Day: 5 February 2018

REVEALED: Pangaea loses shocking £120,000 in 18 months

Written by Kirstie O'Mahony on 5th February 2018. Posted in News.

The Mancunion can reveal that the once much-loved student festival has been racking up astronomical financial losses since at least June 2016.

Figures seen by The Mancunion indicate losses ranging from £19,000 to £56,000 at each event. This has been attributed in some cases to overspending on decorations and other operational material, but in most instances, it is due to a drastic underselling of tickets.

Staff at the Students’ Union has told The Mancunion that if the summer Pangaea follows the same financial trajectory, and receives negative feedback from students, there is a possibility that Pangaea will cease to exist in its current form in the years to come.

The Mancunion understands that, whilst Pangaea’s intention isn’t ever to make a profit (as this would involve dramatically increasing the ticket price, making it unaffordable for lots of students), the shortfall that is budgeted for each event, or ‘cushion’ that is allowed for, is only £5000. However, due to the ongoing construction in and around the Union building, this year the two Pangaea events (the freshers’ instalment and the summer one) were given scope in the budget to lose £50,000.

A spokesperson at the Students’ Union stressed to The Mancunion that the figures do not include additional income generated by sales on the night, such as on the bar. Furthermore, they said that Pangaea has always been about the positive student experience it creates and is not a profit making exercise.

There are some other reasons why the figures, according to the Students’ Union, may not actually reflect the financial reality. One is that, up until 2016, there was not a full-time events coordinator to keep a record of the budget, with the role of Activities Officer apparently notwithstanding.

Another is that, up until the most recent Pangaea, the ticket price of the September instalment has always been included in the Welcome Week Wristband, which makes it harder to calculate how much is generated through ticket sales.

When speaking to students at the university, many expressed apathy towards the festival.

Scarlett, a 3rd-year classics student, told The Mancunion that “it’s never really appealed in itself” and that if it were cancelled she wouldn’t be “particularly fussed”, however she mentioned that she knew people who had really enjoyed volunteering on its committee.

Will, a Human Rights Masters student, told The Mancunion that he hears “it’s pretty bad now” from friends who still go, and that it was “pretty harsh” that the ticket price remained the same when the venue size was reduced in September 2017, due to the on-going building works.

When asked if he would care if it were to be cancelled, he replied: “I’m not going to cry about it”.

Activities Officer Kitty Bartlett has so far not responded to requests for comment.

Investigation: are bill splitting companies taking you for a ride?

Written by Hana Jafar on 5th February 2018. Posted in News.

Students at Manchester University have accused bill splitting companies of overcharging and being extremely difficult to get in touch with in a crisis.

Second and third year students arranging to rent shared houses have to navigate landlords, tenancy agreements, and managing shared expenses including utility bills. Most energy and utility providers expect a single payment per month. Dividing up multiple payments with different due dates between housemates can be stressful.

Some students choose to use bill splitting services like Glide, Split The Bills, Huru, and Fused. These services attract students by offering to make life easier by contacting providers and setting up student houses with electricity, water, gas, broadband and TV licences.

Some of these companies claim that their rates will be cheaper than those of the ‘big six’ energy suppliers like British Gas, Npower, SSE, EDF, Eon, and Scottish Power. They offer to keep tabs on due dates, chase up individual students for payments, and make budgeting easier by combining all bills and splitting them equally into regular monthly payments.

However, are these companies really worth it? One of the biggest and most popular services, Glide, claim on their website that “people that hate bills love Glide” and market themselves as authentic, ‘quirky’, and reliable. On the ‘tariffs’ section of their website, the quote per month for a house shared by four students paying for gas, electricity, water, broadband, and a TV license is approximately £42 altogether. This sounds relatively reasonable, but many students who have used the service have had bad experiences, and felt exploited.

One Manchester student, Sasha, claimed that Glide did not give her and her housemates an electricity prepayment meter for months, and that the company was difficult to get in touch with.

Glide said that they, “had some challenges this year in the speed of exchanging prepayment meters. We have changed this process ahead of next summer and expect to be able to exchange them more quickly next summer.”

Oscar Kilpatrick, another second year with Glide, wanted to warn students about what they were signing up for. His house paid for fibre broadband, but had no access to it for over a month. Whilst it was being installed, their Wi-Fi was down for a week and a half, with the reimbursement amounting to just £2.42.

Glide replied, “over the summer, fibre broadband can take up to 4 weeks to install. This is based on availability of BT OpenReach engineers and is the same for most broadband providers. We always try and advise students to sign up to their broadband company in advance of their tenancy start date, rather than signing up to a broadband provider once they have already moved in.”

The bills sharing company, which was the first of its kind 11 years ago, boasts a 24/7 broadband support team, but Oscar claims that he and his housemates were promised calls that were never returned. “The organisation is poor, we were sent four letters threatening bailiffs which were revealed to have originally been intended for Glide — we had paid our bills but Glide hadn’t paid the water company [sic],” he said.

Glide said that because they, “work with all water companies across the UK”, difficulties in managing accounts can arise, such as water being sent to the property rather than Glide HQ. They said that “once we are notified of this issue, we will always contact the water company to ensure the bills are sent straight to us.”

Despite the experiences of some students, the company website claims it is a trusted service with positive reviews on verified rating websites like trustpilot. Some of the responses to complaints on trustpilot were made by Glide representatives, who claimed that they had attempted to reach out to and resolve student issues, and that some of the issues were caused by student mistakes.

Split The Bills, another similar service, includes a section on their website reminding students that issues can be avoided by joining them early, as they get busy between June and September, and late joiners may need to contact previous suppliers with meter readings. They also add that Gas and Electricity can take up to four-six weeks to transfer from a different supplier.

According to popular website Save The Student, “bill splitting services might sound like a great idea, but the amount they charge are not worth the minimal time that they save you.

“These companies also restrict you to certain suppliers for your bills, meaning you might miss out on the best deals — which could cost you even more money throughout the year.”

Save The Student recommends splitting bills independent from these companies, using apps like Splitwise, or starting a joint bank account. They also recommend putting everyone’s name on bills so that no one person’s credit score is at risk of dropping in case payments are late.

Save The Student add that students should try setting up services quickly, making sure to read the fine print on contracts for hidden charges and price hikes. Another option for students is renting a house inclusive of the cost of bills, which means landlords and agents will handle bills, instead of third party companies like Glide and Split The Bills.

A spokesperson for Glide said that “yes, we are more expensive than traditional providers such as British Gas”, and explained that the service they provide is for people looking to save time and the stress of splitting bills.

“Utilities is a tricky industry and each year we refine our processes and learn in order to reduce any mistakes. Inevitably, due to the nature of the industry and the amount of services we provide, there are always going to be a handful of issues.

“It is possible for students to save money by doing bills themselves and for some this is the method that they will take. For others, they are happy to pay a premium to be safe in the knowledge that they have to pay only their share and to bring all of their bills together in one place.”

For students who are struggling with budgeting and finances, the Students’ Union has a free and confidential advice service.

Calls for Manchester United to pay Living Wage

Written by Mancunion on 5th February 2018. Posted in News.

On Thursday the 1st of February students and local activists from the non-profit Citizens UK requested that Manchester United “move to paying a real Living Wage to all staff and contracts in 2018.” The local chapter of Citizens UK delivered a letter requesting Man Utd to “do the right thing.”

Citizens UK acknowledged “the vital contribution that Manchester United FC makes to the UK economy as a global brand.” However, they hope the club “shows leadership … to ensure the cost of living is met for low-paid workers.” Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, and many other community leaders were signatories of this open letter.

The current call for Manchester United to increase their wages for low-paid workers follows a successful campaign in Liverpool. In late October 2017 the Living Wage Foundation and Steve Rotherham, Liverpool’s Metropolitan mayor, successfully campaigned for Liverpool FC to commit to paying their staff at least the Living Wage of £8.45 at the time. Liverpool FC is one of just three Premier League clubs to make such a commitment.

