Forge issue 62

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The independent student newspaper of the University of Sheffield. Est. 1946.

Issue 62 Friday October 11 2013 @ForgePress /ForgePress

News find:

How you can spot fake alcohol, p. 3

Sport talk:

Music meet:

The return of rugby season, p. 27

band Everything Everything, Fuse, p. 5

Sheffield graduate faces 15 years in Russian jail for piracy

Protestors gather outside the Russian Embassy in London Lauren Archer & Camille Brouard A former Sheffield student and documentary filmmaker has been charged with piracy by Russian authorities and faces up to 15 years in prison.

Kieron Bryan, who studied a BA in English Literature and an MA in Broadcast Journalism at the University, was filming Greenpeace activists when he was arrested.

He is one of the Arctic 30, a group of activists and journalists, charged after an incident on September 18 when Greenpeace protestors attempted to climb an

oil rig owned by Russian state energy company Gazprom.

Critics have suggested this poses a threat to the freedom of the press.

Journalism Studies lecturer Marie Kinsey, who taught Bryan when he studied his Broadcast Journalism MA, said: “Kieron was simply doing his job as a journalist: bearing witness to events.

“It is never acceptable, under any circumstances, to imprison journalists for doing their work.

The Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe is on record as saying exactly that

Picture: John Cobb/ Greenpeace and I’d endorse it.

“We’re thinking of Kieron and his family and will do whatever we can to bring him home.”

Russia turned down three requests for Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise icebreaker to sail the Northern Sea Route to protest against oil drilling in the area.

Despite the refusals, Greenpeace sailed through the route without permission.

Border guards seized the icebreaker on September 19 and towed it to the Russian port town of Murmansk, where everyone on board was arrested .

Bryan was detained pending

further investigation after a court hearing on September 26 and was charged on October 2.

All of the Arctic 30 are still in custody and expected to remain so until November 24 at the earliest.

Denis Sinyakov, the freelance photographer who was covering the voyage, was denied bail in a court hearing on Tuesday October 8.

Sinyakov is a well-known photographer who has worked with international news agency Reuters and French news agency AFP. continued on p. 3

Clarification: In the original printed article, ‘Silenced: Uni’s £1.8 m gagging orders’, we reported that the University had taken out 54 compromise agreements in 2011.

The correct figure is 24, as was printed in the front page table, with the cost being the same as reported.

We also reported the University had spent seven times the amount Sheffield city council did since 2011.

The University actually spent seven times the amount in 2011 (Sheffield city council’s £28,000 compared to the University’s £196,907).

Forge Press regrets the error.

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Students’ Union Gaza policy up for review Camille Brouard The Students’ Union policy about creating links between the University of Sheffield and the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) will be reviewed from October 31.

The policy was passed in March 2011 with 1754 votes for, 959 against and 1146 abstentions.

SU president Ally Buckle says: “the policy has been really successful and there is still work to be done so I’d imagine it is likely to be re-worded or re-proposed” instead of lapsed.

“As it was decided by referendum before it should go to referendum again, and that’s what I will be proposing. That will be a major way for students to get involved.

“The best thing to have come from the policy so far is ... the University agreeing to a fee waiver for a student from IUG, who is here studying this year.”

This student is 22-year-old Malaka Mohammed, who has lived in Sheffield for two weeks since making her way through the Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt.

A refugee originally from Tel Aviv in Israel, Malaka is studying a Masters in Global Politics and International Law. She has enjoyed her time in Sheffield.

“I am still surprised by the kindness I get from people; the Students’ Union and Palestine Society and my friends.”

Malaka hopes that the policy will be re-worded.

“My suggestion is to get the University to help a student from Gaza with a yearly scholarship.”

Malaka regrets that some of her friends are still stuck in Gaza and “in danger of losing golden opportunities either to work or study.”

Photo: Camille Brouard Gazan student Malaka Mohammed She also recommends workshops where Welsh political Sheffield students party Plaid Cymru can get in touch with MEP Jill Evans and students from Gaza.

Malaka have communicated

Union’s ‘Masterchef ’ competition launches

Union secures better teaching perks for postgraduate students Lauren Archer

Aidan Phillips Sheffield city college students have treated students to a masterclass in dessert cooking.

The cooking course was part of Sheffield on a Plate, a two-year city-wide project that aims to encourage students to buy fresh, local produce, grow their own and eat in a more sustainable way.

Sheffield on a Plate is funded by a £200,000 grant from the NUS green fund.

Part of a collaboration between Sheffield Students’ Union, Hallam Union and Sheffield city college, as well as Grow Sheffield and Fairshare, the project was launched on October 8 when around 40 students were given a two-hour masterclass in dessert cooking by two of the College’s catering tutors, Mike Burke and Neil Taylor.

The first year will include a series of weekly cookery classes starting next week. Teams of six

from both universities will compete against each other in the run-up to a finale where both will serve friends, family and VIP guests in a Masterchef-style showdown.

The winners will get the chance to spend a day working at Michelin-star restaurant Fischers under the guidance of head chef and ex-Sheffield city college student Rupert Rowley.

With competition for places fierce, University of Sheffield student Carrick Fox is hoping he’ll get one of them.

He said: “I started doing a bit more cooking lately when I saw there was a chance to get onto the project. I would love to get through to the competition, but with so many people it’s going to be tough.”

Project co-ordinator Tim Allen said the project hopes to engage 14,700 students, promote voluntary opportunities across the city and break a Guinness World Record for soup making in its second year.

about the plight of Gazan students.

They arranged for Evans to send letters to appropriate authorities on behalf of four students who are in danger of losing their scholarships because of University time limits.

Three of these students, Basma El-Haddad, Refaat Alareer and Yousef Aljamal, have been able to cross the Rafah border.

Aljamal, before his successful crossing, said on his blog Gazans “dream of the day when they can travel without being at the mercy of any country”.

He describes Gaza as “the largest open-air prison in the world.”

The fourth student, Fidaa Abuassi, has still not been able to travel.

A UK activist introduced Malaka to the former SU’s president Abdi Suleiman last year and hoped for the two Universities to further explore the links between them.

Malaka said: “this should be a year of action; I will work as a link between Gaza and Sheffield to break the artificial borders of the Israeli occupation”.

SU policies are passed by student body referendum and automatically reviewed every three years by SU Officers and the SU Council.

Trade unions and the University of Sheffield have negotiated new contracts for postgraduate students’ teaching positions.

The improved Sheffield graduate training contracts (SGTCs) offer postgraduates new employment rights including, for the first time, sick pay and holiday pay.

The students were previously classed as banked workers, meaning they had no formal contract with the University and did not receive any such benefits.

Allocation of work and resulting pay – for marking essays and exams – will still be determined by individual departments.

The University and College Union (UCU), the largest trade union for academic staff in further and higher education, helped secure the new contracts.

Sam Morecroft, education officer for the University of Sheffield UCU, said: “UCU welcomes this dramatic improvement in terms and conditions for postgraduates who teach.

“We believe that the university management has adopted a far sighted approach in engaging with UCU on this issue, and hope that this attitude will continue.

“Furthermore, we feel this shows what can be achieved when postgraduates join UCU and get organised as they have at Sheffield.

“UCU would urge all postgraduates who teach to join our union and work with us to secure proper working terms and conditions and have a strong voice in our university.”

The Sheffield UCU were invited to the postgraduate welcome talk this year for the first time.

The contracts began applying to all graduate teaching assistants at the end of September.

Andrew Dodman, Director of Human Resources at the University of Sheffield said: “The University of Sheffield has a well-deserved reputation as an excellent employer committed to developing a culture of excellence, collaboration, innovation, commitment and respect.

“As part of our commitment to enhancing support for graduate teaching assistants the University has developed a bespoke contract of employment which was established in agreement with recognised campus trade unions.

“This ensures that GTAs are employed and supported effectively and consistently across all faculties as well as recognising the important contribution GTAs make to the student learning experience.”

Editor

nicola.moors@forgetoday.com

Nicola Moors

DEPUTY EDITOR Jessica Pitocchi Managing Editor Mikey Smith fuse editors fuse@forgetoday.com Amelia Heathman Karen Scattergood HEAD OF ONLINE matthew.smith@forgetoday.com matthew Smith News news@forgetoday.com Lauren Archer Camille Brouard Aidan Phillips Comment comment@forgetoday.com Tom Schneider Ben Scull LETTERS & COFFEE BREAK letters@forgetoday.com Lucy Copson Features features@forgetoday.com Eve Betts Ina Fischer Elsa Vulliamy Lifestyle & travel lifestyle@forgetoday.com Ellie McCaldin Hannah McCulloch Sport sport@forgetoday.com Peter Grieve Philip Hammond Jack Taylor Music music@forgetoday.com Nicky Crane Rachel Smith Games games@forgetoday.com Joanne Butcher Reece Nunn Screen screen@forgetoday.com Kate Lovatt Will Ross Arts arts@forgetoday.com Lizzie Hyland Rhiannon Pickin

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Man hospitalised following hitand-run on Fulwood Road Fox and Duck – he was half on the pavement but someone dragged him off the road.

