys to alienate the casual listener, only a focused quest for groove and a current voice. The consensus is that Glasper is the future of jazz. But in his own words, “No, I’m now. I’m relevant now”. I could not agree more.

Robert Glasper Experiment feat. Yasiin Bey – Black Radio

Learn about the inspiration and artist collaborations behind Black Radio

Opinion: Nights out in Manchester

Written by lifestyle on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Birdcage: Babes, B.O. and bad fake tan

Edward Usher

I went to Birdcage once. Actually, I went about three times, because my effusive housemate assured me it was “the easiest place to pick up girls he’d, like, ever been.” So I went, and being a fair and reasonable guy, went back for a few more tries before passing judgement. Eventually though, judgement was passed.

Birdcage is potentially the most disgusting example of human depravity it is possible to witness for a fiver. The women, who in ages gone by might have taken pride in looking pious, pretty and presentable, now parade up and down a sticky, sweaty arena completely encased in a kind of viscous tangerine silly-putty. The men, previously gallant, graceful and genteel, now gather in squawking gaggles of chauvinistic fury, until, at some unseen signal, one of them breaks from the pack, either to blend fake tans with a female of the species, or bottle someone. Everywhere is muck and morbidity. It’s enough to send you across the road to Tiger Tiger. Well cheap drinks though.

 

 

BOP: Until you drop

Lily Howes

Jabez Clegg, by day a student hot spot for pub grub and an afternoon pint. By night – or on Friday’s at least – it plays host to a night like no other. Described by FHM as “the easiest place to pull in the UK”, BOP (Big Old Party?!) is an integral part of the Manchester student experience.

Infamous for it’s weekly fancy dress themes, repetition is inevitable, but even still, it’s a wonder how they keep coming up with such ‘new’ and ‘original’ ideas. What will it be next week? Sexy chipmunks? Dress as your favourite vegetable? The more ridiculous the better, as the lucky lad or lady donning the best fancy dress concoction wins themselves a free Green Monster. Or Green Gash as it may as well be called, a colourful amalgamation of alcopops topped with a generous drip of sweat from the suicidal third year behind the bar – rather you than me.

The behaviour patterns of BOP attendees could potentially provide material for a social anthropology study of some kind, as this sticky cesspool churns out two parallel extremes.

On the one hand BOP provides the sexual and social release that students from single sex schools have been looking for all their lives. A whiff of Sambuca in the air and randy girls and guys alike flock towards each other like it’s mating season at Chester Zoo. Grinding to Gaga, gyrating to JLS or dry humping in time to whatever 90’s ‘choon’ is simultaneously obliterating their ear drums. All whilst forgetting they are, in fact, in public.

And yet alongside this unavoidable sample of sexual desperation is what could be mistaken for a year 8 school disco. Girls on one side of the room jumping around to S Club 7 and boys either bopping their heads awkwardly on the sidelines or running around the room trying to give each other wedgies.

Everyone needs to make their own mistakes so by all means first years put on your bunny ears and BOP the night away at least once. However self respecting second years plus you have no excuse – go and make your mistakes elsewhere.

 

Red Rum: So bad it’s good

Emily Brown

A wise student once quipped: “Red Rum is basically an extension of John Rylands”, and what with its head-smashingly low ceilings, bizarre selection of secret rooms and an exclusive student card-based entry policy, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d taken a wrong turn in Orange 1 and somehow stumbled into a mythical intra-library drinking hole.

Any place where the singles are cheekily priced the same as the doubles, where the music pumping is provided by whichever aspiring DJ has “emerged” from OP Tower that week and provides a cloakroom system which is no more sophisticated than dumping your bag by the door in the questionable care of the door staff cannot warrant any strain of ill-feeling. Red Rum doesn’t try, therefore its clientele don’t have to either. If you choose to go out with no expectations, to a place where you expect nothing special, the chances are you may just have an exceptional night.

