Forge Press Issue 45

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Friday March 16 2012 @ForgePress /ForgePress

INSIDE

The independent student newspaper of the University of Sheffield. Made for students by students. Est. 1946.

NEWS President-elect Abdi Suleiman speaks to Forge Press about taking office next year p.3

SPORT

COMMENT

Inside Fuse.

Uni edge further ahead in Varsity as the cross country cycling team beat Hallam

Is ITV’s hit dating show Take me Out good natured or does it highlight sexism in society? p.11

Sheffield’s new IMAX, 8-BIT anthems when games and music collide plus reviews and much more inside

p.31

Union shuns NUS national walkout

Photo: Adam Harley

Fuse.

Democracy preview IMAX 8-Bit Anthems

David Parker Students turned out in force to protest against hidden course costs and the ‘marketisation’ of higher education, despite the Students’ Union calling it the ‘wrong tactic at the wrong time’.

Protesters marched from the University concourse to City Hall as part of a National Union of Students (NUS) Day of Action, held on Wednesday March 14.

The NUS encouraged students to walk out of lectures to demonstrate their anger at the government, which has not made clear its plans for the ‘hidden costs’ of university education, such as field trips, books and lab coats.

But the University of Sheffield has pledged to cover all compulsory elements of course fees as part of their £9,000 a year tuition fee charge, which starts next year.

Despite the University choosing to back the ‘Come Clean on Hidden Costs’ campaign, Sheffield Students’ Union’s refusal to back the march left some students annoyed.

Alistair Holmes, a final year International Relations and Politics student, said: “I think it’s important that we don’t just lie down and let the cuts just happen.

“Unfortunately we can’t look to our Students’ Union leaders.

Leadership always comes from below in these cases, and it Continued p.3

Gym finally reveal revamp costs Emergency loans rise by £8k Nicholas Carding Forge Press has obtained the exact figures relating to the six-month S10 Health swimming pool closure last year, which sparked a controversial refund system in which gym members’ contracts were broken.

In November, the University claimed: “Sport Sheffield has refunded in the region of £100,000 to members who were eligible.” But Forge Press can reveal the total amount paid to members as compensation was £69,101.00.

The refurbishment cost the University £210,786.85 in total after the pool closed

abruptly in November 2010 in order for important maintenance work to be carried out.

The figures also show that 1,886 members were refunded, although the University was forced to reopen applications for refunds after Forge Press exposed a breach of the members’ contracts. The University stopped accepting applications for refunds after September 1 2011, but did not publish the fact, leaving many returning students without refunds.

In January 2012 - two years after the pool closed - the University finally accepted claims for refunds.

Matt Burgess The amount of money given to students as emergency loans from the University increased by £8,000 last year.

In total £35,576 was given to students during 2010/2011 compared to £27,695 the year before.

The number of applications for the loans also increased last year to 180 from 135.

A University of Sheffield spokesperson said: “The increase in short term loans in the last academic year was as a result of numerous factors including: increased awareness of the support services the University offer, natural disasters,

international crises, delays in the Student Loans Company processing applications and the impact of the economic climate on parental ability to offer financial support.”

The most that will be issued for a shortterm loan is £250 and conditions have to be met before they will be issued. The number of loans issued also increased.

“These figures demonstrate the financial hardship our students are having to deal with,” said Mat Denton Students’ Union Welfare Officer.

“Organisations such as Student Finance England are consistently failing students, leaving the burden of funding on the University.”

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NEWS UNIVERSITY

Languages on offer at World Week

Graduate digs deeper for charity

Jack Bilsborough The International Languages Festival is set to take place this weekend to mark the end of World Week.

Due to the huge success of last year’s festival, the event is restaging itself at Hicks Building for the second time on March 1718.

Organised by the ‘International Students Committee’ and ‘Peer Tandem Language Learning Society’, the festival aims to enlighten participants about the diverse range of languages and dialects around the world and to promote an understanding of traditions of other cultures and societies.

The event also prides itself on demonstrating the immense diversity of cultures and languages that exist at the University of Sheffield.

Over the course of the weekend, nearly a 100 different languages will be showcased from around the world, including French Creole, Swahili, Finnish and Taiwanese.

The festival also teaches many unique languages such as Sign Language and Braille.

People at the festival can attend 40 sessions with native speakers who study at the University and there will also be appearances from a number of prominent national institutes including the Esperanto Association of Britain, which is dedicated to encouraging the study of Esperanto, and the Goethe Institute, which endorses the study of German.

A spokesperson for the University of Sheffield said: “This University is a perfect institution to host such an international event, with almost 90 different nationalities among our teaching staff and over 130 among our students.”

The winners of the Vodaphone World of Difference programme celebrate their victory with celebrity TV fashion guru Gok Wan. Inset: Lindsey Chynoweth Alisha Rouse A University of Sheffield graduate has won a prestigious competition to help improve the lives of African families.

Lindsey Chynoweth beat over 5,000 other applicants to win a place with the Vodaphone World of Difference programme and will be working for Sheffieldbased charity Dig Deep Africa as fundraising manager.

The young graduate will be recruiting and leading a team of UK volunteers, with her Sheffield-based group aiming to raise £40,000 by June for water and sanitation development in Kenya.

Lindsey told Forge Press that she is incredibly happy about her victory.

She said: “It’s a wonderful opportunity to contribute more of my time to a great charity, as getting paid will allow me more time to really make a difference to their fundraising strategy.”

The English Literature graduate has been involved with the charity since May last year as a challenge group leader, coordinating 25 Sheffield student volunteers.

The adventurous group have already raised £15,000 through events such as their naked calendar (Issue 42, Forge Press), a freezing Christmas Day swim, and sponsored veganism. The charity’s volunteers also plan to brave Kilimanjaro and travel to Peru to hike Machu Picchu this summer.

The Crookesmoor-based graduate said: “I think fundraising should be kept fun, and we have come up with many original ways to get other people involved.”

These include the group’s upcoming sponsored indoor bungee jump at the Magna Centre in Rotherham on April 29, where brave volunteers will be taking a 150ft plunge for the cause. One of Dig Deep’s volunteers, Rose

Donmall will even be shaving her head in front of a live audience on April 21.

The Vodaphone World of Difference placement allows 500 winners to work for their chosen charities, either full-time or part-time for four months or two months respectively. Their recent induction day included talks by celebrated Falklands hero, Simon Weston and television’s Gok Wan. Lindsey has used the opportunity to launch the charity’s new website and to increase their presence on social media.

She said: “Keeping our social media up to speed will mostly involve pestering Stephen Fry for re-tweets on Twitter.”

The philanthropic Lindsey will create an online support network for all of Dig Deep Africa’s volunteers, allowing the charity to continue to work with low running costs, by employing only one member of staff.

Dig Deep Africa works with

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Matt Burgess

Deputy Editor Nicole Hernandez Froio Managing Editor Mikey Smith WEB EDITOR Ben Williams fuse editors fuse@forgetoday.com James Garrett Rachel Dixon

picture editor Adam Harley News news@forgetoday.com Nicholas Carding Katie Davies David Parker Comment comment@forgetoday.com Hannah Frost Tom Geddes LETTERS letters@forgetoday.com Holly Wilkinson

Features features@forgetoday.com Lauren Clarke Rebecca Cooke Jonathan Robinson Lifestyle and travel lifestyle@forgetoday.com Ina Fischer Fay Guest Laura Davies Sport sport@forgetoday.com Jack Burnett Adam Hancock Anthony Hart

communities in East Africa to help provide sustainable access to clean drinking water and renewable energy. Sustainable solutions include harnessing rainwater and drilling wells in disadvantaged communities, as well as providing education to maintain these resources. These also include biogas projects, which utilise water and manure to produce cooking gas and organic fertiliser.

The charity aim to help eradicate diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and amoebae, which are common in rural Kenya, by increasing access to safe drinking water. The wind powered water pumps harness natural resources, not emitting the fumes that diesel generators produce.

Chynoweth said: “The money raised will directly support communities in Africa to access clean water, fuel and sanitation.

We’re recruiting jumpers for our bungee event now.”

Music music@forgetoday.com Sam Bolton Coral Williamson

Arts arts@forgetoday.com Tim Wood Rowan Ramsden

Games games@forgetoday.com Arnold Bennett Ellen Jurczak

Copy editors Olivia Adams Hamilton Jones Kristin McIntosh Alisha Rouse Melanie Sisson Lianne Williams

Screen screen@forgetoday.com Tom Fletcher Tom Wardak

Forge Press is printed on 100% recycled paper

Forge Press is published by the Union of Students. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the University, the Union or the editorial team. In the first instance all complaints should be addressed to the Managing Editor, although a formal procedure exists.

Photo: Mark McKay

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UNIVERSITY NEWS

Somalia to Sheffield: Abdi’s journey ‘People think it’s a moment of ecstatic joy, but really it’s a moment of considerable responsibility.’

‘If you don’t end up doing the things that you said you’d do, you have almost a lifetime of regret’ David Parker Beginning in Somalia, and taking in 18 years in Broomhall, it’s been a long and eventful journey for Union President-elect AbdiAziz Suleiman.

The third year Philosophy student won a landslide victory in the Union Officer elections, beating his nearest rival by almost 2,000 votes.

Since his win, he has been getting back down to earth with coursework, but in the back of his mind he knows that next year he’ll be taking on the responsibility of around 25,000 students.

And when Abdi heard the announcement that he will be next year’s Union President, he immediately came to terms with the enormity of the task ahead of him.

“People think it’s a moment of ecstatic joy, but really it’s a moment of considerable burden and of considerable responsibility.

“You have a year to do the things that you said you’d do and the things that you fundamentally believe will make the Union and the city a better place, and if you don’t end up doing the things that you said you’d do, you have almost a lifetime of regret.

“That’s also an intense pressure.”

Abdi wants to introduce an Open Café where students can contribute ideas to officers and discuss them with other students.

“What you can do is create a space where as many students

can come together and mingle with other students as possible, and then the point is to ask societies: ‘If we set up an Open Café, would you be willing to advertise it inside your society?‘ And say to everyone, ‘Enjoy what you’re doing here, but make sure you get down to the Open Cafés as well.”

And having worked with local children, Abdi also wants to increase the level of student participation in the local community.

“What if we paid students a small amount of money, a living wage or a minimum wage and they went into an area, and they provided tutoring services to students in the local area?

“That would make a considerable amount of difference to people’s lives.

“Students of all different subjects could go into these areas and help. Then we could literally make a difference, not just to the lives of people, but also to the intellectual atmosphere of the city.”

Since leaving Somalia at the age of three, Abdi has been brought up on the University’s doorstep in Broomhall.

“I was born in Somalia, and left Somalia when I was about three, and it’s a lot simpler than it seems.

“From then, I literally moved to Broomhall, and if you go up to University House, you can actually see my house from there.”

Abdi was elected as Union President, beating off competition from eight other candidates. Photo: Nurul Yeo

Wat-er way to go: Bottles to disappear from shelves by April The University of Sheffield Students’ Union hosted a special Water Day on Wednesday as part of their quest to raise awareness for the bottled water ban which will come into effect just before the Easter Holidays.

Finance Officer Harry Horton said: “Bottled water will officially stop being sold in the Students’ Union as of March 31.

“All outlets have ordered their stock of bottled water in the knowledge that it will need to be sold by the March 31.”

Last year, 3325 students voted in favour of the ban, meaning

there will be water fountains installed around the Union building.

As part of the Water Day at the Union, the “Freeasy Water campaign” asked students to differentiate between tap and bottled water, informing them about the benefits of choosing the former.

Ella Brough, one of the volunteers, said: “We’re trying to do our bit, encourage people to drink tap water from the fountains at the Union and use reusable bottles. The ban on bottled water will be in effect only at the University but hopefully we can implement it in the whole

city someday.”

Also joining the University as a part of the Climate Week was Global Action Plan, an environmental charity. They displayed the “Water Explorer”, an ‘eco-activity’ with a quiz machine and facts about water conservation.

Neeral Shah, who works for Global Action Plan, said: “Believe it or not, there is less water available per person in South East England than in Sudan.

“We can’t stop people doing something, but we can encourage them to make an informed choice.”

spend at least £200,000 on hidden course costs next year, which will include external exams that are a compulsory part of a course.

Wednesday’s protest had the backing of around 50 students from both of Sheffield’s universities, as well as Hallam Students’ Union.

Mark Seddon, a PhD History student, said: “The University has said they will cover hidden course fees, and that’s great, but there are other universities that haven’t done that, and this isn’t just a localised issue, it’s a national issue.

“I think it’s important that students from various universities around the country come together with each other,

which is why I’m very frustrated and disappointed that Sheffield Students’ Union have decided not to support today.”

Protesters met at the University concourse and walked via Devonshire Green and the city centre to City Hall, where they heard speeches from campaigners.

These included Toni Pearce, Vice President for Further Education in the NUS, who said: “Today we found out that youth unemployment is continuing to rise in this country. There’s over 1.4 million unemployed, and 25% of 16-24 year-olds aren’t in education, employment or training.

“The rug is literally being

pulled out from under their feet.

This is the first generation ever in history to be worse off than their parents, and that’s why the NUS is out on the streets today, that’s why we need your help, that’s why the Government needs to reinstate EMA. “We’re going back to a situation where where you are born decides whether you go university.”

In an interview with Forge Radio, Pete Mercer, Vice President of NUS, also backed the march.

He said: “It’s not good enough that Vice Chancellors up and down the UK have not spoken about how damaging these reforms are going to be.”

Eliza Punshi

Bottled water will be off the shelves by the end of March.

NUS march and walkout was ‘wrong tactic at wrong time’

Continued from Page One comes to students to put pressure on their leaders to react and to lead.

“I think they’re in a position where they’re constantly pushed into negotiations with the University, so unfortunately we can’t look to them at times like this, so we’ve got to push them.”

Holmes was sceptical of the University’s pledge to cover hidden course costs.

“There was a promise by [Vice Chancellor] Keith Burnett that Sheffield had the finances, and that they wouldn’t raise fees to £9k, and yet they’ve gone ahead and raised them to £9,000.

Sheffield Students’ Union

Education Officer Jon Narcross defended their stance, saying the protest and walkout were the wrong tactic at the wrong time.

He said: “We are fully on board with the ‘Come Clean’ campaign, our joint announcement with the University on inclusive fees has even been heralded as one of the big wins of the national campaign, but we did not feel a walkout or a protest really helped the campaign on this issue.

“Last month we took the issue to Students’ Union Council and spoke to many students about the campaign and the feedback we received, as well as the mandate Students’ Union Council gave us supported our position.”

The University has said it will

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UNIVERSITY NEWS

Campaigners to put pressure on University over living wage David Parker Students are set to launch a campaign for fairer wages for workers at the Students’ Union and University of Sheffield.

The Living Wage Campaign, which seeks to give all workers at least the bare minimum on which they can live, will begin on Monday March 26.

Campaigners will seek to lobby the University to provide funds to pay Union staff at least £7.20 an hour. The policy received backing from Union Council last year and similar campaigns in Kent and Manchester have been successful.

Union Officers will be encouraged to lobby the University to pay its own staff a living wage as well as petitioning the government to raise the national minimum wage.

The national campaign has been backed by the NUS, Unison and student Labour Party groups, including Sheffield Labour Students, who will be combining their efforts with the growing University of Sheffield lobby to launch the campaign.

Chair of Sheffield Labour Students Adam Tinson said: “The campaign is still quite recent but already has a significant number of members and supporters.

“Submitting the proposal to Union Council required 50 signatures, which was reached in the space of only a day or two.

“The policy was well received by the Union Council, so there is a level of support for the campaign that can only grow as the campaign becomes more visible.

“The campaign has been backed by figures across the political spectrum.

“It is wrong that staff could be working full time but still not earning enough to escape poverty or to spend time with their families.

“As an institution built from donations from the local community, it is right that the University should continue to give back by paying a Living Wage.”

The University of Sheffield has previously said that the cost of living in Sheffield represents about 90 per cent of the national average, and therefore their

current wage is justified.

Tinson said: “The campaign is still in its fledgling stages when it comes to lobbying the University directly but I am confident that a strong campaign can be made to convince the University.

“The Living Wage is a floor – the absolute minimum that a household needs, not only to get by, but also to participate in society.

“If by paying the standard Living Wage of £7.20 an hour, this is slightly more generous than other areas, then so much the better.

“Research by the Living Wage Foundation shows that the University will also benefit from higher productivity and lower absenteeism.

“The University, as a public institution, owes something to the community in which we are based and should not focus on reducing staff costs to the detriment of this obligation.

“Community engagement was the spirit in which the University was founded, and it should continue to operate with a social mission.”

Adam Tinson.

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Multi-million pound grant for Teaching Hospitals Emma Robinson

The new facility will help pioneer new medical research.

The University of Sheffield has won over £3.1 million in funding for a groundbreaking clinical research facility, which will improve patients’ lives in Yorkshire, the Humber and beyond.

The funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) will be used by the University in partnership with Sheffield Hospitals NHS Foundation Fund, to pioneer new medical research.

Research at the facility, in the Royal Hallamshire and Northern General Hospitals, will explore new treatments for motor neurone disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Sheffield was one of only 19 research centres in the UK to be

awarded the funding.

The research will also look at preventing strokes and investigating new vaccines for meningitis.

Professor Keith Burnett, ViceChancellor of the University of Sheffield, said: “The University and the city have been at the forefront of medical research for many years, and I am delighted with the benefits the revolutionary clinical research will bring, not just to the community, but nationally and internationally.”

Dr Chris Newman, Director of the Sheffield Clinical Research Facility, said: “We have some of Europe’s leading researchers here in the city and funding such as this is vital to allow them to continue to make improvements for patients.”

Tougher rules for all-day Students’ Union events David Parker Union bars will not sell alcohol before noon at all-day events as part of a number of measures brought in following Bar One’s Christmas Day. A student was left fighting for her life after being hit by a double-decker bus on Glossop Road, after leaving the event last December. According to police reports, she had told friends via social media that she had ‘never been so drunk’.

She suffered a punctured lung and serious head injuries and spent weeks recovering in hospital.

The Students’ Union, which sold drinks from 10am and ran drink promotions throughout the day, was criticised by local police, health chiefs and sections of the national press, and was subjected to a council review of its alcohol licence.

Councillors decided to let the Union keep its licence on the condition it makes changes to the

way it runs all-day events.

A minimum price of £1.50 per drink and 50p per unit will be brought in, and security staff will carry out random checks on students and will police queues to make sure alcohol is not drunk or brought into events.

The Union will switch the focus of events from drinks to food offers and other promotions and the alcoholic content of cocktails will be clearly publicised.

Warnings and safety information will be published on all promotional material and drink offers available before 2pm will not be publicised.

Councillors reviewed the Students’ Union’s alcohol licence in January after Police Supterintendent Martin Hemingway published a report citing a number of serious offences that took place last year.

But the Union kept its licence after councillors found the bar to be ‘well managed’, with no evidence of serious crime or disorder.

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Forge in Brief University in plastic partnership The University of Sheffield has agreed a partnership which will boost research into plastic material.

The University’s Polymer Centre and the Rubber and Plastics Research Association’s (RAPRA) new partnership will improve collaboration in polymer research.

