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Month: February 2019

Photo: Victoria Evans

A winter escape to Malaga

Written by Victoria Evans on . Posted in Lifestyle.

The ongoing post-exam slump in a dark and dreary Manchester needed a solution. I am always searching for an excuse to travel, so I went to Malaga, in the hope that some winter sun would alleviate my self-diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The cultural heart of Malaga is the perfect size to explore during a spontaneous weekend away. I returned to England with a much-needed dose of Vitamin D and another city ticked off my list.

As the largest city on the Spanish Costa del Sol, Malaga is known for its high-rise hotels and beach resorts. Rejecting this touristic stereotype that often dominates British opinion, I wanted to immerse myself in city life through language and cultural sites of interest.

Situated in an idyllic location between mountains and sea, the natural beauty is evident with summery palm trees, gardens and greenery. Electric scooters are the best way to get around the city. Accessible through an app, the scooters can be picked up and dropped off anywhere in the city. They reduce CO2 emissions while making travel efficient, quick, and fun. This is the best way to see the city ‘on foot’. Firstly, hop on a scooter to visit the Castillo de Gibralfaro. From here, make your way down the hill to the Alcazaba fortress and gardens, and finish at El Teatro Romano, one of the only Ancient ruins left in the city centre. Enjoy a glass of cava from the elegant El Pimpi bar opposite.

Malaga is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso; one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. It is worthwhile visiting ‘Casa Natal de Picasso’ (his birthplace) and Museo Picasso. The museum holds an overwhelming collection of Picasso’s works. It is a visual journey through a wide array of styles and creative masterpieces. Also situated in Malaga’s old town, the Wine Museum showcases local wine making, process and culture. Furthermore, the Glass Museum displays decorative glass from various eras, set in a restored 18th century mansion. If you prefer something more contemporary, Centre Pompidou at the Port holds a modern art, dance and film collection; admission is free after 4pm on a Sunday. The artistic vibe is reflected in the old town with the architectural wonders and colourful buildings.

And, of course, no city break is complete without a divine culinary experience. For the foodies out there, Malaga will not leave you disappointed. Spend late afternoon and evening enjoying ‘tapas y terrazas.’  You can find traditional tapas bars with modest prices on every street; those by the port and in the centro historico are bustling and atmospheric into the early hours of the morning. Throughout the old town, there is a lively and friendly vibe and dining al fresco is the best way to soak up this atmosphere. Calamares, gambas, jamon iberico – my favourites from restaurant Pepa y Pepe – the abundance of local delicacies is mouth-watering.

Lastly, Malaga’s Cathedral, Catedral de la Encarnación, is a landmark in the historic centre. The stunning cathedral is visible from the plethora of rooftop bars Malaga boasts. Visit the terrace at AC Hotel Palacio for sunset and sangría; a chilled jazz soundtrack completes the laid-back ambiance. Although Malaga’s regaetton clubbing scene does not suit everyone’s tastes, you are spoilt for choice in terms of bars and restaurants. Everywhere is welcoming and inclusive to locals and tourists, students and pensioners.

More laid-back than Barcelona or Madrid, you should consider Malaga as your next getaway destination. For those who suffer from SAD, year-long sunshine and a Mediterranean climate further boosts its appeal. It is an ideal base for exploring the Andalusian region, but it is more than just a gateway to the Costa del Sol resorts. Artistic, cultural and with cool rooftop bars; Malaga is a city with something for everyone.

If you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder and need some support, the SU Advice Service is always open for confidential advice. They can be contacted on 0161 275 2952.

Photo: Priya Ray

Art in Mancunia: Priya Ray

Written by saoirseakhtarfarren on . Posted in Arts.

Priya Ray, a second year student from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), has coined a project named ‘Absence’ based on the life of Ray’s grandfather, after the passing of her grandmother.

Through the medium of photography, ‘Absence’ has allowed Ray to share the emotions she has experienced with a wider audience, enabling her to come to terms with the life of her grandfather after the loss of her grandmother.

The five-bedroomed house was the home where her father grew up. The centrality of the ‘home’ can function as a physical space where individuals identify with their parents and ultimately heritage. Indeed, with the focal point based around Ray’s grandparents’ home means that many individuals can relate to the reality of suffering the loss of a grandparent, for this is the foundation of nostalgic memories.

Rather than overtly illustrating the passing of Ray’s grandmother, or the grief of her grandfather, using the theme of ‘loneliness’, Ray subtly captures the stillness of singular object, for example, to communicate such themes to the viewer.

The images captured ooze a serial stillness, within which I feel as though I can hear the background noises of Ray’s grandparents’ home.

By reliving the reality of her grandparents home, now without the presence of her grandmother, Ray explains that there is an “acceptance” with regard to her grandmother’s death that was not there before.

While Ray’s grandmother is no longer physically present, the delicate images captured in her grandparents house weave a feeling that her legacy still resides within the rooms of her home.

To have used a truthful reality and communicate a sense of her late grandmother’s presence through the medium of coloured photographs in which her grandmother is absent, Ray creates a truly remarkable body of work. Furthermore, it comes with great anticipation to know that Ray has choreographed a short film which brings her images into continuity with each other, and with sound.

‘Absence’ is a project which communicates silently, that there is a ‘life after death’.

 

Photo: John Topliff

MIFTA Season: Swish Swish

Written by Alexia Pieretti on . Posted in Theatre.

Swish Swish at the Three Minute Theatre (3MT ) followed three teenage girls: the lively and rather innocent Marcy (Mariella Dyckhoff), calm and organized Gabrielle (Hope Leslie) and brutally honest, confident Samantha (Lauren Owen). The trio are childhood friends who have vowed to call each other for an hour every morning as they get ready. However, the separation between them starts to cause problems after Marcy finds out her mother has cancer.

The play was written by the immensely talented Ellie Klouda – who also did the sound design, with co-direction by Lily Brittain. It is an ode to her school friends, her mother and grandmother; to the women who have shaped her life, and these relationships are evident in the heart warming storytelling. The intimate atmosphere of the 3MT went well with moments like Samantha’s monologue describing the intimacy of plaiting hair, engaging you in the lives of the three girls.

Rarely does any piece of media portray teenage girls so accurately. The conflict in this play was much more believable than many films and plays that merely focus on girls gossiping behind their friends’ backs. A particularly genuine and memorable scene saw the three girls dancing freely to Carole King, each in different ways that show their slightly different personalities (Marcy was in heart-shaped sunglasses, miming into her hairbrush). The comedic moments were also impressive, particularly the hilarious scene where Samantha described her boyfriend asking her if she was an organ donor during sex.

Much has to be said for the direction. All three girls had scenes where they had to do their hair onstage in a set amount of time and often these rituals were just as captivating as the scene taking place simultaneously.

All three actresses embodied their characters with facial expressions and movement. While often in acting, fidgeting is discouraged, these mannerisms made them seem more like real characters, as Samantha spread out her arms or Marcy folded each of her fingers. Their facial expressions were a glimpse into their consciousness, as we watched Gabrielle fighting her annoyance that her teacher said her hair was unprofessional and from the discomfort on Marcy’s face, we could tell Samantha’s words hurt her. Dyckhoff’s portrayal of Marcy was full of life, whilst capable of bringing the audience to tears when her face finally gave way to her grief.

A nice touch was including Gabrielle’s complicated relationship with her hair due to being mixed race, as she struggled to find the right products. However, I do think she could have played more of a role in the main plot-line as she sometimes seemed to only be a mediator for Marcy and Samantha. There were also some plot-lines that were opened such as Samantha questioning her sexuality and Gabrielle considering reaching out to her distant mother, which were not resolved. Of course, it is realistic that  in our tumultuous teenage years, you encounter many problems, some of which take a long time to resolve.