 

Entourage: A night to be forgotten

Dana Fowles

For our nineteenth birthdays, my friend and I decided that we’d like to celebrate somewhere new. After much deliberation we chose Entourage at the Printworks, for what reason I cannot recall. I can, however, recall many reasons why this proved to be a big mistake and why you should never set foot in said club.

In fact, thinking about it, the word ‘club’ seems like a polite description of what was actually a Chlamydia ridden dungeon, full of scantily clad “dancers” and old men who made no attempt to hide the fact that they were ogling girls at least half their age.

The only good thing to come out of that night was my encounter with one of the most drool-worthy men I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the reason that I happened to be eyeing him up was not because he had offered to buy me a birthday drink, but because he was a nurse and came to the rescue when my friend had her drink spiked by one of the aforementioned males lurking about the sidelines. So ladies and gentlemen, unless you fancy spending your night at the hospital like I did, the moral of the story is to stick to what you know!

 

Poptastic: It’s in the name

Jake Pummintr

Since coming to Manchester in September, Wednesday mornings have never been the same… The outcome of the £2.50 entry, amazingly trashy music, and most importantly 50p shots has meant that getting out of bed for my nightmare 9am Spanish History lecture is somewhat of an impossible chore. On the cusps of Canal Street, Poptastic takes over Alter Ego on Tuesdays and Saturdays with its apparently ‘unthinkable’ demographic of “Indie Kids and Pop Queens”.

Whilst my more recent visits to Pop have been slightly disappointing (for reasons that I will explain), that is by no means to say that you should not Pop-on down to the club if you are yet to relinquish your Pop virginity. The main room – Trashy Pop – is undeniably repetitive. Repetitive to the point that during a recent visit a friend of mine, and regular attendee, was able to correctly identify the time at which “3” by Britney Spears would be played. Alongside this, the DJ went on to play Madonna’s half-time Superbowl performance straight from YouTube as an attempt to pass it off as part of his own mix…

Quoting my aforementioned friend and Pop veteran: “It’s a gay space: the music, the vibe, the smell, the smoke” – with said smell being that of Alkyl Nitrate, commonly known as Poppers wafting through the airwaves. Despite my seemingly negative attitude, I will happily admit that Poptastic is by far one of my favourite nights out and if like me you would rather pass on a seemingly average night at 5th Ave or a chavtastic visit to Deansgate Locks, then Pop is the place for you. It’s comfortable, cheap and never fails to deliver a deserved hangover the next morning, the signal of a good night out.

 

Live: Rizzle Kicks @ Academy 1

Written by Paul Frame on . Posted in Music.

Rizzle Kicks
Academy 1
2nd March
2 stars

After seeing some brilliant bands play sparsely filled Manchester venues, one could assume that the hype building around the Academy hours before the doors opened was for a new prodigy, perhaps the British music’s latest saviour or at least Mario Balotelli giving out free ice cream. The masses of teens however were there to see Radio 1 favourites Rizzle Kicks.

The Brighton duo have had a massive year with their debut Stereo Typical spewing several hits, whilst their collaborations with insipid but nonetheless popular artists like Jessie J, Ed Sheeran and Olly Murs have undoubtedly helped fuel the hysteria that was present at tonight’s show.

Despite my cynicism, Rizzle Kicks’ live show can be fairly described as harmless fun. Yes, it was lacking in quality and padded out with instrumental versions of the Bond theme and Seven Nation Army, but they had the young crowd eating out of their hands from start to finish.

It did take a while for me to come round, the ‘Revolution Rock’ sampling ‘When I was a Youngster’ was particularly soul destroying and only a trip to the toilet helped me avoid their take on Ed Sheeran’s ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’. I was however swung around, perhaps and most probably by the effects of alcohol; nonetheless it would be harsh to discredit the duo’s ability to stimulate a crowd. The entire room played along with their stage games as if possessed and by the end I have to admit I was doing ‘the hump’…or at least I think I was.

Although finishing triumphantly with the catchy ‘Down with the Trumpets’, I honestly don’t think I could ever see Rizzle Kicks as credible recording artists; nevertheless they’re going to make a lot of friends warming up crowds at this summer’s festivals.