The agreement will serve the needs of companies in polymer manufacturing and processing by connecting them with the UK’s largest experts on the topic, the Polymer Centre.

Professor Steve Armes, director at RAPRA and the Polymer Centre, said: “RAPRA is extremely pleased to have initiated stronger links to the world-class polymer science and engineering expertise at the University of Sheffield.”

Joseph Leigh

Students protest University links with arms dealers at fair More than 30 students protested against the University’s affiliation with two arms companies outside the Octagon’s ‘Spring into Jobs’ fair on Wednesday March 7.

The protest was organised by Fund Education Not War, and was aimed at Thales, a defence company that manufactures arms and spy planes, who had representatives at the fair.

Protester Charlotte Witso, a second year Politics student, said: “A lot of people aren’t aware that our University gets funding from arms companies.

“Some people who work for Thales aren’t even aware they are an arms company. It’s good to tell people considering working for them what they’re getting into.”

Matthew Smith

Union celebrate Women’s Week The Students’ Union (SU) celebrated a special “Women’s Week,” hosting a range of free events before and after the International Women’s Day on March 8.

Among the events were talks by Corinna Ferguson, a legal officer at human rights organisation Liberty, and members from five different faith societies discussing women and faith at Raynor Lounge and Coffee Revolution respectively.

SU Women’s Officer Sarah Charlesworth said the event’s objective was to share the experience of being a woman and being religious.

On March 8 a free screening of ‘The Help’ was followed by a talk from Labour MP Paul Blomfield and Charlesworth. The event raised over £1,000 for women’s charities.

Amelia Banks

Photo: David Parker A student was left fighting for her life after Bar One Christmas Day.

Sarah Charlesworth.

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NEWS LOCAL

National news Police blamed Hillsborough disaster on ‘drunken fans’ A senior Merseyside police officer blamed the 1989 Hillsborough disaster on ‘drunken Liverpool fans’ in a leaked government report to former prime minister Margeret Thatcher.

96 football fans were crushed to death at the Sheffield Wednesday stadium during an FA Cup semifinal between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.

Official inquiries found that the disaster was caused by a failure of crowd control by South Yorkshire Police.

In October the government approved the release of thousands of government files relating to Britain’s worst sporting tragedy.

Thousands more women have dangerous breast implants

Illegal alcohol prosecutions rise Nicholas Carding Illegal and dangerous alcohol sales are continuing to rise in Sheffield, Trading Standards has warned.

Last year, 16 shops were prosecuted or inspected with prosecutions pending, compared with only three in the previous three years.

Senior Trading Standards Officer Craig Fisher said: “Counterfeit and illicit alcohol is an increasing problem in the city.”

“The alcohol in question is often found to be industrial alcohol diluted with water and contaminants such as chloroform and isopropanol, a flammable chemical compound, which are not permitted in foodstuffs.”

In November, Forge Press revealed that popular student convenience store Nisa on Barber Road, Crookesmoor, was selling illegal vodka, and the shop is currently under investigation by Trading Standards.

The dangers of drinking were also highlighted by University of Sheffield student Lauren Platts, who suffered loss of eyesight,

dizziness, and prolonged headaches after she drank half a bottle of illegal vodka before a night out.

Fisher said: “There have been two recent prosecutions we have taken in relation to counterfeit and illicit vodka.”

These include Premier on West Street, which was found to be selling 14 bottles of illicit ‘V Vodka’.

The vodka was sent for analysis and found to contain 31.2 per cent alcohol. There was no name or address on the product, making it impossible to trace.

“Albany Retail Limited were fined £1000, ordered to pay £574 costs and the products were forfeited for destruction,” Fisher said.

“Another shop owner was given eight weeks’ suspended sentence and 150 hours community service.

She pleaded guilty to offences of offering for sale counterfeit Smirnoff Vodka, Sobieski Vodka, Glens Vodka, Arctic Ice vodka, and Cin Gin.” Some shops have also been found selling quantities of counterfeit hand rolling tobacco and cigarettes, Fisher said.

Premier on West Street has sold illegal ‘V Vodka.’ Photo: Nicholas Carding “The cigarettes were found cigarettes and 150g of hand concealed in trays of beer. rolling tobacco were ordered to be “64 bottles of alcohol, 1660 forfeited for destruction.”

Sheffield’s evolving landscape in showcase exhibition Alisha Rouse

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley The number of women fitted with dangerous PIP breast implants is 7,000 more than previously thought, the government has said.

Warnings had been issued about breast implants fitted since 2001. But thousands of implants were fitted before this date.

The new figures mean that the total number of affected women in the UK is 47,000.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has said that all women affected will be provided with help from the NHS. But just 5 per cent of women are thought to have had the operation on the NHS, with 95% per cent having them privately.

Implants fitted by the NHS will be removed and replaced.

Lansley said: “These women are the victims of a fraudulent company and I know this situation is causing a huge amount of anxiety.”

An art showcase highlighting the changing nature of the Sheffield cityscape opened last week, covering six decades of the city’s history.

It is the third of a string of exhibitions brought together by the University of Sheffield’s Occursus group, and was opened by celebrated Yorkshire poet and

author, Michael Glover in the DLA Piper building at Sheffield’s Peace Gardens.

Glover was joined by four Sheffield based artists, to exhibit their work about cultural heritage in Sheffield.

The exhibition aims to work with both established and upcoming local artists to explore how Sheffield is inhabited and represented.

Occursus works with a number of community art projects, and has been sponsored by the international law firm, DLA Piper.

Duncan Mosley, the partner leading the initiative said: “The photography on display illustrates the city’s cultural heritage perfectly and I’m sure it will be a popular exhibit.”

Laura Drysdale

implemented.

The Council’s Cabinet member for Environment and Transport, Leigh Bramall, said: “We are determined to reduce accidents in residential areas across the city to help create safe and secure communities.

“We believe that the introduction of 20mph areas, together with on-going publicity and driver education, will contribute towards a safer residential environment for local people.”

Roads that currently have a speed limit of 40mph or more, major bus routes, and classified roads would be exempt from the new limits.

Funding for the introduction of the 20mph limits will come from central government, though Sheffield’s Local Transport Plan and Community Assemblies will be allowed to use funds from their own budgets.

Speed limit could be lowered in estates across city

Network Rail fined £1m over health and safety breaches Network Rail has been landed with a £1m fine after admitting health and safety breaches over the deaths of friends Olivia Bazlinton, 14, and Charlotte Thompson, 13.

The girls died after being hit by a train while they crossed the railway line at Elsenham station in December 2005. They were killed instantly.

The rail company pleaded guilty to three offences at Chelmsford Crown Court, with judge David Turner QC ordering them to pay £60,000 costs.

A series of risk assessments had been carried out by Network Rail, which recommended new gates that locked automatically as trains approached, but they had not been fitted.

It combines photography, art, and sculpture from the four local artists.

Dr Amanda Crawley Jackson, the leader of the Occursus group and a lecturer at the University of Sheffield said: “The exhibition ties in with a larger project, to explore how art can help us understand the city in which we live and imagine other, creative futures.”

The speed limit could be introduced in residential areas across Sheffield

Residential areas across the city could see the introduction of 20mph speed limits during the next two years.

The City Council’s Highway Committee have met to discuss the proposed limit, which aims to decrease the number and severity of accidents around the city.

It is hoped that the 20mph speed limit will also encourage the use of sustainable methods of travel and help to construct a more pleasant environment.

Sheffield, alongside other major cities such as Newcastle and Manchester, is following suit from across the continent, where a 30km/h (18mph) speed limit is becoming the norm in residential communities.

Every Community Assembly in the city will be asked to nominate a local school, around which the 20mph speed limit would be

Police hunt for man suspected of assault Matt Burgess Police in Sheffield have released an efit of a man suspected of assaulting a 20-year-old in the city centre.

South Yorkshire Police believe the victim was walking with friends on Wellington Street, near to Charter Square roundabout in Sheffield when a group of men in their early 20s approached them and an argument took place

between the two groups.

The incident occurred at around 1am on Friday November 25 last year.

The man police would like to talk to is white, approximately 21-years-old, slim build, around 5ft 3ins tall, with short blond hair.

At the time he was wearing a blue coloured polo shirt with yellow edging around the collar.

It is thought the victim has

then tried to intervene in the argument between the two groups when he was assaulted.

As a result of the incident, he required hospital treatment for an injury to his jaw.

Anyone with any information about this incident or who believes they may have witnessed this incident is urged to contact South Yorkshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 275 on Friday 16 December 2011.

Efit of man accused of assault.

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LOCAL NEWS

Home Sec approves extradition as USA close in on O’Dwyer Jack Bilsborough Home Secretary Theresa May has approved the extradition as Sheffield Hallam University student Richard O’Dwyer to the US on the grounds of copyright infringement.

The 23-year-old computer science student could face up to 10 years in a US prison for operating his website ‘TVShack’ which provided links to pirated films and television shows.

The case was brought forward by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which claims that the TVShack. net website received more than $230,000 (£147,000) in advertising.

US authorities obtained a warrant to seize the domain name in June 2010 and the allegations have now been brought forward to justify a trial in the US. Following the implementation of the Extradition Act in 2004, the O’Dwyer case is just the latest in a series of contentious extradition cases involving the United States requesting the transportation of British suspects across the Atlantic without sufficient evidence.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: Mrs May had ‘carefully considered all relevant matters’ before signing the order.

“Mr O’Dwyer’s extradition had been approved because there were only four specific reasons why the Home Secretary could legally refuse, none of which were

applicable.

“Mrs May had no choice but to approve the extradition.”

In response, O’Dwyer claims that his website ‘TVShack’ did not store copyright material itself but merely directed users to other sites, in some ways similar to Google.

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, Mr O’Dwyer said: “I’ve done nothing wrong under UK law, and, it’s pretty ridiculous isn’t it?”.

He went on to say: “A 65-yearold man was extradited a few weeks ago, so if they can extradite someone that old they can extradite anyone really, couldn’t they?”

Students at the University of Sheffield have been active in their efforts to prevent Mr O’Dwyer from being sent to the US. Joshua Kettlewell, a student in Sheffield, has recently set up an online petition to the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

However the ‘Take action to stop the extradition of Richard O’Dwyer’ petition has so far only received 51 signatures although figure is expected to rise as the petition makes its way around the Sheffield universities.

Mr O’Dwyer’s mother Julia, from Chesterfield, said “Yet another British citizen is being sold down the river by the British Government.

“Richard’s life - his studies, work opportunities, financial security - is being disrupted, for who knows how long, because the UK Government has not

The Home Secretary has given the green light for O’Dwyer’s extradition. introduced the much-needed changes to the extradition law.

However, the Home Office has clarified that Mr O’Dwyer can appeal against the home secretary’s decision via the High Court and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Mrs O’Dwyer said: “We are now carefully considering all Richard’s legal options.”

The US-UK extradition treaty, once branded “lopsided” in favour of American citizens by Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg, was

Daniel Harris

Photo: Nicholas Carding

Imran Khan boycotts Salman Rushdie talk at conference Former cricketer Imran Khan, who is a now a politician in Pakistan’s government, has said he will not attend a conference in India which author Sir Salman Rushdie will address today.

Rushdie’s famous book “Satanic Verses” is still banned in India, and regarded by many muslims as highly blasphemous.

Mr Khan’s party, the Justice Party, released a statement saying: “He [Khan] expressed his regrets to the organisers, but stated categorically that he could not even think of participating in any programme that included Rushdie who has caused immeasurable hurt to Muslims around the globe.”

The organisers have declined to confirm reports that the author will be physically present, the BBC have reported.

the subject of a recent review by retired judge Sir Scott Baker.

Baker found the treaty to be “balanced and fair,” and said it was not biased against Britons, according to the Yorkshire Post.

Despite this, it is possible for the USA to extradite UK citizens who live and work in the UK if they commit a US crime in the UK, without it being reciprocal.

O’Dwyer has also received support by the digital media tycoon Alki David, and numerous other prominent figures.

City centre bar wins bid to extend opening hours

Soyo is close to three apartment blocks.

World NEWS

A city centre bar has won its battle with the council to open later despite strong opposition from councillors and local residents.

Rockingham Street bar SOYO won their bid to open as late as 2:30am at a Licensing Committee meeting in December, but the decision was taken to a referral

by Green party councillor Rob Murphy after objections from him and local residents.

Cllr Murphy argued that SOYO should not be allowed to remain open beyond its existing closing time of 12.30am as it is in a residential area with three apartment blocks close by.

An independent planning authority had argued that the closing time of late night venues located near residential buildings should be capped at 12.30am.

Speaking at the meeting on March 13, Cllr Murphy said: “I respect that SOYO has done its best to mitigate public disturbance, and I don’t have an issue with other late night venues. The issue is it is in the wrong place.”

“Rockingham Street contains social housing, student housing and apartments – a mixture of people with different lifestyles.

For the sake of preventing public nuisance opening times should be kept as recommended by independent officers.”

But after consideration, Cllr Ian Saunders, chair of the Licensing Committee, announced that it would allow the bar a license to extend its hours.

Speaking after the decision,

Cllr Murphy said: “This is very disappointing for local residents.

Licensing is supposed to be the way you protect them.”

“A number of incidents [of noise and anti-social behaviour] were directly linked to the bar, so it’s confusing how the committee made that non-connection.”

Welcoming the announcement Matthew James, owner of SOYO, said: “This is a good decision. The board showed they were aware, informed and capable and asked all the right questions.”

“This will help our business considerably in a hard time.”

SOYO has been refused the extension of its hours on several occasions in the previous three years, most recently in August 2010, on the grounds it would increase public disturbance and affect the local residents.

In December 2011 councillors at the planning board approved the application to remove restrictions on opening hours.

They said that the hours of operation would be consistent with other nearby venues on the adjacent West Street and would contribute to the evening economy without having a significant impact on residential amenity.

The bar will now be permitted to open to 1:30am and until 2:30am from Thursday to Saturday and Sundays before Bank Holidays.

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DOT COM

Photo: Jahanzaib Ashraf/FlickR Former cricketer Imran Khan.

North Korean orchestra in french concert performance A North Korean orchestra has performed a concert together with Radio France Philiharmonic in Paris, led by South Korean conductor Chung Myung-Whun.

Mr Myung-Whun said the concert was an example of “Music being stonger than borders,” and dedicated one of the pieces performed to his North Korean mother.

The orchestra, named Unhasu, and Philiharmonic played numerous famous pieces, including extracts from Bizet’s “Carmen”, and a movement from Brahms Symphony No 1.

North Korea are technically still at war with South Korea after the countries have never signed a peace treaty following their war between 1950-53.

75 people charged with murder Egypt’s leading prosecutor has charged 75 people with murder or negligence following the chaos at a football match which left 74 people dead.

Rival fans fought after a match between top tier sides al-Masry and al-Ahly on February 1, in Port Said.

Nine police officers are among those charged after widespread criticism from witnesses, who said police did little or nothing to stop the clashes.

Egypt has been plagued by unrest after the arrest of former President Hosni Mubarak, and many Egyptians are blaming the military government for failing to stop the violence.

8

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FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012

NEWS UNIVERSITY

Senior Lib Dem sparks council tax row Jonathan Robinson Senior Liberal Democrats have acted quickly to deny controversial plans to charge students council tax, after government documents suggested the policy had support within the party.

Meeting notes obtained under Freedom of Information laws revealed a senior Liberal Democrat had called on greater powers for councils to alter the student exemption in October of last year.

Currently, students attending a full-time University course are exempt from the levy – which typically costs more than £1,000 per household.

But minutes released from a Local Government meeting show Gerald VernonJackson - the leader of Liberal Democrat councillors and head of Portsmouth City Council – appeared to support introducing student council tax for the first time.

At the meeting between the Communities Secretary and Local Government Association (LGA), Mr Vernon-Jackson said: “Local authorities should have greater discretion over council tax exemptions and discounts, such as the student exemption”.

Conservative chairman of the LGA and leader of Kensington & Chelsea council, Sir Merrick Cockell, also argued for the move according to the minutes.

The comments sparked an outcry of disapproval from student groups, who are concerned any policy would hit students from low-incomes the most.

Sheffield Labour MP Paul Blomfield attacked the idea of making students pay. He said: “Having already hit students hard by raising tuition fees to

Background Jonathan Robinson

Judging by the reaction amongst student circles, the issue of scrapping the council tax exemption is a controversial one. Nothing can be surer of attracting negative headlines than a policy which leaves students out of pocket.

Estimates suggest the average household could be charged anything over £1,000 if the policy

£9,000 a year, it’s unbelievable that the leader of Liberal Democrat councillors in England wants students to pay council tax bills.

“The high burden of debt that students now have to take on after the government trebled fees is already a major disadvantage for people from low-income backgrounds. Adding council tax to this would simply add to the crippling debt that many students are facing.”

However, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, denied charging students was party policy.

In a statement to Forge Press, Mr Clegg said: “No plans are currently being made to introduce any form of council tax on students. Neither the government nor the Liberal Democrats are in any way in favour of abolishing the student exemption.

“Gerald himself is not in favour of ending the student exemption, but rather is in favour of proper localism where councils have the power to decide what is right for them in their areas.”

University of Sheffield Students’ Union Welfare Officer Mat Denton said it was wrong to even consider charging council tax.

He said: “Scrapping the council tax exemption would be devastating for the student population. A lot of students are already struggling financially, even if working alongside their degree. It doesn’t make sense to charge students; we do not hold full time jobs and so simply couldn’t afford it.

“Suggesting that we should pay is just another example of the government’s continued attacks on higher education, and their

Gerald Vernon-Jackson is leader of Liberal Democrat councillors in England and head of Portsmouth city council efforts to restrict access to those council tax bill last week.

The council tax was introduced who can afford it.”

Currently, English councils are in 1993 by the Local Government The news comes after implementing an average budget Finance Act and replaced the Birmingham University graduate cut of 7.3 per cent for 2012/13; unpopular Community Charge.

Joanne Taylor was wrongly however the Coalition insists In 2011 the average levy on a threatened with court action there are no plans to scrap the household property in England and bailiffs for not paying a £840 exemption to meet the targets. was £1,196.

was put in place. While some student households are bursting at the seams with occupants, others live in smaller groups or singleoccupant houses.

Any council tax bill to them would be much more of a financial strain, since there are fewer people to divide the pot between.

Denying that the issue is Coalition policy is hardly a safeguard in these times of austerity; we students have long memories – we all remember those ill-fated promises over tuition

fees.

Whilst ending the student exemption doesn’t appear to have significant support at the moment, it nevertheless, undermines the student vote and our confidence in the Government.

Hopefully this suggestion as a means of raising revenue for local authorities is just that – a suggestion.

Any implementation of it would be shrouded in discontent and unworkable on practically every

level.

On the other hand, introducing council tax to the student population would be a sure way of maintaining some of the vital services we depend on – those services that are currently being cut across the country.

The worry students feel, not only about this issue, but money matters in general are clear for all to see.

A student raised the matter during public questions at last Friday’s Sheffield City Council budget meeting, to which Cllr Julie Dore,

council leader, said: “I think students are suffering terribly at the moment not just because of the increase in tuition fees but also because of the increase in VAT and the increase in rent.”

Until these issues are addressed, it’s no surprise students fear the worst every time a story like this comes along. Most of us now just want to graduate before anything else happens, and that doesn’t exactly say much for the times we live in.