Political pressure on employers across Manchester has been mounting for the past 3 years. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham campaigned on support for the Living Wage, stating in 2015 “we need a National Living Wage for everyone, young and old.” Two years Burnham worked with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and achieved a commitment to GMCA becoming a Living Wage accredited employer.

The Living Wage for the areas of the UK outside of London is currently £8.75. This figure has been assessed by the politically independent non-profit organisation the Living Wage Foundation. The wage is based on the cost of essential goods and services and calculated such so that low-paid workers can live comfortably.

Over 3800 organisations across the UK pay the Living Wage. One of these organisations is the University of Manchester’s Student Union, who recently commemorated their accreditation as a Living Wage paying employer with a plaque in the Steve Biko building. The on-going commitment from the SU has benefitted students across the University.

Students currently and previously employed by Manchester United believe that an increase in wages would “have a real impact on the student body”. Jack Swan, student and member of Greater Manchester Citizens leadership group, is part of the team organizing this campaign. Swan and others are in the processes of setting up a Citizens Society on campus and urges current students to join. Forthcoming campaigns include sustaining pressure for the Living Wage and ending hate crime.

Manchester United were unavailable for comment.

Sexual assault claims rock the fashion industry

Written by Talia Lee-Skudder on 5th February 2018. Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

2017 will go down in history as the year that women finally said ‘Time’s Up’. It will be remembered for the countless brave people who came forward to say #metoo and finally tell their story after being silenced for so long. 2017 has triggered a movement: women are starting to talk about their experiences of sexual assault without shame and their abusers were finally being held accountable for their abominable actions.

It is fitting that this movement has gained momentum in the Trump era — in which one of the most powerful men in the world has had countless allegations of sexual assault made against him. The Times Up movement unites all women and spreads the message that enough is enough, that women and men alike will stand together against abuse and harassment at every level. The Golden Globes was the perfect example of this united front in Hollywood, where women and men donned all black outfits in support of the movement.

The Times Up movement comes after the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which rocked Hollywood in the latter part of 2017. However, as the numerous allegations made against the director show, this was just the tip of the iceberg. The scandal triggered a wave of support from women and men all across the industry and sent the message that these women do not have to suffer in silence. However, it has also demonstrated that there has been abuse at every level in every industry, not excluding the fashion industry. Now, male models are coming forward to speak out about the abuse they have suffered by big-name photographers.

In the wake of the Weinstein scandal, Condé Nast International finally severed ties with photographer Terry Richardson in October 2017 despite years of numerous allegations of sexual assault swirling about in the industry. American Vogue stopped working with Richardson in 2010 and now a number of high-end fashion brands such as Bulgari and Valentino have ended their contracts with the controversial photographer.

Since 2010 a number of women have made claims against Richardson, stating that he propositioned them for sex and touched them without their consent. Richardson addressed these rumours in 2014 in which he claimed the allegations were “an emotionally-charged witch hunt.” The question is why has it taken the fashion industry so long to take these allegations seriously? In the backlash of the Weinstein allegations, the message is loud and clear that these accusations will now no longer be ignored and finally abusers like Richardson will be held accountable.

Further to this, allegations have also been made about Bruce Weber and Mario Testino, the Royal family photographer, that has seen them both suspended from working with big fashion names including Vogue. Testino has been accused of subjecting 13 male assistants and models to unwanted sexual advances, that in some cases included groping and masturbation. According to the New York Times Weber has also been accused by 15 models of exposing them to unnecessary nudity and coercive sexual behaviour.

The issue lies with the immense power these men have within the industry. Similar to the Weinstein cases, victims were afraid to come forward and challenge them because of the fear of never working again. In the fashion industry, it seems that young men and male models are perhaps the most vulnerable to exploitation by photographers. Former model Trish Goff said that male models are ‘the least respected and most disposable’, therefore a claim against a Testino or a Richardson would not have been taken seriously because male models don’t become a personality like female models do.

Female models are instantly recognisable, whereas it is difficult to think of many well-known male models. These allegations are also important in highlighting that men can also suffer abuse by others in a position of power, it is not always gender-specific, and their stories need to be heard too.

Now that there have been numerous claims of sexual harassment and assault within the fashion industry, will we see this same kind of solidarity that we witnessed at the Golden Globes or will it simply be brushed under the carpet and neglected to be acknowledged by the wider fashion circuit?

Despite accusations having been made for years, it seems that it has taken until 2018 in the wake of the Weinstein scandal for these allegations to finally be taken seriously. The world is now listening to the voices that have long been silenced and holding those abusers accountable for their actions by stripping them of the positions of power, except for the President of course. It seems that despite different industries making inroads in dealing with allegations of sexual assault and harassment seriously, as long as Trump remains in office we still, as a society, have a long way to go to make the phrase #metoo the exception and not the norm.

It’s time we talked about LGBT hate crime more

Written by James Huyton on 5th February 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

Hate crime is much more commonplace than you think. For many, we take the inclusive and metropolitan nature of Manchester for granted. We assume we are somehow insulated from horrible things like this, or that they’re a relic of the past. The reality, unfortunately, does not reflect this.

Last year, Stonewall completed a survey of the experiences of LGBT people in relation to hate crime. The results were stark. Their survey showed that one in five LGBT people (21 per cent) have experienced a hate crime or incident due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the last 12 months.

The number of lesbian, gay, and bi people in Britain who have experienced hate crime has increased by 78 percent in five years, from nine percent in 2013 to 16 per cent in 2017. Two in five trans people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the last 12 months.

Again, this is not something that LGBT students at a university are insulated from. The statistics show 33 percent of 18 to 24-year-old lesbian gay and bi people and over half (56 per cent) of trans young people of the same age, having experienced a hate crime or incident in the last 12 month.

Put very simply, if you have or know a lesbian or gay person in one of your seminars there’s a 1 in 3 chance that they will have experienced a hate crime or hate incident in the last year. If they’re a trans person, that rises to over 1 in 2. Just 12 per cent of these people report it to the police.

For anyone unfamiliar, I’ll break it down really simply. Hate crimes are acts of violence or hostility directed at people because of who they are or who someone thinks they are. Police forces in England and Wales make a distinction between a hate crime and a hate incident.

A hate incident is defined as any act, which may or may not be a crime, that the victim or any other person perceives to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards an aspect of a person’s identity.

A hate crime is an illegal act that the victim or any other person perceives to be motivated by hostility or prejudices towards an aspect of a person’s identity.

The focus is often on more violent hate crimes, which overshadow the more everyday verbal abuses or derogatory languages that many LGBT people experience in their everyday lives.

Sometimes it’s obvious that you’ve experienced a hate crime, for example, if someone hits you while making obviously homophobic, biphobic, or transphobic comments.

Less obvious examples can be threats of violence hoax calls, abusive phone or text messages, hate mail online abuse — for example on Facebook or Twitter —, or verbal abuse like name-calling.

Like anyone in their early twenties, many of my recent memories are from nights out. I can remember when the DJ in Thompsons’s played the Lady Gaga Megamix and the Britney Megamix back-to-back at 2am. I can remember the lights of the pop room of Poptastic on a Tuesday night.

But I can also remember a night out in the Northern Quarter when a stranger decided I was too effeminate. And I can remember having insults shouted at me as I left the Village and walked to get the night bus home. The reality for many LGBT people is they have stories of evenings/nights taking a very dark turn for no other reason than the way they were born.

So what is to be done about this? To see a Manchester without hate crime, the most important thing is that every hate crime — whether you were a victim or just a witness — is reported. Action can only be taken if it is reported. The odds are that the perpetrators of hate crime will not only commit one in their life. They will go on to commit hate crimes again, and again, and again.

Most importantly, the victim of the hate crime — whether it is yourself, or another person — cannot get the support they may need to deal with what is a pretty harrowing or traumatic event if it is not known to the proper people.

Reporting hate crime to the police can feel like a daunting task – so third Party hate crime reporting centres are operating across Greater Manchester. If you take a report to them they can act on your behalf in this, anonymously if you wish.