Classic album: David Bowie – Low

Written by Jon Taylor on . Posted in Music.

David Bowie
Low
RCA Records
Released: 1977

The late 1970’s was a time when punk rock dominated the hip areas of London, a time when established ‘pop’ stars who didn’t wear safety pins and ripped jeans were ridiculed, and – believe it or not – a time when Liverpool actually won league titles. However, a million miles away from any punk clichés, 1977 saw David Bowie release the first of his famous ‘Berlin Trilogy’ in the form of Low.

Although never one to shy away from radical changes in his persona, even the most ardent Bowie fan couldn’t have envisaged his latest left-turn. Shifting from previous styles such as the funk-rock of hit single ‘Fame’, aswell as his shocking Thin White Duke character from his 1976 album Station to Station, Bowie moved to the drug capital of Europe at the time, Berlin, with old pal Iggy Pop, to produce the album alongside Tony Visconti.

Side A of the record was mostly made up of exhilaratingly original experimental pop songs, such as ‘Be My Wife’ and ‘Speed of Life’, which were two standout tracks. However, nobody could have possibly predicted the shock that followed on Side B: a collection of ambient, instrumental numbers constructed with Brian Eno, which reflected Bowie’s drug-fuelled outlook on life at the time. Although at first this side of the record received mixed reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone, it was to become one of the most influential pieces of music of the decade. Low was a record that had a massive impact on post-punk, in particular on Manchester cult-heroes Joy Division who originally went by the name Warsaw, taken from the track ‘Warzsawa’.

The album today is regarded by many, including the man himself, as being one of Bowie’s most iconic pieces of work, highly acclaimed for its originality and the way it shaped music for years to come. Low is the perfect example of an album far ahead of its time.

Father of Manchester Student released from Syrian custody

Written by Gareth Lewis on . Posted in News.

The father of a Syrian student studying in Manchester has been released from a Syrian special jail after six months in detention.

The Mancunion reported in issue 12 about Manchester Student Haytham Al-Hamwi’s experience with the Syrian regime. At that time Haytham’s father, brother and father-in-law had all been arrested by Syrian police.

Haytham, who has experienced torture in Syrian “special jails”, was overjoyed when he heard news of his father’s release.

“At 5 o’clock in the morning I received a call from my brother in Saudi Arabia. He told me that my father was released an hour ago and I immediately called my father.”

They spoke many times on the phone, Haytham said but “at that time I couldn’t ask him a lot”. It was only a week after his release that Haytham felt able to broach the subject of his father’s detention with him.

“I called him for a long time and I knew everything about what happened”. Haytham takes a moment before he begins. “He was totrtued three times and beaten by electric cable on his feet. Just to admit a fault”.

When pressed on what fault, Haytham just says “any fault”.

It seems his father was spared the worst of the punishment meted out by an increasingly vindictive regime. Stories of electrification and hanging by the hands that Haytham relates are easy to believe when stories of revenge killings by the Syrian army have been reported from Homs.

His father’s inmates “arms and legs were swollen from being beaten and the grooves in their skin are two centimeters from the beating with the electric cable”.

A man was hanged by his hands for days on end until he agreed to admit “crimes” on state TV.

“Anybody can admit to any crime in the world when he suffers such torture,” Haytham’s father says.

When his father was finally released “they did not give him his car and they lost his identity card and his money and everything,” Haytham relates, “but he was ok and this is all that matters”

When asked if the release suggests a growing confidence within Assad’s regime following the fall of Homs, Haytham believes it means nothing. “On a daily basis they arrest ten and release one”.

But on the future of the revolution, Haytham is adamant. “The revolution will win”.

“The question is whether the country will win or not. Because this regime will take the country to its end if it stays acting

Editor’s Note Issue 16 12/03/12

Written by Nick Renaud-Komiya on . Posted in News.