Katie Laurence

mankind can stop it.

A graph displayed towards the end of the Woodward’s talk showed that merely stabilising emissions still leads to a rise in temperature, and only an 80 per cent cut can stop the increase.

Woodward said: “Every individual can make a difference by working with every other individual.

“State intervention is necessary to change our attitude, to take an example, 10 years ago, we wouldn’t have looked twice at someone smoking in a restaurant or cafe, but now it is frowned upon.”

Law students’ charity cycling challenge Nobel Peace Prize winner gives talk on climate change out how to get them home.

Saward, 24, said: “We just A University of Sheffield student thought, ‘why not cycle them is planning to cycle from back?’ and since then Copenhagen to London to the plan has really raise money for Cancer snowballed and we’re Research. both completely Matt Saward, a third committed to completing year Law student on the challenge. exchange in Denmark, “We’ve been trying to and his friend Chris raise awareness through Nairn, 20 year old Facebook and many Law student from the people have promised University of Edinburgh to join us for part of the plan to cover about 1,000 way.” miles in no more than 20 “We have ambitiously days. set a joint fundraising The pair will set off target of £10,000.” on Saturday May 26 Matt and Chris have in Denmark and then both set up ‘JustGiving’ cover Germany, Holland, pages, which provides Belgium, France and people with links so that finish in London. they can donate directly The money raised to Cancer Research. from the challenge will To support Matt and go to Cancer Research, Saward and Nairns will cycle through six countries.

Chris’ cycling challenge, an important charity for visit www.justgiving.com/ both students, as they have had when they both bought bikes in teams/homewardbound. close family members affected Copenhagen and couldn’t work Jodie Gadd

by cancer and are therefore very keen to raise money for the cause.

The idea came to the boys

A celebrated Nobel Prize winner warned of increasing environmental changes at a talk at the University of Sheffield this week.

Ian Woodward won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, along with former USA Presidency candidate Al Gore, for his work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Woodward is the Professor of Plant Ecology, at the Department of Animal & Plant Sciences at the University, and was speaking as part of the Union’s climate week to help raise awareness of global warming as a pressing issue.

Woodward’s talk focused mainly on the dangerous increase of carbon dioxide, sea levels rising, and the ice caps melting.

He also informed the audience the particulars of why and how this is happening and how

What’s on your mind?

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LETTERS

Letters

Email: letters@forgetoday.com Write: Forge Press, Union of Students, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TG Please include your name, course and year of study.

We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and space.

Your comments on www.forgetoday.com to:

For and against: A flesh in the pan, too petri-frying to ever catch on Dear Forge Press, This article has pretty much overlooked one of the huge potential benefits that in-vitro meat would have if it was able to go into mass-production and be financially viable.

The issue of how much arable land that cattle take up in todays world in comparison to crops and how inefficient it is is a pressing topic.

Not to mention that with the population getting ever larger, arable land in the near future will become a rarer and more expensive resource, this is why scientists are trying to find a solution to keep everyone happy.

Of course it’s not going be as elegant or rustic sounding as

Your comments on www.forgetoday.com to: Empty Bottles Dear Forge Press,

farm raised meat, but that’s the kind of future we’re facing as a species.

Without stating the obvious, English universities are clearly places of extreme binge drinking.

It is also the result of an allconsuming society where we demand more and more, when the reality facing us is that we will most likely end up with less and less.

This is hardly deniable, but rather than point the finger of blame towards Cocktail and Ale societies perhaps your article might focus on the actual causes of this drinking epidemic.

The in-vitro meat concept is still in quite early days, just one of the things you forgot to mention in your one-sided article.

These societies actually practice a rather subdued level of drinking and are more about the creation and enjoyment of flavour from these drinks.

Please make it more informed next time, maybe go into why this idea is being researched, as it clearly has a strong justification as a viable alternative.

Regards, Toby Wright

Your tweets to Forge Press

Have you considered that this university has a brewing programme? This doesn’t mean that it promotes reckless drinking though, does it.

The real culprits are the nightclubs, bars and largely the university.

The university and the union both make a lot of profit from alcohol sales which contrary to the socially responsible aims of Dear Forge Press, Not only is the article poorly written, but I find its needless attack on the cocktail and real ale societies to be ridiculous and poorly conceived.

From what I remember, the cocktail society is about people having fun learning to make cocktails, learning how to flair, and other such activities (at least, it was two years ago, has it become a binge drinker’s society?)

Dear Forge Press, I’ve never been a drinker, and when I started university, I was terrified about feeling pressurised.

But my friends aren’t big drinkers and they’ve never pressured me.

Dear Forge Press, Binge Drinking can be a problem for some students but the real ale society and cocktail society

the companies that make the drinks, are sold at ridiculously cheap prices.

Perhaps it would be better to attack the universities policies on allowing promoters to hand out flyers offering student drinks discounts on university premises like on the concourse?

This type of journalism would be better perceived as it would actually make a step towards curbing the access to alcohol.

Did you think about mentioning the Give It A Go cocktail making sessions when you were slandering the societies, or consider that even if a society isn’t alcohol based it will have alcohol themed nights, except in the few cases of religious groups etc.

These other societies have trips to nightclubs as their nights out, not listening to authors talk about their books, sampling sessions that involve drinking less than a pint, or lectures working on the science of alcohol.

The real ale society, however is definitely not about binge drinking.

Or even encouraging drinking to surfeit; it encourages the consumption of local, artisan brews made by conscientious craftspeople rather than the yellow water that larger corporations advertise everywhere.

You won’t find many of the Ale society members out on West street knocking down jäger bombs, and pints of stella, will you? That’s if you had asked.

From a journalistic point of view at a university paper it would be better to have more quotes and statistics from this university.

It seems irrelevant to know what a Loughborough student is saying.

It would also be pertinent to say that not all muslims don’t drink, and the same for Christians, who actually drink wine at communion.

I realise that a lot of people might be taking this article with a pinch of salt, but by attacking the wrong people, you are risking not being heard by those you may be attempting to reach.

Regards, Dominic Hughes MSc Microbrewing

drinking responsibly.

Even if the members get drunk, they will never have consumed as many units as someone drinking £1 shots; there just isn’t the alcohol content available if you’re drinking £3+ pints.

An idiotic move based upon a misunderstanding of what these societies represent.

They encourage the support of local pubs and businesses, and

Michael Bates

It’s only ever people who don’t know me who do – or, even worse – who automatically judge me for my choices.

To be honest, though, I do think that this article presents a very odd view of non-drinkers, and that the fact it had to be written at all is a poor reflection on university culture.

That, more than anything, is what I really hate… as you can probably tell from my decision to comment anonymously. promotes anything.

safe

drinking

if

It is the appreciation of certain drinks – Just a group of people

Anonymous enjoying a few quiet drinks, choosing not to spend the whole night excessively drinking!

Ben

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Got an opinion on the topics discussed this fortnight?

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Let us know what you think about this issue by tweeting @ForgePress

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COMMENT

Forge Press asks should university students have to pay council tax?

We’ve wheelie bin More a-tax on blessed - now it’s students by so time we paid up called Lib Dems Anna Lamont

In this day and age money is a touchy subject with everyone, but it is especially evident with students.

Increasing inflation, not to mention the tuition fees saga, means that we are fiercely protective of our money - or at least when the government wants it.

So the news that some Liberal Democrats may be considering an end to students’ exemption from council tax was unsurprisingly not greeted happily. But is this the right opinion?

You have to consider the social climate that has led to this suggestion: with the credit crunch only a few years in the past and the threat of a double dip recession still hanging over the UK’s head, the economy is in need of any help it can get.

Students contributing to tax would provide the government with muchneeded extra capital to keep other groups paying less or no tax.

Live-in carers and people with severe mental disabilities are among the groups who are also exempt from council tax - paying council tax would arguably be a lot harder for them than students.

But even if the economic situation didn’t prompt it, why shouldn’t we pay council tax even when living in private properties?

We experience all the

benefits of tax, from having our bins collected to enjoying the presence of street lights.

It’s also arguable that as students we use up more council resources than most other residences, with our use of the transport system and the amount of police time/hospital time we occupy after nights out.

National students even get to vote in the council elections, having their say on how council money should be spent even though none of that money comes from them. Surely as legal adults we should contribute to the society which provides the benefits we all enjoy?

After all the decision to go into a higher education is a choice that we all willingly made. If you didn’t go to university, you would be paying tax now. Does making this choice give you the right to be exempt from contributing to society in a form that just about everyone else has to do as well?

There also could be some social benefits to this situation. It is no shock to any student that the national image of us is not exactly a positive one.

The media’s influence has meant that much of the public as a whole views students as at best slackers, and at worst disruptive trouble makers who spend significant amounts of their time drinking.

Whether this is factually correct or not, it is by no means a flattering caricature.

If students, though, were to start paying council tax this may cause a change of opinion; students would be seen as contributing to society rather than sponging off it. A more positive outlook from the public should not therefore be underrated.

So there you are, an alternative view of why students should pay council tax.

But I think one of the main arguments I can offer up in favour of this perspective is actually a criticism of the opposition; while arguing that paying council tax leaves us students with less money, economic considerations can’t become the only factor of the argument.

We all want to hold on to our money but surely having a stronger, more supportive society is more important?

The proposal that students should pay council tax has to be put in the context of the cuts. The logic behind the proposal is that councils have had their budgets slashed by central government and have to find a way of replacing the money that’s been taken.

So to answer whether students should pay council tax we have to look whether the cuts should be happening.

In my opinion, the cuts shouldn’t be happening full stop. They won’t reduce the deficit. The economy of a nation isn’t like that of a household, if you cut spending it doesn’t automatically mean you save more money.

To quote Standard &

Every little helps

Image: Images Money/Flickr

Joe Lo

Poor’s – a credit rating agency and a pillar of the International Finance Establishment - economic cuts can “risk becoming selfdefeating.”

Even if you do believe that the cuts do have to happen, why should the poorest in society have to pay for a crisis that they didn’t cause, while those culpable - the bankers, regulators, politicians and journalists - carry on as if nothing happened? If someone has to pay, it should be those responsible, those who can most afford to pay: the rich. £1,000 in council tax is nothing to someone like our Vice-Chancellor who earns £300,000 a year but to a student it’s a lot.

You could argue that students aren’t the poorest in society. We’re not homeless, starving or destitute. People on minimum wage have to pay council tax so why shouldn’t we?

I agree that people on low incomes shouldn’t pay council tax but two wrongs don’t make a right. Just because low-paid workers are being unfairly treated doesn’t mean we should be too.

These types of comparisons between two relatively disadvantaged groups lead to a race to the bottom and let more well-off groups off the hook. It’s the same logic that leads private-sector workers to call for publicsector pensions to be cut, for British workers to call for “no jobs for Poles” or no council houses for asylum

seekers.

In reality there’s enough money in this country to pay for decent pensions, jobs and homes for everybody if only a government would take it from those who have it.

The argument that the rich should contribute more towards cutting the deficit is not just a moral one, it also makes pragmatic economic sense as the poor spend more of their money immediately, thus stimulating the economy.

For example, if you gave me a £100 it would be in the pockets of local businesses pretty soon, creating jobs. If you gave our ViceChancellor a £100 it would go straight into his savings account.

Finally, this proposal smacks of the Lib Dems, in colloquial terms, “taking the piss”, punishing students for last year’s revolt. They know no students will vote for them at the next election so they’ve got nothing to lose by attacking us. They also know we can’t get rid of them.

We tried our best last year and failed and Nick Clegg’s election promise of a Right to Recall MPs went the way of other Nick-Clegg promises and disappeared after the General Election.

As a result, Lib Dem MPs can act with impunity and are subject to no democratic accountability until 2015.

This council tax proposal is a glaring example of the inadequacy of our democracy. We all know it’s a bad idea, but there’s nothing we can do. What kind of democracy is that?

Up in arms: weapons are inevitable

Alisha Rouse At last week‘s ‘Spring Into Jobs’ fair, there was another protest against the University’s links with arms trade companies, most notably over the presence of Thales, whose total sales are composed of roughly 57 per cent arms and rank 11th in the world’s top arm-producing companies.

The University’s Amnesty International group was on hand to inform students of the practices of Thales and other such companies - as some students may not have been aware.

But near-graduates who attended that fair with an intention of seeking employment in such fields, were fully aware of the practices of these companies far before they were accosted with a flyer.

Before you get out the flaming torches and head for Crookes, I, like most liberalminded students, do not endorse the arms trade.

In fact, I’m a raging pacifist and think the projected £43.6 billion spending on defence for 2013 is atrocious, not to mention the

cost of renewing the Trident nuclear weapons system, somewhere around a cool £100 billion. This money could have gone towards higher education, I hear you cry.

How easy it is to take your own interests into account - what about pensions? And child tax credits?

The unfortunate reality is that the arms trade is a highly profitable, and employable market. Thousands of students, engineering and chemistry students in particular, have exciting prospects in these fields: prospects that they should not be denied on the basis of geography. If the University chose, which it won’t, to end affiliations with arms dealers, then other universities would simply continue to do so.

What if they didn’t? What if it was a nation-wide decision? Then the companies would simply seek the brightest, young things from universities abroad, to fulfil jobs our graduates are perfectly capable of doing, and, in this employment climate, that they need.

The University should not be a training ground for workplace fodder to be launched into somewhat unethical industries, but graduates are certainly not forced to do so.

Their choice of career is solely their

own, and while these opportunities are out there, it is the University’s duty to support student career opportunities.

With rising fees proclaimed to be an essential austerity measure, students are going to leave university with more debt than ever before. So why limit their job opportunities?

‘The unfortunate reality is that the arms trade is a highly profitable and employable market’

If your problem is with global military practices, trading with dictatorial despots somewhere around the equator, like it is mine, then it’s pressure on the government to enact pacifist legislation that you’re after.

Campaign for sanctions, or for arms embargos, or anything else that you believe is necessary to change the world. Not being an eternal pessimist, I believe passionate protest and intelligent challenges on government conventions can wield results.

While the industry is present, and

however selfish it sounds, if a mechanical engineering graduate wants to work in arms developments, then their choice should be supported.

No, the arms industry is not ethical, but we’re all aware of that - even before it goes to a Union referendum or gets bashed out in a Union Council meeting where some people genuinely care greatly, and others are too interested in their current supply of biscuits to really give a shit. People fall asleep for Christ’s sake.

Denying our University’s graduates a clear, and well-paid avenue of employment is not the way to stop the atrocious murder of thousands of civilians due to armed conflict. Thales’ starting salary is £26,500 with a £2,000 welcome bonus. And no, this £26,500 and the imminent purchase of a nice, new Audi is not an exchange for those innocent lives.

It’s a reality, that is going to be someone’s job, somewhere: one that if you choose to take, you should not be chastised for doing so and being successful in a horrible world.

Likewise if you disagree, and want to change these practices, you should be free to do so. It comes down to comfort vs. action, and which you will choose.

FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012

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11

COMMENT

Let the present see the past no likey for backwards show Take Me Out: The Scandal

Wen-Jing Mo was at the centre of a sex scandal on the show when it was revealed she used to be a prostitute, earning up to £3,000 a week...

...while her date, Aaron Withers, worked as a £50-an-hour escort and had a criminal conviction for punching a woman.

Throwing a Paddy: is the show good natured, or does it have undertones unacceptable in current society?

Fay Guest Every Saturday night it is a trending topic on Twitter and fills up Facebook news feeds, and averages between four and five million viewers an episode.

It is of course Take Me Out, the show in which 30 women watch as one man at a time comes down in ‘Paddy’s Love Lift’ and attempts to impress them, and if they happen to be unimpressed with said man, ‘No Likey, No Lighty.’ So far, so empowering.

Apparently.

Next step, the girls whose lights happen to be on are then put up in front of the male, who gets to choose, via the medium of turning off the lights of the girls he isn’t interested in.

Cue lots of screaming/begging for the guy to not turn their lights off. And then some pretty cringy moments when the camera focuses on the disappointed faces of the girls who have been rejected.

The fact is that however much it may seem as though the women in this game are empowered and in control, they are anything but.

More often than not they are left competing with each other for the attention of the man, and given that the only knowledge that they have of him and he of them boils down to a few short minutes, the choice he makes will be based on looks. Not so empowering after all.

All of the women on Take Me Out are indeed very beautiful, but there is something of a sour aftertaste when it becomes obvious that the ones that get dates tend to be the ones wearing the most make up, the shortest

dress, and with the most coiffed hair.

Not that there is anything wrong with being attracted to this, but it does rather cater to a certain stereotype and doesn’t show off anything that may be wonderful about these girls’ personalities or intellect.

Take Gracie for example. She is a student from Huddersfield, and it would seem, very popular with the viewers as there are several Facebook fan pages dedicated to her.

She has however, yet to get a date, despite usually being one of the last to turn her light off, if she doesn’t get it switched off for her.

Very witty, she is well known for her one-liners, as well as for her dark curly hair and dark rimmed glasses.

During an interview with a tabloid newspaper she stated that she had been on the receiving end of abuse regarding her looks via Twitter.

How sad that an intelligent, funny and pretty young woman should have to put up with this through a medium that largely protects the culprits.

For Gracie’s part, she laughs it off, but even she says that she thinks the reason that people may not find her sexy is because “I like clothes that are loose and comfy.”

So of course, the tabloid just had to give her a makeover resulting in very coiffed hair and lots of makeup, because apparently that is the only way that Gracie will get a date.

Take Me Out is without a doubt a show based completely on looks, and on a certain ideal.

Even during the time when the women allegedly have control, it is instead the man who is degraded and humiliated, judged

entirely on looks, and whatever ridiculous talent he is required to perform in order to win approval.

All fine when he appears to look a certain way, but when he doesn’t and there is a ‘black out’ he leaves to the sound of All By Myself by Celine Dion. Every now and again that song is the soundtrack to everyone’s single moments á la Bridget Jones, but thankfully not on television, with the audience cheering and leering.

‘They are there to be laughed at by the audience at home’

It is the same brand of humiliation that dominates shows like X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, amongst the ‘talented’ ones there are the ones that are put there by the show’s producers in order to generate publicity and make for ‘good’ television.

In other words, they are there to be laughed at by their fellow contestants and the audience at home.

Stephanie is one such contestant. She recently got a date, but according to the Twitter frenzy that followed, her date didn’t look too happy about it.

Stephanie has, over the course of the third series, talked about her interests and hobbies, which include a range of sports.

Going by this, she’s an interesting woman with plenty to talk about. And talk she does, and herein lies her humiliation.

She’s enthusiastic, bubbly, with a very high pitched sing song voice, which leads many viewers on social networking websites to hurl abuse at and about her. Not

something that someone deserves just for the pitch of her voice.

The men are often similarly humiliated, such as the one who turned up dressed entirely in a white suit, and the one who had a penchant for Hawaiian shirts and sung scouting songs as his talent.

Yes, they sign up for this, but one can’t help wondering where the friends of these people were, knowing the bear pit that Take Me Out can be, who allowed them to go and sacrifice any sort of dignity on national prime time television.

Surely it must be time for television and society in general to stop with the humiliation rituals and with the obsession with looks and the aesthetic ideal.

The dating game is hard enough and often humiliating, so it is beyond belief that it would be seen as a good idea to magnify this and put it on television for the world to see on a Saturday night.