“People were just screaming.

He was knocked out first then he regained consciousness and then was knocked out again.

“There was a huge puddle of blood around his head. An ambulance came about five minutes later.”

In a statement, South Yorkshire police said: “Police are investigating after the occupants of a car failed to stop at the scene of a collision in Sheffield.

“The 48-year-old man sustained serious injuries and was taken to Northern General Hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition.”

Charles Shires, who witnessed the aftermath of the collision, said: ”I walked down past Weston park and there was a fiat punto

Nicola Moors Police are still looking for the occupants of a car who fled the scene of a hit-andrun and left a 48-year-old man in hospital.

After the incident, which happened at 12.15am on Sunday morning, it is believed the driver of the car, a grey fiat punto, fled the scene and drove to Weston Park, where the driver and passenger abandoned the car and ran into the park.

The punto was left parked horizontally across the left-hand side of Whitham Road with a dent in its windscreen and both its driver and passenger doors open.

Matthew Marsden, 16, witnessed the incident after he’d finished working at The York in Broomhill.

“I stepped out of The York and saw a car speeding away. I saw a middle-aged man hit the floor right in front of the

SCIENCE & Technology

Surgeons grow nose patient’s forehead

on

Following a traffic accident, Xiaolian didn’t look after his badly damaged nose and the resulting infection rendered the nose impossible to fix.

Doctors in the Fujian province of China decided to grow a new one on his forehead so that it could be transplanted to replace the damaged one.

Using a technique called prelamination, doctors were able to build the three layered structure of the nose. They used skin from the forehead, transplanted cartilage from the ribs and preserved the blood supply from the forehead to create the inner layer of the nose. Surgeons are optimistic the transplant will happen soon.

The abandoned car outside Weston Park speeding. I didn’t see the actual collision but there was the abandoned car.

“The fiat punto had a crack windshield but there was no sign of

How you can spot illegal vodka Over 2,000 bottles of fake alcohol have been seized in Sheffield over the last five months.

Fake alcohol can cause vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness and kidney or liver problems. Methanol found in fake vodka can cause permanent blindness.

Sheffield cabinet member for the environment Jack Scott said: “Counterfeit booze bottles are so convincing it is often hard to tell them apart from the real thing.”

So how can you spot the difference between real and fake? Here are 10 things to look out for.

1. A price that seems too good to be true? It probably is.

2. Labels poorly printed or applied badly.

3. An unfamiliar brand.

4. Unsealed or broken bottle caps.

5. Labels with spelling mistakes.

6. Bottles of the same product which look different.

7. How it smells, especially if it smells like nail varnish remover.

8. Bottles of the same type not filled to the same level.

9. Fake or missing tax stamps.

Spirits in bottles 35cl or larger and 30 per cent ABV or higher must have a tax stamp.

10. False bar codes. If you have a bar code app, scan it to see if it is valid.

Photo: Nicola Moors

whoever they hit.”

Police closed Fulwood Road from The York to the junction at Costa in the early hours of Sunday morning but it has since been reopened.

All 30 activists and journalists charged appealed their detention and 27, Bryan among them, are still awaiting a decision regarding bail.

Greenpeace staged vigils as part of the ‘Free the Arctic 30’ campaign up and down the country on October 5, attracting high profile figures like Jude Law and Vivienne Westwood.

The group has also collected over one million signatures calling for their release.

Greenpeace’s executive director Kumi Naidoo sent Russian president Vladimir Putin an open letter on October 9. He said: “I am willing to move my life to Russia for the duration of this affair. I would offer myself as a guarantor for the good conduct of the Greenpeace activists, were they to be released on bail.”

A Facebook group called ‘Free Kieron Bryan’, dedicated to lobbying the Russian government to demand his release, has attracted over 550 likes.

Many of the campaigners involved have signed a letter to William Hague asking the foreign secretary to take action.

The letter reads: “He [Bryan] is innocent of all charges and his detention by the Russian authorities represents a grave breach of journalistic freedom in that country and a threat to other UK journalists travelling there, as well as raising human rights issues.”

Bryan’s family met with Kieron’s local MP Harriet Harman on Wednesday October 9 to discuss the situation. Harman, deputy leader of the Labour party and

Connor McCarry

Anyone with information about the collision is asked to call South Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 29 of 6 October.

Support pours in for Sheffield graduate Continued from p. 1

Louise Flanagan

NEWS

shadow deputy Prime Minister, later tweeted saying: “Wrong of Russians to keep him in detention.

I spoke to William Hague about Kieron tonight. He’s on it.”

Kieron’s friend Luke Farrington, who he studied with at the University of Sheffield, told Forge Press “Kieron is a well-respected journalist and a very dear friend, the charges he face are ludicrous.

“He took this assignment because he wanted to document a peaceful protest. He knew there were risks involved but he could never have imagined what has happened”.

Local Greenpeace members Phil Daly and Hannah Lucas are supportive of the Arctic 30 and the campaign for their release.

Lucas, co-ordinator of the South Yorkshire branch, said ‘“It’s about freedom of expression, freedom to protest peacefully. They’re protesting on behalf of the rest of us who don’t want the Arctic polluted.”

Daly said “the only charge against them should be aggravated trespass, they didn’t actually attack the oil rig.”

Foreign minister for The Netherlands Frans Timmermans has said a lawsuit will be filed to recover Greenpeace’s ship Arctic Sunrise because it was under Dutch flags during its voyage.

The Russian committee investigating the Arctic Sunrise reported finding hard drugs on board. Greenpeace responded in a press release saying “any claim that illegal drugs were found is a smear, it’s a fabrication, pure and simple.”

Bryan and the rest of the Arctic 30 are still awaiting court decisions.

Microbes help identify time of death Establishing a victim’s time of death is essential for any death investigation. The prediction of this time period could be improved by examining the changes in the decomposing body’s microbial communities.

Through the analysis of bacteria extracted from 40 decaying mice over 48 days, researchers at the University of Colorado were able to accurately predict the time of death to within three days.

Current techniques used to assess this depend on the development of blow fly larvae, successive insect populations and biochemical changes in the surrounding “gravesoil.” These markers are unreliable and errors can vary from days to weeks.

Victoria Stanway

Curiosity Rover finds water on Mars Manned missions to Mars in the future may be able to source all the drinking water they need from the soil of the red planet.

Results published in Science Today show that Martian soil contains two per cent water by weight, meaning that two pints can be extracted from every cubic foot of soil.

Scientists have already confirmed that liquid water existed on mars millions of years ago, and that ice is still present today on the poles of the planet. However, these are the first results that demonstrate water could be extracted from soil regardless of latitude.

Daniel King

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UniNEWS Black history month celebrations begin

Interesting stories from other universities around the country

Naked students protest ban on mini-skirts

Hungarian students turned up to class in their underwear to protest against new clothing rules banning mini-skirts and low cut dresses.

Around 10 students and a professor at Kaposvar University, Hungary, attended classes wearing only underwear – sometimes with tactically positioned textbooks – in objection to the conservative dress code.

The protest follows a letter from University staff asking students to refrain from wearing ‘revealing’ clothing.

Students have planned another protest when they will wear only flip-flops and beach towels.

Lauren Archer University of Cambridge’s investments exposed A Freedom of Information request has exposed commercial investments in major arms, tobacco, and fossil fuel companies at the University of Cambridge.

Many of the companies the University’s colleges have invested in have been accused of corruption, pollution, and systematic violations of human rights.

Unlike other leading educational institutions such as Harvard and Oxford, there is no official ethical investment policy at Cambridge.

Neelam Tailor

Lauren Archer

The University’s Black and Minority Ethnic Committee (BME) is holding one of the biggest student-run celebrations of black history month in the UK. The month will be split into four weeks focusing on different voices and ideas within the celebration of black and ethnic minority history.

Starting with arts week on Monday October 7, black history month celebrations began with an opening ceremony in the Octagon amphitheatre and the unveiling of a portrait of Malcom X in Coffee Revolution, exactly 50 years after the iconic speaker’s visit to the Students’ Union.

Arab Society raised £25,000 for Syrian orphans with a Justice for Syria event at the Octagon, and a ska and reggae night was held at popular student nightclub Ashanti Beats.