LGBT Foundation on Richmond Street is one such centre, specialised in reporting LGBT hate crime as well as providing support to LGBT people. They can be contacted at 03453 30 30 30 between 10 am and 10 pm on a weekday or an email report can be sent to [email protected].

From the 5th of February to the 11th it is Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Week. With more than 60 events taking place across Greater Manchester, the week is used as a signal that hate crime has no place in our city.

Everyone in Manchester, and in the country as a whole, deserves to be able to make those fun night out memories at university and to enjoy the nights they can reminisce about forever for solely positive reasons.

To sign the pledge to stand with the people of Manchester in combatting hate crime, visit http://www.letsendhatecrime.com/.

Manchester council plans to build ‘Tower of Light’

Written by Aliya Ismangil on 5th February 2018. Posted in News, Science & Tech.

Manchester City Council and Vital Energi have put in a planning application to build a 40-metre high stainless steel tower that will, as well as creating a new sculptural landmark, encase the energy centre of the Manchester Civic Quarter Heat Network (CQHN) project. The project aims to provide an environmentally sustainable energy solution to Manchester city centre and has secured £2.87 million of funding from the Government.

The tower will provide heat and electricity to the network which includes key iconic city centre buildings such as Manchester Town Hall & Extension, Manchester Central Convention Centre, Central Library, Manchester Art Gallery, The Bridgewater Hall, and Heron House.

Councillor Angeliki Stogia, Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for the Environment and Skills, says: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Manchester to not only reduce energy costs and carbon emissions within the civic estate but also to offer those same environmental and financial benefits to local businesses.

“The council is fully committed to improving air quality and the environmental quality and attractiveness of the city, and we believe this flagship project will make a significant contribution to achieving those ambitions.”

London based award-winning architects, Tonkin Liu, designed what has been named the ‘Tower of Light’. Their designs were chosen over three other architect firms who were also shortlisted in a competition for the job. It uses the latest in architectural technology in its ‘shell lace structure’. The geometry of the tower allows the structure to hold stiff and strong with only 4 – 6mm of laser-cut steel to form the tower’s skin that also supports the 37-metre tall chimneys of the energy centre.

Lighting up the tower will also use minimal energy, as in the day the wind will move polished sun reflectors, giving the illusion of shimmering light. At night, LED lights will be directed at the reflectors.

It is planned to be built on the site of the former GMex building. Once plans are approved, work is expected to start in spring this year.

Book review: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

Written by Conor McCarthy on 5th February 2018. Posted in Books.

After seventeen years of waiting, fans of fantasy author Philip Pullman have been rewarded with an audacious new novel. Pullman’s new series, The Book of Dust, is to be a three part follow-on from the award winning trilogy His Dark Materials.

The first instalment, La Belle Sauvage, was released in late 2017. It is set ten years prior to the events of His Dark Materials and the following books will be set ten years later. As opposed to a prequel or sequel, the 71 year-old writer sardonically described the new trilogy as an “equel”.

La Belle Sauvage is an expertly crafted fantasy thriller, that undoubtedly does justice to the original series. Pullman takes us back to Lyra Belacqua’s world of sentient spirit animals known as Daemons, and of the church-like magisterium. Lyra and her ‘daemon’ Pantalaimon are again central characters and much of the action revolves around them, only this time she is a baby and Pantalaimon, a chirruping cub.

Pullman’s skill at writing children — giving them real purpose and depth — is exemplified in our new hero, Malcolm Polstead. Malcolm is an ordinary if rather bright boy with an undying curiosity. With the help of a fierce young woman named Alice, Malcolm watches over baby Lyra and sees that she comes to no harm with some astounding feats of bravery.

The characters’ story begins in the calm of rural England, an unlikely but engaging setting for the events to come. After some introductory chapters that lay foundations for an adventure, and on cue with the Gyptian’s (River Gypsies) premonitions, a flood of immeasurable proportion sweeps through the quiet Oxfordshire hamlet of Godstow. The deluge carries our protagonists from their homes down through the Thames valley and beyond in Malcolm’s stout canoe, La Belle Sauvage.

The journey presents many dangers, but none more chilling than encountering the new antagonist Gerard Bonneville, accompanied by his Hyena daemon. Daemons are an embodiment of their human’s inborn nature, which renders Bonneville’s Hyena even more unsettling.

This change of villain represents a change of tone compared to the original trilogy. Bonneville’s unhinged demeanour and disturbing actions wouldn’t go amiss in the horror section.

La Belle Sauvage is certainly not for the faint hearted. In comparison to Pullman’s previous works, the new volume is perhaps more suited to the older reader — as Pullman himself commented on the new series, “His darker materials, perhaps”.

If, like me, you were a fan of His Dark Materials, you might remember the mysterious and wondrous characters from the trilogy; the armoured bears, the angels, the witches and the soulless warriors. La Belle Sauvage has significantly less of this high fantasy as the book acts more as a medium for human connections, friendship and love.

Pullman again invades the familiar with the extraordinary but rather than using magical tools and mystical beings to guide and bolster the storyline, he lets the characters’ interactions and tale of hardship to be central in what is an imaginative narrative.

Though gripping from the first chapter, La Belle Sauvage is not perfect. Pullman’s quest for genuine settings and an innate homely composition is perhaps compromised when we run into characters of otherworldly origin, as they seem out of place and distinct in the swamped English countryside. The occasional references to the story of exodus also expects a biblical knowledge, again something that might pass younger readers by.

Despite these faults however, the main plot theme of the flood is executed with unerring precision. The delicate subtlety in the comparisons it makes to our planet and our Britain also lend the book real meaning and significance.

The whole story is set in Britain, permitting Pullman to explore the politics within this alternate universe. The parallel version of the UK is governed by an international theocracy, the ‘Magisterium’, which dominates all political and authoritative sectors. The magisterium’s increasing interest in Lyra, Malcolm and Alice plays a leading role in our protagonists struggles.

La Belle Sauvage evokes emotion and empathy throughout; as a reader you are passionately attached to characters, willing them to succeed in what is a perilous journey. Pullmans writing is so authentic, that the reader rarely questions the fictional nature of the flood. But at the same time there is no predictability, no expectation, the events unfold as they have to with the reader so engulfed in the scenery it’s as though you are standing in amongst it.

The vivid descriptions do well to place the novel’s action whilst creating enthralling atmospheres. Alongside the ambitious imagery, Pullman stylises elegant motifs that enhance the plotline. One of which is that of building, working and fixing things. From clockwise-opening screws to boarding up windows, the detailed intricacy of objects and manipulation of materials offers delightful metaphors for rebellion and protection.

In La Belle Sauvage we begin to explore the nature of the mysterious phenomena Dust, a notion that refers to what readers might know as dark matter. Dust had an important role in the first trilogy and we can with no doubt expect to explore its significance in the next parts of this one.

It has to be said that so far in the Book of Dust, we have not seen the overarching allegories of the human condition that was the case in His Dark Materials. Nor does Pullman so deliberately comment on the organisation of religion in its intangible forms. However, it hits home as an excellent precursor for the rest of the trilogy with part two The Secret Commonwealth, arriving in shops later this year.

Do you need to have read His Dark Materials to fully enjoy and understand La Belle Sauvage? Certainly not. But if you find this novel as captivating as I did you may well want to visit Lyra’s world ten years on.

United embarrassed by Spurs at Wembley

Written by James Gill on 5th February 2018. Posted in Sport.

Jose Mourinho opts for a 4-2-3-1 formation for tonight’s game. In order to squeeze in Alexis Sánchez and without compromising in-form attackers such as Lingard and Martial, there are only two central midfielders. Such a formation indicates that Manchester United are going to Wembley for the victory with nothing else good enough to keep the pace with Manchester City.