The messages given off are not exactly positive either, women competing for a man’s attention based on looks, men trying to impress women using frankly ridiculous techniques.

The whole shebang is based on aesthetics. Yes it makes for entertaining television, but only at the expense of others, and respect and dignity are firmly left at the door.

Got an opinion on the topics discussed this fortnight?

Contact: letters@forgetoday.com

Other contestants have found it considerably easier to ‘succeed’; this snap allegedly shows an orgy at the £4.5m Take Me Out mansion in Wales.

Ladies’ man Damion Merry not only insulted every female contestant with one comment, but also turned out to be married. Crikey.

Unlucky-in-love twins Sam and Cat slated producers for making them look bad during their 14-week stint on the show.

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COMMENT

Voters weren’t Russian to the poll booths for Putin after all Martin Bottomley

With tears trickling down his (astonishingly taut for a 59-year-old) cheeks, Vladimir Putin surveyed the crowd over Manezh Square in front of the Kremlin.

It was a moment of great symbolism for the president turned prime minister turned president: he had achieved a triumphant victory over his rivals, winning 63.6 per cent of votes to the 17 per cent of his closest rival, Gennady Zyuganov.

He had been vindicated in his renewed quest for the Kremlin. “We showed that nobody can force anything upon us!” he told his supporters in a crowning moment of democratic glory.

Or at least, that’s what Putin-affiliated state media would have you believe.

It’s laughable that they even try. It’s laughable that western media even bother to include the phrase “facing accusations of voting fraud.”

The farcical state of Russian politics is painfully self-evident, and when

then-President Medvedev ‘happened’ to suggest Prime Minister Putin as the next presidential candidate of United Russia, the moment seemed akin to a Brechtlike hyperbole, a grotesque exaggeration of the failings of the system. Except that it was real.

‘That Putin was forced to campaign bodes well for Russia’

This has, naturally, been the source of endless amusement for western media.

In a German news report on the 2011 elections (which also “faced accusations of fraud”), the narrator expresses his bemusement that “Medvedev actually defended the results”.

In this election, the methods have only become more bizarre: instead of the too-obvious throwing out of election observers, Putin opted to bus United Russia supporters from one polling station to the other to cast their vote.

This approach is nonetheless obviously fraudulent. In Chechnya, a region that has fought

war several times to gain the workforce. bourgeois revolution may independence from Russia They are a new, educated well be underway. in the past years, Putin won force to be reckoned with, The fact that Putin was 99.82 per cent of the vote. and already have a tangible forced to campaign, to use In one precinct in the impact: Moscow is already his power and win more capital Grozny, the electoral overwhelmingly anti- popular appeal in lieu of a turnout was 107 per cent.

Putin. To put it in Marxist growing protest movement Elections in Russia aren’t t e r m s , t h e bodes well for the general an exercise of democratic state of Russia. rights, they’re an exercise However, the end is by in demonstrating the no means in sight. authorities’ power.

As the results from The Russian population, Chechnya show, however, has become local authorities increasingly vocal in its are keen, if not opposition to Russia. over-eager, With a wide variety to keep their of people, from radical comfortable anti-Putin punk bands power-sharing (Pussy Riot) to rich arrangement socialites, Moscow with the has been aflame with K r e m l i n . protest for the past Chechnya’s few months, inspired president, by the events of the R a m z a n Arab Spring.

Kadryov, is a Even more protests former Chechen are underway, spitting rebel who, along on the dispersal of earlier with his father - a gatherings by the police. former president of Some commentators have Chechnya who was seen this as spelling out assassinated in 2004 the beginning of the end defected to the Russian for Putin: The Economist side in the wake of the documented Russia’s Second Chechen growing middle class, War. It’s pointing that natural they now that he account for 25 has an per cent of the interest in population and keeping 40 per cent of Not Putin up with it anymore: are protests a call for change? Putin in

power.

Such endemic corruption is a massive hurdle that any opposition must overcome.

It might prove too much to handle.

There is a lot more wrong with the state of Russia than a lack of democracy.

In foreign policy, it’s obstructionist to the point of practically allying with Syria. It still has plenty of internal problems, for example neo-Nazism, an enormous social divide and its reliance on oil.

Despite this, it’s come far since the chaotic Yeltsin years, and Putin was quite possibly the president best posed to deliver muchneeded stability after eight years of a very public alcoholic in power.

But those years are over, and the source of instability has become Putin himself.

The opposition towards him is stronger, more vocal and more intimidating to the Kremlin than ever before.

While Putin will definitely not disappear tomorrow, they could very well lead to his eventual fall.

But after that, there lies the much more murky territory of Russia’s future, and it hasn’t looked this uncertain for a long time.

Patrol prices: Tories to Does anyone care for privatise police force the Olympics? Discus Rebecca Juster

I was pretty shocked when the cost of a university education increased from £3,000 to £9,000 a year. I felt angry, but I must say not at all surprised, when I heard the plans to make some changes to the National Health Service, a pillar of our society.

Yet, surprise and anger could not possibly describe my reaction reading that the government plans to privatise the police.

I initially thought it was a joke. There was no way they could put the law into the hands of corporate business. Even Margaret Thatcher didn’t do that. But it looks like the rule of law has become something rather flippant anyway – not least for the rich.

The thought that your entire life could be put in the hands of people only interested in profit is mind-blowing. Need the dangers of such a policy even be explained?

To avoid ignorance about such a daunting idea, I read an article on the advantages of the scheme, which said that it would “raise the standard of criminal justice in this country.”

I know! I have a great idea. We have all had The X Factor on our TV screens for too long. Let’s bring in another series of The Apprentice, but this time they have to compete as to who can run the police force the most effectively.

Alan Sugar will have a whale of a time firing those who could not solve the murder.

But there is a simple solution – just nick someone else for it. At least, thank God, the boardroom exchanges would be a bit more exciting.

It sounds a rather sombre, Orwellian take on the future of such a plan, but we could be seeing the highest investors to this force having effective control over the whole country.

They can get off scot-free of their crimes and they could probably swiftly eliminate their innocent enemies at the same time.

‘It looks like the rule of law has become something rather flippant - not least for the rich’ I am sure when Fry and Laurie made their very funny ‘Privatization of the Police’ sketch, they did not think that it would actually happen.

We could end up being the Laurie of the sketch – waiting at the end of a phone line as infuriatingly jolly music plays, while the police deal with more profitable calls. Some manager can now decide what constitutes a crime worth investigating and what doesn’t.

I am a bit of a fan of the 1980s police drama Ashes to Ashes, as it presents a police force that never has to deal with any of the boring crimes like minor traffic offences or petty theft.

The head of the police station, Gene Hunt, is terribly corrupt, making his decisions based on who he likes and who he doesn’t. Of course, this makes for good television.

But that should stay on the television.

I’m sure this new plan would have all the elements of Gene Hunt to it, except perhaps his charm.

Dom Johnson

The Olympic flame is coming to Sheffield at the end of June, local girl Jessica Ennis is on course to be a gold medal winner and the venues are almost ready. There are now only 133 days until the 2012 London Olympics open to the world. But does anyone really care?

I cannot wait for the Olympics. I have my tickets - which I admit made a lot of effort to get my hands on - and am ready to dive into the TV coverage, starting with the opening ceremony on July 27.

But I know there are plenty of people out there who entirely reject the London games.

It seems not a week goes by without some kind of revelation regarding the Olympics, whether it’s confusion over the ticketing process, criticism of the logo or cries of how massive overspending is costing the taxpayer billions.

However, it seems to me that as game time approaches the public feeling is becoming increasingly positive.

More and more people are getting into the spirit of the games. People really care about the Olympics and now it seems that just as often as we get bad stories, the positives of the 2012 games shine through.

Construction is expected to be completed on time and under budget, Team GB look likely to take home a massive medal haul, the UK is set to see record tourism levels, and locally the Sheffield economy has already seen a £19million boost before the games even begin.

London has been given the amazing opportunity to host the games of the 30th

Olympiad, and it should be a spectacular summer for the UK. This is literally a once in a lifetime event.

I cannot understand the people who don’t support the games, the benefits they will bring to our country are huge and this is something we will never get the chance to be involved with again.

A deprived area of the country has been totally rejuvenated, transport infrastructure across the country has been massively improved and updated, the UK has a set of brand new world-class sporting facilities and a whole generation of kids have been inspired to get into sport.

Yes, Britain and the rest of the world are facing hard times, but I think that is just one more reason these Olympics are so good. What better way to cheer everyone up than an enormous celebration in one of the greatest cities in the world?

The chance for the UK to show everyone what we are capable of and put on the greatest show on Earth is one that we may never have again. It will be expensive, the logo is a bit odd and traffic will be a nightmare, but for a few weeks the eyes of the world will be on London and the UK as we host these incredible games.

When the Olympic flame comes to my home town this summer I plan on going to see it, and I cannot wait to visit the Olympic park and experience the electric atmosphere surrounding the biggest sporting event on the planet.

Does anyone care about the Olympics?

The first round of ticket sales alone saw 20 million applications and the Olympic ceremonies are expected to draw an international television audience of over four billion. So yes, it seems a lot of people do.

FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012

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COMMENT

Kony campaign can’t quell African conflict completely Miriam Dobson You may have noticed something different about your Facebook feed this past week. A new phrase has abounded: “Kony 2012.”

I have to admit that when I first saw somebody post this, along with the phrase “Let’s make Kony famous,” I thought I’d stumbled into an election campaign I had been previously unaware of.

As a Politics student who should probably be clued up about election campaigns, I proceeded to watch the video to find out what it was all about.

Call me a cynic, but I didn’t hit “share” straight away. There were a number of things about the video that prompted me to look a little further into exactly who Invisible Children are, what they stand for, and what “stop Kony” even means.

After the farce of the “Make Poverty History” wristbands, I’ve been sceptical about easy actions that make people feel like they are doing some good in the world. As far as I know, watching a YouTube video has never rescued a child soldier.

The idea that, somehow, by sharing a Facebook video or buying a t-shirt, “we” can liberate the poor suffering Africans from their troubles, is a despicable one.

It’s an idea that’s rooted in imperialism, which views Ugandans as unable to aid themselves without Western assistance.

It’s an idea that puts American or British students on a higher intellectual level than the

Kony has become a 21st century target due to social media Invisible Children’s tactic of funding the Ugandan army – who themselves have been accused of using rape as a weapon – doesn’t appear to be the most effective way to catch somebody who isn’t in Uganda.

It is brilliant that people have suddenly developed a concern for international justice and the pursuit of war criminals such as Kony.

However, there are already many charities working in Uganda who are doing a brilliant job.

Charity Watch, which

most educated Ugandans.

It’s an idea voiced by people who refer to Africa as a single country, who can’t find Uganda on the map, and who are unaware of the facts.

Here are some facts. The “Kony 2012” campaign is about six years late.

Joseph Kony left Uganda in 2006 and hasn’t been active there since. Those local to areas in which the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was previously active have condemned Invisible Children as bringing them more harm than good.

is an independent organisation that rates charities based on their effectiveness both financially and on the ground, has a whole page dedicated to organisations that provide emergency relief to Uganda.

It warns against disreputable charities that “take advantage of the public’s generosity” - Invisible Children has a history of questionable finances.

Most importantly, the organisations that it rates as A+ are Africare, the Catholic Relief Services, and International Rescue Committee.

Others, such as Save the Children, earn an A grade. There are many to choose from, and each is already working hard in Uganda with a much deeper understanding of the country’s needs and the best way to provide for them, than certain viral video campaigns will ever have.

The Kony 2012 campaign may have brought the crimes of Joseph Kony into the public domain, but the ways in which Invisible Children suggest that Kony and the LRA should be dealt with, and their lack of concern for long-term stability and solutions in Uganda itself, are not as clean as the film makes out.

If you really want to help Uganda and bring criminals to justice, it is worth researching charities that are already doing so effectively, and donating to them instead of to others that have been embroiled in controversy.

It might take more effort than hitting “share” on Facebook, but the longterm effects will be worth it.

Channel 4, Bradford is already British Ace Carroll Make Bradford British – Channel 4 certainly weren’t pulling any punches with their title, starting out with the amount of provocation that they clearly aim to continue with. If Bradford isn’t British, then I have no idea what exactly it’s supposed to be.

Growing up in Bradford means getting used to being on the defence when someone asks about it, and it was inevitable that Bradford would be chosen for a show like this.

The fact that Bradford is the most culturally diverse city in the UK aside, we’re more commonly known for riots, racism and the BNP. Channel 4 weren’t ever going to do much to combat that opinion. Obviously extreme characters were going to be the ones chosen to be on TV, and Channel 4 chose the ones they knew would get a reaction.

The infamous Bradford riots aside - they did happen over 10 years ago, something that the media conveniently forget to mention - the show seems to choose to focus on the divide between Muslim Asians and the so-called selfidentifying ‘British’ residents – although most Bradford Asians do call themselves British Asians.

But if this is about segregation and different cultures, it’s interesting to note that we don’t hear a word from, for example, the Eastern European population. The Ukrainian and Polish communities have been strong in Bradford for more than 50 years, and yet they garner no mention in the show.

Watching the show raises the question of what, exactly, Channel 4 mean by ‘British.’ The word ‘integration’ is

thrown about a lot without it ever being really specified what they mean by that.

Is the intention that the Asian population should throw their original culture aside in order to assimilate with everyone else? Or perhaps it’s the fact that the Asian community is incredibly tight-knit, understandably so.

They choose to live near each other, and why wouldn’t they? A sense of community and wanting to live near your family doesn’t equal an intolerant attitude and hatred of everyone else, last time I checked.

The common perception is that the racial divide between Bradford’s Asian population and British families is massive. A rift in the city. Except it’s not. Asian children go to school with British children, Asian teenagers are included in the friendship groups of British teenagers and Asian adults go to work side by side with British adults.

And no one bats an eyelid.

That’s not to deny that any racial divide in Bradford exists. Of course it does, and it’s an issue. But it’s not the only one, and it’s insulting for Bradford’s problems to be reduced to a single issue.

If Channel 4 had set out to make an intelligent and thought-provoking show about the challenges that Bradford faces, it’d be welcome.

But they’re using the same formula for programmes such as Big Brother and if you throw a lot of people in a house together, it’s obvious that some won’t get on – skin colour and religion aside.

If you want to feel self-righteously outraged and pat yourself on the back that you’re not like those horrid racists from Bradford then go ahead, and watch it.

But judging Bradford as a city by the standards of Make Bradford British would be like judging marriages entirely by the standards of Wife Swap – ignorant and pointless.

Editorial Uni dropping out of world top 100 has consequences

The University has just dropped outside the top 100 universities in the Times Higher Education world university rankings 2012.

We now sit in 101 in the world which on the face of it doesn’t sound bad but it will have bigger consequences for the Uni. This is obviously bad news for the University who, for the future, are aiming to improve their internationalisation.

With the extortionate international fees the more international students the University gets the more cash there will be in the coffers.

As the funding cuts hit home international students become more and more important to the Uni. Rankings such as these are a huge blow as the appeal of coming to Sheffield to study has dropped.

In the coming year there needs to be some serious work to push the University back into the top 100 in the world.

Black and gold returns but it could be silver once again

Once again the annual ritual of wearing black and gold, screaming encouragement, abuse, and passion at our city rivals all in the name of sport has arrived.

This year’s Varsity will undoubtedly be the biggest and best yet (and not only because it has been organised by ‘big’ Ben Baldwin).

The likelihood of us winning the overall competition is probably pretty slim. After all it has been nine years since we toppled Hallam. Varsity, along with the Union elections, is one of the few things that really does unite the students at the University. Thousands cheer on their friends, aquaintainces and team mates as they take the center stage against our bitter foes.

As ever Forge Media will have unrivalled coverage throughout the whole of Varsity. In the next issue of Forge Press out on March 29 the morning after Varsity finishes we’ll have 16 pages of coverage of the whole event. Also online there’ll be commentry from Forge Radio, live video from Forge TV and a live blog, you can catch it all on ForgeToday.com from Wednesday March 21.

Matt Burgess - Editor: matt@Forgetoday.com

D.A.R.T.S.

Forge Press takes its satirical aim

Tweet of the fortnight:

“Elections over. Give up #bully #youthinkyourecoolbutyoureawanker”

- Welfare Officer Matt Denton to now-infamous Students’ Union election blogger Leon Derczynski

Will the real Tom Hollis please stand up:

It is said that impersonation is the first sign of being a celebrity. Well, if that’s the case, Tom Hollis take a bow.

Following his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Tom has had a fake Twitter account created in his name. What comes next for this boy? Kim Karadashian, watch out!

Website of the fortnight:

http://tinyurl.com/ canibuyasmokingfineplease

With all this excess cash us students have knocking around, the University of Sheffield has taken it upon themselves to find us an outlet for it all.

Having failed to rinse us fully of our student loans during Bar One’s January anti-sales, the University is doing its upmost to allow us to part with our savings as effortlessly as possible.

The Online Store now allows students to buy themsleves smoking fines. For £25, students can get that ‘caught behind the bike shed’ feeling, without needing to indulge themselves in the shameless art of tobacco consuption.

Simple.

If you’re one of those unfortunate few who has more than £25 to eradicate, then fear not; the University has provisions for your plight too. You can also purchase Residential Service fines - and for this one, wait for it, you can enter the exact amount of fine you wish to buy. So you can finally wipe out your whole bank balance in one easy step. Phew. Thanks for that Uni. I’m fuming.

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Olympic Dreams...

Sheffield-based photojournalist James Dodd discusses his highly-acclaimed projects, which explore the city and the pressures on child athletes Words: Marishka Van Steenbergen Photos: James Dodd

J

ames Dodd is the kind of photojournalist every city needs, focusing on the people that make up the life of the city and portraying them in their everyday lives. James believes that there is an interesting and important story right on his doorstep. Instead of following the crowd and chasing the sensational or the shocking, James is determined to tell the real stories about real life in the city in which he lives.

James’ Olympic Dreams project was the first of these stories.

Inspired by a quote from David Beckham, the project explores the physical and mental pressures placed on children competing for the Olympics.

“David Beckham said he was so good at free kicks because he dreamt about doing them. This repetition meant that he became so comfortable doing them that is was just like an everyday activity,” said James, Sheffield-based photographer and founder of Statement Images.

“These kids were obviously doing the same thing, going through the same routines, doing a dive 20 times over. I tried to convey the emotions that the kids were going through without showing the actual emotions, but showing images of them in this dream-like state.”

Olympic Dreams also questions the role of children in such highpressure roles in our society. “I wanted to create really strong images which people could remember,” said James. He conveys the children in uncomfortable positions, isolated from everything else, whilst their bodies are tense in mid-dive or grasping at the water as they swim towards the surface.

Neither photojournalism nor art, James said that people struggled to pigeonhole the project. Yet he has gained coverage from publications such as The Guardian, the BBC, Burn Magazine and Newsweek Japan and also exhibited the project at Bank Street Arts in Sheffield.

James now has plans to create a photo documentary of life behind the scenes during the Olympics.

Following the children who don’t

get into the Olympic teams or the younger children who continue training whilst watching their older colleagues compete. James believes that there will be plenty of coverage of the Olympic teams but “these are the stories that need to be told.”