Well what do you know? Student elections are upon us once again. You’ll no doubt have seen a variety of colourful DIY posters smattered throughout the campus with plugs for different candidates. If you’ve made the decision to try and avoid looking at the posters by staring at the ground, well, hard luck. There is hardly a pavement left untouched by chalk marks confidently beaming up at you telling you to vote.

Peppered liberally throughout this issue you’ll find all sorts to feed the election frenzy. Turn to page 14 for our special pullout, detailing who all the candidates are and what they have to say for themselves.

We have a whole host of opinions and student views on the polls, which by the time you read this will already be open. This week’s Comment & Debate section sees students giving their view on why you should vote.

But it’s not all election fever, our theatre team give their verdict on another of this year’s MIFTA productions.

Now, time to instil a bit of pride in you all. Our fair university have made it onto the finals of University Challenge, which is being aired next Monday. There’s more on this story on the opposite page. Best of luck to the team and hopefully we’ll all have another trophy to beam at come this time next week.

A couple of weeks ago saw our incredibly successful Mancunion and Student Action for Refugees Tea Party. Food & Drink Editor Emily worked her socks off to create a bewildering array of delicious cakes and shortbreads. To gleam some recipe ideas flick to page 26.

Next week we’ll be following the dramatic highs and lows of the elections results night. To get the inside scoop on the night and interviews with the winners and losers don’t forget to pick up the next issue of The Mancunion.

Former London mayor pledges to reinstate EMA “to help young Londoners with their education”

Written by Ellen Conlon on . Posted in News.

Ken Livingstone has pledged to reinstate the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in London if he is elected as Mayor in May.

One of the coalition’s most unpopular cuts, EMA offered up to £30 a week to students in sixth forms or further education colleges if their household income was below £31,000 a year.

Around 85,000 students were receiving the allowance when it was cut and the decision helped to fuel large student protests.

Livingstone said, “I want to help young Londoners with their education by easing the squeeze the Tory-led government has imposed on them, and which the Tory mayor has totally ignored.

“I have been deeply struck by the plight of thousands of students I have met at colleges right across the capital, who have had the lifeline that EMA offered snatched away from them by the Conservative party, whilst the part-time Tory mayor stood by.”

London Higher, the umbrella group for London Universities, has agreed to support the plan. A spokesperson said, “We would be pleased to work with any initiatives that give support to students from poorer backgrounds to pursue their studies.”

Conservative candidate and current mayor Boris Johnson has acknowledged the potential damage inflicted by scrapping EMA. Appearing on the BBC’s Question Time last March, he said, “I am concerned it will have a significant impact on lots of young people in London.

“It is important that we keep young people in school, not just so they receive an education but so they don’t get sucked into crime.”

But a spokesperson for Johnson has criticized Livingstone’s pledge as being “un-costed” and “un-funded.”

The Association of Colleges (AoC), which represents further education and sixth form colleges has recorded that greater London has seen the steepest decline in the enrollment of 16 to 18-year-olds of any region.

“AoC is concerned about the evidence of the impact that the removal of the EMA has had on the ability of London’s 16-year-olds to access the right courses,” a spokesperson said.

The NUS has said that the announcement was a welcome recognition of the value of EMA for many young people.

Toni Pearce, Vice-President of the National Union of Students said, “Reintroducing EMA in London would be a huge step towards making sure that all young people in further education receive proper financial support to pay for the bare essentials associated with studying and would set a powerful example to all national policy makers.”

Instead of washing their hands of the Government’s decision to pull the plug on EMA or protesting their powerlessness, the other mayoral candidates should follow Ken’s lead and commit to reintroducing EMA.”

The rise in tuition fees is a ‘bloody big roadblock’, says David Miliband

Written by Ellen Conlon on . Posted in News.

The current government’s decision to increase tuition fees will have huge implications for social mobility, according to David Miliband.

Speaking at a question and answer session at the University of Manchester, the Labour MP for South Shields said that the government’s higher education policy was poorly thought and that he was worried about the impact of fee rises in his constituency.

“I am very worried as I work for a constituency which historically doesn’t send people to university and doesn’t send them very far away from home.  I think that the £9,000 tag is a bloody big roadblock for a lot of people in my constituency.”