De Gea is the goalkeeper once more with more clean sheets than any other keeper in the top 5 leagues this season (14). Helping him defend the goal is a back four of Valencia (C), Smalling, Jones, and Young. Matic and Pogba play in central midfield behind an attacking trio of Sanchez, Lingard, and Martial. Finally, Lukaku is the lone striker.

Only five passes into the game and Tottenham have scored. The goal is an obvious result of a preprepared kick off ritual and can only be compared to the infamous kick off glitch in the Fifa series of video games. Eriksen’s goal has been timed at 10.48 seconds and is the second fastest in Premier League history.

Less than a minute later Lingard gets one and one with Hugo Lloris and they would have been level if not for a fantastic reflexive save. It is a relentless opening to the game with both teams trying to gain the upper hand.

The first yellow is shown 12 minutes into the game to Mousa Dembele for a cynical foul on Lingard to stop the break. Spurs look slightly nervous in defence and United, trying to get back into the game early, are creating several good chances. It seems unlikely that the score will remain 1-0 and, at the current rate of fouls, it seems unlikely that the game will finish with 22 players on the pitch.

A very high line from Spurs has caused Lukaku to be caught offside multiple times cutting off potential attacks for the Red Devils. That coupled with just two central midfielders has resulted in an inability to hold possession for any substantial length of time. More than that though, it means that the lion’s share of the ball is given to Spurs.

28 minutes gone and it’s 2-0. Spurs thread together a series of delectable one-touch passes before giving the ball to Trippier in acres of space on the right-hand side. He assesses his options before choosing to drill the ball in hard and low. Phil Jones, who up until this point has stood firm in defence, knocks the ball into the back of the net.

After a series of fouls by United and an increasingly agitated crowd, the referee finally gives in an shows the yellow card to Phil Jones for something that remains unclear after four replays. There hasn’t been more than a minute of play uninterrupted by fouls for quite some time with 13 in the opening 40 minutes.

At halftime, the most important job for Mourinho is to reorganise his team to retain possession better. I would not be surprised if one of the four attacking players made way for Herrara or Fellaini. While this seems counter-intuitive if United can’t get the ball up to those players they naturally won’t be able to score. It will allow Pogba to roam further up the pitch too, rather than his unfavourable restricted position seen so far.

There have been no substitutions at the start of the second half, but United have rejigged their front four. Sanchez has moved from the left to the centre, Martial from the right to the left, and Lingard from the left to the right. It hasn’t changed Tottenham’s dominance though and it could have easily been 3-0.

Manchester United have, just shy of an hour into the game, begun to get a foothold in this game. Lukaku has a decent opportunity but shoots straight at Lloris. Mourinho decides to shake things up with a double substitution. Fellaini comes on for Lingard and Mata comes on for Pogba. Pogba looked unhappy on the pitch this half so it may have been a precautionary move.

Yet another good chance goes begging for Spurs and an exasperated Mourinho calls a player from the bench to make his final substitution. Rather than Rashford who was taking off his tracksuits, Herrera comes onto the pitch for none other than Fellaini who came onto the pitch less than eight minutes prior.

There were no visible problems with Fellaini who went straight to the changing rooms. Exasperation turns to vitriolic fury as Young gets yellow carded for a bad foul and there seems to be no hope of a Manchester United comeback.

Deli Alli, to the surprise of no one, loses his cool and hacks someone down for a yellow card. Even 2-0 up and entirely comfortable, his tendency for petulance rears it’s head once more. To avoid a comeback from United Pochettino takes him off in favour of Sissoko.

At full-time Tottenham are deserved winners. The only way the night could have been sweeter is if Harry Kane scored his 100th goal for the club. Mourinho will need to work hard to restore his team’s confidence ahead of their game against Huddersfield this weekend.

Review: Umezushi

Written by Patrick Young on 5th February 2018. Posted in Food & Drink.

If asked the question: ‘U – Me – Sushi?’ Do not hesitate in accepting. This eighteen seat restaurant will not disappoint. Discretely hidden away in a small industrial railway arch behind Victoria station, this little gem epitomises all things fresh and innovative about Japanese cuisine. A complete trust in the quality of produce facilitates a clean eating experience, leaving the diner feeling a healthy rejuvenation on departure.

The location of Umezushi in a non-residential area of central Manchester lends itself to a slightly corporate footfall. Other diners at the restaurant appeared to consist of clients, being taken out and schmoozed for potential business deals. No doubt impressed by the sense of exclusivity that comes from Umezushi’s incredibly intimate dining room, and the excellence of the food.

My dining companion and I ordered off the lunch menu for affordability, aiming not to get caught up in the business demographic and to aptly represent the requirements of the student market. After much deliberation, we settled on ordering Miso Soups to start, as a staple of Japanese cuisine, and Negitoro Don, Pork Rice, and the Umezushi Lunch Roll to follow.

The Negitoro Don I can best describe as the steak tartare of the sushi world. We ordered this as an attempt to push the culinary boat out. It was not met by unappreciative palettes, but the intensity of the raw egg and fish combination may have been better suited to a starter rather than a main course.

The rice in all the dishes had taken a small hit of vinegar to bring out its full flavour. It was light and fluffy in texture. The quality of this rice is something I have never been able to recreate, even with various experimentations in different types of rice cookers.

The sushi itself was completely delectable. High calibre Japanese cuisine is built on an ethic and trust in the freshness and quality of produce, and this really shone through at Umezushi. A point of note is that the wasabi was not overpowering, as is the case in mass-produced supermarket sushi, which generally tends to be horseradish died green.

I was meaning to ask how the restaurant sourced their fish, as having lived in Manchester for three years, I am yet to come across a thriving fish market. But, given the quality of the produce, my guess would be that they have some form of supply chain direct from the sea.

The sticky pork rice beautifully balanced sweet and sour and put in a valiant attempt to steal the show from the sushi.

The waiters and maître’d gave off no sense that my dining companion and I were being rushed through the experience, which is unusual in such a high demand restaurant with very little capacity. We sat at our table for the best part of three hours, letting idle conversation flow as we soaked in copious refills of green tea.

Taking in the authenticity of feng shui — created by the Japanese kitsch’s and pot plants which surround the walls. The interior design had the capacity to transport the diner away from the midst of the bleakness of the Mancunian winter, and into what had the feel of a high-end backstreet Sushi house, in which a grandmaster might have plied their trade.

The lunch menu is affordable, costing twenty pounds a head, which considering the precedence of the restaurant and the quality of the food was entirely reasonable. I could not recommend this restaurant enough. If you are feeling any weight in your pockets from the recent drop of student loans, the taster menu looks to be a complete and innovative journey through the depths of Japanese cuisine.

Interview: The Howl & The Hum

Written by Olivia White on 5th February 2018. Posted in Music.

If you could sum up the past year or so in 3 words what would they be?

Reach (for) the stars. We learnt ‘Reach for the Stars’ by S Club 7 in primary school and it made me realise I wanted to perform in front of lots of people. Also, to bring out a CD and my own music and we’ve done a lot of that this year.

Where does your name ‘The Howl & The Hum’ come from?

There’s a really amazing poem by Allen Ginsberg called ‘Howl’ which is about an artistic howl in the 1950s when things were subdued, and people didn’t feel as though they could express themselves in the right way. It’s a really evocative poem. Also, thinking about it I guess it’s almost like on a heart monitor when there’s movement of the lines and then pauses. It also does what it says on the tin, as a band we Howl, and we Hum.

What was the inspiration behind ‘Portrait I’ and why did it then frame your second tour?

‘Portrait I’ is a weird one. There’s actually a few portraits so there’s the first one but we’re currently writing sequels, they’re all sort of coming to fruition. ‘Portrait I’ is about the way that you view things and I’ve always been really interested in the idea of perception. Like you hear of things being painted in a certain light or people being put on pedal stools. For example, if you see someone in a particular light, it’s very difficult to shake that. The portrait’s a bit like a mirror in that sense and allows reflection even of oneself.

Will the next few portraits be EPs?

They’re probably going to be singles and I’m not even sure if they’ll be released in order. Portrait II has been written but I’m probably going to release Portrait III first but they’ll all be linked thematically.