Aa a qualified photojournalist, James believes in the hyper-local and the importance of the everyday stories that are never told. “The Olympic Dreams project was the start of this idea that stories exist locally which can have national and international significance,” said James.

expertise informed the creation of Statement Images, a collective of photographers from around the world. The collective acts as a support network and a forum for sharing ideas and projects. “We’ve all got similar goals and to some extent it is easier to pull together and to become known under one name.”

James’s Olympic Dreams project led to the collective gaining a commission from Channel 4. “We’ve all got different sets of skills and we can pitch for each other.”

James was inspired to become a photojournalist through renowned photojournalists like Robert Capa, James Nachtwey, Henri CartierBresson and Don McCullin. Yet, his experience of journalism has led him along a different path to those he was inspired by.

After working as a freelance journalist and experiencing the limitations of news journalism, James began to question the mindset of his vocation. He had reservations about the chase for images of extreme sadness and destruction which newspapers require. He questioned the virtues of chasing the image that would give him a career-break and the eagerness of his colleagues to travel to war torn countries or places of disaster to cover these ‘extremes’.

“I thought is that really what I want to be involved in? I’m more interested in the subjects within the world where I live, rather than chasing images around the world.”

James decided that he wanted the time and space to work on stories which were important and interesting without the restrictions and limitations of news. So he sought advice from other photographers like Simon Roberts, an awardwinning photographer who studied Human Geography at the University of Sheffield. Simon has become a mentor for James and has helped him to pursue his dreams.

This idea of exchanging ideas and

James is also co-editor of Street Reverb Magazine, a website dedicated to promoting, publishing and discussing contemporary street photography. James believes that the agenda-focused media has driven photojournalists to look for alternative platforms like Street Reverb and Statement Images as a means of publishing.

The inspiration to create such platforms has come from photographer Rob Hornstra and his Sochi Project. In 2014, the Olympic Games will take place in Sochi, Russia. Sochi is a largely impoverished region, next to the conflict zone of Abkhazia.

Rob Hornstra and filmmaker Arnold van Bruggen are spending the next four years documenting the extreme makeover of the region and how Sochi’s ‘economic crises is glossed over as much as possible’.

James marvels at how Rob and Arnold have created their own platform for their stories, without going through the standard publishing routes. He said that by creating their own platform they have created a level of control which means they do not have to follow the media’s agenda. “They cover stories that the newspapers aren’t interested in and concentrate on the daily life in the area,” said James.

One of their stories is about the Sochi singers and the Sochi culture where in every town the same traditional songs are sung in the same settings. James values the

From the extremes to the everyday

“

I wanted to create really strong images which people could remember James Dodd

”

An alternative platform- slow journalism

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“

I have lived here for 27 years and yet there are still areas I have never been to James Dodd

”

everyday nature of these stories, “It’s a very simple sharing of this way of life. It is not an ‘extreme’ of life but it is still intriguing.”

Sunday Morning Sales

James is currently working on his own project of similar simplicity and everyday nature. His Sunday Morning Sales project documents car boot sales across the country.

James simply captures the people and their objects, portraying the tranquil nature of a car boot sale, a man relaxing in a chair in the middle of a field, a woman standing behind her table of trinkets staring into the sky, cars acting as stands for an array of objects and categories of books, clothes or toys neatly laid out for someone else to treasure.

James believes that each stall is a portrait of the sellers, “a piece of themselves spread out right there on decorating tables and on the floor for all to see and buy.”

Staying true to the ideas of alternative platforms, James plans to exhibit this work ‘in the context it was created in’.

He is buying picture frames from the car boot sales in which he will place the photographs to exhibit at the car boot sales. He aims to use the work to approach new audiences who might not normally step into a gallery and who aren’t going with the purpose of seeing art “They will also have an interest in the subject because they are part of it, there are few places you can exhibit where you know that 300 odd people will be interested in the subject,” mused James.

Sheffield as a subject

Taking the idea of hyper-local to its extreme, James has been working on Sheffield as a project for the last five months.

“I want to find out more about the city which is the single geographical location which has the most connection to me, but I don’t feel this connection to it,” said James.

He is exploring the idea of the city having seven hills and the fact there are more trees per person than any other city in Europe.

James is also interested in where Sheffield’s industry has gone and what has replaced it. “I want to explore whether Sheffield’s identity has changed with its industry.”

Now that he has bought a house in Sheffield, James feels more of a need to explore the city, “I have lived here for 27 years and yet there are still areas I have never been to. I feel like I have explored other cities more as a photographer whereas I’ve neglected my own.”

James is currently exploring Sheffield’s past through his Dead Photographers project. Using his father’s removals company, James is collecting the unwanted items discarded during house clearances of the deceased.

He has found whole photography archives of once keen photographers. James is using this collection to explore the relationship between photography and time, and how people’s attitudes towards photographs have changed.

With each new project James maintains a determination to simply document the everyday lives of people around him, exploring the intriguing stories of the regular person, the ‘stories that need to be told’.

A review by No Culture Icons, a collective of photographers and artists, sums up James’s style perfectly: “The images are without mystery or questioning, but instead revel in the few times in which there are no great unknowns to be fought against: here are the people, and this is what they do, what they buy and sell, what they are and what they want to be.”

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The making of you So by now most third-year students will either know what they are doing next year, or they won’t. Whether you know it or not the postgraduation years will be the making of you...

Words: Giulia Smith Pictures: Jonothan0202/Flickr

I

t’s that time of year again, third year students are finishing their dissertations and the impending doom of life after university is approaching faster than anyone dares admit. As the end of term nears, students will face the realisation that they can’t continue to wake up at midday every day, they won’t be able to watch The Jeremy Kyle Show on a daily basis, and the once distant thought of student debt is now infact a harsh reality.

For the first time in their lives, most students won’t have a readymade path to follow. The one that took them from school to sixth form and to university. Now we are all free to do whatever we wish and for most of us, it’s a frightening thought.

Graduate unemployment is at an all time high, with 25 per cent of students being left with no jobs in 2011. The pressure on students to succeed and make use of their degrees is ever increasing. So what have this year’s prospective Sheffield graduates decided to do?

One lucky third year student, Chris Davey has landed himself a job with one of the best graduate companies, Santander.

“I got referred by contacts from an internship at Santander to the job, and got fast tracked to the assessment centre and eventually got the job offer.” But it wasn’t initially so straight forward. “I applied for three other jobs, I was

“

As I’m still not 100 per cent sure what career I want to go into, I thought if I went travelling it would in effect buy me some time Rosie Dean, third-year Journalism student

”

rejected from one and pulled out of the other two.

“I feel there is a huge pressure to have a job lined up after university.

I have been lucky to get a job doing what I want to do, but I would have liked to set up a business or go travelling for a year.”

Travelling is becoming an increasingly popular route for many graduates. As many students find the prospect of moving from student life to a nine to five job daunting, they opt to travel the world to increase their life experiences.

Whilst the idea of travelling is viewed by some as irresponsible and avoiding reality, it can make people more independent and help them figure out what they truly want from life.

Travelling after university is possibly the best time to go, as you have no commitments, no mortgage to pay, no job to leave, no partner or children. And for many, it can boost their chances of getting a job after they’ve travelled as employers appreciate the skills you have developed from your travelling such as organisational, cultural and interpersonal skills.

Rosie Dean a final year Journalism student at Sheffield is planning to travel after she completes her degree this summer. “All we’ve been hearing for the last few years is how tough it is to get a job at the moment and what a state the job market is in. As I’m still not 100 per cent sure what career I want to go into, I thought if I went travelling it would

“

I definitely could not go back to living with [my parents] all the time, the most I can usually manage is a couple of days Laura Jeffrey, thirdyear

”

in effect buy me some time.

“Travelling is something I’ve always wanted to do, and, as I have a friend who is as eager as me to travel, it seemed like too good of an opportunity to miss.” But her option of travelling hasn’t always been met with approval. “A lot of people have implied I’m silly not to apply for jobs for the coming year, but I think I’d rather wait until I know what I want to do most and then I can look for a job focused on that.

“I know if I don’t travel now, there may never be a time in my life where I can take a long period of time out of other commitments, like a job, and just travel.”

Whilst the option of travelling is embraced by some, for others it’s simply not feasible, either through money issues or a lack of desire.

Some students feel the pressure to work after university to be too great, and won’t consider the option of travelling.

There are other options available such as continuing on with your education and doing a masters.

The choice of doing a masters is attractive to many students mainly for its likeability amongst employers.

“If postgraduate qualifications are undertaken for the right reason and graduates are able to explain their worth to prospective employers, they can be very worthwhile additions to a CV,” says Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

“But motivation is important. If

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FEATURES

it’s just to delay the job search or as a last resort after failing to secure a job, then it’s not worthwhile.”

The prospect of returning home after living on your own is met with mixed feelings in students. For some, they look forward to it – not having to pay rent anymore, or cook in a kitchen that’s piled high with plates and left over alcohol.

They relish the thought of home comforts, and not living with people they may not have got along with.

However, for others, returning home is not an option. Laura Jeffrey is choosing to stay in Sheffield. “I have decided to stay in Sheffield because it is cheap to live here, I already have a job here which I earn enough from to afford to rent a flat.

“I plan to return to Cambridge, where I am originally from, but not ever to live with my parents again as I like living under my own rules and in my own space too much. I definitely could not go back to living with them all the time, the most I can manage is a couple of days normally.”

While she seems very self assured,

she has the same worries as every other student. “I do often worry that I won’t get the career I want but then at the same time I know I will be able to get a job even if it isn’t the career I want and so have many back up plans in case I can’t get the career I want.”

So what was life after university like 20 years ago? Did students feel the same pressure to succeed and get jobs as they do now? Was graduate unemployment as big an issue as it currently is?

Interestingly, my dad graduated from University of Sheffield 20 years ago from the same degree course as myself – Psychology - and is a Sheffield alumni.

“I graduated in Psychology in the early 80s and when I left university I still had no idea what I actually wanted to do with myself.

A number of my graduate friends headed straight into a vocational follow-up to their degrees, such as Architecture, Law and Engineering, but I was still unsure which direction to take.

“All the fees at that time were

paid for by the government, and I was also eligible for a maintenance grant so I left without any real debt of any kind and didn’t feel the same pressure to start earning a proper wage as quickly as I think the graduates of today will.”

For students graduating today, there is certainly more pressure to get into mainstream work as soon as possible, which is why work placements have become so crucial.

Students without a solid idea about their future can use work experience to help inform their decision.

Most employees can instantly tell the difference in people applying out of necessity in an interview as opposed to people generally passionate about the type of work they want.

So whatever it is you have planned for life after university, be it travelling, a masters, work experience or a graduate job, make the most of this last term of university, because before you know it, it will change.

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FEATURES

Behind locked doors

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FEATURES

Forge Press investigates the increasing popularity of urban exploration and talks to explorer Nic Stewart about his adventures into the unknown Words & Pictures: Lauren Clarke

S

unlight is streaming through shattered glass, creating patterns on the rotting floorboards.

The wallpaper is peeling like dead skin and the ragged curtains are faded. The air is heavy with silence until the rare sound of footsteps echoes across the empty room.

This is a fate that has befallen many buildings in Sheffield, and around the country. From homes and hospitals to factories and warehouses, they have been left to crumble and decay. Time slowly ticks by and they are forgotten, most passers-by barely give them a second glance.

But some do.

An empty building may not sound like somewhere you would want to visit, but a trend called “urban exploration” often shortened to ‘urbex’ or ‘urbexing’ has spread across the globe.

A wave of blogs, forums and websites has inundated the Internet, one of the most popular being 28dayslater.com, named after Danny Boyle’s post-apocalyptic film.

On the website urban exploration is described by a forum member called Alias, in an introduction to urban exploration as “learning to appreciate your surroundings and the buildings and structures around you and seeing beauty in places where many people will not.”

Those that go ‘urbexing’ all do so for different reasons; there are the thrill seekers looking for an adrenaline rush or documenters wishing to photograph the beauty of these derelict sites before their state of decay makes them impenetrable or before they are demolished.

Amongst the online community, one photographer really stands out.

Henk van Rensbergen takes beautiful pictures of derelict buildings for all to see at abandoned-places.com.

From visits to abandoned asylums to haunted houses, he advocates the unspoken rule of urban exploring: “take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints”, and on his website states, “Amongst urban explorers vandalism, theft and troublemaking are considered poor ethics.”

However, urban exploration is often illegal, as explorers do not always gain permission before entering the empty premises. Urban explorers also face many dangers in exchange for a thrill, old buildings are often riddled with rotting floorboards, broken glass and rusty nails. As well as this, prolonged exposure to asbestos can cause long-term health problems.

But these dangers aren’t enough to prevent some people from taking the risk.

Nic Stewart, a 21 year old phone support technician from Sheffield got into urban exploration as a natural progression from activities he was already involved in. Having a passion for both parkour and photography, he was always looking for new places to train for parkour as well as new challenges after he had tackled all of the more public areas of Sheffield. He adds “photography also pushed me to these places, I’m

always looking for a new angle and a new environment to shoot.” He is one of the documenters, uploading his findings to his personal blog nicstewart.com.

His attitude to danger is that it is “one of the more interesting parts of the activity. I find it adds to the experience.” But he does take precautions, “I carry a first aid kit and some walkie talkies in case we split up in a large building. Mostly the dangers are things I am used to; such as falls and broken glass, but in some situations there are things outside of your control such as asbestos. In these situations leaving pretty quickly is the only sensible solution.

Nic also always carries torches, as “they can be very useful for dark buildings and for if you get carried away in the twilight hours.”

However Nic avoids urban exploration during winter. “Some of the dangers are amplified with the chance of ice. The other factor is the number of daylight hours available.

The last thing any of us want to do is be stuck in a dangerous building in the dark.”

He also mainly explores with a group of people, which makes things safer and never goes alone. “This is significantly more dangerous and in some situations I have wished there were a few more people around if not for any other reason but how creepy some of the buildings can be.”

The rise in popularity of urban exploration began in the 1990s and was arguably brought to the attention of the online community by the publication in 1996 of a zine called ‘Infiltration’ by Jeff Chapman better known to the urbexers as ‘Ninjalicious’. The zine’s 25 issues, containing information about “going places you’re not supposed to go” were published online at infiltration. org, and have been inspiring people to do the same ever since.

Chapman also published a book, in 2005, shortly before his death, called “Access All Areas: a user’s guide to the art of urban exploration.”

The book discusses ethics of urban exploration as well as giving tips

“

I have not been in a building yet without some hidden gem, from beautiful scenery and views to a perfect place to train for parkour Nic Stewart

”

“

I have a longing to see the city I love from different views Nic Stewart

”

on how to go about doing it. In Sheffield, there are plenty of places to explore, for example some of the older factories and warehouses. Nic says, “the industrial heritage of the city lends well to the activity; there is always something there to explore and I have not been in a building yet without some hidden gem, from beautiful scenery and views to a perfect place to train for Parkour.”

So what else makes these abandoned buildings so appealing?

“I probably enjoy the feel of the buildings most. There is a great divide between what was and what is now, finding rooms that have not been changed in years and thinking about what they must have been like at the time,” says Nic. “One of the best places I have explored was an old psychiatric care center just outside of Hillsborough, it was barely touched from when it was used and had a very eerie feel.”

Nic sticks to the traditional ethics of urban exploration and doesn’t cause any harm to any of the buildings he enters.

“I am there to enjoy the surroundings and explore rather than to cause mischief.

Nic understands that he is breaking the law but has had very little trouble from the police.

“They seem to have very few problems with me going atop a tall abandoned building to shoot a better picture of the city or parkour training on the first floor of an abandoned hotel. We are keeping to ourselves and staying out of the way and I have never had any reason to even consider what I am doing a crime.”

Nic is one of many people with a love of urban landscapes, a landscape that is waiting to be explored, from its great heights to dark and forgotten corners.

“I have a longing to see the city I love from different views. The biggest thing for me is probably the thrill although it probably paints the activity in rather the wrong light.” To him the biggest thrill is “the thrill of the unknown.”

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Lifestyle & Travel

FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012

This fortnight...

We love our mums. As mothers’ day approaches, we have the top three gifts for the most important ladies in our lives.

FOUR OF THE BEST

Record stores in Sheffield RECORD COLLECTOR

VINYL DEMAND

Record Collector in Broomhill is by far one of Sheffield best-loved record stores and it is understandable why.

Record Collector has an eclectic mix of CDs and vinyl and it is split over two neighbouring shops, stocking both old and new releases alike

RARE & RACY

LP RECORD STORE

The tiny interior of Vinyl Demand is highly deceptive and a well seasoned record lover could easily spend hours flicking through the boxes in this store.

With a wonderful range of records to suit all tastes and low prices to match student pockets,

Review

Situated on Arundel Street, LP Record Store stocks both 7” and 12” vinyl in an extensive range. For those willing to spend a little more, the walls of the shop are lined with vinyl rarities. It is also great for cheap CDs.

Alice Burrow

Emma Wray As students, we are frequently told that university will be our opportunity to try new things and new experiences. Here at Lifestyle, we thought we’d put this theory to the test by undertaking the challenge to try something completely new every day. Emma tells of her week of firsts.

Day 1 – New vintage shop So day one of the challenge begins and I found out that it is much harder to think of new things than I originally thought.

I visited the Nichols Building in Shalesmoor; it is a huge vintage shop and café.

Patisserie Valerie

Koren Sawtell Standing outside, your eyes are instantly drawn to the tempting array of pastries and cakes, neatly arranged behind the glass.

Also on display are elaborate celebration cakes several tiers high, with solid chocolate artistically sculpted for decoration.

Walking into Patisserie Valerie for the first time, you can’t help feeling you’ve stepped back into the 1930’s.

Think something out of an Agatha Christie novel.

The café’s stylish décor is warm and inviting; a cosy, continental retreat hidden in our city centre.

The attention to detail is outstanding.

The cream walls are adorned with framed vintage French posters and large, gilt mirrors.

The polished wood counters and glass displays also give the place an authentic, continental feel.

The Sheffield branch has been open since last December, and business seems to be going strong - the place was pretty packed when we arrived.

After choosing a quiet table at the back (one of the only ones left), we had to face the monumental decision of what to order.

The choice seemed to be endless: from tasty savouries such as Croque Monsieurs and grilled croissants stuffed with cheese and tomato, to huge slices of Black Forest Gateaux and Almond Macaroons.

We eventually decided on a Tart aux Fruits and a Lemon Cheesecake.

Despite being relatively busy, our food was served to us almost straight away.

The food was to die for.

The Tart aux Fruits was smothered with tasty fresh fruits

First and foremost, Rare & Racy on Devonshire Street is a bookshop but hidden within this treasure trove is a room dedicated to music, offering CDs and vinyl.

If you’re a fan of Blues and Jazz music then Rare & Racy is well worth a visit.

and cream, and the pastry was excellent.

The cheesecake filling was light and creamy, with a hint of lemon that wasn’t overpowering.

The base had the perfect texture, which crumbled just the right amount!

The service was also impeccable; the waiters and waitresses were polite and helpful, and both food and the bill were delivered efficiently.

Their uniform, consisting of striped shirts, ties and aprons also fit in well with the vintage theme.

The original Patisserie Valerie was opened in Soho in 1926, and since then stores have been popping up in cities all over England.