On the whole, a wonderful production, a truly genuine portrayal of female friendship and a showcase of talent.

Photo: Flynn Greenwood

MIFTA Season: A Place

Written by Kayleigh Crawford on . Posted in Theatre.

A Place is a psychological piece written by Sass Holmes that tells the story of four characters who end up in a sinister, purgatory-like place together, watched over by three ‘mediators’. Where is this place? The answer is not clear.

The Lady in the Red Dress (Elena Brearly) tells us it is simply ‘here’. With a slightly dystopian vibe, A Place raises concerning questions about life, death, and the ‘gap’ in between, throwing philosophical, moral and religious struggles left, right, and centre. The audience was even integrated into the storyline and became part of the narrative as the play progressed.

In a performance that shifted from complete detachment to overflowing emotion, Elena Brearly stood out as The Lady in the Red Dress, startlingly intense in her portrayal of an unworldly ‘mediator’. Despite remaining in a single spot for most of the play, Brearly’s performance was anything but static. The rest of the cast followed suit, with a stage and set design that perfectly captures the world-shaking (yet at times confusing) tone of the play.

The atmosphere created by the sound, lights, and set design (complete with an image projector) was unmatchable, lending itself brilliantly to the performance given by the actors. The set changes were spectacularly integrated into the performance. Clever direction of Sass Holmes and Radha Bhandari drew the audience’s attention to the changing scenery by removing and adding pieces in slow-motion. Although this was effective in the context of the play and helped to illustrate one of its fundamental themes — time — there were nevertheless occasions where it felt a little too drawn-out.

The plot progressed interestingly; all the characters had a solo focus, before their stories intertwined. This had the brilliant effect of highlighting the talents of the actors. Emily Fitzpatrick and Alex Stevens shone as Husband and Wife; their first appearance as individuals meeting in an art gallery had the audience laughing as they became a painting the couple studied. This tenuous relationship between the audience and the characters remained throughout the play, intensely self-aware in its orchestration and always tiptoeing the line between acknowledgement and obliviousness.

Another amazing performance was Kenan Vurgun as the Priest, showcasing a wavering resolve which declined further as the play progressed. Angelica Fitzmaurice also deserves a mention for her performance of the Girl, capturing the curious and blunt nature of a child incredibly well whilst switching between the extremes of carefree and troubled.

A Place is an incredibly well-structured play, with the repetitive and slow-paced mediators a direct and clear contrast with the other four characters. An interesting conceptual piece with an unmatched atmosphere, the actors excelled in their roles, and the multimedia elements set the play apart. A Place tells the story of  a ‘gap’ between forwards and backwards and also one of hope, darkness, light, struggle, and strife.

Photo: Lestat (Jan Mehlich) @ Wikimedia Commons

Review: One Mic Stand

Written by Sade Omeje on . Posted in Books.

I was late when I arrived at Northern Quarter’s ‘Band On The Wall’ to see Contact Theatre’s One Mic Stand. This turned out to be a good thing, when I walked in, the room was already energetically pumped. All seats were filled, even on the floor. The audience sat, ready for poetry that “catches us in wonderful moments,” poetry that “can lift us up”.

As always seems to be the case, I sat behind the person with the largest head in the room – and still this turned out to be a good thing. I couldn’t see the performers as clearly as I would have liked, but this enhanced my listening; I was more able to hear the passion in their voices, the charge in each pronunciation, the unspoken feelings in each pause.

The night was presented by Reece Williams and Nicole May, two of Manchester’s extremely gifted poets and regular hosts of Young Identity events. Tonight’s poets were competing, scored for their content, performance and stage presence. The poets were all uniquely different in each of these three aspects that it was more of a collaboration than a competition. More a melting pot of words and artistic expression than a rivalry of rhymes.

“It’s not about the points, it’s about the poetry,” Williams repeated throughout the night.

Before the actual competition, the energetic duo of Isaiah Hull and Jardell Rodrigues kicked the night off. The two poets have distinct styles that complement each other as every good friendship does. Each took turns, picking up on the final syllables of the other’s last sentence, goading each other further out into the audiences mind. At times their words blended so seamlessly that it felt as if you were watching two poets speaking with one voice.

The final act of the competition saw Saf, one of Young Identity’s younger poets, go home with the prize of £50, scoring 10, 10, 10 for each category. It wasn’t about the points though, it was the poetry. Each word injected the room with chills, fingers clicking, voices shouting. The impact Saf had on the competition was aptly put by Isaiah Hull’s reaction: “bro, he came in and snatched it…”

After the final round of applause was given, the BBC Slam Poet Kat Francois blessed the stage with her poetry and comedy, her voice slipping between speaking and singing, reminding me of Nina Simone. At other times her voice clamoured and roared against the emotions writhing in her throat and in her body. The rawness of her act stopped the previous shouting and finger flicking, creating a purposeful uncomfortable silence.

“I mean to make you squirm, I mean to make you cry, I mean to make you ask why.”

Her words wrapped themselves around the audiences throats, tread heavily on our chests and our prejudices, our ignorance, our privileges. It was the epitome of activism meeting art, of art meeting power.

Raw unfiltered art. One stage, one spotlight, one poet at a time. It wasn’t about the points, it’s never about the points— it’s always about the poetry.

Photo: Lucy Downing

Review: ‘You Know You Want This’ by Kristen Roupenian

Written by lucydowning on . Posted in Books.

Kristen Roupenian’s short story collection has arrived at last. Since her short story, Cat Person, went viral at the end of 2017 (getting her a $1.2 million advance) fans have been anticipating whether You Know You Want This would live up to the hype.

Her stories access the complexities of the human mind, and narrate — comically, darkly — under a title which in itself, understands our gasping for more: You Know You Want This.

Roupenian claws at your nerves with Angela Carter vibes; her horror stories revel in gory imagery and psychological malfunctions – from the ‘desiccated corpse’, to the mysteries behind curious minds and psychotic women. Sex and desire are shown without modesty. Less attention is given to the external threats of supernatural phenomenon, allowing her to fuse psychosis, trauma, panic, insomnia and sadism. These stories are a little too real to be read as escapism.

Her dark commentaries of America’s guilty past are witty yet horrifying. Themes of race and gender transcend into a schoolteacher’s nightmare in The Night Runner where malicious school-girls encapsulate Gothic fixations of witchcraft and rituals. Isolated in a community with ‘customs’ and supernatural beliefs, the kind, charitable male teacher suffers nightly home invasions where girls leave him faeces and ‘rub their ninis against [his] wall’.

This is Roupenian’s satirical reaction to a society grown fearful of feminist capabilities. Mocking the concept of the ‘matriarchy’, her female characters are ruthless. Daughters are sadistic. Men are kind, and powerless. If we hadn’t already crowned Roupenian as the feminist hero behind Cat Person, her collection’s enrichment of villainesses and male victims could have been misconstrued as gynophobic.

One woman’s inclination to bite people as ‘sexual gratification’ in Biter, ultimately allows her to overpower the habitual occurrence of sexual harassment in the work place — a controversial, empowering narrative which humours readers and further establishes her literary contribution to the #MeToo movement.

It is doubtless that Roupenian feeds off our fear of human capability. Prevalent in Cat Person and climaxing with Look at Your Game, Girl, the collection explores and challenges the notion of intuition. In Cat Person, Margot allows herself to be misled by the virtual-reality of the texting game; transfixed by the self-esteem obtained through a clumsy and unsuited admirer, she suppresses her subtle repulsion of him.