When you featured on Tom Robinson’s BB6 Radio show, you mentioned you tend to derive lots of song inspiration from short-stories? How does this sit with the songs you’ve written relating to personal experience?

It’s difficult to write songs without reference to personal experience, all of the emotions that are felt by any of the characters are emotions that I have felt to some degree. But equally, it’s nice to create characters which are experiencing something you haven’t. It’s difficult to completely make up an emotion but if you utilise it and put it in a different context or setting, it can form a really interesting song.

Where does inspiration for I Wish I Was A Shark come from?

Yeah so, the opening is ‘I wish I was a shark so I’d never know what it would feel like to stop knowing there was motion once before’ because there’s almost a little myth, I’m not sure whether it’s true but there’s the idea that sharks die when they stop swimming. So, I’ve taken that as if someone is constantly moving either from person to person or relationship to relationship or even just moving through life job to job but if they stop they’ll almost give up and die. It’s quite dark but I’m happy with it.

How did you achieve the effects at the beginning of the track?

Yeah, that’s actually quite a lot of weird stuff going on. A lot of it is reverse pianos, voices lowered and synthesised on computers, we used a lot of filters to really create the atmosphere of being underwater. We have Conor’s guitar which creates the noise you’d hear as a submarine lowers into the water

Where does The Howl & The Hum settle in terms of importance given your involvement in a swing band and your past solo career?

The Howl & The Hum is number one. I would sacrifice anything else I’m doing for that. My songwriting developed into The Howl & The Hum so I was Sam Griffiths but there became a point where I knew I wanted to be part of a band. I like the idea of gaining inspiration from people around me, almost like being in a creative bubble. But the Swing band I am in is how I earn money, it means I can work a few days a week and then spend the rest of my time writing songs. It’s a lovely way to make a living but it’s not something I’m wanting to do permanently. I used to work in a coffee shop called Coffee Culture in Goodramgate for example and that’s something I might end up doing again soon as busking wears out my voice.

What’s the songwriting process like, and does it vary depending on the song?

It’s different for every song but I have thousands of notes and voice memos on my phone. I could have little-hummed ideas or little weird poems. Sometimes if I’m drunk I’ll talk to my phone for an hour and then play it back the following morning. A lot of the time our songs are built from lyrics which may be taken from a short story.

Is the atmospheric and cinematic feel your songs possess entirely intentional? Many sound like they could be James Bond songs.

No, we’ve never sat down and thought we’re going to write a song for a James Bond film although I would love to do that and I reckon we’ve got some that would suffice. They’re just amazing songs but it’s usually just us trying to gain the atmosphere out of the lyric with our instruments. For example, ‘I Wish I was a Shark’ was about going under water and with ‘Only Other Living Creature in the desert’, we try and make our guitars growl. It’s the songs speaking to the instruments and the instruments replying. I really like film soundtracks though.

Who changed the music industry for you?

Bob Dylan because he basically invented Rock and Roll. When he went electric it was very important because his style of songwriting is vital to the way music has moved forward. It almost turned music into an art form and I think that’s amazing. It’s important to us because we love writing pop songs but we also like being poncey little nerds about it, for example, we sing about Fiat Puntos and he inspired that kind of thing for me.

Is a debut album on the horizon?

There’s a horizon but it’s a very distant one and it’s paved with various EPs. The album is so important. Take Kendrick Lamar’s albums, for example. They’re all unreal, especially in hip-hop. But albums are landmarks, we can release these EPs and they’re less intrinsic to what the band is about. An album could be a narrative, it could be a concept. It’ll come.

What can we expect from The Howl and The Hum as an upcoming band? Are arena’s what you aspire to play?

I would say no for playing arenas, but there’s always been a childish dream of mine to play big festivals such as on the Pyramid stage. It’d be amazing, but with arena’s it’s either a built-up career or an overnight sensation. The overnight sensations are usually driven in a weird zeitgeist. Usually, they’re very very pop whereas building a career of great music almost makes you feel like you deserve the arena spot.

Anokhi’s 15 minute meals: Vegan bean chilli and smashed avo

Written by Anokhi Shah on 5th February 2018. Posted in Food & Drink.

You know that feeling after a heavy weekend, too much overindulgence and lack of sleep. All you want is something comforting and hearty, certainly not another takeaway. This vegan bean chilli is ready in 15 minutes and is full off goodness, flavour and comfort. Perfect for a lazy sunday evening.

Ingredients:

Tin of cannellini beans
Tin of kidney beans
Tin of chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper
half a pack of mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic
1 red onion
1 avocado
Tablespoon of red chilli powder
Tablespoon of cumin
Rice or any desired accompaniment (tortillas/ couscous)

Method:

Finely chop onion, garlic, pepper, and mushrooms.
Add a tablespoon of oil to a pan and sauté the onions and garlic.
Once onions and garlic are softened, add the cumin and red chilli powder and stir.
Add mushrooms and peppers to the pan and stir until all the veg seems soft.
Add the tin of tomatoes and both tins of beans, simmer for 5 minutes.
At this stage put your rice to boil and smash up your avocado.
Serve when the beans lose their crunch.

(Top with cheese if you’re not vegan or a vegan cheat)

The perfect library lunch: Spanish Omelette

Written by Esther Craven on 5th February 2018. Posted in Food & Drink.

Albeit with a struggle, we’ve made it through exam season. It’s time to treat ourselves once again to the finer things in life, like giving yourself time to cook a good, hearty lunch. Great for a packed lunch, this recipe says goodbye to the Sainos’ meal deal and hello to proper home cooked food, which won’t take up too much of your time or money.

These are the ingredients for a large omelette, at least 6 hefty servings. Just halve it if you want to do a smaller version. You can also mix up the vegetables according to what you like – try throwing a handful of frozen peas into the mixture before cooking. In the picture it is served with a chilli mayo.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large white onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 medium sized potatoes

6 eggs

1 bell pepper, thinly sliced

Cherry tomatoes, halved

Feta cheese (optional), crumbled

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Put one tablespoon of the oil in a medium-sized frying pan and heat on a medium to low heat. Then add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft and beginning to colour, stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn’t burn. If it is catching too much, turn the heat down.

2. In the meantime, bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Halve your potatoes and cut them into thin slices. Place the potato slices in the boiling water and par-boil, around two to three minutes until they are just cooked. Drain and leave to cool slightly.

3. In a large bowl, whisk five of the eggs together with a good grind of black pepper and a couple of pinches of salt.

4. Once cooled slightly, add your potato and onions, and half the sliced pepper to the bowl. You can also add other vegetables at this point; peas and cooked asparagus work well too. Mix together well.

5. Heat the rest of the oil in the pan on a medium heat. When the pan is hot, pour in the mixture and flatten. Whisk the remaining egg and pour on top, then scatter on the rest of the sliced pepper and place the halved cherry tomatoes, skin down onto the mixture. At this point, if using, crumble on your feta cheese.

6. Preheat the grill.

7. Cook the mixture in the pan until the bottom and sides are a golden-brown colour – about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the thickness of your omelette.

8. Place under the grill for a further five to eight minutes, making sure the omelette is cooked all the way through and it is beginning to brown on top.

9. Slide out of the pan and onto a plate. Can be eaten hot or cold.

UoM part of new government ‘Institute of Coding’

Written by Aliya Ismangil on 5th February 2018. Posted in News, Science & Tech.

The University of Manchester is amongst the 25 universities that are part of the new Institute of Coding, which also includes leading technology businesses.

These include IBM, Cisco and Microsoft, professional bodies such as the British Computer Society, Crest, and small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

“A world-class pipeline of digital skills are essential to the UK’s ability to shape our future,” says Universities Minister, Sam Gyimah.

The demand for digital skills in the industry seems to be on the rise. In January 2017, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) released the results of a survey of more than 1,400 businesses in the UK.