“One of my concerns with the government is that they’ve gone with this policy with no careful testing and development, so all British universities are a guinea pig in this and I think that’s really dangerous,” he said.

Despite Mr Miliband’s concerns, figures released by UCAS in January showed that poorer students had not been discouraged by the fee rises; with the number of applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds dropping just 0.2 percent compared to last year.

At the time, Universities Minister David Willets stated that: “Even with a small reduction in applications, this will still be a competitive year like any other as people continue to understand that university remains a good long-term investment in your future.”

With the questions of fees out the way, the conversation soon moved on to Labour’s chances at the next election; with Mr Miliband stating that his party could not rely on “Tory unpopularity” alone to secure victory. Numerous polls have shown that Labour are struggling to improve their poll ratings despite the coalition government’s austerity measures and a poorly performing economy. Figures from YouGov released last month showed the Tories neck and neck with Labour.

Despite the disappointing figures, the former leadership candidate reaffirmed his support for his brother Ed; saying that as leader he had “set out an argument with conviction and purpose.”

Answering questions on both national and international issues, the former Foreign Secretary was keen to return to topics directly related Manchester. Specifically he discussed the University’s graphene research and the living wage campaign led by students.

He said one of his main reasons for visiting the University was to show his support for the “living wage” campaign, started by Manchester students last year.

“I am supporting this campaign for the living wage. It is important that this goes from this university to other universities. People who do catering and cleaning work should get paid a living wage,” he said.

Manchester University bosses agreed to pay its staff a “living wage” of £7.20 an hour in February, following a successful campaign by students.

After joking that he only got a D at physics A-Level, Miliband stated that he was impressed to learn of Manchester’s involvement in the development of graphene, calling it an ‘incredible creation.’

Answering a question from a physics student about why more government money is not invested in science he answered that investing money is not the main issue. Rather the literature surrounding science needs to be addressed and there needs to be no limits to what can be achieved.

He said that the graphene scientist’s achievement was: “partly due to a visa policy that allowed them to come here. Both of them have said that they wouldn’t have been doing their research here in Britain if we’d had the current visa policy and that shows you how crazy it is to limit the number of people who are coming here.’

He also commented on the government’s current plan to try and reduce the number of student visas, saying that it was: “an incredibly stupid thing to do.

“We want Britain to be a global hub but it is cutting off our personal links to the rest of the world.”

 

 

 

 

Manchester volunteer programme boosts local employment

Written by Gareth Lewis on . Posted in News.

Manchester’s Universities are expanding a series of volunteer programmes, which have helped local people back into work.

Following last month’s Arts Council funding announcement, the Manchester Partnership are intending to expand their volunteer programmes following the success of the In Touch and Culture Works schemes, aimed at broadening community access.

In Touch, a 10 week volunteer and training course organized between 2007 and 2010 by The Manchester Museum and Imperial War Museum North, targeted the long term unemployed around the city.

The programme placed the participants in one of the museum’s public facing roles, where they learn consumer interaction skills alongside a literary qualification.

Former volunteer Helen Hopkins felt this practical experience was essential to getting herself back on her feet.

“I would go into an interview”, she says “and they would tell me “You’ve not got enough customer service experience”. She enrolled on the course after “I tried to look for a job and I found it very difficult”.

64 percent of unemployed participants in the scheme had been out of work for more than a year. 18 percent of the scheme volunteers have now moved on to employment and 49 percent are now in further education.

The ten week course included an optional literacy qualification. 95 percent of those who took the qualification passed.

Jim Forrester, Director of Imperial War Museum North has praised the scheme. “For the individual it provides an opportunity to move away from isolation, engage in social interaction, learn new transferrable skills…and gain increased confidence” he said.

Shaun Bennett, a former volunteer certainly feels this is the case. He was unemployed for 6 months after taking voluntary redundancy from a computer firm at which he was a manager.