Look at Your Game, Girl is a complete teaser. Portraying the climactic development of a Charles Manson-come-child-abduction horror, Roupenian obliterates its potential as a drama at the story’s resolution. The reader finds the creepy cult follower with yellow toe nails and ash-stinking clothes, to be completely harmless to the girl who fears him.

Potentially mistaken as an anti-climax, this story artistically explores the toxic absorption of societal and media hysteria on a young mind. When a child has been kidnapped, the protagonist is enticed by the comfort of authoritative figures (parents and female police), to groundlessly propose the mysterious figure, ‘Charlie’ from the park, as a potential suspect. Despite the man being found innocent, she grows up with psychological trauma of the event. Roupenian masterfully reveals Jessica’s obsessive behaviour, derived from suffering the potential threat of wellbeing as a child. The story asks us to consider the extent of which communal fear can absorb our individuality and possess our psyches.

Overall, Roupenian is a wizard of provocative, psychological fiction, exploring the dark side of the human psyche. Each of her short stories is terrifyingly relatable, making the reader fear something much more relevant than more supernatural horror stories. One could compare her psychological depth to Netflix’s Black Mirror, but even that would undermine her crafting of historical and modern horror. We have been promised a film and drama series to be made from the collection. I am certain it won’t be found appropriate for the pre-9pm watershed.

Photo: PABLO GERRARDO CAMACHO/PENGUIN

Review: ‘Black Leopard, Red Wolf’ by Marlon James

Written by elliscoopey on . Posted in Books.

I grew up reading fantasy fiction. Though I should confess that I’ve never read Lord of the Rings, I’ve watched the films but not read the books. From the little I have read, Tolkien’s works read like dull travel guides-come-histories of Middle Earth. Since then fantasy writing has, in some ways, come a long way.

Unfortunately, in many ways it hasn’t. The genre has become a sort of commercialised fan-fiction, set in variations of Middle Earth, rehashing stories of elves and orcs. There seems to be an unspoken rule that fantasy authors must fulfil an A-Z list of tropes: here a brawl in a bar, there a dark lord summoning evil. Tolkien’s world drew from the myths, legends and history of the Western world and since then we’ve been riffing on the same material, George R.R. Martin included (note the name).

In 2015 Marlon James made literary history, becoming the first Jamaican author to win the Man Booker Prize. After the big win, everyone wanted to know what he’d be writing next. Here came the first whispers of a fantasy epic based on the myths and legends of an ancient Africa, now the fully-fledged Black Leopard, Red Wolf, the first novel in James’ Dark Star Trilogy.

Marlon James is very good at shedding light on histories that have often been overlooked, particularly Jamaican history. The Book of Night Women was about a young woman, Lilith, born into slavery in Jamaica and A Brief History of Seven Killings was about the communities of Kingston during the attempted assassination of Bob Marley, both significant socially-charged times in real-life history. So when James, so hard-pressed by real world issues, said he’d be writing fantasy, I couldn’t help but wonder, what can he possibly have to say?

This is the first way in which Marlon’s book excels. Fantasy should be both familiar and alien, and a fantasy world using African mythology as a foundation has so much potential for discovery. Enter Tracker, the central character of Black Leopard, Red Wolf.

He is known for his heightened sense of smell. It’s more than that though, Tracker understands the world through his sense of smell, and in turn, it’s through smell that readers understand the novel’s world. This is an almost hallucinatory perspective. When we meet his friend Leopard for the first time, ‘on him [Tracker] smelled the leaves he ran through and the fresh wet of the dew […] and the fresh musk of the grave dirt under his fingernails.’

Following the insight gained by Tracker’s sense of smell, we begin to intimately understand this world. We start to get a better understanding of Africa, just as you might read descriptions of Hobbiton and feel closer to knowing England.

In the Western world, most of what we know about Africa is shaded by colonial history. Search for who discovered Mount Kilimanjaro and you’ll get Johann Ludwig Krapf.

That’s a nonsense — it suggests that generations of Tanzanians had looked to the horizon and somehow missed it. There are relatively few representations of Africa in pop culture, I’ve seen The Lion King, Black Panther, Madagascar and a few BBC wildlife programmes. There are even fewer works about Ancient Africa. So, while Medieval Europe is heavily wrought in our collective imaginations, Ancient Africa is lost. James’ novel is an effort to correct this, hopefully enabling us to discover a fuller and more vibrant picture of Africa.

Tracker and Leopard embark on what seems a simple journey to rescue a child who has been missing for three years. As the task becomes ever more complicated and allegiances change, they slowly start to question whether the child is actually worth saving.

The novels opening lines haunt you throughout, ‘The child is dead, there is nothing left to know. I hear there is a queen in the south who kills the man who brings her bad news. So when I give her word of the boy’s death, do I write my own with it?’

James will be the first to tell you that this is only Tracker’s account of what happened. We as readers begin to question whether this story is the truth. It gets more complicated; the Dark Star Trilogy is made up of three different accounts of what happened, and the reader will be left to decide which is true. In many traditions of African storytelling, the story is told by a ‘trickster’ who the audience knows cannot be trusted. James use of this mode of storytelling leaves to us to draw conclusions from the differing accounts.

For all its ambition, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is a humbling story asking very human questions; ‘I wanted to tell him I had come searching for myself’, Tracker says to himself. Much of the novel is a search for identity — within the community where Tracker is born, he is told that he is neither male nor female and yet he so desperately wants to identify: ‘You will always feel the strength of one and the pain of the other’. James’ world has no need for labels.

Tracker wrestles with his masculinity too and I feel for him, ‘Happiness? Who needs happy when there is masuku beer? And spicy meat, good coin, and warm bodies to lie with? Besides, to be a man in my family is to let go of happiness, which depends on too many things one cannot control’. Sound familiar?

I’ve read this book once and I’m reading it again. Black Leopard, Red Wolf is proof that fantasy fiction has the power to communicate deeply moving human messages.

Photo: Courtesy of HOME Manchester

Interview: Toby MacDonald

Written by madeleinepeden on . Posted in Film.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with director Toby MacDonald to discuss his feature film debut, Old Boys. We talked toxic masculinity, Timothee Chalamet, and the positive shift that’s happening within our current canon of leading men.

Old Boys is a more modern retelling of the classic Cyrano De Bergerac narrative set within the walls of Caldermount, a fictional public boys school. The time period is sometime during the 1980s — a time when these institutions were on the cusp of a decline in financing and status.

I asked Toby why he brought these two elements together. “I have always loved that story… and I always thought the ironies and feeling of unrequited love would work really well in a teenage [context]”. He went on to highlight that these institutions have now come to be associated with repression and this was something that he wanted to highlight in the setting. “We tried to subtly push a prison feeling through it all; the Alcatraz vibe, the fire alarms, having to line up arms width apart”.

The setting means the cast is predominantly male, bar Agnes (Pauline Etienne), the central female figure who makes up one third of the central ‘Cyrano’ love triangle, with Amberson and Winchester. Agnes stands out amongst the sea of pubescent teenage boys at Caldermount, making her casting an important piece of the puzzle. “She’s the only girl and there is something kind of ‘fable-ish’ about that notion. We didn’t want a fantasy figure coming into the school. We just wanted her to be a real girl and we managed to find Pauline. She has an intelligence that is really terrific”.