It revealed that 84% of businesses are saying that digital skills are more important to their organisation now than two years ago. But as many as three in four businesses experience a shortage of digital skills in their workforce.

The Institute of Coding, announced by the Prime Minister at World Economic Forum 2018 in Davos, aims to address this gap and is part of Government’s Industrial Strategy.

“By working together, universities, employers and industry leaders can help graduates build the right skills, in fields from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence to industrial design,” says Gyimah.

“The Institute of Coding will play a central role in this. Employers will have a tangible input to the curriculum, working hand-in-hand with universities to develop specialist skills in areas where they are needed most.

“As we have outlined in the Industrial Strategy, this is part of our ambition to embrace technological change and give us a more competitive edge in the future.”

As part of this initiative, the University of Manchester’s School of Computer Science will develop industry-level software to improve the marking of student’s assessments and the feedback they receive.

Manchester’s lead researcher on the project, Dr Suzanne Embury, explains that the common process of students having to wait until after their submitted work has been marked to get feedback is an inefficient way for students to know where they went wrong and how to improve.

“Our systems will provide formative feedback and guidance to students as they complete the work. This will allow misunderstandings to be corrected early and frees up staff and Teaching Assistants to focus on teaching the more subtle, subjective aspects of software quality.”

Dr Caroline Jay, Co-Investigator and lead on the ‘Learning Analytics’ strand of the Manchester project, adds: “The Institute of Coding will enable us to pioneer a new approach to learning at The University of Manchester, through materials developed collaboratively by research software engineers and academic researchers.”

In other areas of the project, pilot programmes will test how best to reach and support people with regard to the cost of retraining. £30 million of funding has also been given by the Government to test the use of artificial intelligence and other educational technology in online digital skills courses.

Runescape will rise again in 2018

Written by chrisglover on 5th February 2018. Posted in Games.

In 2007, aged eleven, I chanced across a free-to-play game called Runescape. It was my first real experience of online gaming; never before had I encountered a living and breathing world teeming with other players — real people — with whom I could talk, fight, and trade.

Before I’d even finished adding the obligatory ‘2k7’ to the end of my username, I was enthralled. Over the next few years, the game became such an addiction of mine that I genuinely feel shame when I look back on it — a sort of Runescape junkie, haunted by his dark past.

The unfortunate thing about addiction is that it never truly leaves you, which is why I received the news of Runescape Mobile releasing later this year with unbridled excitement – this time, I realised as I made a new account in preparation, I’ll be able to take Runescape with me everywhere I go. It can finally be played the way I always knew in my heart it was meant to be: everywhere and all the time.

Runescape, or Old School Runescape as it’s now called — a snapshot of the game in its 2007 form — is an MMORPG that became a worldwide phenomenon for its accessible and immersive gameplay. Because it had minimal performance demands and was played on browsers with no download needed, virtually anyone could play Runescape — and most, it seemed, did: the game won Guinness World Records for the most users of an MMO game, and the most popular free-to-play MMO.

For those who never played Runescape — a group I feel both pity and envy for — the question of “What do you do in Runescape?” is best answered with “Pretty much whatever you want”. Players have 23 different skills, all of which can be trained up to level 99.

There are combat skills — melee, ranged, magic, and prayer — which can be levelled up to wear better gear and fight monsters and bosses, and there are non-combat skills like fishing, smithing and woodcutting that allow you to make money by selling resources to other players. There is even a central trading system called the Grand Exchange which players use to buy and sell items from each other, creating a dynamic in-game economy where the prices of items rise and fall depending on supply and demand.

The real pull of Runescape comes from the way it provides a steady stream of rewards, keeping players hooked with a sense of progression and achievement. Levelling skills often triggers satisfying positive feedback loops; for example levelling up the mining skill comes with the slight increase to resource gathering (which provides money and XP) that every level brings, but also might unlock the ability to equip a better pickaxe which increases this speed further, or the ability to enter the Mining Guild which provides a more convenient location to mine.

You quickly become obsessed with these constant, incremental gains in wealth and power — especially as you are constantly surrounded by other players. Those sporting stats and equipment far beyond your current reach serve to tease what could be yours if you keep grinding, whilst the lower-level players that surround you are a satisfying reminder of how far you’ve come.

This brings me to the other addictive quality of Runescape — the fact that, whilst progression of skills is the name of the game, it is in no way easy. Like most games which feature a numerical progression through a skill, each level requires more XP than the last; though in Runescape, this increase is brutal. So brutal, that when reaching level 92 in a skill, in real terms you are only half way to reaching 99.

Runescape is undeniably a grind. To reach level 99 in all 23 skills would take – at a conservative estimate – over 6000 hours. I don’t think it’s unfair to call Runescape a game of time and not skill — in fact, you could replace the entire page of numbers each player has in their skills tab, and all the money they have in their virtual bank, with a single number: hours played. For ultimately, in Runescape, spare time is the only statistic that sets players apart.

This simple realisation was the driving force for my decision to quit the game all those years ago, but it’s also the reason I think it will thrive as a mobile experience. Old School Runescape Mobile will offer the quintessential structure of a mobile game — a simple and repetitive yet rewarding experience — situated in an immersive open world that offers a level of freedom and choice I don’t recall ever seeing in a mobile game.

Couple this with the nostalgia-factor that will surely bring droves of veterans back to experience the game in a fresh new way, and we have all the components needed for a Runescape renaissance this year.

The other day I saw a player walk through the Grand Exchange with a ‘max cape’ — a cape only attainable by achieving this 6000 hour grind to 99 in every skill, a cape that only 2,601 players worldwide currently own. As I watched dozens of players crowd around to watch him perform the emote that comes with the cape, I realised two things: that the Runescape subculture still thrives in 2018, and that I hadn’t spoken to my family or girlfriend for twelve hours.

Album Review: Songs of Praise – Shame

Written by Olivia White on 5th February 2018. Posted in Music.

South London five-piece Shame have well and truly secured their reputation as Britain’s most potent post-punk force to be reckoned with, having just released their debut album Songs of Praise mid-January and announced a 13-date tour with 6 dates completely sold out and practically every other show low on tickets.

Having already built quite the status as an exceptional live band receiving a vast number of five-star reviews by various newspapers and critics for performance, undoubtedly there was a large presumption Shame’s first album would be superb.

Having seen Shame play Soup Kitchen, Manchester late last year without listening to any of their EPs prior to the gig, I have to admit I was completely overcome with every aspect of their performance: whether that be vocalist Charlie Steen sheer energy as he crawled on top of the crowd, guitarist Josh’s ability to throw his body all across the stage throughout the entire gig or even the crowd’s attitude to continue even when someone was punched so hard in the nose blood gushed out.

Perhaps these explosive, intimate gig settings breed an undertone of pressure that they must live up to their current position. Nonetheless, it’s fair to say that Shame certainly haven’t underperformed.

The five-piece have concocted a hotbed of loud, intense, and frenzied guitar licks, laced with unapologetic lyricism and perfectly unrestrained vocals to create a 10-track album which is nothing but precisely what you would have expected from such an impressive live act.

With songs like ‘Gold Hole’, ‘The Lick’, and ‘Tasteless’, Songs of Praise may be crude, angry, and even cause you to scrunch your face in wonder at whether the lyric you just heard was correct, but make no mistake, there is nothing superficial or flippant about how this record has been composed. It is clear just how serious Shame are about making their mark in 2018 and ensuring that every band planning to release music throughout the year reach the extremely high bar that they’ve set just 12 days into the new year.

Ironically named debut Songs of Praise is a perfect mix of faster, aggressive songs and slower, more thought-provoking themes with some tracks saturated in elements of humour, and others capturing those concepts you would most likely expect from a post-punk band; political and social inequality really being driven home as the focal point for lyrical inspiration.

Through Songs of Praise, Shame have captured exactly everything you could ever want from an avant-garde 21st-century punk band with an already tempestuous reputation.

10/10

Photo: Photos public domain @wikimediacommons

It’s not too late to kick start your 2018 resolutions!

