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Month: December 2014

‘Class of 2014’ expect to own home, be married and have children by 30

Written by Gemma Sowerby on . Posted in News.

University leavers in 2014 anticipate owning their own home and having a child by the age of 30, being married by 29, and being established in their career by age 27.

Whilst these figures may seem unrealistic and over-ambitious to the average university student, the research, conducted by NUS Services Research Department and published last week by Endsleigh, surveyed 1423 university leavers from across the UK just prior to their summer graduation.

Clearly, this is not the case for all students, many of whom have much less aspirational outlooks on their future lives and careers. The research found some evidence of uncertainty in the lives of students, as 35 per cent of those surveyed—57 per cent of whom were aged between 21 and 22—envisage moving back home to live with their parents after graduating, and 51 per cent anticipate that their bills, rent and food costs will be only just affordable. 6 per cent said that they would struggle to cope at all with the cost of living.

Three second-years at the University of Manchester, who live together in Fallowfield, all expect to be at least 30 years of age before they own a home, agreeing that they are likely to continue living with friends for the foreseeable future.

It seems likely that the current relationship statuses of those surveyed will have had an effect on their expectations for marriage and starting a family, as one 20-year-old Manchester student, who has been in a relationship for four years, said he would probably be married before the age of 27, whereas his flatmates, all currently single, all expected to be at least 30 years old.

Julia Alpan, Student and Graduate Marketing Propositions Manager at Endsleigh Insurance, who published the research, says that “The post-university world can be exciting and daunting in equal measure.

“2014’s university leavers are clearly bullish and ambitious in their hopes and expectations for the future, aiming to reach a number of significant life milestones… all by the age of 30.

“The overall feeling is that the Class of 2014 is positive about moving to a new stage of their lives as they leave their university years behind them.”

Chaos to Order: Manchester’s Central Library

Written by Leonie Dunn on . Posted in Books.

When you think of a libraey, there are multiple things that come to mind and it goes without saying that chaos certainly would not be one of them. As the name Chaos to Order suggests this event unleashed a pandemonium on Manchester’s Central Library.

The Ivor Novello Award winning art rock band Everything Everything took over the Library from the 10th of November working alongside a range of different artists and creative people, in a week that challenged the general perception of libraries today.

It was a time to truly test the limits of the possibilities of the 21st century library as a centre for academia alone. However this radical sense of disorder seems only fitting in amongst Manchester’s history of radicalization and innovation. The Central Library was a fitting and generous arena for the residency of Library Live, as the events drew inspiration from its stunning architecture and special collections.

They wanted to change the perception of the dying libraries from a place that holds dusty books in concealed aisles to somewhere vibrant and exciting. The point that is at hand is that as times are moving on so are libraries and academia. If you have been to Manchester’s Central Library since it’s re-opening you will know exactly what they are jesting at. It even has a music room under its belt! That’s a culture smash if there ever was one.

NUS voting deadline extended after candidates cry foul play

Written by Aidan Gregory on . Posted in News.

The deadline for the elections of the University of Manchester NUS delegates was extended over the weekend, after allegations were made that Harriet Pugh, Education Officer of the University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU), had deliberately used her weekly email to promote her campaign platform to students.

The email, sent out to the entire student body, discussed the SU’s campaigns for free education in the UK, and provided a link to vote in the elections.

After it emerged that the allegations had been made, the decision was taken by the Students’ Union on Thursday night to extend the deadline to midday on Monday.

The Mancunion was approached late last week by Josh Woolas and Andrea Campos-Vigouroux, who are running as part of a collective known as ‘the power rangers’, and are also prominent members of Manchester Labour Students.

They outlined their grievances against the education officer’s campaign.

Woolas also supplied copies of the complaints sent to both the NUS and the Students’ Union. In an email to the National Union of Students, Woolas said,

“I’ve been running in the NUS Delegate elections at UMSU this year and was really disappointed to receive this all-student email—attached below—from one of the other candidates, who is currently a Sabb Officer at our SU.

“Not only is this obviously a resource I don’t have access to as an ordinary student, but the email is a blatant plug for free education—the slate that she is running on. I was wondering what the appropriate avenues are for lodging a formal complaint?