The film operates at a primarily comedic level, but it doesn’t take much digging to realise it is presenting a challenge to toxic masculinity, a subject that is garnering worthy attention recently, particularly within the film industry. I raised this with Toby and whether he felt these tumultuous political times impact on his responsibility as a filmmaker. “I subscribe to the notion of smuggling messages in films. I think they resonate with audiences much more than the hammer and blow [approach]” — in relation to the topic of toxic masculinity specifically. Toby highlights the casting of Alex Lawther as his leading man; “Alex as a romantic lead, he’s a very contemporary type of actor portraying a very contemporary type of masculinity as well”.

Lawther plays opposite Jonah Hauer-King’s handsome-but-dim Winchester. “Oddly, Winchester was the hardest part to cast as he read off the page like a sort of quite heightened character in terms of a big, thick, posh boy, but somehow when Jonah played it, there was a tenderness that was really unexpected”.

It was our consensus on these actors heart-warming yet poignant dynamic that led Toby to his closing thoughts; “There’s an interesting thing going on with leading men… we did have a period where all these actors were brooding hunks, [but now] there are lots of these boys coming through, [like] Timothee Chalamet, that are really fine actors and able to carry a far more emotionally intricate story”.

Old Boys is on general release in selected cinemas from 22nd February and will be screened at HOME Manchester from 8th March.

Photo: SteamXO@Flickr

Review: Metro Exodus

Written by David Uncle on . Posted in Games.

Metro Exodus takes place following the events of Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light and ditches the titular Moscow metro for several large open world areas across the post-apocalypse Soviet Union. I was worried this change would spoil the terror-inducing dark, claustrophobic vibe of the previous games which distinguished them from other shooters. Fortunately, my worries were unfounded.

Even in the open Russian countryside, Metro Exodus is still creepy, and the adrenaline rush of encountering a pack of mutants is exhilarating. The distant howls of irradiated monsters roaming the landscape gave me chills every time and were still frightening even at daytime, and suddenly seeing the silhouette of a flying ‘demon’ mutant on the ground below me was a particularly memorable and terrifying moment. A full day/night cycle and dynamic weather system add a new level to the experience that was less apparent in previous games. The sudden appearance of an irradiated snowstorm or a blinding sandstorm dramatically changes gameplay, reducing visibility to almost nothing, making it easy to stumble into bandits or mutants.

Image: 4A Games

The outdoor environment of Metro Exodus therefore does not disappoint, however where the game truly shines is in the dark, dingy ruins, bunkers and tunnels you find through exploration and the story. 4A Games are masters at level building and as with the previous games, the atmosphere they create in confined spaces is phenomenal. In these areas I immediately felt uncomfortable and scared, my torch and shotgun the only things between me and whatever lurks in the darkness. Whether mutated spiders or ‘humanimals’ (basically ghouls from Fallout), they hide in the darkness and attack in packs, making the claustrophobic setting even more panic-inducing.

The gameplay compliments the ambience and enhances the experience. If you fall in a swamp or get caught in a sandstorm, your guns become dirty, reducing your accuracy and rate of fire. Worse, they can jam in the middle of a fight. Having to manually eject a round from your AK-47 is pretty much the worst thing to happen when a swarm of mutants attack you, but it adds to the immersion. At times I deliberately let my gun get dirty for immersion, as having a pristine weapon in the post-apocalyptic circumstances isn’t likely, which added some grittiness to the gameplay. Combat is tense and unforgiving, with the enemies whether human or mutant being likely to rush you and get up close and personal. Gunplay is deliberately slightly sluggish to emulate handling a real weapon, but not so much that it’s unpleasant to play, adding further immersion.

Image: 4A Games

This leads on to the weapon customisation. All weapons can be substantially modified, turning revolvers into long-barrelled sniper rifles or a regular shotgun into a quad-barrelled monster. This is done using workbenches placed sparing throughout each of the zones, which is also where you can clean your weapons, or on the fly using your backpack. I loved being able to quickly put a silencer on my guns before silently disposing of a bandit camp. In addition, you can customise and mod your armour. Want your gas mask to keep out toxic fumes for longer? Build a better filter. Want to be able to survive a headshot? Build a stronger helmet but sacrifice your filter’s lifespan. In the photo above you can see the dial above the watch, which acts as a metal detector. I could replace that with a motion scanner or a compass. The list goes on, adding deeper gameplay; a noticeable improvement over the older games.

It’s worth mentioning that Metro Exodus is gorgeous. It’s amongst the best looking games I’ve ever played and is without a doubt the best looking first-person shooter around at the moment. The textures are crisp and detailed, the animations are convincingly natural and perhaps most importantly in a game like this, the lighting is incredible. The way shadows form realistically adds to the creepy nature of the game, while the sun’s reflection on water surfaces looks genuine. Even the skybox looks real, with 3D volumetric clouds that move across the sky. The level of detail on the weapons is also brilliant, with the paintwork becoming scratched with wear and tear and rust accumulating over time. After shooting an automatic weapon, your suppressor may glow red with heat while smoke pours out the barrel, or you may see the recoil spring jerk with each shot fired. The attention to detail is simply outstanding.

Image: 4A Games
Image: 4A Games

The story of the game is perhaps predictable at times but is otherwise an enjoyable romp across Russia and it’s interesting seeing Artyom’s (the player character) and his companions’ reactions to witnessing the world beyond the tunnels of the Metro for the first time in over twenty years. There are some interesting twists as well, with one that especially took me by surprise.

Unfortunately, the story is let down by two factors. The voice acting is, to put it bluntly, annoying. The overdramatic, exaggerated Russian accent put on by several of the main voice actors became grating after a while. Some players have even resorted to playing the game with Russian dialogue but English subtitles to subvert this issue and add some authenticity. Additionally, the dialogue itself is sometimes weak. Since Artyom is mute during gameplay (but is voiced during loading screens, bizarrely), everyone just talks at you. There are times when someone asks you an important question, but ultimately just answers it for themselves since Artyom does not speak, so much of the dialogue directed at the player just feels weird. Furthermore, the script includes some fairly obvious English/American colloquialisms that sound very odd coming from the over-the-top Russian accents.

My biggest complaint with Metro Exodus is not with the game itself, but with Epic Games. Last weekend, when I was hoping to play this game a tonne, my internet went down for about 36 hours, and because of always-online restrictions put in place by Epic, I could not access my save game. Why Epic made this choice I don’t know but it’s a further complication to the decision by 4A to put this game exclusively on the Epic Games store and not Steam. Thankfully, this problem probably does not exist on console.

Despite leaving the confines of the Moscow underground, Metro Exodus retains the claustrophobic, atmosphere-rich and unforgiving characteristics that made its predecessors exemplary. The open world zones are interesting, creepy and exhilarating to explore to scavenge for weapons and crafting parts to enhance your gear, meanwhile the often-underground dark and confined areas provided some of the tensest gameplay I’ve had in a while. Gameplay is surprisingly deep for a first-person shooter, bringing realism and immersion. Voice acting and dialogue detract from an otherwise intriguing story but are not game-breaking. If you enjoyed the previous Metro titles or other survival horror games, you’ll love Metro Exodus.

8/10

Credit: Oloni

Laying it Bare: Oloni

Written by Ella Searle on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Sex. An act that is continually riddled with significance and social rule. The discussion surrounding sex is never straightforward or conclusive. In 2019, it begs the question of why both sex itself, and an open discussion of preferences, continues to be latent with taboo.

On the surface, University may appear to be a sexually liberating environment, where many experiment and find their sexuality due to heightened and newfound freedoms. Yet, just because sex may be plentiful and casual, it does not mean that it is free from stigma and injustice. Young people have sex more frequently and openly. This makes it more alarming that our culture still deeply embeds inequality and shame in sex and relationships. Sex may be more freely available, but it is certainly not free from convention and toxic tradition.