The BME Committee said: “The purpose of this month is not only to raise awareness of issues that are of incredible pertinence to BME people alone; but it is also being organised to educate, liberate and inform people of all backgrounds of achievements that ought to be celebrated, problems that ought to be corrected and hopes that ought to be realised.

“The month, organised around four themed weeks, will be attained in partnership with various establishments, committees and groups across the city.”

The celebrations will continue with women’s week, education week, and liberation week.

Events will include film screenings, guest talks, and trips.

Upcoming events include a screening of ‘Princess and the Frog’, the first Disney film featuring a BME princess, and the launch of a hijab awareness campaign involving a video exploring the experiences of women who wear the hijab.

There will also be a guest talk with Betty Makoni, a prominent Zimbabwean feminist, academic and activist, who will be hosting

a panel discussion on black feminism in modern society, a trip to the slavery museum in Liverpool, and many more talks and events

throughout the month.

More information can be found on the BME Students’ Committee Facebook page.

Students struggle to meet day-to-day costs Photo: Wikipedia

Leeds nightclub uses rape culture to promote event ‘Tequila’, a night run by Mezz club in Leeds, has caused controversy for using sexual harassment to publicise the event.

The video, which has now been removed from YouTube, was called ‘Tequila Freshers Violation’ and included scenes of pole dances, a ‘violation cage’, and more senior students “seeking out new freshers.”

The video included footage of male club-goers describing how they wanted to “violate” and “rape” female freshers.

Commenters on the video have criticised it for being “disgusting” and for “using sexual abuse as promotion”.

A student filmed on the removed video was heard to have said: “She’s going to pay for the drinks, she’s going to pay for the taxi, and she’s going to get raped.”

Lauren Archer

Afraid to check your balance?

Robert Moran Students face a monetary shortfall of thousands of pounds due to a rise in living costs according to a National Union of Students (NUS) report.

Figures show tuition and maintenance fees have not kept up

Photo: Aidan Phillips with rising living costs, prompting fears of a ‘cost of living crisis’ for the country’s student population.

The NUS report calculated the average student living outside of London faces a shortfall of £7,693.

In comparison London students face an income shortfall of £7,654.

The NUS’s ‘Pound in Your

Pocket’ research has looked into the financial pressure on today’s students and found that more than half worry about having enough money to meet basic living costs such as rent and utility bills.

NUS president Toni Pearce said “many students starting university this month are facing a cost of living crisis, with available financial support in loans and grants failing to keep pace with spiraling bills for basic essentials.”

She warned that although some may have the luxury of resorting to the “bank of mum and dad” many are being driven to find fulltime work or fall “into the arms of predatory payday lenders”.

A spokeswoman for the department for business, innovation and skills said “the student finance package targets limited government resources at those who need it most. This year, students from the lowest income households can access over £7,100 of living cost support, of which over £3,350 does not have to be repaid.”

“The government also provides additional, non-repayable support to students in specific circumstances, such as students with children and disabled

students.

Scholarships and bursaries are also available from most universities, and students in hardship can apply for additional support through the Access to Learning Fund.”

In his speech to the conservative conference, Prime Minister David Cameron has suggested benefits paid to young people under the age of 25 could be cut in an effort to “nag and push and guide” young people away from life on the dole.

The Prime Minister’s pledge to have young people under 25 “earning and learning” has attracted criticism from the University and College Union (UCU) who say the pledge is empty rhetoric and needs to be be accompanied by an expansion of educational opportunities.

UCU pointed to recent research from ComRes showing how 88 per cent of young people want to work or study and said a new approach to tackling the problem is required at both national and local levels.

It has been confirmed that the government is reviewing policies for 16 to 25-year-olds.

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Disabled students need more support, campaigners say Matt Smith and Benedict Tse

Image: Abdullah Geelah and Minesh Parekh/ BME committee

Disabled students in English universities lack the necessary support they need, according to a recent report.

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s group ‘Trailblazers’ found many disabled students are unable to use lecture theatres and libraries, and cannot access important information about disability-friendly accommodation on campus.

Only a quarter of the universities polled had considered disabled students when planning freshers’ week information, whereas only half of them had made all their teaching rooms, study rooms and libraries fully accessible for students with mobility difficulties.

Information that is essential to disabled students, such as accessible university accommodation and how wheelchairs can navigate around campus, is also not being disseminated properly.

Sheffield student and disability rights campaigner Mathy Selvakumaran said disability services at the University of Sheffield are “very useful and supportive, helping to arrange lecture support among other things. The library staff are also more than happy to help with any problems you might be having.

“The disabled students’ committee is doing a great job at the moment helping to support students with the social side of university life, something that’s often ignored and a problem that I definitely faced during my undergraduate years.

“The Students’ Union and many societies could still make some improvements with regards to being more inclusive of disabled students, such as having more sober socials or socials that aren’t late at night

and making sure event locations are accessible.

“Another problem I think is still an issue is accessibility of certain buildings. Sheffield is inherently an inaccessible city with so many hills, but things like uneven pavements, steps, etcetera can be a big obstacle for someone with mobility problems.”

SU welfare officer Becca Barnes said: “The SU always wants to expand the existing accessible provision and offer hundreds of societies, sports and democratic opportunities.”

Trailblazers project manager Tanvi Vyas said: “While the number of disabled students attending university has increased in recent years, more needs to be done to help them play a full part in campus life”.

The University Challenge study, published on October 3, accrued information from disabled students at 100 UK universities, including the University of Sheffield.

Of nine Yorkshire universities asked only three confirmed all teaching rooms, study rooms and libraries were fully accessible for students with mobility problems.

Disabled students also raised concerns over local authorities and the care packages they provided, with many young people saying continuity of social care when moving away from home was a major influence as to where they eventually chose to study.

The report found universities had improved their disability access since it conducted a similar study four years ago, but more support was needed. Tanvi Vyas said this was especially so as more disabled students are now attending universities.

In support of World Mental Health Day on October 10, the University of Sheffield held a week of activities and events along the theme of “mental health is for everyone.”

Students to host their own gender seminars Lauren Archer Sheffield students are running a series of politics seminars in response to the absence of modules focused on gender, sexuality and feminism.

The University’s politics department previously offered a full module on the theory and progression of feminism, but this ended when the relevant lecturer left two years ago.

Fortnightly seminars will now give students the opportunity to explore these topics.

The seminars started last academic year in a more informal, sporadic form, but will now continue with the SU referendum Students will be given a chance to have their views on green issues represented at Union Council as one of four proposals being put to referendum in three weeks time.

Among them include a proposal to create a new role of ethical and environmental (EE) councillor, which would include representing students’ views on EE issues and communicating such issues to students.

Other proposals include allowing councillors to send a proxy to a meeting if they are unable to attend and establishing a process for deciding whether to accept apologies for absence from SU councillors.

Voting takes place on the SU website between October 21 to 24. Students get one vote on all the proposals.

support of a University lecturer. However, they will continue to be peer-led.

Yael Shafritz, who helps organise and run the seminars, said: “Our current political and academic systems are dominated mostly by men. By studying gender and politics, we can both understand why this is as well giving ourselves the tools to challenge this.

“No one should be denied the opportunity to study something that has such a big effect on our political lives.”

Professor Simon Bulmer, head of politics at the University, said: “The member of staff who taught this module left in semester 2 2011/12. Subsequently, the

Student Voice competition The SU is giving students the chance to re-brand the Student Voice initiative.

Student Voice is a platform aimed at ensuring all students studying at the University of Sheffield have a strong voice in the SU, University and wider community.

The department’s team want to use a new logo that will “speak to all students at the University of Sheffield.”

Any students interested in getting involved can send an e-mail to studentvoice@sheffield.ac.uk with ideas by Friday October 18. Three e-mails will be chosen at random to win £50 each.

Women’s officer Kat Chapman said: “This is a brilliant opportunity to shape the look of the department and create a brand that students can relate to.”

University has hired a faculty research fellow, based in the department, and whose research is centred on gender issues.

“Her post will become a lectureship with the department.

At present she is on maternity leave. A new genderbased module will be introduced in the near future but this cannot be done this session while she is on maternity leave.”

The first seminar, on the relevance of studying gender and politics, will take place on Friday October 11. More information is available on the ‘Sheffield Uni Gender and Politics’ Facebook page.

Concert raises £25,000 A fundraising concert at the Octagon raised £25,000 for Syrian orphans.

Hosted by charity Syria Relief with help from the University of Sheffield’s Arab society, the event on October 4 was part of a four-city national tour.

Featuring a multi-cultural line-up, the show helped raised £25,000 to sponsor over 83 Syrian orphans, almost twice the £14,000 raised in London.