Written by Amy Quach on 5th February 2018. Posted in Sport.

One of the most popular new year resolutions every year is to lose weight and whilst this can be incredibly beneficial, sport and exercise is not just about losing a few pounds. Keeping your body active and healthy works wonders for your mind and overall wellbeing.

For many of us here at university, the new year truly starts when exams have finished at the end of January. Until now, many hours of 2018 have been spent slaving away at home or in the library, revising and working towards the final exams and assignment deadlines of the semester.

Despite the well-publicised benefits of exercise to de-stress and stimulate the brain, it can appear impossible to fit regularly around a revision timetable. Nevertheless, January is now over and with a new semester already underway, there are plenty of different ways to enjoy sport both on and off campus. Here’s a look at what you can get involved with!

Firstly, it’s not too late to join any of the AU University Sports Clubs. If you missed the refreshers fair last week, there’s still the opportunity to try out and join a team. Many clubs have recreational sessions as well as a competitive team so there’s no need to feel intimidated if you’re new to a sport.

From Canoe and Swimming to Athletics and Cross Country, a full A to Z list of clubs is on the UoM Sport website complete with further information and contact details.

At different sites across campus, Sporticipate is a free university programme aimed for complete beginners or for those wanting to try something new. With access to a broad timetable of sports and exercise activities, including women’s only classes, everyone is sure to find something that suits them.

You can register to Sporticipate at any time and is easy to do online at the UoM Sport website — just search “Sporticipate.”

Hall Sport is a similar programme to Sporticipate whereby a weekly timetable of classes is available across the Halls of Residence. You don’t have to be living in halls to take part though — anyone can go along and join in! More information and the full timetable is available alongside Sporticipate online.

Another great way to get out and keep fit is by taking part in Park Runs. These are free, 5 km timed runs available to anyone of any ability. Found in countries all around the world, there are 499 different park runs every Saturday morning in the UK.

Our nearest event is at Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield (called the South Manchester Parkrun), but you can search for other locations at www.parkrun.org.uk. Once registered, you are given a personal barcode which allows for the time and placing of each of your runs to be recorded. It’s a fantastic way to track your progress whilst running with the local community.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for something a little different, how about heading over to the velodrome at the UK National Cycling Centre.

Pre-booked 1-hour taster sessions are available, including bike and helmet hire, for £20 (£17.50 for concessions) and you can register to book these online at www.nationalcyclingcentre.com. The nearest Bus and Tram stop, Sportcity, is easily accessible from Piccadilly Gardens.

And if you don’t mind the cold, how about a visit to Manchester’s very own indoor real snow slope Chill Factore? Opposite the Trafford Centre, this 180 m long slope is easiest to get to by car or bus — you can catch one from Piccadilly Gardens.

Both skiing and snowboard taster sessions are on offer from £27 per person or if you already have experience on the slopes, lift passes start from £21. Check out www.chillfactore.com for more information.

With such a range of keep fit opportunities on offer around Manchester, what are you waiting for? It’s not too late to get your friends together and try something new this year!

Renters’ union Acorn could help students fight back against ‘rogue landlords’

Written by Tilly Gambarotto on 5th February 2018. Posted in News.

On the evening of Tuesday of 30th January ‘Acorn’, a renters’ union and anti-poverty organisation, held its launch event for its new Manchester branch.

A Facebook event called for renters to attend the launch at the Friends’ Meeting House in Manchester, where over 100 attendees gathered to join the union. New members voted to make stopping Universal Credit evictions its first big campaign in the city and elected a committee.

Acorn was established in Bristol three years ago in response to rising rent costs, poor housing conditions and a rise in illegal evictions. It has since had success nationwide in helping private renters to stand up to their landlords against sub-standard housing.

According to Manchester Evening News, Manchester’s population is growing 15 times faster than the rate at which houses are being built: “It means house-building in Manchester is lagging far behind the growing number of people living in the city, and in fact it’s one of the worst discrepancies seen in the whole of England.”

In response to the national housing crisis, Acorn’s website calls for a crackdown on rogue landlords, rent control, longer tenancies and social housing for the masses.

Featured on the BBC’s show Victoria Derbyshire in November last year, Acorn’s co-founder Nick Ballard commented that “we thought there was a need for a community organisation that would represent local people on political issues without being tied to political parties.”

Although Tuesday was the official launch, Acorn has already had a number of successes in Manchester, including the resolution of a dispute with an estate agent where student tenants were reportedly left without heating for over three months.

Its methods are considered fairly “old-school” in that members engage in canvassing to promote the movement, barricade houses with picket-lines to prevent evictions and approach landlords directly to demand improvements.

The union has already put a stop to evictions caused by Universal credit in Newcastle and Sheffield, and an Acorn petition has halted Bristol City Council’s proposed plans to charge council tax to the lowest income households. Now, “in Manchester, our new group is ready to make the same impact” reads its Facebook event page.

Will, an Acorn representative speaking to The Mancunion, said “[the problem with the private renting sector] fundamentally comes down to the imbalanced relationship between tenant and landlord. It absolutely affects students.”

All of the Acorn branches have worked specifically with students. Most recently in Brighton, Acorn helped to organise a rent strike at the Kings Road Halls in response to the poor condition of the Sussex University student accommodation, resulting in shared compensation of £64,000.

Whilst student housing horror stories are often accepted as part of the university experience, it is claimed this might actually make students more of a target.

“Students are naturally preoccupied with their work and study, and usually only rent for a year at a time, so they are seen as easy targets for unscrupulous landlords to take advantage of,” Will warned.

Manchester residents are encouraged to become involved in the union by supporting Acorn on social media, joining a direct campaign or organising a movement in their local area.

A Facebook support group is also available for renters, with current posts requesting advice on issues ranging from discrepancies within their contracts, to mould and delayed repairs, and imminent eviction and homelessness.

You can join Acorn, donate or find out more at https://acorntheunion.org.uk/. Support for tenants is available at www.fb.com/groups/tenantsupport.

LGBTQ+ history month launches at the Students’ Union

Written by Nicole Wootton-Cane on 5th February 2018. Posted in News.

This February sees the launch of LGBTQ+ history month at the Students’ Union.

The month offers a wide range of events available to everyone, including film screenings, discussions and coffee afternoons. The month will also see the launch of LGBTQ+ club night ‘OUT’ at Manchester Club Academy.

The national campaign is using this February to commemorate two difficult anniversaries in the community’s history.

The first is the passing of Section 28 thirty years ago, which forbade local authorities from allowing any materials that “promoted homosexuality” in schools, and the second is the fortieth anniversary of the murder of Harvey Milk. Milk was the first openly gay elected official in California, and one of the first in the United States.

The theme for the campaign is ‘Geography: Mapping the World,’ celebrating the spread of legalisation of same-sex marriage, including in Australia.

If you are interested in finding out more about LGBTQ+ history month, the LGBTQ+ Society is hosting a presentation on the 5th of February, covering what the month is about and recapping understandings and attitudes in different cultures throughout history.

The full timetable of events can be found on the society’s Facebook page or on the Students’ Union website.

Not my President: how Donald Trump threatens the entire world – and what we can do to stop him

Written by Lily Sheehan on 5th February 2018. Posted in Opinion.

20th January 2018 marked a year since Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States. Whilst he is deplorable in pretty much every category, Trump’s warmongering is one of his most shocking and dangerous qualities.

According to MSNBC, President Trump once asked his advisors about using nuclear weapons three times in a single foreign policy meeting.

It is difficult to watch a foreign country experience tax relief for the rich and fatal blows to their healthcare system, but it is quite another for the president of such a country to possibly endanger everyone in the entire world. The embodiment of American imperialism and interventionism, Donald Trump may be the death of us all — or our saving grace.

You may be thinking, or hoping, that Donald Trump is simply America’s problem. Even with the former reality television star in charge, the United States remains one of the most powerful countries in the world.