This is where Oloni, award-winning sex and relationship blogger of Simply Oloni, comes into play. She has been critically acclaimed for the content of ‘Ask Oloni’ and her ‘Laidbare Podcast’. Dami Olonisakin’s no-nonsense style is a breath of fresh air which helps navigate the challenging landscape of modern millennial dating culture.

With her message aimed toward the sex-positive and opinionated, Oloni challenges the negative stigma surrounding an open discussion of sex and relationships. She does this in order to highlight negative double standards and shame rooted within sexual convention. Oloni’s message and direct approach are popular, evident through her mass engagement with over 90,000 twitter followers. She regularly interacts with them, initiating animated threads asking for confessions and experiences concerning a variety of topics. These range from STDs to cheating, and dating experiences.

Yet, where Oloni is truly leading conversation is with her influence to push the boundaries of conversation beyond ‘vanilla’ and conventional topics. Instead, she aims to stimulate positive discussion to typically more risqué ideas such as sugar daddies, self-confessed ‘Hoe Stories’, and sex tapes to explore how sex too can be fun no matter what your sexuality or preference. Her sex-positive momentum aims to ensure that everyone can enjoy a more honest and open sexual landscape. This will ultimately lead to a greater acceptance of one’s self.

In true Oloni style, there is nothing concerning consensual sex that is off-limits from discussion. Instead, she deliberates on more ‘unorthodox’ topics at length, laying them out in their entirety. However, as with anything that runs against the norm, Oloni’s celebration of female sexuality and pleasure often causes outcry online. Yet, almost proving her point entirely, most of the backlash from Internet trolls is predominantly rooted in harmful slut-shaming rhetoric and patriarchal tendencies. The typically male angst surrounding Oloni’s positivity instead exposes the persisting shame associated with sexuality, which Oloni continues to highlight.

As part of the University’s Sexpression Sex Week, Oloni took a much-anticipated trip up to Manchester to give an empowering and sold-out talk. Oloni’s personal energy and amazing sense of humour united a room of diverse strangers in an inclusive and positive discussion. Her ability to stimulate such a buzz of engagement over typically ‘awkward’ and mystified topics was refreshing. She spoke about female orgasms, open relationships, female masturbation, and ‘body count’.

Oloni is continually open to difference and inclusivity. From the very outset, she captured the audience to reflect upon and share instances of their own sexual experiences. These ranged from sexual partners to cheating, to encourage individuals to break the shared systematic shame one may have internalised throughout social and cultural tradition.

On reflection, it is alarming how there are minimal outputs of similar sexual conversation in our typically conservative society. We live in an undeniably hyper-sexualised society where sex does sell. Yet, why is the element of enjoyment and pleasure still exempt from an honest and everyday conversation of sex? The perceived shame and taboo in openly discussing sex, despite being labelled the ‘hook-up generation’, is an unproductive contradiction. Oloni’s educated, empowering, and direct message is both attractive and necessary to combat these stigmas.

Oloni’s voice is a true inspiration for all, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Her animated discussion shows how there is nothing sexier or productive than ‘laying it bare’. Breaking down boundaries of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ helps us to learn to come to terms with individual sexuality. Oloni will continue to ruffle the feathers of the more conservative and repressive, yet she pushes only a positive message of inclusivity and acceptance. She is a beacon of hope in an ever-confusing millennial landscape.

Follow Oloni on twitter @Oloni or at simplyoloni.com

Photo: Joe Sandler-Clarke

Students with outstanding tuition fees denied accessing exam results

Written by Sam Honey on . Posted in News.

Students that owe outstanding tuition fees owed to the University of Manchester will be prevented from viewing the results of their January exams, it has been confirmed.

An email was sent out revealing that students with a ‘negative service indicator’ on their record would be unable to access results on the online system.

The restriction applies to students from the School of Arts, Languages, and Culture (SALC), who have their marks published online on 22nd February.

It remains unclear as to whether students would be able to request collection of their exam results in-person. The email advised contacting the Credit Control Team for further assistance with the issue.

The move to withhold results has stirred controversy, with widespread frustration that financial constraints could prevent students from continuing with their university work as normal.

While possibly seen as an effective way of assuring that unpaid fees are collected, many will argue that universities should be supportive of students who cannot as the financial hardship of university life may make additional costs difficult to pay.

Back in September, it was revealed that the average student loan falls short of average university living expenses by around £141.83 per month.

It also appears that those with fines could be unfairly disadvantaged by missing the period for written exam feedback, that lasts from 25th February to 8th March.

A third-year English Literature with Creative Writing student, who wished to remain unnamed, raised concern over the effect the withholding of results could have on final years applying for postgraduate programmes: “I know a lot of my friends are considering applying for Masters courses, and exam results are very important because most Masters courses give conditional offers based on 3rd year exam results.

 

Image: The Mancunion

UCU Ballot results in no strike, as turnout falls below threshold again

Written by Sam Honey on . Posted in News.

The University and College Union (UCU) have announced that they will not hold new strikes at university campuses across the UK.

The results of the latest ballot over Fair and Equal pay in Higher Education were announced today (February 22nd), after around 70,000 union members at 143 UK universities were consulted.

Strikes were rejected as a result of the turnout falling short of the 50% threshold required for strike action to be implemented.

70% of members backed strike action, while 81% supported action short of a strike, although the organisation expressed disappointment that more members had not participated in the ballot.

In Northern Ireland, where the turnout threshold does not apply, 68% of staff participating supported a strike.

The latest ballot is yet another installment of UCU’s campaign to secure an improvement on the 2% pay rise offered at talks last May, after strike action affected scores of universities across the country in the first half of the year.

Ahead of the ballot opening in early January, the organisation claimed that the University and Colleges Employers Association had not taken the considerations of UCU members into account when making their latest pay offer.

In a statement posted on their website, UCU claimed that higher education pay had declined by 21% in real terms since 2009.

Back in October, a ballot for strike action was rejected after the 50% threshold was not reached. Despite this, 74% of those that cast a vote supported industrial action.

Students have been trapped in a constant state of limbo for over a year, with there still being no conclusive end to the dispute between staff and institutions.

Even though strike action was prevented last autumn, the resounding mandate among those that did vote has raised concern that more effective mobilising of union members could lead to another round of industrial action.

Concurrently, UCU are also holding a ballot over possible strike action at 13 colleges, as part of their ‘Further Education Fights Back Campaign’, seeking to raise awareness that the 1% pay rise recommended for 2017-18 has reportedly not been implemented at 40% of colleges.

This is a breaking news story, and will be updated shortly… 

Photo: Tiffany Bailey @ Wikimedia Commons.

The best new makeup releases

Written by Dureshahwar Qureshi on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Brands have certainly wasted no time so far this year, kick-starting 2019 with a bang with some amazing and coveted launches. Here is a roundup of some of the most noteworthy to date, and a discussion of whether these products have truly been worth their hype.

Tarte Face Tape Foundation: Tarte has re-released its Shape Tape Foundation following the success of the Shape Tape Concealer that took the beauty community by storm in the last few years. The concealer has become a staple product for many in their beauty regime due to its unparalleled, creamy full-coverage formula, and luckily enough the foundation has been promised to deliver the same. The release follows a preliminary controversy as the original launch of the foundation back in early 2018 reached public outcry due to the sheer lack of shades for people of colour. However, this time around the high hopes of fans has seemingly been met, with a much-advanced formula and celebration of the diverse tones available, with it being launched in 50 shades.