“Being able to send an email to all students whilst the voting for an election she is actively running in is open gives her a huge platform for self-promotion, as well as giving the entire slate an unfair advantage in these elections. It’s really disheartening to see that this was allowed to occur: If this kind of thing can be allowed to happen, then there isn’t really much point in anyone else running in these elections.”

Woolas also emailed the Returning Officer of the Students’ Union, who is responsible for ensuring that all elections are free and fair.

In it, he said he could not “understand why the General Secretary, who was also present at the Demo and isn’t standing in these elections, couldn’t have sent the email. The rules surrounding current student officers standing in elections don’t seem to do enough to protect the fairness of the vote.”

He added further, “I am really disappointed with Harriet’s behaviour, as I thought she held student politics in the same high regard as I do.”

The internal inquiry by the Students’ Union however ruled that Pugh was not in breach of the rules, despite also deciding to extend the deadline until Monday.

A spokesperson for the Union said, “The Returning Officer (RO) recognises that the Students’ Union may have inadvertently raised the profile of one candidate during an election period with the all student email. The RO has therefore recommended that the Union compensate coverage of other candidates by sending out a bespoke communication and extending the ballot box until Monday 1st Dec 12 noon to ensure that no candidates are disadvantaged.”

The Mancunion also contacted Pugh for a response to the allegations made against her.

In a statement, she explained that “As the executive leader and primary organiser among our leadership of the free education campaign, I had been scheduled to write that week’s weekly student email.

“Although the timing was unfortunate, this was an internal oversight and the deadline has been extended for that reason.”

She added further, “I think it is a great injustice that their complaints assume that students do not think for themselves and hence would blindly vote for me in an election on the basis that they had seen my name and opinion [in the email] and agreed with it.”

Voting has now closed and the results will be announced shortly.

Top 5 Books to Buy this Christmas

Written by Leonie Dunn on . Posted in Books.

1. Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North:

Flanagan’s Man Booker Prize-winning epic novel tells the story of one man’s reckoning with the truth. It is an odd focus for a love story, unfolding over half a century around the most infamous episode of Japanese history—the construction of the Thailand-Burma Death Railway in WWII. Yet Flanagan’s novel as a tribute to his late father, who was a survivor, honestly highlight the savagery and survival needed for the prisoners-of-war. It is an unflinching tale that both haunts and captivates.

2. Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake:

Kingsnorth’s unusual novel has an extraordinary power to linger with you, its focus being on a date that most have had drilled into their brains. 1066, The Battle of Hastings, but do we really know the extent of our own history? The narrator fears the end of his world as he knows it and the novel explores the collapse of lives, gods and the haunted visions of the narrator and his world. However, what Kingsnorth so accurately explores is that a portrayal of this history cannot truly be told in the modern English we use today. Kingsnorth uses a compelling mix of Old English to our vernacular English today. This books unsettles the imagination with the creation of a world that is at once alien and familiar.

3. Ali Smith’s How to be Both:

As a nominee for the Man-Booker Prize, Smith tells parallel narratives of a teenage girl and a 15th Century Renaissance artist. This novel is split into two parts focussing either on George as the teenage girl or Francesco del Cossa and depending on which version you get this will be varied. The distinction drawn between the two comes from George’s mother regarding art and under-drawings that differ significantly from the final painting. She asks “Which came first?” and this is something Smith plays with throughout the whole novel—what we read cannot be unread. While it may come across as daunting, Smith’s playful and charming novel leaves you pondering over questions such as; do things “stop existing just because we can’t see them?” Have a read and see for yourself.

4. Hilary Mantel’s The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher:

Mantel’s witty collection of short stories are entirely unmissable. While the collection focuses on ten differing stories, there was one that stood out above all for me. ‘Sorry to Disturb’ opens the collection and is set in 80s Saudi Arabia, charting the unwelcome visits of a Pakistani businessman to the narrator’s flat. The story is a comedy of cross-cultural sexual politics which is at once disturbing and equally humorous.

5. Siri Hustvedt’s The Blazing World:

Hustvedt’s new novel takes a head on approach to the utter absence of women artists in the history of painting. The protagonist Harriet Burden is an embittered painter living in New York. She is only able to showcase her art through persuading her male contemporaries to showcase it under their names. The true subject thus is one that is still at the heart of society today—the persistence of denial. The irrepressibly clever prose darts around the bigger questions of gender, politics and art and yet still maintains a light hearted fizziness.