He wanted to change careers and go into face-to-face customer service. ‘It was exciting at the beginning’, is how he described his redundancy, ‘then you start loosing your self-esteem and confidence and you just go downhill’.

He found the In Touch programme whilst on stress-related incapacity benefit. He was given considerable responsibility as a volunteer to set up the Egypt handling table, which involved ‘working with the curators and coming up with a theme’.

In Touch gave him the experience and confidence to find outside employment before he heard about a position going at the museum. ‘I jumped at the chance’, he said.

Shaun is now employed full time as a Visitor Service supervisor at The Manchester Museum.

This programme forms part of a series of ventures by Manchester Museums over the past few years which have increased community involvement and visitor interaction with collections.

Culture Works has been running since late 2011 as a volunteer placement, work experience & training programme. In conjunction with Manchester College and the City Council, this one-off scheme’s training course has recently finished and particpants are now taking up work placements at cultural venues across the city.

The commitment to engage with unemployed, young and vulnerable people from Manchester forms part of the University’s 2015 Manchester Vision target to increase its participation within local communities.

Shaun describes The Manchester Museum as a ‘unique atmosphere to work in’ and he feels that volunteers really give something back to the programme that has helped them so much personally. ‘Museums couldn’t work without volunteers’.

The University plans to expand their community projects with a new three year programme called Improving Futures, targeting people vulnerable to social isolation.

Snoopers’ Paradise

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Books.

Cornerhouse

70 Oxford Street

Cornerhouse has it all; a bar, café, three floors of contemporary art galleries and three screens showing the latest independent cinema from the world over. And to top it off, a brilliant bookshop.
Cornerhouse have more than 2,700 publications in stock, and their catalogue encompasses books on every type of visual art you can think of, which can be ordered online and collected from the bookshop. Their best new titles include David Shrigley’s ‘Brain Activity’ and ‘Is Britain Great?’, which was actually published by Cornerhouse.
In the bookshop itself, you can find a load of great titles on film theory and the visual arts, as well as many art, music, fashion and film magazines you won’t find elsewhere. Oh, and I can never leave Cornerhouse without buying a couple of the bloody good postcards they have in store.
I highly recommend you pop in next time you are hanging around by the box office or browse through their online catalogue, found on the Cornerhouse website.
Bookshop open 12 – 8 every day of the week.

EJ Morten Booksellers

6 Warburton Street, Didsbury

Down a little cobbled street just off the main road, is EJ Morten Booksellers. Rather inconspicuously located within a 19th century terrace, the bookshop is surprisingly large on the inside, filled wall to wall with shelves and stacks of books. Morten’s houses an extensive range, from history and the classics to travel and science fiction, as well as a table of ‘bargain books’- enough to have me browsing for over 45 minutes (I even had a quick peek in the children’s section).
I was greeted by a lovely man in corduroys (an employee there for 23 years) who was more than happy to chat about the history of the bookshop and rather nicely spent 10 minutes helping two other customers find the perfect book on the lakes of Italy.
EJ Morten’s is the perfect place to steal away to on a Saturday afternoon after a cuppa in Didsbury, and have a good ole peruse.
Open 10 – 6 Mon – Sat, closed on Sunday.

Magma

22 Oldham Street

Situated on Oldham Street in the Northern Quarter, Magma is distinctive for its red-and-white signage, and posters instead of clothes or hair products in its windows. Part-bookshop and part-design-haven, everything in Magma seems to be a work of art. Walking in, you feel transported away from Manchester and its drizzle, and in to a parallel world where everything is instantly more beautiful and you are that super-cool person you always mean to try to be. The warm lighting makes you feel instantly welcome, and the space guides you in. The bookshelves line one side of the space, with magazines as well as amazing (and often useful) design objects on the other. Every book they stock is not just informative and intelligently selected, but also beautifully put together and an aesthetic object in its own right. Of course in many cases this is reflected in the price of the books, but the reasoning is perfectly clear. If you’re ever looking to treat yourself, buy someone a lasting present, or even if you just want to go and look at some beautiful things, Magma is definitely the place to go.