Mohamed Al Mannai, publicity officer for Arabsoc, said: “We were overwhelmed by the generosity of Sheffield, in particular its students, who comprised the majority of the audience.”

Arabsoc helped stage the show, including by preparing and setting up the venues, finding sponsors and selling tickets.

Solutions-oriented media A “solutions orientated media” is planning to recruit students in Sheffield to become part of its international network.

Founded in 2011, the new student production team at SIBE aims to not only reveal problems in society but also enable stakeholders to identify and execute solutions.

The team’s online operations connect its teams in universities across the globe, including Warwick University, Monash University in Australia and the University of Kurdistan-Hewler in Northern Iraq.

SIBE’s live TV producer Kristina Donauskyte said: “We welcome students from various degrees who are interested in applying their research skills or want to broaden their interdisciplinary knowledge.”

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Man’s wind turbine plans infuriate town Sam Pierce

At 310lbs, Sheffield’s Zack “King” Khan has been named the UK’s first Muslim national bodybuilding champion.

Local group deliver food to homeless Thomas Pyman A local Islamic organisation is looking for volunteers to help deliver basic necessities to the homeless and needy as part of its care necessities project (CNP).

The Cube Foundation aims to help those struggling to provide for their families as well as those without a home by providing food and other basic supplies.

Project co-ordinator Naija Shaikh said: “There are so many people out there who are struggling to afford these for their own families and themselves, so we lend a helping hand.

“We really rely on donations, whether they are friends, people we know or neighbours, we ask people to donate because it’s really important.”

She said students at the University of Sheffield are ideal candidates for volunteering.

Set up in 2002 by Mohammed Yasseen, the Cube Foundation work on a range of projects in communities to make a positive change, with the CNP one of its biggest schemes to date.

The charity is actively involved in other projects, such as educating both children and adults, and also employs volunteers to help clean up Sheffield’s streets.

Volunteer Asif Rehman said it’s vital to make these small but crucial contributions.

He said: “It’s important to have pride in your community and make sure it stays clean. We can’t expect the council to do everything, we have to take responsibility.”

The scheme coincides with news that Sheffield city council is set to make another £100 million of cuts to public services over the next five years, following £200 million of cuts already made.

One man’s decision to build wind turbines on his land has infuriated locals so much they’re holding meetings to plan how to stop him.

Local farmer and steelworker Alan Wilkinson has become the subject of an outcry in Stocksbridge following his application to build two 34.5 metre high wind turbines on land he owns in nearby Deepcar.

Wilkinson said a desire for cheaper electricity was the reason behind his decision, also pointing out the environmentally friendly nature of wind turbines.

However, this hasn’t been enough to convince local residents, who held a meeting on October 2 in relation to the plans.

So far the application on the council’s website has drawn 115 public comments, with the overwhelming majority objecting to the proposal. The local town council has also written to Sheffield city council in opposition to the plans.

Facebook group ‘save our leisure centre’, originally set up to protest against the closure of Stockbridge leisure centre, has been used to gather public support against the turbines.

Ian Warby, chair of the Stocksbridge and Deepcar Monday walkers, said: “The area is recognised as one giving access to a range of outstanding views and is a particularly peaceful place, treasured by many of the local population of Stocksbridge and Deepcar.

“Just one turbine would destroy the nature of the area completely.”

Wilkinson disagrees with his

critics, saying: “In all the time I’ve been thinking about building them I’ve stopped walkers who come by and asked them what they thought, and I’ve not had a single person say they don’t want them.”

Situated 10 miles north of Sheffield city centre, Stocksbridge is a town well-rehearsed in campaigning following a nine-month battle to keep its leisure centre open after a source leaked information to BBC Sheffield in January 2013 that its £150,000 grant from the council was set to be cut.

The struggle included a petition with more than 12,000 signatures and a Judicial Review case brought against the city council.

Starting as a working group, it developed over time into campaign group 4SLC (For Stocksbridge Leisure Centre), comprising over 40 people including those with skills ranging from finance to public relations.

The group eventually took control of the centre in July and reopened it at the end of last month. The Facebook group ‘save our leisure centre’ is now used to publicise other campaigns and events in the town.

What’s on your mind?

Comment on this article online: www.forgetoday.com

DOT COM

Hillsborough tragedy footage ‘may have been edited’

Hillsborough victims memorial Aidan Phillips Handheld footage of the Hillsborough tragedy “may have been edited”, a pre-inquest hearing has been told.

Pete Weatherby QC, representing families at a court hearing, said an expert who had assessed the police’s handheld footage from the day suggested it may have been tampered with.

Weatherby said that after assessing the footage, the expert said there were apparent differences in the way the film cut to different scenes on day and that much of it was of poor quality.

Sam Leek QC, speaking on behalf of the new police investigation into whether manslaughter or other criminal offences were committed by parties responsible for the

Photo: Terry Robinson/ Geograph tragedy, argued as well as Weatherby that an independent expert should be appointed by the coroner to examine the evidence.

Chris Daw QC, representing retired police chief superintendents Terry Wain and Donald Denton, told the Guardian that “they are adamant the work they undertook was not in any sense a cover-up.”

The Guardian reported that the quality and provenance of police evidence is hugely significant following families assertions that South Yorkshire police covered up their culpability for the disaster, including by amending and editing junior police officers’ statements.

Coroner Lord Justice Goldring said he would consider a request for an independent expert to be called.

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Teachers set to strike again against education reforms

NEWS National News Badgers to blame for badger cull failing A minister has blamed badgers in West Somerset for the government’s failure to kill over half of them.

After plans to kill 70 per cent of badgers in the area as part of a cull fell short of the target, the deadline may be extended by up to three weeks.

When asked if he had moved the goalposts by claiming the cull was a success, environment secretary Owen Paterson told the BBC: “The badgers moved the goalposts. We’re dealing with a wild animal, subject to the vagaries of the weather and disease and breeding patterns.”

Aidan Phillips Photo: Emanuele Lagazzi

Masked ‘superhero’ spreads good deeds in Manchester

that work teachers harder, create a more rigid curriculum that further stifles students and which in practice will lead to a two-tier separation between state schools and free and private schools.

“We need to kick Gove out, he knows nothing.”

Local teacher Joe Henderson said the coalition government was mounting the worst attack on teachers since Margaret Thatcher.

“They’re trying to privatise the state system by having these academies and free schools.

It’s not so much about pay, it’s an attack on our state education.

“We’re trying to take a stand for all the young people who deserve a proper education, whether they’re upper-class, middle-class or working-class.”

A national strike could take place before Christmas.

Photo: Wikipedia

Protestors at Barkers Pool Lauren Archer and Edith Hancock Teaching unions are threatening national strikes following a set of regional walkouts including one in Sheffield.

Thousands of people took to the streets last Tuesday to join striking teachers in solidarity against the changes made by education secretary, Michael Gove.

Local campaigners, students and families joined educational staff to march from Barker’s Pool to Ponds Forge on Tuesday October 1, to protest changes made by the coalition government, including further restructuring of teachers’ pensions and pay grades.

Education secretary Michael Gove has proposed the introduction of performance related pay for teachers.

The demonstration was organised by two of the largest teachers’ unions, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and National

Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT).

It was one of four demonstrations across the country, with similar gatherings in Birmingham, Cambridge and the East of England. More rallies are set to be held in Bristol, Durham and London on October 17.

A key element of the demonstration was focused on pushing for Gove’s resignation, with many protesters chanting and holding placards saying “get Gove out”.

Tom Maguire-Wright, a University of Sheffield student who joined the march to support the striking teachers, said: “The strike action today shows the extent of the resentment teachers and education workers feel towards the Tories’ education reforms.

“Michael Gove has constantly ignored those who work first hand with students and know their needs and how to run education, electing instead to push through changes

Labour candidate brands Clegg’s annual leaflet a series of ‘half-truths’ Aidan Phillips Nick Clegg’s annual report leaflet has been slammed as a series of “half-truths” by the Labour party candidate in his constituency.

Oliver Coppard, Labour’s candidate in Sheffield Hallam for the 2015 general election, criticised multiple statements in the leaflet including details about pension rises under the Labour government and town hall refurbishments.

The leaflet said the Lib Dems are “campaigning to save Sheffield’s libraries” from closure, including references to their own petition to “keep local libraries open instead of wasting millions on refurbishing the town hall.”

The petition has gathered over 12,500 signatures so far.

Coppard said that, because of the way money is allocated to the council by national government, “it had to be spent on capital investments such as building work rather than daily revenue spending and so couldn’t be spent on keeping

libraries open.”