Fenty Beauty Concealers: Fenty Beauty is one of the most talked about makeup brands ever with its accommodating shade ranges, celebrating inclusivity and much-needed diversity within the beauty community.  This year it has released 50 concealers and eight setting powders alongside the original 40 shades of foundation, that has similarly been given a boost of an extra 10 colours. The concealers shades are coordinated to the colour of the foundations, so you can achieve the most flawless base with the combination of both. The concealers have left the beauty community stunned with the formula being compared to cult favourites such as the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer with the full coverage of the Tarte Shape Tape. Grab this while you can as they are selling fast and seems to be worth the colossal hype.

Huda Beauty Matte and Metal Melted Double Ended Shadow: Huda Beauty is one of the most Instagram-famous brands with endless engagement online. The cult favourite has recently had a secondary launch of its newest shades of its Matte and Metallic liquid eyeshadow duos. The new matte colours include a sunny yellow, a turquoise green, a baby pink, a skin-coloured brown and lastly a warm brown. Each matte is accompanied by a shiny metallic colour. These duos have spread like wildfire on Instagram, as their easy blending formula allow you to create the most glam eye looks in just only two quick steps. The metallic shadows can also be used further to create the sharpest cut crease looks that can give the most amateur individuals the skills of a professional make up artist. A definite one to watch, I personally will be buying the warm brown for its everyday glam appeal.

Charlotte Tilbury Goddess Cleansing Ritual: Another duo product that has launched this year is a two-step cleansing system that is said to give the goddess glow and replenish the skin of much-needed nutrients. In step one, the main ingredients of citrus oil with vitamin C and rose, bergamot and lavender essential oils brighten skin to give you that healthy radiance that we all need in this harsh weather. Step two is a charcoal-based detoxifier that purifies the skin. This combination is sure to give the skin much-needed boost. This is another investment that can have a big impact, as certainly the key to a perfect makeup look is the skin prep, after all.

Photo: David Dixon @ Geograph

Tuition fees create uncertainty over financial future of UK universities

Written by Emily Broncz on . Posted in News.

Universities are preparing for a difficult financial future in the event that tuition fees do not rise to meet growing demands.

The Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff University, Colin Riordan, has planned to cut one in 14 posts over the next five years due to a strain on funding for Russell Group universities. Cardiff reported a £22.8 million deficit for 2017-18 and announced on 11th February that 7% of the university’s staff were to be dismissed.

In the same year, Cardiff faced an expenditure increase of 5.2% whilst its income increased by 2.5%, creating an obvious gap in funding. A rise in utility costs, rent, and staff costs were also said to be factors which contributed to the deficit.

The BBC reported that if the “growing expectation” of tuition fees being cut down to a sum as low as £6,500 materialises, institutions may be at risk of collapsing. Universities are becoming increasingly paranoid, as a reduction in tuition fees would not necessarily be subsidised by government spending.

The director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, Nick Hillman, stated that every £1,000 subtracted from tuition fees would roughly equate to a billion being removed from the current pool of funding.

He also described the loss of fees would be further exacerbated by universities struggling to recruit both domestic and international students. He cited Brexit as being a barrier for foreign students wanting to study in the UK.

Whilst allowing more students to enroll on courses is an option, this option has been criticised by Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham. Seldon condemned “juggernaut universities” who were wishing to expand, as this would leave other institutions severely lacking funding.

Exeter and UCL have seen the largest increase in undergraduate student numbers, expanding by 74% and 65% respectively. Conversely, London Metropolitan University shrunk by 62%, with the University of West London facing the same issue, experiencing a decrease of 44%.

The potential financial crisis would primarily be concentrated on and felt by smaller institutions, with larger universities often serving as a linchpin to their local communities.

Universities may have to resort to merging with other institutions or selling off valuable assets before collapsing entirely. The BBC reported that universities, upon registration with the Office for Students, must provide a “student protection plan”. This plan outlines how students can continue their courses, even if the course or the university itself closed.

Image: DPOrman @ Commons Wikimedia

20 Universities responsible for bulk increase in unconditional offers

Written by Shivani Kaura on . Posted in News.

There has been a huge rise in the number of unconditional offers being made to prospective university students in the last few years, it has been found.

A 2018 survey, published by UCAS, showed 67,915 unconditional were given to students across the UK, a 32% increase from 2017.

Education Secretary of England, Damian Hinds, described the 22% increase from 2013 as “disturbing” and “not in the interest of students.”

Providing unconditional offers distracts students, and this leads to them achieving lower grades than they are capable of.

The UCAS study concluded that around 20 institutions were responsible for the bulk increase, with some, such as the University of Bolton and University of Suffolk, relying predominantly on unconditional offers to attract students. However, Russell Group universities have also given a large number of such offers. For example, The University of Birmingham had made 4,765 unconditional offers out of a total of 25,000 offers, in 2018.

Meanwhile, 11% of the University of Nottingham’s offers were unconditional in 2018.

A spokesperson for Universities UK confirmed that they would be negotiating with UCAS to assure that unconditional offers were used in the right way.

“We will explore with Ucas if there is more we can do as a sector to ensure they are used appropriately and proportionately so that the admissions system continues to work in the best interests of students.”

Despite this, Unconditional offers have been praised for helping students to plan ahead, through early confirmation of university accommodation and Student Finance. The University of Portsmouth’s Vice-Chancellor said: “We have found that applicants to whom we make unconditional offers are more likely to attain their predicted grades than applicants to whom we make conditional offers.”

Unconditional offers also seem to boost the confidence of students since they feel “good enough” for the chosen course, and this positively affects their final A-level grades. Sheffield Hallam University followed up the performance of students who received unconditional offers, and found that there was often no discernable difference in performance.

The Mancunion contacted the University of Manchester, to inquire about the unconditional offers policy operated by the admissions department.

The University confirmed that it currently does not hand out unconditional offers to students who are yet to sit their A-Levels.

The University said that this was a strict policy employed, and that there was also no opportunity of an unconditional offer by listing the University of Manchester as a firm choice.

Photo: Flickr @NHS Confederation

Block return to the country for British ISIS supporters, says Burnham

Written by Shivani Kaura on . Posted in News.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has argued that “those who left Britain to support ISIS should not be allowed back ‘automatically’.”

The Mayor’s intervention comes after 19-year-old IS bride Shamima Begum’s request to return to the UK after leaving at the age of 15 to join the terrorist group in Syria, having been radicalised.

During a recent interview with the BBC, Begum described the Manchester Arena bombing and Syria airstrikes as a “two-way thing”, because both instances unjustly left women and children dead, which was a “fair justification as it was in retaliation.”

Pleading to be repatriated from a detention camp in Syria after giving birth to a child, Begum wants to come back to the UK to raise her new-born under the NHS. While the Foreign Office has refused to officially assist her in leaving the al-Hawl camp in Syria, it remains uncertain if any legal implications could prevent her from re-entering the UK as she is, by law, a British citizen.

Following these reports, US president Donald Trump has made a call to European countries to take back around 800 ISIS fighters, including many from Manchester, who have fled the terror group, to put them on trial for their actions.

Andy Burnham, speaking in response to Trump’s claims, said on Sky News: “You won’t be surprised to hear that I don’t agree with Donald Trump.

“If somebody leaves this country and joins a group that is actively plotting to harm and kill people in this country, it surely can’t be right that those people walk straight back in when it’s convenient.

Burnham added: “I think the clear majority of people here in Greater Manchester will think ‘no, if you’ve left this country, and you’ve walked away and joined a group plotting to harm us, then don’t come back.’ The lack of remorse [for the Arena attack] I found really shocking and I’m sure others will too.”