Madame Valerie founded this successful business after moving to London from Belgium; with the vision of introducing fine,

continental patisserie to the British (fortunately for us).

However, there is a downside to this otherwise excellent café: the price.

As a student, I can safely say you should not expect to make dining at Patisserie Valerie a regular occurrence.

At around £4 each for a dessert, this café is priced on the more upmarket side.

Also to note, if you are eating in, the service charge is not included on the bill. Nevertheless, as an occasional treat with a friend, this is the perfect venue for a spot of indulgence.

Alternatively, it could be a great place for lunch when parents are visiting, which could save you a few pounds.

Patisserie Valerie offers an extensive range, and apart from a few of the treats on offer, most are vegetarian although unfortunately many may not be suitable for vegans.

Unfortunately the cheesecakes and mousses are made with gelatine and are not suitable for people of a Muslim faith as they are not Halal.

Patisserie Valerie also has a website on which you can order treat boxes, occasion cakes and even the most beautiful wedding cakes, although they do come at a hefty price.

They also offer a delivery service within a certain distance, which may be perfect for planning a special party or event.

Overall, I would give Patisserie Valerie a solid 9/10.

The food is high quality and the portions are generous.

There is a huge variety to choose from, especially for fans of continental cuisine.

The sophisticated décor rounds off the experience nicely, making this quaint café a real gem in the heart of Sheffield.

Trying a new recipe proved to be a great success for Emma The shop sells vintage clothes and furniture, old books and records and knick-knacks in general.

The café is really cheap too, only £1 for hot drinks, and there is a wide selection of teas available.

All the items in the shop are reasonably priced, from records for about a fiver to cup and saucers for £2.

I could have bought so much but restrained myself to buying a few of the independent magazines that they stock.

It is well worth going outside the student areas to discover different, individual shops like this rather than always sticking to the high street.

Day 2 - Do a new exercise class

Since I joined the gym earlier this year (in a bid to get fit after the new

Mothers’ Day Mothers’ day is just around the corner, and so we thought we’d bring you the best snippets of motherly advice we could find from your mums.

“The world is full of lamps and fireflies, don’t flutter when you can shine” Alisha Rouse

“There’s always sunshine above the clouds” Fay Guest

“Ellie, you need a boyfriend not a cat.”

Ellie Neves “Boobs are like balls, be gentle with them.” Tom Fletcher

“There’s nothing wrong with having a back up.” Coral Williamson “Sometimes the only thing you need is a good night’s sleep.” Ina Fischer

“If the sex isn’t good the relationship will never last.” Holly Wilkinson “One cup of rice, two cups of water.”

Tom Fletcher

“Better to be alone than mismatched.”

Sam Bolton “Love many, trust few, always paddle your own canoe.” Rebecca Cooke

“No-one can get your goat unless you tell them where it’s kept.” Clare Mcdermott

“Would you be doing that if you were being watched?” Clare Mcdermott “Aim for the stars not for a tree.”

Victoria Wilson

“Walk into a place as if you own it.”

Victoria Wilson “Always remember that everything in life is your decision.” Fay Guest

“Know that beauty has everything to do with how you feel about yourself and nothing to do with other people’s opinions.” Chelsea Spearman “Mothers only offer advice on two occasions : when you want it and when you don’t.” Tom Geddes

“There is no point in worrying. If it happens you will have worried twice, if it doesn’t you will have worried for nothing.” Victoria Browne “The best things come in small packages - a line she whips out when I bemoan my lack of height.” Laura Heffernan

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23

Lush gift set

Dear Mum, from you to me

Grow your own roses

This mamma mia gift set from Lush is a dead cert to impress. This box of treats will ensure that even the busiest of mums will be pampered to perfection.

This journal is for you to give your mum to fill in about her life, and when she’s finished it she gives it back to you. Very sentimental, and also a good way to learn about her before you.

For those of you with green fingered mums, this gift might be perfect.

Bulbs in a box for them to tend and watch grow at their leisure

Five day challenge There’s a first time for everything...

year) I have not explored the full range of classes that the S10 gym has to offer.

So on Tuesday I decided to go to the class ‘pure core’ – a class described by the gym as: “A class dedicated to your core muscles.

Our Pure Core stability class will target your abs and lower back to help strengthen, tone and build endurance in this all-important area.”

I took this as a way of getting a flat stomach ready for summer.

The class lived up to its description with half an hour of situps, crunches and the excruciating plank.

A day after the class and I could feel that I had used stomach muscles I didn’t even know I had, it even hurt to laugh.

However, I think that this is a class where if I do it regularly enough I will see a difference quickly, so I’m going next week and dragging my house mates with me.

ingredients.

Fifteen minutes later, and after using a frying pan instead of a normal pan, the brownies were in the oven.

Soon the smell of chocolate filled our house and they were ready to taste. I have to say they were amazing.

My housemates even said they were better than shop bought ones.

This has definitely encouraged me to try new recipes in future.

Day 4 – New bar

We decided to do some pre-bars before our night out on Thursday, so instead of our normal cheap shots at Basement

we decided to try something more sophisticated and ended up drinking cocktails at Tiger Works instead.

I tried the Baby doll cocktail, a pink, strawberry flavoured drink that was really tasty.

The drinks were quite reasonably priced and you get a free shot with your first drink!

After visiting just one new place on West Street it made me realise how many other bars there are that I hadn’t properly been to.

For my next night out I really want to try Revolucion de Cuba after hearing that they serve cocktails in teapots.

Motherly love

“Friends are there when a boyfriend isn’t.”

Alice Burrow “Legs OR cleavage, never both.” Alice Burrow “Never let anyone else define you.” Sarah Nicholls

“Let them take you as you are or not at all.”

Fay Guest “Trust your first instinct above all, it’s usually right.” Chelsea Spearman “You’re only asking for advice because you already know the answer and wish you didn’t. Go with the answer you already have.” Lianne Williams

Relationships

Get cultured Visit any one of Sheffield’s museums and art galleries, or dive into history with a visit to somewhere like Sheffield Manor Lodge for a fascinating story of Sheffield.

Day 5 - Friends do new things

Relax Student life can be stressful at times, so why not take some time out and relax in one of Sheffield’s many green spaces like the Botanical Gardens, or if you don’t fancy being outside, pay the Winter Gardens a visit for a chilled out hour or two.

Visit the Peaks Sheffield is a mere few miles away from breathtakingly beautiful countryside, in which you can try a whole range of outdoor activities or just take a casual stroll.

Life after cheating

Guilia Smith It’s an age old question.

If a partner cheats on you, should you stay, or should you go?

It can be easy for friends and family to tell you to leave the cheating liar, but it isn’t that easy.

Many people choose to stay with their partner when they’ve cheated, and work through it.

Admittedly, in some cases it may make a couple stronger and deal with other underlying issues they may have had which may have led to the other one cheating.

But it all depends on the couple.

Somehow, I highly doubt if a footballer cheats on his wife and she stays with him, it would make him refrain from doing it again.

It would send him the opposite message – that it’s ok to keep doing it, which may be the case for several couples.

It depends on how strong the person who’s been cheated on is, and how easily they can let it go.

If they can’t, it will eat away at them and ultimately their relationship, and just result in a breakup further down the line.

Some may even resort to cheating themselves, as a form of revenge which they find justifiable, an eye for an eye and all that.

Or even worse, punishing the person for what they did to them, and never truly getting over it.

You don’t have to go far to try something new in Sheffield,

So it was the final day and coincidentally I have been out with my friends and they have done more new things than me.

Firstly, we went to Meadowhall and it was my friend Emma’s first time ever on a tram and first visit to Meadowhall. This is made all the more surprising by the fact she has been a student here for a year and a half.

She is the only person I know to have described the tram as being like a rollercoaster, and luckily she loved Meadowhall even more.

We went for tea at Pizza Express where my friend Lauren had never eaten before.

Obviously we recommended the dough balls as something she had to try.

So although I personally did not do anything new today, I helped my friends to do new things instead.

Day 3 – Try a new recipe

As a student my cooking skills are pretty much limited to taking off the packaging and putting tea in the microwave.

However, one of my house mates is always cooking great dishes, so with her help I decided to bake brownies.

My expertise in baking was pretty much limited to pancakes (and even they didn’t go too well) so this was going to be a challenge.

I followed a recipe we found online and bought all the

Carpe diem and try something new...

Then there’s the issue of trust.

Can you ever truly trust someone again after they have cheated on you?

Or will you always, in the back of your mind think, what if?

What if they do it again?

Will you find yourself checking their phone, reading their emails, or even following them, just to quench your curiosity?

If so, is it really worth staying with that person?

Even if they genuinely never do cheat again, it has altered your perspective on them, and regaining a person’s trust is harder than most people think.

People that choose to stay with

their partners that cheat can often be seen as weak and pathetic, but actually it takes an incredibly strong person to stay with someone that’s cheated, to forget what they did and move on as a couple.

Some people on the other hand, choose to leave and not look back.

Others choose to leave but can’t help themselves and keep going back to the person.

Those who do have the strength to leave when they’ve been cheated on can be better off for it.

They may meet someone who treats them better, or learn to be happy just by being by themselves, until the right person comes along.

Getting rid of the cheating person in your life will give you more time to focus on yourself, your friends and everything else that makes you happy, which you may not have had time for before.

It can be hard initially, as your love for a person doesn’t just disappear overnight, and you may find yourself tempted to go back to someone you know, or are familiar with.

But to truly move on and forget them, you would have to cut them out of your life completely, and rid yourself of any temptations you may have to go back to them.

Ending the relationship may help people evaluate what was wrong with their relationship and what they can do to stop it happening again in future.

Maybe they’ll realise that they made mistakes in the relationship too, and therefore can learn for the future, or maybe just understand the person they had chosen really wasn’t right for them.

A good thing to come out of leaving someone will be protecting your self esteem.

You won’t feel worthless or humiliated, but strong and capable to do what’s best for yourself.

There are a few situations where no matter what, you should ALWAYS LEAVE a cheater.

1. They get with their ex 2. They have a full blown affair.

3. They don’t say sorry, or seem remorseful.

4. They cheat repeatedly.

In these cases, ending the relationship is definitely the best call.

Getting rid of a cheater can be empowering.

After all, what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.

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Friday March 16 2012

FORGE PRESS

Lifestyle & Travel

MN U L O C SEX

Travel

Discovering Thailand on a budget Students are used to living on a tight budget and still having a good time. But what happens when term ends, your loan has run out and you’re faced with copious amounts of free time - and little money for a holiday? Lifestyle & Travel contributor Olivia Adams was able to spend her summer in Thailand, thanks to a few shrewd money-saving tricks.

Sounds like sex Softly glowing candles, slow, loving, gestures and romantic music that can be gasped along to.

Ah yes, the Hollywood ideal of sex may be what we all strive for, but the reality couldn’t be much more different.

More likely is a flickering dodgy strip light, fumbling and accidentally elbowing each other in the face and being horrified when the shuffle function of your iPod delivers Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Nothing kills the mood quite like a dementor – or the face you’re likely to pull when you realise you’re getting your kicks listening to the adventures of a 13-year-old wizard.

This shuffle button – those innocent seven letters that seem such a good idea - creates an absolute minefield of embarrassment.

The average MP3 player probably contains around 30 per cent shame, whether it’s in the form of borderline nerdy audio books, shorthand dictations or – God forbid – the Backstreet Boys’ “As Long As You Love Me”.

Of course, some people might choose slushy tunes to cover up the inevitable noise generated by “doing the squishy”: one of my friends essentially blackmailed her boyfriend just so that she could get her rocks off listening to Enrique Iglesias. I’ve been assured it was magical.

Less firework-inducing, however, was my experience in my Endcliffe bedroom.

The mood-lighting had been carefully set up and the rendezvous itself was going fabulously. I was oblivious to the background noise. All until I heard those wailing words: “All by myseeeeeelf, don’t wanna be all by myseeelf”.

There are some things you can’t just nervously giggle at and then ignore. There comes a time when you just have to stop, get up, and prevent the aural displeasure from continuing.

Listening to the forlorn cries of Celine Dion is exactly that time.

Since then, and after hearing the horror of Lord of the Rings coming on and Gimli’s voice booming through the house, I’ve stuck firmly to the “albums you know well” rule, carefully picking safe-zone tunes that are unlikely to freak anyone or cause impromptu giggle fits.

If you really want to make the extra effort, you could always make a fully thought-out sex playlist. You’d do it for the gym after all: why not for the horizontal tango?

It could be a masterpiece, going from Clarence Carter’s “Strokin’”, through to Another Level’s glorious “Freak Me”, and rounding events off with The Lonely Island’s “I Just Had Sex”.

Yeah, maybe not.

Hannah Frost

There are 5,924 miles between London, England and Bangkok, Thailand. I never imagined I would be travelling those miles as a student.

Asia is a continent I had never touched, and to say I was excited when the initial ‘I wish’ plan came into reality for summer 2011 is an understatement.

Travelling to such an exotic place does not sound like an average student’s summer, but the dream plan was put in place after we discovered the living and travel costs would basically balance out the price for flight tickets.

After collecting numerous tips off ‘gap yah’ friends who had already been to Thailand, we started looking for cheap hostel deals; things were looking good.

So, could we really do this?

Travel around Thailand and live comfortably on little to nothing after forking out a ticket to Bangkok for around £425?

It still seemed unlikely, but by booking so far ahead, we had just over four months to save and work to make this happen.

Our flight departed on June 20, and six hours later we landed in Dubai. We made our flight the cheapest it could be by flying indirectly, but it was all part of the experience. Two hours later we were back in the air and flying another six hours on to Bangkok.

We stayed in a hostel for one night (which cost us £8), before travelling down to the south islands. The journey, although it

Food

consisted of a painfully long bus ride and then a ferry across to the islands, only cost £9.

We stayed on the stunning island of Koh Phangan and did classic student activities – went to a Full Moon party, got drunk with other travelers and sunbathed whilst eating delicious and cheap fresh fish and rice on the beach.

We stayed in a hotel and paid 1,000 Bahts a night for three nights – but don’t panic, that’s only £62.08, and divided by three people we each paid roughly £20.

We decided to fly back up north instead of the ferry and bus. This was more expensive (about £80), but only took one hour and we decided it was worth it, as we were tight on time.

My friend’s mum lives up north in Chiang Mai, so we took advantage of a few nights of free accommodation and explored a new city.

This was an extra luxury because of the contact, but I know that accommodation there is still very reasonable.

We did a Thai cooking course for £30, shopped at cheap markets for jewellery and clothes, and visited an elephant nature park for £50.

The cookery course day included travel to the outdoor cooking station, all the food and materials, and a free cook book with every Thai recipe. We were taught by a professional chef how to make Thai green curry, Thai style fishcakes and other dishes.

Visiting the elephant nature park

was certainly a cheaper option than going on a trek and riding an elephant and I recommend you to go to a nature park instead, as trekking elephants are almost always mistreated.

At the park we fed them breakfast and lunch, had a delicious buffet lunch ourselves, and in the afternoon went in the river and washed them.

All the elephants there were rescued from ill-treated lives such as ivory poaching and trekking abuse.

I hope my tale will surprise students who thought it was an unrealistic place to travel to whilst at university.

The flight ticket is expensive, but the exploration of this incredible country is a life experience which will never leave you.

Vegetarians vs Meat eaters: which is the better student lifestyle?

Annabel Barton Yes, I am a meat eater. I have nothing against pigs, chickens or cows - but they are a vital part of my everyday diet.

I wouldn’t say that I have purposefully chosen to stay a meat eater; I put it down to my mum’s cooking.

Eating meat is all that I am used to, back home we have it for dinner every night, so when I moved to uni, I didn’t know many meals which didn’t involve meat.

Becoming vegetarian would actually be quite a challenge to me, as I wouldn’t know where to start when it came to rustling up some grub.

I have nothing against veggies, I personally don’t like the thought of where the meat on my plate comes from, and those adorable adverts of the fluffy chicks saying “We are not nuggets!” does give me a pang of guilt... But when it comes to my diet, I don’t know any different.

Eating meat is often associated with eating fatty foods and having a more unhealthy diet.

Yet meat serves as a fabulous source of high quality proteins, which a single vegetarian food is not able to provide.

Meat contains lots of amino acids who are highly beneficial for the

body and help boost the immune system.

Meat is rich in iron and a vast range of vitamins, improving your metabolism as well as giving you stronger bones and healthy skin, and providing you with lots of energy.

Of course meat isn’t healthiest in its fatty forms, but eating a juicy cheeseburger or crispy chicken nuggets on a hangover sure does taste amazing.

I also think there is alot more choice for meat eaters when it comes to eating out. Whereas I am not saying I agree with this, it appears to be an easier lifestyle to eat meat – albeit a more expensive one.

I have tried quorn before, and whereas I appreciated its health benefits and the fact that it is a lot cheaper than meat, the taste just wasn’t the same.

There was something missing, it did not quite hit the spot the same way meat does.

I love my Spaghetti Bolognese with beef mince too much to replace the meat with a substitute!

I would say one downside to eating meat is that when it has gone bad, it’s really bad for you when you get ill.

My less than delightful experience of eating some dodgy chicken in Spain is not one I like to recall, and now I am a lot more careful with hygiene when cooking meat myself.

Alisha Rouse At the age of 13, I made the decision to be a difficult, petulant little teenager and stop eating meat and fish.

I made the decision based on a combination of a need for attention and just to be a pain; but over time the health and lifestyle benefits dawned on me, and the decision stuck forever.

Yes, sometimes it can be a bit difficult. Friends, and notably friend’s parents, who are not familiar with vegetarianism find it near-on impossible to concoct a meal without meat.

But the truth is, when you get used to it, the options out there are numerous, healthier and for us students, handily cheaper.

Quorn, or Tesco’s veggie equivalent, always has great offers on their products, and even their standard price is significantly better than that of meat.

We all know the tale of factories pumping their meat produce with water in a bid to increase its weight and therefore, cost. Unlike meat, Quorn doesn’t shrink when it’s cooked, leaving you with more food for your cash.

Not only that, but Quorn is a cholesterol-free source of protein, fibre and essential amino acids, as

well as being 75 per cent lower in fat than even its lean-meat alternatives.

With the huge variety of meatsubstitutions out there, you can still enjoy a hearty spaghetti bolognese, just without the inevitable guilt.

The consumption of processed meat, and red meat in particular, increases your chances of getting heart disease, which kills more men and women in the UK than any other condition, by 30 per cent.

The comparatively high levels of cholesterol can also contribute towards the clogging of your arteries and risk of a stroke.

Don’t like the taste of Quorn? And god forbid, tofu?

No problem. All vegetarianism requires is a bit of imagination.

Before you know it you’re gobbling down roasted sweet potato jackets with feta cheese as if it were chicken and chips.

You find yourself making soups, salad and roasting any vegetable within your sight, plunging larger amount of vitamins and essential nutrients into your diet without noticing.

The main benefit of vegetarianism for me has ironically been the choice it’s brought to my meals.

It really isn’t that hard to leave meat out of a meal, and without that presupposed classic component, you find yourself getting more creative: my herb rack is huge.

FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012

www.forgetoday.com // lifestyle@forgetoday.com

25

Lifestyle & Travel

Health

The dangerous student lifestyle...