Another criticism was levelled at a quote from Nick Clegg saying that, under Labour, state pensions “rose by a miserly 75p a week”, following a statement that under the Lib Dems the state pension has risen by a “record £12.50 a week.”

Although pensions did only rise by 75p a week between 1999 and 2010, figures from AXA show this was the smallest increase in a 13-year term which saw them rise by £33 a week for a single person and £52 for a married couple.

The “record” broken by the Lib Dems was the biggest increase over a four-year period.

Speaking about the leaflet as a whole, Coppard said: “The only conclusion I can draw from this latest series of lies and half-truths is that Clegg seems embarrassed by his actual record in government.

“This leaflet is a disgrace and he should be ashamed to put

Slightly inconvenienced people of Manchester need fear no more as Captain Manchester is here to brighten their day.

Wearing a homemade black and red outfit, the unknown Samaritan fills his time after being made redundant by handing umbrellas to shoppers when it’s raining, helping people move furniture and even paying motorists parking fines.

He said his girlfriend doesn’t know about his masked alterego.

Aidan Phillips Zoo bans “confusing” animal-print clothing Animal-print clothing has been banned at Chessington zoo after staff said it scares and confuses the animals.

Spokesperson Natalie Dilloway told the Guardian: “Animals are getting confused when they see what looks like zebras and giraffes driving across the terrain in a 7.5 tonne truck.”

Bouncers have been appointed to stand at the zoo’s entrance and enforce this new policy.

Banned prints include zebra, leopard, cheetah, giraffe, tiger, hyena and African wild dog.

Anyone who visits the zoo in animal-print will be forced to wear grey boiler suits for the duration of their visit.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg his name to it.”

A spokesperson for Clegg said: “Perhaps Mr Coppard would be better placed to spend

less time agonising over Lib Dem leaflets and more time out in the community speaking to real people.”

Camille Brouard

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Blurred whines

Photo: RobinThickeVEVO

Misogyny in its Thickest form Lauren Archer One in seven female students is the victim of a serious sexual assault or serious physical violence while at university or college.

Sadly this statistic probably underestimates the real figures.

The NUS’ ‘Hidden Marks’ survey gathered over 2,000 responses from women students in the UK, finding that, of those sexually assaulted, only 4 per cent reported it to their university and only 10 per cent reported it to the police.

Why would these students refrain from reporting rape and sexual assault? Because rape victims, both male and female, are marginalised and demonised by society.

Of those who did not report serious sexual assault to the police, 50 per cent said it was because they felt ashamed or embarrassed, and 43 per cent said it was because thought they would be blamed for what happened.

They are made to feel dirty, overdramatic and at fault. They are asked over and over again – by the police, by judges, by the media – what they were wearing, how much they had to drink and for the details of their sexual past. “I know you want it,” society tells them.

Robin Thicke’s ode to not giving a fuck about women is, of course, misogynistic.

As many commentators have pointed out, it forms part of a long line of songs that are derogatory towards women. It’s pretty difficult to find a rap song that doesn’t somehow degrade, objectify or insult us.

But this song is different. Yes, it’s sexist, but the messages it conveys are also those of horrific sexual violence. “I’ll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two,” raps T.I., surrounded in the

accompanying music video by topless women with vacant, detached expressions.

Our Students’ Union should be everything it pledges to be: safe, inclusive, and comfortable for its students. Typically, material that could trigger feelings of distress or upset for survivors of sexual assault comes with a trigger warning: people are alerted to the content of the upcoming material and are told about provisions for safe spaces.

It’s relatively impossible to make these provisions in clubs, so the only fair step is to boycott the song. Union officers have asked DJs not to play it in Union venues, but we should be going a step further.

It may seem like an overreaction to suggest that survivors could be traumatised by a pop song, but the lasting effects of sexual assault are incredibly damaging.

“Only 10 per cent of those sexually assaulted report it to the police” Project Unbreakable, a site that publishes photos of rape and sexual assault survivors carrying placards with quotes from their attackers, includes countless photos of both women and men holding signs that read: “I know you want it.” Imagine the feeling of being surrounded by hundreds of people repeating the words of your attacker again and again.

Some critics of the proposed ban have suggested that it is selfish for a few “feminazis” to dictate the soundtrack of the masses. But what is really selfish is standing in a room of your peers in the knowledge that some may be experiencing intense distress or trauma, insistent on listening to a disturbing imitation of a Marvin Gaye song.

Lauren Archer and Hannah Smith react to the request from the SU officers asking all staff not to play ‘Blurred Lines’ Trigger warning: Includes discussion of sexual assault

It’s just a catchy song, have another drink Hannah Smith When I first heard Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ the last thing I thought of was how derogatory and degrading it was towards women. All I heard, and do still hear, is a catchy song featuring Pharrell Williams with no hidden messages encouraging misogynistic behaviour.

“Surely you can’t ban ‘Blurred Lines’ without banning the majority of R&B?” Over the past month, SU officers have requested that the song is not to be played on Union nights due to apparent connotations of sexual abuse and rape. Surely these actions are a tad extreme?

First off, yes - we cannot deny that the song can be seen to some as downright offensive.

While I agree that the lyrics “domesticate you”, “blurred lines” and “you the hottest bitch in this place” are degrading and objectifying to women, are they honestly implying hidden messages of sexual abuse?

Personally I feel this has been misunderstood. Songs can be interpreted in many different ways. No longer can we listen to songs and just enjoy them. Quite frankly, this infuriates me.

Let’s face it, we can all think of a number of songs that portray worse cases of sexism.

Need I take you back to the lyrics of Akon watching women “winding and grinding up on the pole”, or more recently the track by A$AP Rocky where he “loves bad bitches that’s his fuckin’ problem”, and finally how Rihanna can speak of her profound love for chains and whips in ‘S&M.’

In my mind the lyrics in these tracks are more overtly offensive and my point is simple, surely you can’t ban ‘Blurred Lines’ from being played without banning these songs and the majority of rap, hip-hop and R&B out there?

The song itself has been around for what, half year? And I myself didn’t even hear about the supposed hidden message about sexual abuse until just over a week ago, and I can guarantee you others are the same. May I also remind you that it is only a small group of

“‘Blurred Lines’ is definitely not about sexual harassment” people who are all for the ban.

Now I don’t know about you, but during my night out (more than likely influenced by a few double vodkas) I’m probably not even aware of what song is being played, let alone can I decipher the lyrics and meaning. To those where this is a concern, well I merely question to what extent you are having ‘fun’ on your night out. The majority do not even register the lyrics when they’ve had a few too many, or any lyrics to any song for that matter.

From this my point is clear, ‘Blurred Lines’ is definitely not about sexual harassment.

Should it be banned from being played in the Students’ Union? Again, I think not.

The lyrics of any song should not be taken personally, since today we’re in a society which is increasingly influenced by sex culture and ‘lad’ mentality, which is profoundly hard to censor. Besides, don’t we have more important issues to worry about during our university lifetime?

FO R GE PRESS Fr i d ay O c tob er 11 2013

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The least Nobel nominee

A £15 billion hit Tasmin Wade When flicking back through old copies of this paper, it’s clear that there is no shortage of articles arguing for the legalisation of drugs. The same old pro-legalisation arguments are quickly raised: “it would prevent a lot of gang activity”, “it would make drug use safer.”

But there is no escaping from the one opinion shared by many: drugs are bad. Drugs are responsible for £15 billion a year of taxpayer money for hospital admissions, rehabilitation and that is before we make it available to the mainstream.

Students are definitely not the most faultless social group in our consumption of substances.With a student culture based on predrinks and drinking games, there is no escaping alcohol abuse while at university. However, with alcohol is a legal substance, we see no problem in getting hammered and vomiting all over our student houses.

Alcohol is in no way used in moderation in the UK; it costs us £21 billion a year in health costs.

While countries such as Portugal and Switzerland have had success with decriminalising drugs, with our appetite for alcohol in mind, do we

really think what us Brits need is for drugs to be made readily available?

If drugs were to be legalised, the stigma of obtaining and using them would no longer be attached. One of my friends said: “I wouldn’t do drugs even if they were legal.” But perhaps we might all be a little more tempted if we could buy drugs readily and legally.

One in 12 young people aged 15-24 in the UK admit to taking legal highs, one of the main reasons being because the word ‘legal’ is in the name. In 201112, 6,486 people were left needing treatment for the misuse of legal highs and 2010 recorded the deaths of 43 young people as a result of now outlawed methcathinones.

No matter how much safer the drug market could be made by legalisation, the health effects of the drug are still the same, it’s just that by decriminalising drugs they would have government approval and probably buy-one-getone-free offers in every bar.

Luke Wilson The Nobel peace prize: who are the most worthy winners? Martin Luther King Jr.? Barack Obama?