Open 10-6.30 Mon-Sat and 12-6 Sun.

Whitworth Park Oxfam

300-302 Oxford Road

A charity shop perhaps isn’t the most obvious place to think of when looking for a good selection of second-hand books, but the Whitworth Park Oxfam, placed so conveniently in reach of the university, gets a good number and range of donated books, on all subjects, that it’s always worth checking what they have in. The stock on display changes regularly, as more books are constantly brought out to fill the gaps left following purchases, and the shop tries to take back in to the stock room those books which have sat unwanted on the shelves for a few weeks. It’s impossible to guarantee that there will always be something worth buying, but if you make a quick visit every couple of weeks or so there’s bound to be something to get excited about sooner or later, which will make it all worthwhile. The pricing is always very reasonable, and you can be safe in the knowledge that your money is going towards good causes. What could be better than cheap books that also help others? Everybody wins.

Open 9.30-5.30 Mon-Fri, 10-6 Sat, and 12-6 Sun

2nd Hand & Rare Books

Church Street Market

This isn’t really a book shop. It’s actually a market stall on Church Street, opposite the Arndale Market. As such, it’s hard to say when it will and won’t be open, and given the lack of walls, it’s fairly weather dependent, but when it is, it’s definitely worth a look.
The first thing to note is that there is absolutely no method of organisation whatsoever. Just piles and piles of books, which for a booklover, is no bad thing. Personally, I quite like the chaos. Underneath all the rubbish – and there are a lot of bad books here – there are some good finds that make the rifling and rummaging worthwhile. It’s like the T.K. Maxx of bookshops.
It should be said, however, that ‘rare’ in this context doesn’t really mean beautiful, much-sought-after early editions of classics. It’s ‘rare’ in the sense of ‘odd’ and ‘unusual’ books. Books that, in monetary value, are completely worthless but are still old and interesting given their quirky titles. ‘Discovering Wrought Iron’, for example. It baffles me that anybody could manage to write an entire book on this subject, and then that somebody else would want to publish it, but they have, and they did.
I could happily spend an hour sorting through the piles of books here, and there is some good stuff. And the good news is, it’s cheap. Most books are about £1, and there’s a 50p bargain bin.

Open 9 – 5 Mon – Sat, closed on Sunday.

Paramount Book Exchange

70 Shudehill

There’s no other bookshop quite like this one in Manchester. Unlike most shops, Paramount Book Exchange is open only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are organised alphabetically and cover a wide range of genres: poetry, theatre, literature classics and contemporary writers, science fiction, non-fiction and biography. There’s also a sizeable section for comic books and vintage magazines (not to mention Dr Who paraphernalia). It has beautiful old editions of books, and tucked away round a corner, a decent section of foreign language literature, including dictionaries and language learning exercise books.
Above all, though, this shop has character. There are random bits and pieces dotted around the shop and the shelves – pot plants, dolls, a rubik’s cube, toy cars, vintage postcards. A beautifully out of tune piano takes up one corner, and there’s a large sofa in one of the windows for customers to sit on and read. The background music alternates between Classic FM and old Sinatra records, and is piped at considerable volume outside of the shop as well, so in all likelihood, you’ll hear this bookshop before you see it. The prices of the books aren’t cheap, but it’s worth it to keep a place like this going.

Open 10 – 6 Mon – Sat and closed on Sunday.

Property Guardians: The emergence of a new model for renting accomodation

Written by Scott McEwan on . Posted in News.

An alternative business model in rental accommodation has emerged as a result of its unique and effective solution to squatting and vandalism of unoccupied properties. Companies such as Ad Hoc property management and Camelot Europe provide vacant property security against squatters by installing ‘property guardians’ within disused properties such as pubs, churches, office blocks and schools. Ad Hoc has over 20 years experience and is now the European market leader in Vacant Property Protection.

Property guardians are essentially accommodation renters living in disused properties owned by companies or private individuals whilst acting as a low cost security measure against vandalism and squatting. Rather than employing security guards or installing costly CCTV technology at disused sites, property guardians offer site owners a virtually 24 hour on-site presence to prevent unwanted damage to a property or avoid the legal difficulties of removing squatters.