Second-year University of Manchester student Romana, who identifies as a Muslim, said: “Although Shamima Begum at 15 may have made a mistake, at 19 showing no remorse for anything she’s seen or may have done is unacceptable. I’m not sure she deserves to be taken back in or if she is she may get incarcerated.”

Speaking to The Mancunion, second-year University of Manchester student Rebecca M. stated that although she thought Begum’s child should be taken in by the state with zero discrimination, it may also be useful for the child to be stripped of their identity to prevent him being a target of bigotry for his parentage.

Rebecca added: “There’s the added potential that, while she may want help for the child, it may also be a ruse to get in the country and cause masses of damage. These are things that need to be considered. The UK also just doesn’t fly in to rescue people from Syria, not least people who’ve been part of terrorist organisations.”

A study at King’s College London last year found that up to 41,490 international citizens from around 80 countries are thought to have joined ISIS in Iraq and Syria between April 2013 and June 2018. Although around three quarters of those joining were found to be men, 13% were women and children. A shocking 730 children are thought to have been born in Iraq or Syria to foreign mothers affiliated to ISIS.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have declared that they will not hesitate to prevent the return of any British citizens who travelled to join ISIS. However, Justice Secretary David Gauke has told Sky News that Shamima cannot be left ‘stateless’.

Photo: Albert Herring @Wikimedia Commons

White working-class teens least likely to attend top universities

Written by octaviaspray on . Posted in News.

White teenagers eligible for free school meals are the least likely demographic to apply for a Russell Group university. A report from the National Education Opportunity Network (NEON) found that half of English universities were accepting as little as 5% of their students from white working-class communities. The only other demographic that was more underrepresented were those from Traveller communities.

White people, from all social backgrounds, make up the largest demographic at universities. Although, in proportion to the population, white students are less likely to go to university than their black or Asian counterparts. Disadvantaged Asian students are twice as likely to attend prestigious universities than disadvantaged white students.

White working-class males are the most underrepresented group in higher education. There are a third more female students accepted into universities than male students, according to figures released by UCAS. In the most disadvantaged areas in England, girls are 58% more likely to apply for university than boys.

Professor Green’s recently released documentary, Working Class White Men, explores the lives of six white men from deprived backgrounds. Lewis Croney, one of the men interviewed, was accepted into the University of Cambridge to study Maths at Trinity College. Croney explains in the documentary that he still faces skepticism from back home. His friends don’t understand why he needs to go to university when he could just get a job straight away. Clearly, a negative perception of higher education has become embedded in certain areas of England. In turn this contributes to a devaluing of educational performance.

Recently, a manifesto, for the New Director of Fair Access and Participation, has highlighted the numerous gaps in university admissions and called for policy makers to make a concerted effort to widen university access to white working-class students. The manifesto argues that the application process should be reformed to benefit those from working-class backgrounds.

Bright students from poorer backgrounds frequently have their grades underestimated which immediately highlights a fundamental flaw in the predicted grades system. Some have suggested that all students should apply for university after their A-level grades have been published. This would help to close the gap between the disadvantaged students in the application process.

Graeme Atherton, report co-author and director of NEON, has warned of the “big variability” in opportunity for different demographics in getting into university. He has called for more research and understanding into “why this variability exists and do more to eliminate it.”

Progress has been made in recent years to narrow this gap. In particular, the University of Cambridge admissions in 2017 saw state school pupils make up 64% of successful applicants from the UK. This is an increase from 62.5% the previous year.

However, more needs to be done. Education secretary Damian Hinds has stated: “White British disadvantaged boys are the least likely of any large ethnic group to go to university. We need to ask ourselves why that is and challenge government, universities and the wider system on it.”

Photo: Chris McAndrew @ Commons Wikimedia)

Rayner: Labour would end marketisation of higher education

Written by Josh Sandiford on . Posted in News.

The shadow education secretary has said that a Labour government would end the marketisation of higher education and take a harsher stance on vice-chancellor pay.

During a speech at the University and College Union (UCU) conference, Angela Rayner set out a series of policy steps that would allow for further intervention regarding how universities are run. She said that if Labour were elected at the next election, they would end the “failed free-market experiment” in higher education.

Rayner also hit out at the lack of ethnic diversity of staff in higher education. It was recently revealed that under new government plans, universities could lose their positions on league tables if they refuse to do more to tackle ethnic disparity.

Speaking on the marketisation of education, Rayner branded the governing Conservative party ‘dogmatic’ when it came to the issue of the free market and said that “education is a public good and should be treated as such”.

The higher education regulator, The Office for Students (OfS), would reportedly have its role amended in the event of a Labour government. There is currently legislation in place that compels the body to promote competition. The Labour party would reportedly repeal this legislation and instead require cooperation between educational institutions. Rayner also said that the OfS in its current state is “not fit for purpose”.

Under Labour’s plans, the OfS would also be able to step in when it comes to rewarding staff to tackle the problem of excessive vice-chancellor pay. It was last week revealed that some vice-chancellors are being paid as much as 13 times the median pay of their staff.

On the issue of ethnic disparity in universities, the Shadow Education Secretary said: “Like much of our establishment, our universities are too male, pale, and stale and do not represent the communities that they serve or modern Britain.

“Women and staff from ethnic minority backgrounds are chronically under-represented across these institutions, and in particular at the most senior levels.

“Universities must do much more, and under Labour, they will be held to account.”

Responding to Labour’s plans, the Universities minister Chris Skidmore said: “I’ve yet to find a vice-chancellor who supports Labour’s plans to damage the sector and roll back progress that has been made in recent years.

“Under the Conservatives, there are more 18-year-olds in higher education than ever before, including more students from disadvantaged backgrounds being the first in their family to go to university.”

Photo: Wikimedia Commons @Unknown

F1 testing underway as Hamilton expects a tougher Ferrari challenge

Written by James Gill on . Posted in Sport.

With the first Grand Prix of the 2019 season in Melbourne, Australia under a month away, the ten teams competing for this year’s World Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships have been testing their new cars in four days of pre-season testing.

There have been a number of changes to both the teams and rosters between seasons with several new drivers who will be lining up on the grid on March 17th. Force India have completed their transition after being bought in August 2018 and will now race under the name Racing Point.

Sauber has also seen a name change this time through a sponsorship deal, and have been renamed Alfa Romeo Racing. Alfa Romeo’s two drivers will be Kimi Raikkonen, who has swapped his place at Ferrari with Charles Leclerc, and Antonio Giovinazzi, who raced twice in 2017 while Pascal Wehrlein was injured.

Two British drivers will be joining the pack this season, both promoted from Formula 2. F2 champion George Russell joins Williams alongside Robert Kubica. Polish driver Kubica returns after an eight-year absence from F1, following a horrific crash at the Ronde di Andora rally in 2011 that left doctors fighting to save his hand.

The other British driver is 19-year-old Lando Norris who came second in last season’s F2 Championship. He will race with Carlos Sainz at McLaren after Fernando Alonso decided to retire. Norris and Russell will be hoping they can rise to the same level as five-time World Champion and Mercedes Driver Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari had the superior car last season but a slew of bad racing decisions – which Hamilton capitalised on – allowed him to win by a margin of 88 points. The Brit thinks that it will be a lot harder to retain the title this season though: “Ferrari are very strong. It appears they have a better package than last year, which means it will be a bigger challenge for us. They have been looking great. We have just been digging deep, trying to understand the car, pretty much the same as the beginning of every year.