Mother Theresa? Or the bare-chested war monger, Vladamir Putin? Here’s the Nobel peace prize c o m m i t t e e’s justification behind his nomination: “Vladimir Putin makes efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity not only on the territory of his own country but also actively promotes settlement of all conflicts arising on the planet.”

When Putin won his third Presidential term in 2012, tens of thousands protested against his return to power after allegations of widespread election

fraud. So how did he, the maintainer of “peace and tranquillity”, respond? Russians saw a crackdown on public assemblies, the criminalisation of ‘libel’ and a broadening of the definition of treason. Good start.

The Nobel peace prize is awarded to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

Putin’s war record is somewhat different.

He established direct rule of Chechnya, subsequently declaring peace whilst civilians were tortured and murdered

by Russian forces. In Georgia, he led a disproportionate invasion and ignored ceasefire calls after Georgians had left the contested region of South Ossetia.

In regards to Syria, his close relationship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad did aide a resolution to plan the destruction of Syria’s chemical stockpile.

However, initially, Putin did

not promote the “settlement of all conflicts arising on the planet”, dismissing claims that Assad had indeed used chemical weapons on his own people and accused the Syrian rebels instead. This followed a decade of selling arms worth over $1.5 billion to the Assad regime.

It seems grotesque that this highly controversial and much-loathed individual can be mentioned in the same breath as many of the previous, well-deserved winners. In fact Putin is so widely seen as an oppressive despot, that I can leave it to the Republican US Senator John McCain to write off his time in power: “Putin is not enhancing Russia’s global reputation; he is destroying it.”

Got an opinion on the topics discussed this fortnight? contact us letters@forgetoday.com

Freedom: Lifting the veil?

Photo: Flickr/ FotoRita

Alexandra Machin David Cameron is quoted saying that “we are a free country and people should be free to wear whatever clothes they like in public or in private.” This was right before expressing his support for the right of institutions, such as education and work, to ban the burqa. It seems to me that our beloved Prime Minister has contradicted himself a bit there.

If people are allowed to wear what they want, how can an institution stop them? Cameron seems to believe institutions are run by authoritarian robots hell

bent on dictating what we wear, or perhaps one solitary, very powerful man who gets to tell everybody else what to do. Luckily for us, this isn’t how institutions are run.

“I don’t want to live in a country that tells people what they can or cannot wear”

When people ask me how I feel about Islamic women wearing the burqa or the niqab, I reply quite simply “I’m not bothered”. Strange then, that I should be writing about this piece of clothing.

What I mean is, the niqab, a full

body veil traditionally worn by Islamic women in public, as much concerns me as those who wear snapsbacks or tie dye.

But what I am bothered about is freedom. Freedom of expression.

Religious freedom. It makes me uncomfortable that our prime minister, the very figurehead of our government, the international face of our country and all it represents, would simply allow schools, universities, and courts to have control over what people wear.

It makes me uncomfortable that our prime minister has taken the side of an argument so usually voiced by those who seek to persecute Islam and stamp

upon expression of faith. When Birmingham Metropolitan College decided to ban the veil it was met with a chorus of angry cries.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to live in a country that tells people what they can or cannot wear. Gok Wan, I’m watching you closely.

There seems no rational argument to ban the veil. Some call it suspicious clothing as it covers the whole body and face.

But how is it any more suspicious as, say, a really big coat? Some say it oppresses Islamic women and their right to choose what they wear, but if we banned what Islamic women wore wouldn’t we be oppressing them further?

Simply, the idea to ban the veil stinks of persecution. It’s an idea built out of fear, hatred and Islamophobia. It’s an idea created by those who would compromise freedom to push their own prejudices and spark tensions between different sectors of our brilliant and diverse community.

If Cameron decided to wear a full body veil anytime soon, I would happily respect his wish.

After all, who are any of us to be so audacious as to tell somebody what to wear?

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Editorial

D.A.R.T.S.

Badgers, Bryan, and big money problems First of all, I would like to say a huge thank-you to everyone who picked up a copy of the previous issue of Forge Press.

It’s no exaggeration to say that hundreds of hours go into making the paper each fortnight by students who, just like you, have to fit in degrees and social lives into their already packed calendar. A massive 6,000 copies were distributed around the Students’ Union and the city centre, and knowing that people actually pick it up makes all the effort worth it.

Most of us in the media hub have been entertained by environment minister Owen Paterson’s comment that the “badgers moved the goalpost”, when asked why the badger cull target hasn’t been met. Yes, apparently it’s the badger’s fault. I suggest that from now on, we blame everything on the badgers.

The consequent game where you shoot penalties at a goal manned by badgers is so much more fun. Try it for yourself by searching ‘us vs them badger game’ in Google. It will keep you more entertained than Greg James’ parody of ‘22’ by Taylor Swift.

Moving onto actual stories we’ve got in this week’s paper: ex-University of Sheffield student Kieron Bryan has been charged with piracy after being caught

Nicola Moors - Forge Press editor

Forge Press takes its satirical aim

Political scandals rock Europe:

in Russian waters without permission, while with Greenpeace.

This is a worrying restriction on freedom of expression - we need the media to hold those in power accountable. If we can’t even do that, then this undermines democracy immensely.

In my opinion, if you’re not ruffling a few feathers as a journalist then you’re not doing your job right. Detaining journalists shows that those in power are scared, however Kieron should be freed. He’s a journalist, not an activist.

Although we know how skint students are, the NUS has released a report showing how students have more than a £7,000 shortfall on the cost of living.

This is shocking. If high tuition fees aren’t putting people off the thought of going to university, then this surely will.

Who needs the stress of financial problems with the added pressures of your degree and social life? Personally, I know that I’ve panicked about my (lack of) finances, and I’m sure that many of you have too.

It’s time that the government actually helped students, instead of hindering them.

First in hilarious scandal news: Berlusconi.

Everyone’s favourite Italian stallion has attempted to bring down his government, failed, and looks likely to be expelled from the Senate just in time for his expected prison sentence.

Meanwhile in Blighty, Liam Fox (remember him? Yeah that MP that had to resign and pay back £3,000) is at it again. This time he’s claiming 3p for a 100m journey to the local concrete firm. This is such a political scandal that it was on the most read on the BBC News site as the ‘story’ broke. Say what you want about Berlusconi, but even at the tender age of 76, we reckon he could manage a 100m stroll.

Political scandals rock USA..ish

America is now so divided between St. Obama’s bunch and the other lot that when one loses, they now decide to start periodically shutting museums and statues in true ‘terrible two’ tantrum style.

Don’t worry Republicans, Barack may still have his finger on the red button, but at least seven school trips to Washington have been cancelled so far.

The real scandal is here:

Here’s the real scandal. That most beloved of student institutions, Bargain Beers, has closed.

No longer will people be able to take on the challenge of completing their entire weekly shop at the Broomhill off-license. No longer will we be able to buy some tic-tacs with our Corp ticket. But most depressingly of all, it seems this is the end for two-for-£5 wine.

Quote of the fortnight: “In my defence, I do like naked dictators” - Tom Schneider, Forge Press comment editor

Video(s) of the fortnight: http://bit.ly/eJUVFd To celebrate Putin’s nominaion for the Nobel Peace Prize, let’s have a quick look at everyone’s favourite and most convincing pacifist trying his hand at judo.

Although, at least he doesn’t look as out of his depth as our dear leader does at badmington...

http://bit.ly/GWrRuE Putin artwork of the fortnight:

At Forge Press we often struggle to find images that don’t break copyright laws. This issue we had difficulty trying to find a topless picture of Putin riding a horse that wouldn’t cost millions of pounds to use. Instead we sent out a request to our artists seeing if anyone could draw this fabulous spectacle themselves. Here is the best submission from Ellie, lifestyle editor:

nicola.moors@forgetoday.com

Have your say Your comments on www.forgetoday.com to:

Bad behaviour on the bus To the editor of Forge Press, Recently I witnessed something that completely shocked and outraged me.

Around 20 of my coursemates and I were returning from an academic field trip on a bus which is most commonly used by students. Our group took up every seat on the bus except two of the priority seats, which were already occupied by an elderly couple.

A few stops into our journey four very elderly people boarded, one of whom was very obviously infirm. As soon as they got on I expected the students sitting in the priority section to give up their seats, but nobody got up. The bus lurched forward and the new arrivals were forced to stand clinging on to the supports and trying to remain upright it was up to the elderly lady sitting in the other priority seat to offer up her place!

I immediately got up and offered my seat near the back of the bus to the good citizen who seemed quite rightly disgusted with the fact that she had to sacrifice her seat. I proceeded to the front of the bus to stand with the remaining three elderly people. After I had moved I thought someone else would follow suit - but again, nobody moved.