Depending on the size and location of the building, guardians can expect to pay exceedingly low rental payments. Varying from around £225-£310 a month, rental payments generally include utility costs such as electricity, water and gas but not Internet or telephone. Potential guardians are run through a strict application and vetting process, particularly to ensure an applicant has a steady stream of income, before their eligibility to rent is determined.

Becoming a property guardian is one solution to accommodation for university students. Low cost renting will become a greater concern once the cost of attending university increases next year; the likes of Ad Hoc offer considerable competition to Halls of Residence accommodation and university-operated rental services such as Manchester Student Homes.

The average period of tenancy in a property is around eight months. However, renters only have to be provided with two weeks notice if a property is required to be empty by the owners for developmental or sale purposes. Ad Hoc boasts a 98 percent success rate in re-locating guardians, yet this requires immense flexibility on behalf of the guardians. So while the service is considerably cheaper than conventional accommodation, renters face a serious degree of uncertainty perhaps limiting the option of becoming a property guardian to only mature students. Properties are also generally unfurnished.

Such Vacant Property Protection companies operate in many countries, especially in Europe, so becoming a guardian may be a viable option for students taking semesters abroad or are considering gap years after graduation.

Inside a world-beating Olympian

Written by Frances Barrand on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

Athletes must have a unique physiology and flawless training regime to perform to the best of their ability, to gain a personal best, and to beat world records. The world watched in awe at the Beijing Olympics 2008 as Usain Bolt cruised over the finish line of the 100m and 200m sprints with apparent ease in world-record time; it is a combination of his physiology and training which lead to this unprecedented success.

An athlete’s training plan depends on their sport. Long distance runners, such as Paula Radcliffe, who participates in an endurance sports, train slow twitch muscle fibres to increase the number of these fibres in their muscles. These enable the runner to keep going for longer distances. Aerobic training is the basis for this and increases the number of mitochondria within the cells; these are the components of a cell responsible for providing energy to the muscles. This training also increases lung capacity and as more oxygen is taken in, more is available for the mitochondria to use for respiration providing energy for the body.

A 100m sprinter, like Usain Bolt, has a training plan designed to make fast twitch fibres work to their maximum capacity. Fast twitch fibres work in anaerobic conditions without the need for oxygen. However, after 5-10 seconds of activity, lactic acid starts to build up due to these high energy demands, and this causes the burn felt in muscles when exercising. Thus the nature of how fast twitch fibres generate energy is not ideal for endurance activities, as it is limited for short bursts of energy and causes pain for the runner.

In order for either of these muscle types to generate energy they need one important six carbon compound – glucose which is vital for respiration. Respiration is the biological process, which occurs in every cell of the body, which uses the oxygen breathed in to utilise glucose and provide energy to the muscles. The diet of an athlete has to provide them with enough glucose to fuel this process of respiration. For an Olympic rower to consume enough food to fuel they need around 6000 calories of lean meats, fish and carbohydrates.

The life of an athlete requires scientific precision in their training routine and diet, as well as a world-beating physiology, and so only the best of British can dream of a medal in London this summer.

Circus of Horrors

Written by danielle middleton on . Posted in Arts.

On Monday 12th March, Manchester Opera House opens its doors to the horrors of Dr Haze’s circus, bringing with him a cast of blood-curdling, thrill inspiring dare devils.

Spectacular contortionists throwing arrows from their feet, demon dwarfs, flying aerialists, gyrating jugglers, voodoo warriors, pickled people and a modern take on the traditional act of sword-swallowing, swapping the sharp pointy weapon for a lit neon tube.

The newest addition, the rather ominous sounding, The Ventriloquist, joins the Circus of Horrors inspired by the evil ventriloquist films Devil Doll and The Dead of Night. The circus takes new twists and turns, ‘sending a shiver down your spine as the demonic dummy seems to take on a life of its own’.