Annabel Barton Being a student at university is supposed to be wonderful. Often for the first time in your life, you have the freedom to do what you want, when you want, without your parents breathing down your neck 24/7. But do you know when to call it quits?

Needless to say, the temptations of the uni lifestyle are hard to resist.

But if you take this new-found freedom to the extreme, it can become dangerous, especially to your health.

Binge drinking, casual smoking and unhealthy eating can all become extremely harmful if done to excess.

When you begin university as a fresher, for the first time you are regarded and treated as an adult, making your own life choices and decisions on a daily basis.

The urban myth of the ‘Freshers 15’ often become a harsh reality – where freshers put on 15 pounds in the first year of university due to a drastic change in lifestyle and indulging in fatty foods and late-night takeaways.

Eating fast food comes hand in hand with the get up and go hectic lifestyle that university entails.

Admittedly, it is alot easier to pick up a takeaway or pop a ready meal in the microwave than slave over a home-cooked healthy dinner.

You don’t feel as obliged to get your 5-a-day without your mum’s home cooking, so it be-

comes increasingly easy to gain weight during term time due to the introduction of eating out of convenience, rather than for health benefits.

As you take control of what is in the fridge, and are able to eat and drink anything you wish, bad habits tend to establish themselves.

Chocolate becomes a well known staple in the university diet, and unfortunately, us girls are more likely to put on weight in comparison to guys – so when it comes to health, it may be a good idea to resist that extra square of Dairy Milk.

Weight gain can also affect studying, by making you feel more stressed and consequently affecting academic performance.

To attempt to avoid the dreaded ‘Freshers 15’, plan your meals before you go food shopping, reducing the likelihood of impulse buys and keeping you in control of what’s in the fridge.

Nights out contain hundreds of health risks. Pre-drinks, cheap drink deals, a casual cigarette in the smoking area and finishing off with a takeaway from Northern Sole to absorb all that alcohol becomes risky in terms of health if undertaken regularly.

Being a student can involve drinking heavily regularly, and comes with health risks.

“In a recent study, 1 in 5 university students admitted they could not survive a semester without drinking.”

Cheap alcohol can be tempting, but as recently seen, buying fake alcohol can be highly dangerous, with a recent local incident of a student nearly going blind as a result of buying fake vodka.

The survey (conducted by Studentbeans. com) questioned thousands of students from 68 UK universities, and found that over a third of students had been injured after drinking excessively.

We all know plenty of people who, as a result of drinking a lot on nights out, have ended up in A&E with bumps and broken bones; not exactly a good end to a night!

People say they do things they would never dream of when sober, such as casual smoking.

So many students will repetitively say “I don’t smoke!” and then you’ll find them outside a bar puffing away.

Is this down to peer pressure? Do students risk their health just for social reasons?

The more we go out drinking, the more of these things we never say we would do seem to happen.

When it comes to peer pressure, joining

a society may make you more inclined to drink.

Sports’ team society nights out usually contain a higher tendency to drink due to the culture of being a ‘team’ and the pressure to keep up with your mates.

Presenting the consumption of alcohol as a competition in this way is incredibly reckless and potentially dangerous.

Recently, we saw the result of this at Bar One Christmas Day, where students and sports teams alike queued outside Bar One from 5am for 24-hour cheap drinking.

This may only come round once a year, but these sorts of customs can become seriously damaging upon a student’s health.

The majority of society socials these days seem to be based around drinking, mirroring the student culture we have become accustomed to, and socialising is now nearly always linked to drink.

So remember; alcohol impairs your judgement and having a few too many can lead to not only embarrassing yourself in front of your mates, but serious health risks.

It’s essential that we all think more carefully about how much we drink on a night out, to avoid taking unneccessary risks with our health and personal safety.

Fashion

Sheffield street style

Taylor Fleischner

Here at Lifestyle we think that Sheffield students are a stylish bunch and we’ve decided to prove it. We set out around the University to find some students who use the sidewalk as their catwalk and displayed an excellent sense of style.

A lot of males seemed to stick to the fail-safe shirt and jeans combination, while the girls embraced first signs of spring by wearing shorts and skirts with tights. Colours were overal relatively muted, but hey, it’s only March. There is still plenty of time to go out and invest in some more colourful pieces.

Style forecasts for Spring/Summer 2012 are predicting vibrant oranges, corals and blues to hit the racks of high street retailers... It’s time to show your colours University of Sheffield.

Eloise Bucknor Course: French and Spanish

OUTFIT Top: H&M Shorts: Republic Shoes: River Island

JP Santamariach & SpanCourse: Fren ish OUTFIT Top: Zara Jeans: Next r Island Shoes: Rive

Dhadsha Nageswaran Course: Biomedical Science

OUTFIT Top: Wet Seal Skirt: H&M Shoes: Forever 21

Andrew Hu icine Course: Med OUTFIT Top: Canadada Shoes: Cana Jeans: Asos

26

FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012 www.forgetoday.com

PUZZLES & HUMOUR

Coffee Break overheard

Outside Alfred Denny: Guy 1: “My shower gel has in sheffield 9,727 mint leaves in it.”

Guy 2: “No?” Guy 1: “Really does, although I don’t believe it as the bottle is too small.”

On West Street: Guy: “Right, yes ok, yes I know.. right... GOOD GOD mummy, just put the pheasant in the oven!”

At the top of Fargate: Little Boy: “Do you know that God can see everywhere, even Scotland?”

omg, Have you seen...?

The strange news this fortnight:

New Guinness World Record set for human mattress domino-toppling YouTube it: The world record for human mattress domino-toppling has been broken.

The amazing feat happened in New Orleans with 850 people taking part in the attempt, smashing the previous record of 550 people set in Belgium in 2011.

The idea behind the world record originated in 2009, when Blue Peter recorded, live on air, 100 people mattress dominotoppling.

Human mattress dominotoppling works in exactly the same way as normal dominos – each person and their mattress is arranged in a snake-like pattern,

Crossword Puzzle:

so that as each mattress topples it falls into the domino behind in a chain-reaction.

The official Guinness World Record definition is that each mattress needed to ‘touch the one behind it and there needed to be a consecutive chain of toppling mattresses’.

An official started off the attempt by pushing the first participant in the chest and causing him to topple backwards, and then off they went like, well, dominos.

However, as impressive as it looks (see the YouTube video) there is an even more impressive record for human dominos (with no mattresses) which was set in Inner Mongolia by 10,276 Chinese people in 2011!

Oh, and if you ever get bored there are some ridiculous domino videos on YouTube that people have taken far too long arranging, but are impressive nonetheless.

Bird tries to wake up his best friend

Ever wondered how a bird would go about trying to wake up a cat?

Well, if you have then here’s a video on how to do so in a safe manner.

The little white bird’s tickles and chirrups to wake up the cat from his kittycat dreams.

Just goes to show they can be friends , it’s unnatural and hilarious, but possible all the same.

YouTube search: Cute bird waking up a cute cat

The real news this fortnight:

The Museum of Broken Relationships

Across

Down:

3. German Autumn festival (11) 6. A large, imposing dwelling (5) 7. Those who followed Achilles against Troy (8) 8. An attempt to overthrow a government (6) 11. Wicked in the extreme (9) 13. Lustful, resembling a goat (7) 14. Drinkable, an alcoholic beverage (7) 16. Enmity, hostility (6) 18. Energy, vigour (3) 20. Evaluate, appraise (3) 21. Extreme poverty (6) 22. Scramble, climb (7) 24. A brief moment of intense excitement (7) 26. Screech (9) 29. Stagnation (6) 31. Fearful, apprehensive (8) 33. The lowest point (5) 34. Poor, penniless (11)

1. Royal Dog of Egypt (6) 2. Egyptian goddess of fertility (4) 3. Unit of electrical resitance (3) 4. Concise (5) 5. Taxonomic kingdom of lower plants (5) 9. Customer (6) 10. Mason, shipwright (7) 11. Loch ___ (4) 12. Much ___ About Nothing (3) 14. Pledge, chess piece (4) 15. Deceive (7) 17. Anchor, open land (4) 19. Creative person (6) 21. Bucket (4) 23. Seed case with hooks or prickles (3) 25. Intersection of coordinate axes (6) 27. Interior (of a house) (5) 28. Fruit of the oak tree (5) 30. Husband of Eve (4) 31. International distress code (3)

Everyone has had their heart broken.

So far it may have only been when you were little and you lost your favourite teddy bear, but sooner or later it will happen.

So what do you do when your heart is in tatters and you feel angry, sad and vengeful? You send a token of your relationship to the Museum of Broken Relationships in Belgrade, Croatia, with a small, anonymous note.

Apparently it helps, no matter what stage of the breakup you are in, and there are items with tales of romance, heartbreak and recovery.

There is an axe sent from Berlin which was used by a woman to smash every piece of furniture her girlfriend had left behind, and “the more the room filled with chopped furniture, (the more she) felt better.”

A garter belt with the candid comment: “I never put them on. The relationship might have lasted longer if I had.”

The museum was even the winner of the Kenneth Hudson Award for the Most Innovative Museum in Europe, 2011.

And according to its website: “Unlike ‘destructive’ self-help instructions for recovery from failed loves, the Museum offers a chance to overcome an emotional collapse through creation: by contributing to the Museum’s collection.”

So if you’re struggling to put your life back together after a breakup, why not submit a piece to the Museum of Broken Relationships. Pour your heartache into your description and then let it go.

“T

he divorce day garden dwarf.

He arrived in a new car. Arrogant,

shallow and heartless. The dwarf was closing the gate that he had destroyed himself some time ago. At that moment it flew over to the windscreen of the new car, rebounded and landed on the asphalt surface. It was a long loop, drawing an arc of time – and this short

Lecture Puzzle Corner: Coffee Break’s Word of the Fortnight: Quixotic (adj.)

1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals.

2. Capricious; impulsive; unpredictable.

Origin: Quixotic refers to the eccentric, generous idealism of Don Quixote, the hero of a satiric romance by Miguel de Cervantes..

”

long arc defined the end of love.

Einstein’s Riddle: A fellow encountered a bear in a wasteland. There was nobody else there. Both were frightened and ran away.

The fellow to the north, the bear to the west.

Suddenly the fellow stopped, aimed his gun to the south and shot the bear. What color was the bear?

FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012 www.forgetoday.com

27

PUZZLES & HUMOUR

With Holly Wilkinson On this day, 100 years ago: Lawrence Oates uttered his final words

More Puzzles: Sudoku 1

Sudoku 2

Easy

Captain Lawrence Oates gave his life in an attempt to save his comrades, on their return journey from the South Pole.

Lawrence had set out with Captain Robert Falcon Scott, and the rest of the polar party, from Port Chalmers, New Zealand, on November 29 1910.

They arrived off the coast of Ross Island on January 4 1911.

The next year was spent laying out the depots, which would serve as their supply chain, as welll as a geological exploration of the coastal area west of McMurdo Sound.

In November 1911, the strike for the South Pole set off and on January 3 1912 Scott decided on the party for the final push – himself, Edward Wilson, Lawrence Oates, Edgar Evans and Henry Robertson Bowers – on January 17 1912 they reached the South Pole.

Unfortunately, they had been beaten there by the Norwegian party they had encountered earlier the previous year. They had left a tent, some supplies and a

letter to King Haakon VII of Norway which he asked Scott to deliver.

After erecting the British flag the team turned round and headed back. However, they were to never make it home. Evans collapsed and died on February 17,

after suffering several head injuries from falls on the ice, frostbite in his hands and severe malnutrition.

As the remaining four continued to head back, Oates’s condition worsened and they barely covered five miles a day (compared to the nine they needed to traverse in order to have sufficient supplies).

His foot injury became

severely frostbitten and on the morning of the March 16 1912 he uttered his last words to his companion, words which were to become infamous: “I am just going outside and may be some time.”

Oates sacrificed himself in the hope that his remaining three companions could reach safety. It was not to be though.

A further 20 miles on Scott, Wilson and Bowers became trapped inside their tent due to extreme weather conditions.

On March 29 1912 Scott penned his last diary entry, and it is assumed the three men died that day: “Every day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles away, but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. I do not think we can hope for any better things now. We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far.

It seems a pity but I do not think I can write more. R. Scott. For God’s sake look after our people.”

Recipe: Pasta with Roasted Squash and sweet potato Ingredients: •

Sudoku 3

Medium

• • • • • • •

350g diced butternut squash and sweet potato (available from Waitrose already diced for £1.99, if you are feeling lazy) 1 large shallot, sliced 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 large sprig fresh rosemary, chopped (plus 1 for garnishing) 1 - 2 cloves garlic, chopped 50g diced goat’s cheese 25 g pine nuts, toasted 250g penne pasta

Method:

Hard

Random Fact of the Week: It takes seven to 21 days to make a Jelly Belly bean!

It’s a process that uses both modern methods and ageold techniques.

First preheat the oven to 220°C. Then toss the butternut squash, sweet potato and chopped shallot with the olive oil, rosemary, garlic and seasoning.

Tip everything into a roasting tin and put into the oven when it is up to temperature.

Roast it for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the potato looks crisp.

Add in the goat’s cheese (or parmesan if you prefer it, mild cheddar is quite nice too) and pine nuts (these aren’t necessary, if you don’t want to bother with them) and toss to coat in the cooking juices.

Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente (about three minutes for fresh pasta and 10 minutes for dried pasta).

Drain it, then toss with the roasted vegetables, and serve with some grated goat’s cheese and a sprig of rosemary.

If you feel like the dish is missing some meat then add some pancetta (roast it with the vegetables) or lardons of bacon.

This dish is great if you live with a vegetarian as the bacon can be cooked seperately and added afterwards.

You could always experiment with other meats too, such as a sausage cut up or even fish.

Spinach can be a nice base to this recipe too, so if you like it then go ahead and go crazy!

Did you know about: Hitler and his war against tobacco Banning smoking in public buildings is not a 21st century brainwave.

In fact it was Germany’s Nazi government who first pushed for a ban in the 1940s, when Hitler learnt about the health hazards related to tobacco.

He went as far as to call tobacco “the wrath of the Red Man against the White Man, vengeance for having been given hard liquor” and restricted cigarette advertisements,

limited tobacco farmers crops and even sued tobacco companies for health consequences of their products.

Hitler was so fervently antismoking that he even gave gold watches to any of his associates who stopped smoking – wouldn’t we all give up if that was an incentive.

So in the dark grips of world war, who would you rather have leading your country: a) One who associates with

crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists, who also has two mistresses, chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day? b) One, who was kicked out of office twice, rises from bed at 11am, used opium in college and drinks champagne, brandy, and whiskey to excess every day? c) A decorated war hero, who is a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke or drink, and hasn’t had any extramarital affairs?

Trending

Hot

Two weeks until the Easter holidays - the countdown begins!

Brad Pitt wears a onesie in public does that mean we can, now?

It’s National Artichoke Hearts Day today - not sure where that falls in the hot/cold scale.

The weather’s continuing improvement heralds the arrival of Spring.

Only three days remain until The Hunger Games mania descends on us all (it’s like Twilight all over again).

More than half a billion people are now registered Twitter users updating us with inane information.

Cold

28

www.forgetoday.com // sport@forgetoday.com FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012

SPORT

Matchdebating

Debate: Does Formula 1 live up to the hype or is it just a Sunday afternoon snooze fest?

F1 should be sent to Formula 1 is the the back of the grid ultimate driving test for which there is no space here – the ethical problems of returning to Bahrain this year are staggering, and the financial implications are so grotesque they make football look humble.

Yet Lewis Hamilton, a supposed British icon, finds time between racing fast cars and dating Pussycat Dolls to act like a spoilt brat; and it really is all about the cars, no matter what may be argued – Red Bull and McLaren will lead the field, Marussia and HRT (seriously, a sports team called HRT?) will be sat at the back. Get used to it.

One of the basic expectations of any sport is to make you want to be there. When you are watching rugby, football or tennis, you feel that it would be great to sit in the crowds; you envy the people who get into the biggest events of these sports.

Even in the case of cricket, sitting there on a relaxing summer’s day

watching the last bastion of truly tactical sport play itself out is a great feeling.

Sure, you’re there a while, but at least you can always see what’s happening.

Not the case in F1; sitting in a cramped crowd of ‘car bores’, watching an occasional blur of nondescript colour flash past, is never an exciting or productive way to spend an afternoon.

F1 may not last quite as long as test cricket, but this simply means there is less time to grapple. In test cricket, the momentum swings from one side to another, as the artistry of sport unfurls in all its patient glory.

F1 isn’t as snappy as the hour and a half of rugby or soccer either, when the adrenaline is constantly pumping, and the participants can go full blast for the full fixture.

F1 should either only last 10 or 15 laps and be all over in a day, qualification and all; or the race itself should last for days, and be a true form of endurance, but now it just falls between two stools.

There are many other problems to be addressed

Varsity 2012 fixtures

Women’s rugby union, 2.15pm Women’s hockey firsts, 3pm Ultimate Frisbee, 4pm Men’s rugby union seconds, 4pm Men’s lacrosse, 4pm Men’s hockey firsts, 4.45pm

Men’s Waterpolo, 12:30pm Women’s Canoe Polo, 12:30pm Women’s Waterpolo, 1:.15pm Men’s Canoe Polo, 1:15pm

Men’s Badminton seconds, 6pm Women’s Badminton, 6pm Korfball seconds, 6pm Korfball firsts, 7:30pm

Women’s Hockey thirds, 12pm Men’s Hockey thirds, 2pm Table Tennis, 6:30pm Judo, 8pm

ALL SAINTS HIGH SCHOOL Trampolining, 7:30pm

MONDAY MARCH 26

GRAHAM SOLLEY American Football, 2pm (tbc) Men’s Cricket seconds, 2pm Women’s Cricket, 3:30pm Men’s Cricket firsts, 5pm

Matthew Smith So, another season of Formula 1 is upon us.

Excited? No, I didn’t think so.

The fact is that for all the time the BBC spend trying to ram it down our throats with constant adverts and its own snazzy page design on the website, and for all the money Sky have spent to grab half the races and set up a whole new TV channel for it – God only knows the dross they will broadcast when they don’t have a race that weekend – this ‘sport’ remains one of the least interesting offerings on any given weekend calendar.

“F1 is one of the least interesting offerings on any given weekend”

SUNDAY MARCH 18 DAM FLASK Rowing, 9am

PEAK DISTRICT Cycling - Road Hill Climbing, 1.30pm

WEDNESDAY MARCH 21

THURSDAY MARCH 22

ABBEYDALE Women’s hockey seconds, 11.30am Men’s rugby union thirds, 12.30pm Men’s hockey seconds, 1.15pm Women’s lacrosse, 2pm Men’s lacrosse, 4pm

HALLMASHIRE TC Men’s tennis firsts, 10am Women’s tennis, 10am Men’s tennis seconds, 10am Squash, 1.40pm FRIDAY MARCH 23 PONDS FORGE Swimming, 10:30am

SATURDAY MARCH 24 WINSCAR RESERVOIR Sailing, 9am OCTAGON Boxing, 7:30pm SUNDAY MARCH 25 DON VALLEY STADIUM Men’s Rugby firsts, 3pm EIS Men’s Badminton firsts, 6pm

Adam Hancock Formula 1 has many a critic. It’s criticised for being predictable, boring and unfair.