I am so embarrassed to be a member of the generation where respecting your elders means nothing and common sense and decency seem to have abandoned

most of us. I wear my University of Sheffield hoodie because I am proud of our institution and choose to represent it, as does anyone who wears anything with their university name in big letters across their chest. We are supposed to reflect our University’s prestige with our behaviour.

I was ashamed on behalf of our University. I feel that something should be done to emphasise that not just respect should be shown for our elders, but also consideration.

What if one of your elderly relatives got on to a bus, nobody offered them a place and when the bus stopped they fell over and broke their arm? I know I would be furious and disappointed if my OAP mum, who suffers from back, hip, leg and ankle problems, had to stand for an entire journey because some student was too busy talking or playing Candy Crush to bother getting up.

Anonymous

It’s just a marketing ploy - live a little “Most students are educated enough…to realise its a bit of fun?” Pur-lease. Educate yourself.

“Live a little” guys, objectifying women is a ‘joke’ we’re all in on. Oh how we laugh as we parody our superificial, hypersexualised culture. Here’s a secret, you can live without misogyny and some of us ‘pseudo-intellectuals’ will look toward bettering society.

A Mcnamara

Your comments on www.forgetoday.com to: The sober fresher I too spent freshers sober, and agree with your views. I’m glad I was fresh and awake each day and that I didn’t have the mother of all hangovers the day after. I fully support sober freshers.

Lucy Wilson

Your comments on www.forgetoday.com to: Government aims to double proportion of women in engineering The third interviewee nails it - “social stigma”. The view that girls “just aren’t interested” in technical areas and prefer “softer” subjects is exactly what re-enforces the stigma. It was surprising to hear that from current STEM students.

I’m excited to see the impact that Kat Chapman could have in the next year, and also for governmental efforts in the years to come.

Joseph Burton

Friday O c to ber 11 2013 FOR GE PR E S S

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6,700+

Number of people in Sheffield affected by the bedroom tax

B

rian is 58 years old. He has a severe h e a r i n g impairment and arthritis of the l u m b e r spine.

He receives £102.90 a week through income support and disability living allowance.

He has sustained himself so far through a warm summer by not having his heating on at night. But with winter approaching, he can’t see a way of balancing the bills and the consequences of not doing so could be dire.

“I’ve been the sole tenant of my property in Gleadless Valley since 1989. Now, due to the introduction of the bedroom tax, my long tenancy may soon come to an end”, Brain says, “I can’t afford to lose £20 a week.”

“The only legal way I can get out of not paying the bedroom tax is by downgrading from my three bedroom home to a one bedroom house.”

He explained: “I can’t do this as I own a German Shepherd, and I can’t move into a one bedroom bungalow where pets are allowed because the age restriction on them is 60 or older and I’m only 58.”

The coming winter puts Brian in an extremely difficult position. “We’ve had a warm summer so I’ve not had my central heating on at night.

“But now winter is approaching I shall soon have

to switch on the boiler and that will cost me £20 per week for gas supply - the amount I’m losing through the bedroom tax.”

If the gas bill isn’t paid, the gas supply will be cut off and Brian could very easily freeze to death or become ill from the cold.

“If I pay the fee,” he explains: “I’ll have no money to cover the bedroom tax, and if I miss that the council will take me to court where I’ll be fined £300.

“If I don’t pay the fine the court will sentence me to prison, whereby I’ll lose all my personal belongings and my dog that I love very much.

“I’ll lose contact with lots of friends and most of all I’ll lose my home. I’m in a no-win situation.”

Known officially as the under-occupancy penalty, the bedroom tax sees housing benefit claimants with one spare room lose 14 per cent of their benefits. Those with two or more spare rooms lose 25 per cent.

An estimated 1.6 million people have been affected nationwide across 660,000

households.

The average loss of £14 a week is leaving many who were already struggling to manage payments in a difficult situation.

In Sheffield alone, over 6,700 people have seen their housing benefit reduced as a result of the policy. This policy happened into effect at the same time as the 60,000 poorest households in the city who used to have their council tax paid for began to be charged a minimum of £4 a week.

Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has defended the policy rigorously, claiming that anyone affected could move into the private sector, downsize into a smaller council house or make up the shortfall by increasing their

£14

Average loss of income per week due to bedroom tax

work hours or get a job.

Like thousands of others, for full time carer Mrs King none of these options seem very likely. Her 24-year-old son has learning disabilities, and she says she’s saved the government “thousands of pounds a year by looking after my son so they don’t have to pay twice as much to do so.”

Even if you do have time to get a job, the odds aren’t in your favour. The city’s unemployment rate is above the national average at 10.4 per cent.

Between 17-18,000 people are claimants of jobseeker’s allowance and, after the announcement of £100 million of cuts to the council’s funding over the next five years, hundreds more face the same fate.

When it comes to downsizing into a smaller council house, such chances don’t look much better.

Since April, 9,406 people have placed bids for one or two bedroom council properties for the 1,768 advertised during this period.

Despite thousands of people

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Trapped by the tax being affected, there are only 167 council properties available to downsize into.

This leaves Mrs King and all others with a one in 40 chance of securing a smaller property.

With council housing rent capped at 80 per cent of market prices, finding somewhere cheaper in the private sector is often very difficult. Living anywhere more expensive than their council house would force claimants to ask for more in housing benefits and this would leave the government with a higher bill to pay.

Intended to restore fairness to the system, the bedroom tax has helped push one third of all council tenants into rent arrears, leaving many behind on their payments and at risk of eviction.

Homelessness, court cases, jail and being dragged into even greater poverty await many.

For Katelyn McKeown, the bedroom tax couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Bidding for housing in 2011, she focused mainly on two bedroom properties for her and her two daughters, but also putting herself forward for a handful of “clearly less desirable” three bedroom properties as to increase their chance of getting a house.

After 12 months of bidding she was offered a three bedroom property in Gleadless Valley.

She was hit with the bedroom tax less than a month after moving, as a result of her third room being classed as a spare room. She described this as “an absolute joke.”

“It would be impossible to

fit a bed in it, we use it for a home office and storage.

“Despite the fact that my rent now costs the system less than it did at my last address, I have to pay a larger contribution. This is pushing my family further into poverty.”

She said that where someone is receiving jobseekers allowance and is deemed to have two spare rooms, payments are all but impossible to meet.

“The bedroom tax discriminates against us as we cannot afford to pay it and have little or no option of moving.”

Rather than searching for what she calls: “pricey, insecure and often substandard private accommodation”, Katelyn used her contacts at the City of Sanctuary Sheffield and booked rooms in its tenants’ hall for the newly formed Gleadless Valley Axe the Bedroom Tax group.

On March 17 2013, around 250 locals rallied against the bedroom tax. The protest outside the town hall was part of nationwide protests which saw 13,000 demonstrators across over 50 cities.

Around 100 demonstrators protested again on June 2, and outside Sheffield magistrates court on June 21.

These are just a few of many campaigns to come out in opposition to the policy.

Unite the Union has produced a ‘Say NO to the bedroom tax’ leaflet.

The leaflet blames the conservative government of the 1980s for not building enough social housing and removing regulations which stopped landlords

profiteering.

It says these actions have resulted in rents rising to “unaffordable levels” as well as the current council housing shortage and the “massive increase” in the housing benefits bill.

Campaigning groups and trade unions have been voicing opposition to the policy since it first caught media attention.

Some politicians at a local and government level have come out against the bedroom tax policy. Following months of being questioned about their stance, the Labour party announced last month that, if elected to power in 2015, they would abolish it.

Visiting the UK in August, the UN’s special rapporteur on housing, Raquel Rolnik, said the policy could constitute a violation of the human right to adequate housing in several ways if, for example, the extra payments forced tenants to cut down on their spending on heating their home. She recommended it be abolished immediately.

Despite such widespread criticism from many corners, the government shows no signs of dropping one of its most controversial policies to date.

Mr Duncan Smith claims it will save taxpayers £500 million a year and cut the total £23 billion annual bill for housing benefit. He also claims it will help to make better use of the country’s housing stock with “nearly two million households in England on the social housing waiting list and over 250,000 tenants living in overcrowded homes.”

A department for work and

pensions spokesman said the government continues to pay over 80 per cent of most claimants’ rent, and that before the policy claimants were getting a “spare room subsidy.”

Mrs King is unconvinced by their arguments. Speaking at a protest against the bedroom tax in March, she said “I’ve lived in my property for 12 years and I have to stay in the area because that’s where my son’s network support is. And why should I move? That’s my home.