The US Military budget for 2018 is US$ 824.6 billion and the American nuclear arsenal is the second largest in the world. These facts, coupled with the Republicans’ unchecked political power, make the United States a credible threat to any country they so please. With Donald Trump’s tendency towards irrational rage, who knows which country may anger him next?

As Trump himself once said: “Good people don’t go into government.” Judging by his record so far, he’s right. Since becoming President, Trump has maintained a feud with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, causing an unprecedented rise in tensions between the two countries.

A spokesman for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said what we were all thinking: Trump is a “nuclear demon” and a “disruptor of global peace.” Describing the supreme leader as “short and fat” shows that Trump is willing to take a gamble with all of our lives.

Amidst their feud with the United States government, North Korea is in the process of testing nuclear weapons. Whilst I am hardly an expert on foreign policy, even I know that it is a terrible idea to personally attack the leader of the only country in the world that currently refuses to adhere to norms in nuclear weapons testing and proliferation.

Trump is capable of causing untold destruction, and it’s not clear if he even knows this.

Despite being the author of a book entitled ‘The Art of the Deal’, Trump has yet to negotiate any peace agreements. Last year, the Chinese government proposed the ‘freeze-for-freeze’ initiative. China advocates that if North Korea was to ‘freeze’ its nuclear weapons program, South Korea and the United States could ‘freeze’ their annual joint military exercises in return.

Trump refused to accept or even discuss the deal, saying that similar agreements “have failed in the past.” One Chinese newspaper said the US has “casually wasted” opportunities given by China to open up a dialogue with North Korea. Rather than explore peaceful solutions to the North Korean problem, Trump would rather take the aggressive route.

Not only has he ignored a potential diplomatic solution, he has now taken to aggravating the situation, calling the North Korean Supreme Leader “rocket man” whenever the opportunity presents itself. In typical Trump fashion, the President is more concerned with high-risk ‘negotiation’ strategies than the safety of his citizens and the wider world.

North Korea is not the only victim of Trump’s alleged business acumen. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was a 2015 agreement that the US signed with five other countries, banning Iran from developing nuclear weapons in return for lifting sanctions.

The JCPOA worked well until October last year when Trump decertified it, declaring it “one of the worst deals” he’d ever seen. Whilst this did not put an end to the deal entirely, it certainly strained the American relationship with the co-signers.

In a rare joint statement, signatories (Britain, France, and Germany) condemned this decision and said it was not in their “shared national security interest.” Not satisfied with angering potential adversary states, Trump is willing to make enemies of the countries that should be America’s closest allies.

But how does all of this affect us non-Americans? It is the nuclear aspect of Trump’s warmongering that is particularly worrying. Consider the devastating effects of Hiroshima in 1945 — a typical modern weapon is 8 to 80 times larger than Little Boy.

According to Dr. Philip Webber, the Chair of Scientists for Global Responsibility UK, a study of two countries of comparable size to the US and North Korea using up to 100 warheads would be catastrophic for the victims.

Dr. Webber theorised that such an attack would cause “severe frosts, reduced growing seasons, drought and famine lasting up to ten years.” The attacked country would become “pre-industrial.” Even if your country is lucky enough not to be targeted, you are not safe.

According to the Atomic Archive, nitric oxides produced by nuclear weapons could reduce the ozone layer in the Northern Hemisphere by 30-70 per cent. This could potentially cause dangerous burns and other untold ecological changes. Our world as we know it could change all because one man in America picked fights and scorned deals.

Having read this article thus far, I wouldn’t blame you if you are feeling fairly panicked about the Trump presidency. Fear not. Whilst the US President’s actions have far-reaching, potentially devastating consequences, they could also have far-reaching, potentially beneficial ones.

Because he causes so much outrage across political lines, languages, and continents, Donald Trump is actually an asset to the peace movement. He is so controversial and detestable that even the most apolitical among us have been inspired to protest against him.

Donald Trump has essentially become a guide on how not to run a country. In this way, he is useful for increasing awareness of the dangers of political corruption, American exceptionalism, and nuclear weapons. He has forced other world leaders to show their true colours.

Upon his inauguration, the UK Prime Minister was keen to remind Trump of the “special relationship” between their countries, and she became the first foreign leader to visit Trump’s White House. The German Chancellor refused to kowtow to the President, saying: “We Europeans… have to know that we have to fight for our own future.”

Tellingly, whilst Theresa May was caught holding hands with the President, Angela Merkel was shunned when she went to shake his hand. If your country’s leader supports Trump, condemn them for this; if they don’t, show your support.

In the United Kingdom in particular, re-evaluating the “special relationship” is crucial. In light of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is likely that the UK will be dragged into any international conflicts that Trump starts.

Interestingly, it appears that opinions on British involvement on the world stage are changing. In 2017, Young Labour delegates voted in favour of a motion that called Trump a “fascist” and proposed that the UK withdraw from NATO.

The motion stated that “NATO has been the lynchpin and institutional expression of American imperialism.” Through involvement in organisations like the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Britons can show our government how we feel about the “fascist” President.

At the time of writing, a Facebook event for a Trump protest in London currently has 96,000 people interested. Donald Trump is said to have cancelled his proposed February visit because of his fear of backlash. If we continue to protest and support anti-Trump organisations, what else can we pressure him into?

Many of us exist in a bubble. As our lives are not directly threatened by nuclear weapons every day, some of us develop the view that they are necessary, harmless, or even stand to protect us in some way.

Many people who support nuclear weapons believe that they are preparation for a worst-case doomsday scenario. I would argue that, with Donald Trump in charge of the world’s second-largest nuclear arsenal, we are living in this worst-case scenario. Ironically, nuclear disarmament would make us all safer.

Pixel Bomb Games: An Early Access story

Written by Jeremy Bijl on 5th February 2018. Posted in Games.

My interest in Pixel Bomb Games and their title Beyond Flesh and Blood was first piqued by its premise: a Sci-fi shooter set in a post-apocalyptic Manchester and developed by Deansgate-based developers.

There are things the game does well. The gameplay is smooth, the environment looks great, and Pixel Bomb’s diligence in trying to make Beyond Flesh and Blood take place in a realistic (albeit post-apocalyptic) Manchester is admirable.

23rd Century Deansgate. Photo:PixelBombGames

There are also plenty of things the game does not do well. The character models look like they predate the environmental design by about a decade, the combat is generic and very basic, and the dialogue is weak.

Unfortunately, all of this is overshadowed by what has transpired since the first chapter of the game was released in June of 2016, and Beyond Flesh and Blood stands as an exemplar of Steam’s problematic ‘Early Access’ programme.

Beyond Flesh and Blood is currently in Early Access — Steam’s programme for allowing developers to release incomplete games in order to profit off them while they are still in development, as it has been since it first appeared on the market. Implicit in the Early Access programme is the idea that the game will eventually be finished.

What is worrying, however, is that it looks like Beyond Flesh and Blood will never be completed — Pixel Bomb went into liquidation in September 2017.

This is somewhat of a grey area for Steam. Steam do note on the game’s store page that “this Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development.”

In the Early Access guide for developers, Steam also write that “sometimes things don’t work out as you planned, and you may need to discontinue development of your game. If this happens, you should contact Valve to figure out the next steps.” Clearly, then, discontinuing an Early Access game is not prohibited.

However, Steam also say that “we take our relationship with customers seriously, so if you choose to cancel development of a game and retire it from the store, we will not republish it again later and we may offer refunds to any users who purchased it. Treating customers fairly is the most important thing to us.”

What is worrying is the fact that neither Valve or Pixel Bomb appear to have done anything about the liquidation or the game’s presumed discontinuation, and Beyond Flesh and Blood still remains for sale for £9.99 on the Steam store.

Pixel Bomb are continuing to profit off the implicit promise that their game — of which only one level is currently available — will one day be a complete product.

This seems negligent at best, fraudulent at worst. Either Pixel Bomb have failed to notify Valve of their liquidation, or Valve have failed to take action.

The Mancunion has been unable to reach Pixel Bomb Games for comment.

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