Some of these criticisms are fair. For years the sport has been dominated by an individual genius.

Michael Schumacher broke numerous records for years and now Sebastian Vettel is re-writing the record books.

This can be seen as a negative; however other sports have been struck by the same problems.

Manchester United and Chelsea have dominated the Premier League for years and Tiger Woods enjoyed almost as many years at the top as the number of

EIS Athletics, 12pm Women’s Volleyball firsts, 2pm Netball thirds, 2pm Netball seconds, 4pm Men’s Volleyball firsts, 4pm Aikido, 6pm Netball firsts, 6pm Women’s Basketball firsts, 6pm Men’s Basketball firsts, 8pm Futsal, 8pm

women he met in roadside motels.

Competition is a healthy element in any sport.

Formula 1 would no doubt have benefited from a closer grid during the Schumacher era, yet arguably without Schumacher the sport

“Formula 1 is a race between the finest drivers in the world”

would have suffered.

People enjoy watching a master at the top of their game. It’s an attraction which adds to the theatre of sport. Ronnie O’Sullivan has been a one man promotion tool for snooker for years.

A favourite falling can also add to the drama.

Who can forget the epic final lap in Canada when Jenson Button pressured Sebastian Vettel into a mistake?

A further criticism occurs when people scoff at the repetitive nature of many boring

EIS Women’s Basketball seconds, 4pm Men’s Basketball seconds, 6pm WEDNESDAY MARCH 28

TUESDAY MARCH 27

NIAGARA Women’s Football seconds, 11am

GOODWIN

NORTON

races. It is a valid point.

Often a Martin Brundle grid walk is more exciting than the race itself.

But for every dire race and unexciting procession, one moment can surprise and eclipse the dross which has gone before. Formula 1 is so precise and formulaic that when something goes wrong, the wheels truly come off. This drama transforms the atmosphere of a whole race.

These unpredictable events can also create impromptu comedy. Forumla 1 prides itself on technology, statistics and science.

When things go wrong, the effects can be hilarious.

It makes a mockery of the fine precision that Forumla 1 follows, but also adds to the fun as well rehearsed strategies collapse.

Finally, Formula 1 is chastised for being unfair.

Is it fair that Sebastian Vettel can destroy the field in his Red Bull whilst Timo Glock chugs around in a Marussia?

Well yes, actually it is.

The best drivers deserve the best cars, just like the best footballers deserve the best teams. It’s not unfair; it’s just the cream rising to the top.

Forumla 1 is a race between the finest drivers in the world. It provides drama, intrigue and proof that human engineering is supreme. It’s an awesome spectacle. And if you still think it’s boring, then go and watch NASCAR. You’ll soon come back.

Men’s Football fourths, 12pm Men’s Football thirds, 12pm Men’s Football seconds, 2pm THE FOUNDRY Climbing, 1pm BOLE HILLS Cycling- BMX, 1:30pm PEAK DISTRICT Cycling - Hill Climb, 1:30pm HILLSBOROUGH RFC Rugby League, 2pm HILLSBOROUGH Women’s Football Firsts, 2pm Men’s Football Firsts, 6pm All fixtures correct at time of print. Fixtures subject to change.

FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012

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Double delight for title-chasing Steelers Ice hockey Elite League Jack Burnett A perfect weekend for Sheffield Steelers kept their hopes of winning the Elite League title alive, as the reigning champions beat Braehead Clan 6-2 and then won 4-0 against Cardiff Devils 24 hours later.

The results leave Steelers trailing Belfast Giants by seven points, but with two games in hand. The two sides meet in a double-header on the weekend of March 16/17 in Belfast, with the games likely to decide this season’s title winners.

Going into the fixture on the back of an overtime 4-3 loss to Braehead, Steelers exacted revenge on their opponents on Saturday by netting six times, though they had to come from behind having trailed 2-1 in the second period.

Two goals from stand-in captain Jonathan Phillips plus strikes from Tom Squires, Jeff Legue,

Colt King and Luke Fulghum put early Braehead hopes of a second victory to rest at the Motorpoint Arena.

The win – Steelers’ first in their last seven games against the Clan – was followed on Sunday by a comfortable victory over Cardiff.

The teams left the ice with the score goalless at the end of the first period, with both sides guilty of missing good chances on the powerplay.

Steelers went ahead when Ryan Finnerty netted just two minutes into the second period, and the end result was never in doubt after Mike Ramsay doubled their lead despite his side being shorthanded.

Ramsay then bagged his second before the period was over, calmly slotting past Devils’ goaltender Stevie Lyle to give Steelers a 3-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

Devils, who lie fourth in the table, conceded a final goal when Jason Hewitt netted after linking up well with Phillips and Fulghum.

Player-coach Finnerty believes

the two wins bode well for the championship showdown in Belfast.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, he said: “We could only really start to think about Belfast after the Cardiff game,” said Finnerty.

“We had to win these two games first and not get ahead of ourselves. We did that, we stayed focused and hit some form at just the right time.

“Belfast have plenty of depth and therefore it’s important we go into that series with three lines all playing well. I think we do.

“Against Cardiff, Legue, Ramsay and King took the lead.

They made something happen pretty much every time they were on the ice.

“The night before, the Fulghum, Phillips and Hewitt line scored three goals for us, then another one on Sunday. I thought they had a great weekend.

“My line then just keeps grinding away, both Lee Esders – who I think just gets better and better – and Tom Squires both contributed well.”

Steelers will hope for two more wins in the weekend’s double-header against league leaders the Giants.

Photos: Steelers Official

Eagles eye Super League

As the Sheffield Eagles get the 2012 campaign underway, Anthony Hart looks at their plan to return to rugby league’s top table.

On a cold morning at Don Valley Stadium a group of young rugby players warm up, do some drills, some kic-king and some passing.

This is meant to be the Sheffield Eagles rugby league team’s 2012 season press launch, but from what the club were wanting to show off, they are thinking far more long-term than just this year.

The Eagles come off the back of a great 2011 campaign.

They made it all the way to the Championship Grand Final before going down to Featherstone Rovers.

But their ambitions are loftier.

They want Super League rugby back in the Steel City.

For the uninitiated, promotion to rugby league’s top flight is unlike getting into football’s Premier League, which is decided solely on the pitch.

A few years ago, a licensing system was intoduced which

heralded the end of automatic promotion and relegation.

Teams apply now for a threeyear licence, with teams admitted from the Championship on the basis of amongst other factors, attendances, youth development, and of course results on the field.

The Eagles hope to be a successful applicant when the next set of licences are granted ahead of the 2015 season.

Last year’s Grand Final appearance satisfied that criterion, and now they’re trying to work on the others, from offering under-16s free season tickets, to strengthening their academy, as well as engaging with people across the community, including holding touch rugby sessions at the University’s own Goodwin Sports Centre.

And their academy is far from just about creating the rugby stars of tomorrow.

“We’ve got about 22 players

at the moment as part of our academy side. We operate a performance centre which is full time during the day so we’re giving the players an opportunity to have a full-time education.

They do a BTEC in sport, some players are on the A-scheme run by the RFL and they get to train full time,” says academy coach Andy Henderson.

“Can we bring Super League back to Sheffield? Yes, I believe we can.” Those are the confident words of Mark Aston, the first team coach.

Aston is already part of Eagles folklore, as part of the triumphant 1998 Challenge Cup team.

The club fell on hard times after that, initially merging with the Huddersfield Giants.

However, in reality they were swallowed up by the Giants and had to rise like the proverbial phoenix from the flames.

Aston wants those fans who

were there in the glory years to come back.

“I remember the days when we got six, seven, eight thousand people. They’re still out there.”

But what are Aston’s targets for this season?

“We want to do better than last season. We want to get to the final of the Northern Rail Cup. We want to get to the Grand Final, and we’d certainly like to win something. There’s a lot of desire and a lot of competition for places. There are exciting times ahead of us.”

Results-wise the Eagles have kicked off their season in style.

After winning all four games in their Northern Rail Cup pool, they kicked off their league campaign with a 56-22 win over the Swinton Lions on Sunday.

It will be a long road back to the Super League for the Sheffield Eagles. But so far, they are on the right track.

The Eagles academy team in preparation for the new season.

Photo: Anthony Hart

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Blades keep noses in front of Owls as promotion race hots up

Photos: Blades Sports Photography

Will Hoskins celebrates his goal against Colchester and (right) the loanee in action against the U’s .

Football Npower League 1 Anthony Hart Sheffield Wednesday continued their good start to the Dave Jones era with a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Reading loanee Michail Antonio had the Owls’ first chance just moments into the game when his header went wide.

Antonio, having scored twice against Bury last Tuesday, was at the heart of Wednesday’s first goal on four minutes. After a corner was cleared from the Bournemouth area, Antonio ran from outside the area, got to the byline, and crossed low into a minefield of players. Danny Batth was the one to get on the end of the cross, slotting home to give Wednesday the lead.

Bournemouth almost equalised instantly, as Scott Malone capitalised on some poor defending from the Owls’ backline, but Malone’s shot along the face of the goal ended up wide of Stephen Bywater’s far post.

Wednesday went two up

in the ninth minute, when Bournemouth defender Miles Addison put past his own keeper from a corner.

The hosts were not messing around and a minute later they made it three. Antonio got on the score sheet yet again as he picked up the ball on the near touchline, went past two defenders before scoring past Darryl Flahavan’s far post.

Wes Thomas managed to hit the post before half-time in what was arguably Bournemouth’s best chance.

The second half was a much quieter affair, with both sides coming close to scoring, but the score remained 3-0, as Wednesday keep up the pressure on their promotion rivals.

“For 20 minutes I thought it was going to be a rout, but when you take your foot off the gas it’s hard to get it back”, Owls boss Jones told the BBC. “Everything I have asked, they’ve tried so I’ve got no complaints. I felt we were trying to play in our third, rather than our last third.”

Meanwhile, a brace from inform striker Ched Evans gave Sheffield United a vital 2-0 win at Brentford on Saturday, as the

Blades kept hold of the second automatic promotion slot from League One It took just six minutes for Evans to find his name on the scoresheet yet again. United have won plaudits for their passing game this season, but their opening goal was very much route-one. Evans got on the end of a long-kick from goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, before flicking the ball over Brentford’s Jake Bidwell and putting it past the goalkeeper Simon Moore.

The Bees, who hadn’t lost a home game since November, almost got level when from a free kick that was whipped him, defender Leon Legge found himself one on one with Simonsen, however Legge couldn’t keep his composure and Simonsen managed to keep him out.

Evans looked to have scored a second when a Brentford defensive mix up left the Welsh international with an open goal, but his shot inexplicably went wide.

Chris Porter then had a chance for United, however his header from point-blank range was tipped away masterfully from rookie keeper Moore.

United had scored six minutes

into the first half, and six minutes into the second half, they made it two.

Moore’s goal kick was poor, only finding Evans, who was through on goal and ran straight at Moore, putting the ball in the back of the net for the 19th time in the league this season.

From there United were firmly in control. Porter had a chance to make it three, but his shot was pushed wide by Moore, who then saved another effort which denied Evans a hat-trick “We’ve had to put our bodies on the line to defend at times in the first half and then late on in the game, but I thought we deserved it, “ said Sheffield United manager Danny Wilson in his post-match BBC interview.

“I don’t think Steve Simonsen has really had a save to make and that’s down to some great defending in front of him. I felt we were destined for a clean sheet.”

Sheffield United then travelled to Colchester on Tuesday night to play their game in hand.

They took 32 minutes to go into the lead. Will Hoskins scored the goal after getting on the end of Evans’ cross and then lifting the ball over goalkeeper Ben Williams. The Blades had kept

their opponents at bay, and had limited them to very few chances, until Steven Gillespie scored 11 minutes into the second half. His shot went in off the post to level things up.

Steve Simonsen got a hand to another Gillespie chance just minutes later which would have put Colchester in front.

At the other end, Evans had a chance to win the game for Sheffield United, but his driven shot went just wide.

“It was a very tough match, you have to say that prior to the game we never thought we would get any favours here,” Wilson said.

“We were disappointed in the goal we conceded, not actually with the finish, it was an absolutely magnificent finish I have to say, but the way we have given the ball in a defensive area.”

Sheffield United’s next game is on home soil as they face struggling Tranmere Rovers at Bramall Lane tomorrow, while Sheffield Wednesday travel to sixth placed Notts County. The Blades sit in second place with 69 points, while Wednesday are third with 67. Both teams have ten games remaining of the regular season.

FORGE PRESS Friday March 16 2012

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Cyclists send Hallam downhill Cycling Varsity Dave Camus The University of Sheffield won the first event of Varsity proper as their cyclists took the spoils in Saturday’s downhill event by a margin of just 0.21 seconds.

The five cycling events at Varsity are worth a collective two points, and after winning the downhill event, Uni will be confident of getting both points.

The event was contested by 28 riders from across both universities. Jonny Congreve started proceedings with a solid one minute and 28 seconds for Hallam, whereas Tom Chaldecott didn’t manage to make it past the first turn, crashing and earning him a non-finish for his first run.

Ruari Hallam turned things around for Uni, clocking 1:23, and Jonny Chorley put in a 1:31 for Uni to keep things on track.

Oli Lynch (Hallam) and Dave Camus (Uni) were the last men down the hill on the first run, both putting in solid times of 1:24 and 1:25 respectively.

After the first runs, Hallam had the lead by seven seconds – not much in the grand scheme of things, but Uni really needed to pull out all the stops to beat them.

Hallam’s second runs weren’t quite up to scratch, Jonny Congreve knocked a few seconds off his first run, but it wasn’t enough to deter Andrew Fowles’ smooth approach taking eight seconds off his first time, and Ruari Hallam somehow managing to take another second off his.

The results were then totaled up. The final margin was as close as a fifth of a second over nearly six minutes of racing. Uni just snatched the win and a valuable half point.

Sheffield followed up success in the downhill competition by thrasing Hallam in the Cross Country race.

Uni won by 15 minutes over four riders, with the first rider finishing 10 minutes over Hallam.

The result ensures that the Univervisty of Sheffield takes a 5-1 lead over Sheffield Hallam as the Varsity competition gets under way.

Sheffield cyclists celebrate Varsity victory

Ross Phelps in action against Hallam

Jacob Storey powers around the course

Photos: Duncan Philpott

Water polo pull the plug on Bath Water Polo BUCS Trophy University of Sheffield University of Bath

6 5

Michael Friis The University of Sheffield Men’s Water Polo team have been crowned BUCS Trophy champions after overcoming the University of Bath in a tense final at Ponds Forge on Sunday.

Sheffield prevailed 6-5 following extra-time, after Sam Cook and Marios Zachariades grabbed goals with a penalty

shoot-out looming large.The final hooter sparked wild celebrations among the Sheffield players and a large home crowd, who had all sensed that this tight encounter could have gone either way.

Indeed, it was Bath who exerted most of the early pressure,as Sheffield initially struggled to find the fluent attacking rhythm that had served them so well in their impressive 11-5 victory over the University of Cardiff in Saturday’s semi-final.

Bath were gaining some important turnovers and reducing the home side to some speculative long-shots early in the first quarter with a welldefended pit. Bath capitalised on

their pressure by taking an early lead, which was quickly regained following Giannis Ioannides’ equaliser for Sheffield.

Ioannides restored parity as Sheffield began to look dangerous in front of goal, and Rhodes put the home side in front just before half time; a lead which would last until well into the final quarter as the defences remained on top for large periods, with Matt Richardson protecting the pit well for Sheffield.

However with only minutes remaining, Bath had turned the scoreline around with two quick goals that looked to have won the trophy, until Rhodes popped up to force extra time.

Sheffield looked the stronger side in the extra period,scoring either side of half-time to open up a 6-4 lead. However, goalkeeper Lefteris Georgiou was still called upon to make some fine saves as Bath refused to give up.

But with more heroics from man of the match Lefteris and some characteristically strong defensive pressure, Sheffield held firm.

Bath more than played their part in a thoroughly enjoyable spectacle, but Sheffield captain Conrad Rhodes felt their BUCS victory was thoroughly deserved after coming through the entire competition unbeaten,beating the likes of Nottingham,

Newcastle and St. Andrews en route to Finals weekend.

“The boys showed great character throughout the tournament and this is a massive win for us. We kept our heads up when we were trailing and kept calm under pressure,” said Rhodes after the match.

Such character will have the team fancying their chances of defending their BUCS title next year.

However, a small but significant Sheffield Hallam contingent behind the Bath goal on Sunday suggests challenge is waiting just round the corner for the Black and Gold, as Varsity approaches.

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Victory not enough to give netball firsts league title

Women’s netball firsts BUCS Northern 2B University of Sheffield Leeds Met thirds

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Matthew Smith

Despite an impressive performance, Sheffield couldn’t clinch promotion.

Photos: Nurul Liyana Yeo

The University of Sheffield couldn’t seal promotion to League 2A despite a deserved win over Leeds Met in their last game of the season, which saw them turn around a poor run of form that had seen defeats in their past two outings.

Joint top, Sheffield were nevertheless a long way off the lead on goal difference, and so needed a comfortable victory here. Fingernails would be chewed as they waited for the result from Northumbria, whose seconds’ away win at Durham seconds scuppered Sheffield’s title chances.

Coach Kate Vivian’s girls were on the attack from very early on, the attacking pair of Becky Hollow and Lee Witzowski pushing the home side into a good position with five goals without reply. Leeds Met had missed a couple of good efforts, with two successive shots bouncing off the net rim.

The visitors did respond with some good pressure, however, despite the end-to-end action, Sheffield always looked more convincing, with Janicke Pilkington and Naomi Parton running the show in the middle as Sheffield took an 8-5 lead into the first break.

Sheffield changed their goalkeeper – Steph Bryant replacing Sarah Smith – and surprisingly removed the lively Witzowski, and perhaps these alterations contributed to Leeds scoring early goals to close the gap.

Tori Airey, pushed up to goal

attack, missed two good chances.

However, Sheffield soon got more points on the board, with Tori Airey and Hollow combining well.

However, they were flimsy at the rear, Bryant leaving her post to launch an attack but allowing Sheffield to be caught on the counter. Leeds Met were visibly brighter and more skilful in this spell, stacking up goals at one stage at a frightening pace.

Sheffield crucially took their chances, though, to go 21-17 up at half-time.

Witzowski returned for the third quarter as captain.

Pilkington took a breather as – did Bryant, with Smith returning as goalkeeper – and was straight back in the goalscoring groove, proving a vital difference in the opening minutes of the quarter.

Parton kept up her metronomic rhythm in the centre, even as the opposition made a more concerted effort to impose themselves.

She and Airey – back at wing attack – looked to have a strong partnership, launching attack after attack, which saw Sheffield attain a commanding 32-22 lead into the final fifteen minutes.

Sheffield made only one change for their final quarter of the league season, captain Pilkington returning to action in place of Laura Wakeman, and proved that consistency matters by picking up where they left off.

They applied the majority of the pressure and limited Leeds to rare forays forward.

Leeds did look dangerous on the counter, but Natasha Dawson, who played the full game at goal defence, was imperious, unlike Pilkington, who looked unsettled by constant position changes and often gave the ball away. The entire home team was making small errors too by the end, a sure sign of fatigue, but they held out well for victory, and will go into their big Varsity fixture on a high.