“Ferrari always look strong, particularly the last few years; they looked strong right at the beginning, so that’s to be expected. It has been normal. I am competing with everyone. I don’t know who’s going to be quickest. You can’t say just Ferrari. You don’t know where the Red Bulls are. Who knows what people are going to bring up for the first race.”

While nine of the teams were testing their cars in the first two days of testing, one was surprisingly absent. Williams did not manage to get a Russell or Kubica on the track until day three, giving their rivals massive advantages.

Williams’ deputy team principal Claire Williams said: “It’s not a situation that we anticipated, or that we ever wanted to find ourselves in. We’re not just disappointed. It’s embarrassing not bringing a race car to a circuit when everyone else has managed to do that, particularly a team like ours that has managed to bring a race car to testing for the past 40-odd years.”

“We’ve missed two days of testing, and that’s not ideal. That’s a lot of potential kilometres, but I don’t think that we will actually know the full impact of having missed those days until probably a bit later on.”

“Clearly we’re doing everything we can to condense the programme that we had, to make sure that we maximised the time available and we really focused our efforts and attention on the most important and critical areas to make sure the car is in the best shape possible for Australia.”

Perhaps the biggest change to F1 this season will be seen after the season has begun. The first day of the Bahrain Grand Prix in March is also the deadline for the UK to make a decision on Brexit. With eight of the ten teams based in south-east England there is the potential for a lot of problems.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said that “a no-deal Brexit would have a major impact on our operations going to races and developing cars. We have certain contingencies in place, like having more stock and thinking about how we would get parts and people in and out of the country.”

“But it would be a disruption and it would cause all the UK teams a lot of headache, while Ferrari in Italy and Sauber (Alfa Romeo) in Switzerland would have a massive advantage over every UK-based team.”

Photo: Wikimedia Commons @ReneS

The fractions of the NBA in the Warriors era of basketball

Written by Luca Mariani on . Posted in Sport.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a complex landscape of business and sport. In recent years the Golden State Warriors have been the face of the NBA. The Oakland based team is studded with five all-star calibre players this season, the talent of which has brought the warriors three championships in the past four years.

Getting to the stage where you can win a championship is the aim of most NBA teams. In order to get there, they must abide by the rules of the NBA draft (the yearly process which allows players to join the NBA), the NBA cap salary (the maximum amount of money a team can spend on its players), and the ability to beat the unmovable wall known as the Warriors.

Reaching the Golden State Warriors’ level of quality is something every side in the NBA aspires for, but time after time we see teams get lost in the sea of mediocrity. This Golden State era gives us a perfect case study of how teams are trying to traverse the difficult road to NBA glory.

To start we must look at teams who have flat out given up on competing. The Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, and Atlanta Hawks have all gone back to the chalk board and started tanking (essentially, intentionally losing). The Knicks are by far the worse perpetrators this season; however, they do this so they can get higher draft picks in the NBA draft and choose the better players entering the league.

This is not a bad technique: Wait for the Warriors to age, and come in to steal their glory. The Hawks drafted Trae Young and Kevin Huerter in the 2018 draft; a pair of players who resemble Steph Curry and Klay Thompson from the Warriors. That being said, the chances of these players turning into similar levels of superstars is unlikely.

The issue with this method of achieving greatness is it can be very hit or miss. The Suns have been in the top 15 picks since 2011 and still have not improved. This method doesn’t necessarily guarantee quality players, and can lead to a losing culture which could be dangerous for young players. It also makes your team a less favourable destination for free agents (players whose contracts have expired).

The sea of mediocrity, the most dangerous place in the NBA. This can be the equivalent of the sunken place for some teams — being good, but not quite good enough and blocked from getting better due to multiple factors. Some teams are happy to just be good enough to make playoffs because their fans are happy to support the group of players they have and thus fill their stadium.

A prime example of this is the Memphis Grizzlies. They have managed to make the playoffs every season from 2011 to 2017 but have never progressed past the semi-finals of their conference. More examples from this season are the Detroit Pistons and New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans though are in a slightly different situation as they are most likely heading for a rebuild after key player Anthony Davis requested a trade.

These teams need to fill seats, making tanking a dangerous business decision, but their cap space for wages and where they are located prevents them from getting better players. They’re stuck in the middle: they aren’t quite good enough to survive in the playoffs and their draft picks aren’t high enough to get the best players from the NBA draft.

This isn’t a bad place for all teams though, for example, the Sacramento Kings and the Brooklyn Nets are two young teams that have surprised the league this season. These two teams are performing better than the Pelicans and Pistons, have cap space, and a stock of talented young players.

These teams may shoot past the sea of mediocrity and become elite teams. Brooklyn is especially interesting as they rebuilt without high draft picks due to one of the worst trades ever to occur in the NBA. This trade, in essence, involved two ageing all-stars in Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnet being traded to the Nets for four first-round picks.

First round picks are one of the most valued assets in the NBA. Pierce and Garnet’s statistics began to fall the season before they were traded and collapsed once they reached Brooklyn. Neither averaged over 15 points in their first season Brooklyn and they didn’t stay with the team for very long.

The Nets made the playoffs for two seasons then flat-lined to one of the worst teams in the whole NBA. This trade was one factor in leading the NBA to ban trading picks in consecutive years, to keep the league competitive.

These two teams have completely changed their culture and are going in a positive direction. Brooklyn has drafted and developed players well over the last few years.  The development of Jarrett Allen and Spencer Dinwiddie and the trade for D’angelo Russel were key in turning around the franchise.

The Nets have a unique mix of a great city, cap space, and exciting young players make them a great team for free agents. With Kevin Durant being rumoured to be looking towards a move to New York, things could be getting quite exciting for the nets.

Sacramento came out of nowhere this season. Many thought that trading Demarcus Cousin (one of the best centres in the NBA) would send this franchise down into despair, but they have rebuilt surprisingly quickly since 2017.

Buddy Hield (the main return from the Cousins trade) has been amazing this season, averaging just over 20 points and the development of De’Aaron Fox’s jump shot has really helped the Kings to battle to be a playoff contenders.

If they continue at this pace they may claim the last spot in the Western conference playoffs (often considered the harder conference). Making the playoffs for the first time since 2006 will create a great morale and buzz on a team which has a lot of young developing players. The development of Marvin Bagley (3rd pick in the 2018 draft) and other young players will be key to seeing if this team can become elite.

The final tier are the elite teams in the NBA who are trying to reach the heights of the Golden State Warriors. These teams include the Oklahoma City Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, and Boston Celtics. They have cracked the code on how to succeed in the NBA and have the pieces to be elite.

These teams, however, have not shown to be capable of beating the Warriors. They are plagued by similar issues to mediocre teams. Having good players comes at a cost, trying to keep a good group of players together for a price which also makes your team flexible is very hard.

This is a failure of the Portland Trailblazers, making it unlikely they can compete with the current Warriors team.

These teams will also have low draft picks, which means they don’t get the best young talent to reinforce their roster. It is worth noting, however, that not all good players come early in the draft.

There have been many late picks which have gone on to be stars, such as Jimmy Butler who currently plays for the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers are the closest  to the Warriors in terms of rosters – filled with all-star calibre players, this playoff season will be the test of their competitiveness against the Warriors.

The real reason most of these elite teams cannot beat the Warriors is due to them drowning in the Warriors’ three-point efficiency. No team can quite understand how to defend against the champions due to how well they space the ball.

All rebuilding teams want to follow the Warriors’ three-point footprint — a skill which they generally lack. The elite teams have found ways to win most games, but when it comes down to facing the Warriors, their their-point shooting can’t keep up with the Golden State’s shooters.