“We get people at work saying you get everything for free. This is what the tories are doing; creating a divide between working people. Well this could happen to them one day, it could happen to anybody.”

Around 250 demonstrators turned up to the protest and less than half of that number again in June.

Thousands in the city have been affected. As long as the bedroom tax stays in place along with economic factors that keep people trapped into paying it remainaining unchanged, it is possible they will continue to bear the brunt of such poverty for many more winters to come.

@forgefeatures /forgepress features@forgetoday.com

Photos: Aidan Barlow, Brian Hanson

Winter is coming, and Brian Hanson faces a stark choice between losing his pet, losing his freedom or losing his life. And he’s not the only one. Aidan Phillips writes about the thousands of people in Sheffield affected by the bedroom tax.

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The green way Artwork by Eloise Eddy

@forgefeatures /forgepress features@forgetoday.com

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From jam-making to allotment-keeping, Isaac Stovell explores how Sheffielders are reducing their carbon footprint through food

Sheffield is notorious for several things; its cheerful inhabitants, Sean Bean’s cousin and its history of making truly classy cutlery. But the one aspect that crops up in every tour guide and Wikipedia entry is its greenness. It’s known as the city that feels like a muddle of little villages with a higher ratio of trees to people than any other European city, a park seemingly at the end of every other street, guaranteed friendly conversations with strangers, and the vast picturesque Peak District a mere 15-minute bus ride away. For the place historically renowned for smoke-belching steelworks, it has a refreshing and surprising community vibe. Sheffield may be visibly green, with the cityscape littered with parks and trees, but what makes it such an inclusive and enjoyable place to live is rooted in green thinking and, most prominently, its green attitude to food.

Sustainability is a pressing need for any society and local communities have always been at the forefront of meeting that need. Sheffield has many small-scale initiatives working to provide local solutions to the global problem. One of its largest agendas is food. Collaboratively producing and consuming food together is a core aspect of community. Sharing food is a powerful tool for social inclusion – it seems natural to consider the dining table the main vehicle of conversation and bonding in a traditional home.

For other people, an allotment or forgotten orchard will do. Projects as simple as vegetable-growing and jam-making are sparking a passion in the city for growing, creating and learning about great, planet-friendly food.

Our basic requirement for physical nourishment and sustenance is something linked to fellow people and society as a whole. This is especially important considering how distorted our modern relationship with food is. We buy fruit and vegetables, but processed and packaged into neat

purchasable items, their origins so far removed from the Tesco label that it’s easy to forget how it made its way to our tables in the first place.

Items like bread or pasta, staple foods that are so convenient and, let’s face it, cheap we often barely consider making it ourselves. Large chain supermarkets sell most of our food, and it’s easier and more profitable for them to produce everything at minimal cost to sell as much of it to us as they can. The ethical and environmental costs are inevitably high.

Often food producers, especially from overseas, are paid insubstantially for their produce, and the food has a high CO2 footprint from its shipping and processing.

Mass-market agriculture as it stands contributes to international inequality and pollution, but there is a growing trend of aiming for the opposite; food that has been grown locally, not processed beyond recognition and the producers are paid the amount they deserve.

Particularly in Sheffield, it’s easy to find shops with this kind of emphasis.

Zed’s in Nether Edge, Just Natural in Crookes, Fruit Appeal in Broomhill, Beanies in Crookesmoor and many other greengrocers make a point of locally-grown organic produce. One of the best known of these shops among students is New Roots with shops on both Glossop Road and Spital Hill, which is not only reputed for its food but also its keenness to encourage community development and improvement.

As a not-for-profit volunteer-run shop, all proceeds go towards helping local asylum seekers and refugees.

The shop’s strong ethics stand as an attraction to like-minded people, and it has become a sort of social hub for people involved in local activism or cooperative projects. There’s even a room downstairs dedicated to facilitating this and the shop keeps a window display open to activist groups raising awareness of events and causes.

It is already far more than just a food shop. The social hub generated by the shop itself stands as a platform into community development,

educating people about and involving people in various campaigns, often with a political edge. Their food itself reflects the strong ethical stance. The manager explained how all stock is organic and fairtrade and “as locally grown as possible”, with around 40 per cent directly from Sheffield (mainly from Heeley City Farm and Sheffield Organic Growers), to minimise emissions.

“

Projects as simple as vegetable growing and jam making are sparking a passion in the city for great food

”

As well as the obvious advantage of a smaller carbon footprint and less supplier exploitation involved, effort is made to keep the healthy organic produce affordable for students and locals.

If people are also interested in reconnecting with their food’s origins, a community garden behind New Roots is open to anyone to volunteer as a grower.

Similarly, Student Eats, run at the University of Sheffield’s Students’ Union was established as a society last year. It aims to “connect students to the origins of their food, and to try and encourage them to have a more sustainable relationship with it”.

The society manages a volunteertended allotment, so students who

seldom grasp anything less natural than a tin of beans can find out what it’s like to eat a carrot you’ve grown yourself. Tackling the typical student diet (which does undeniably centre on value-range pasta), Student Eats also run workshops encouraging and teaching people to have more varied, healthy and sustainable diets – an easier matter when you’re growing the vegetables yourself.

Aside from the community of soilhappy students that has sprouted up and rooted itself around this project, the shared nature of food makes it very easy to be proactively inclusive. Exotic vegetables, such as the eastern-European kohlrabi, have been grown on the allotment so international students can get a taste of home and introduce UK students to their international foods too.

Our University is hugely multicultural and reflecting that in the food we eat is a great way of bringing cultures together. Another planned activity is providing subsidised vegetable-packs for lowincome students: maintaining a stocked fridge and cupboard can get expensive, but eating fresh, locallygrown produce is a great thing to introduce people to.

With food such an integral part of building and maintaining sustainable communities, it seems natural that Sheffield should be thriving in that regard.

Green communities are coming together in small pockets all over the city; producing, selling and sharing food. Grassroots activists and development groups are working all over Sheffield to help these kind of projects grow and looking at the results, local people’s lives definitely improve from such inclusive sustainability projects.

They’re certainly worth digging into.

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Hangovers:

the science behind the sickness

M

ost of y o u reading this will be somew h a t accustomed to the bitter taste of regret, shame and misery that follows a hard night of partying in one of the Steel City’s many infamous drinking establishments.

Many of us have tried our own ways to abate the pain emanating from just behind your left temple without causing your stomach to expunge last night’s bad decision chicken doner.

The comm o n

Photography by Mislav Marohnić

hangover is an illness that has been tackled in a myriad of ways. You can go for a brutal head-on assault and go out for another night of drinking, or take the more pacifist approach of lying on the sofa surrounded by orange juice and calling for help from your mate whilst you rig up another intravenous coffee IV. But what is it exactly that causes a hangover? And why is it that sometimes you can drink half of Russia’s annual export of vodka without so much as a trace of pain, whereas other times you can have only three pints and wake up in the morning feeling like Satan is defecating on your brain?

Even though none of us believe that copious amounts of alcohol is going to do us any good (short-, medium- or longterm) we still seem to insist on going out and drinking to the point where we think we’re wholly irresistible to the opposite sex even though our eyes are pointing in two different directions and we’re slurring our speech so much we’re speaking only in vowels.

When we’re both verbally and visually incapacitated through self-induced intoxication, maybe it’s only fair that we get our comeuppance the next day. But why is it we feel so bad when we swear we “only had a couple”?

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Did freshers’ week leave you with a pounding headache?

David Ewing explains why you feel so rough after a night out.

The basic science behind the pain of the morning after the night before is that your tipple of choice is a diuretic, meaning that it removes fluid from the body. As a result, and not surprisingly, really, drinking too much then leads to dehydration and it is this that causes the majority of the symptoms of a hangover such as your Sahara-like mouth conditions. If only you’d said no to that second round of tequila.

“

Drinking too much leads to dehydration and it is this that causes the majority of the symptoms of a hangover

”

Unfortunately for all you fans of dark coloured drinks out there, red wine, rum and whiskey are likely to make your hangover even worse due to the presence of congeners, natural chemicals and impurities which irritate blood vessels and tissue in the brain and can make a hangover worse.

In fact, a 2006 study published in the academic journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research revealed an average of 14 standard bottles of beer was needed to produce a hangover but only seven to eight standard portions was required for wine or dark spirits. So put the Sailor Jerry’s down.

Although the most common symptom of a hangover shown in television and movies is a thumping head, it can vary from person to person, taking in nau-

sea and tiredness too, alongside irritability and whininess.

We now know the science behind what causes a hangover, but now, more importantly, how do we cure them?

The short answer is you can’t. According to the NHS website: “Hangover cures are generally a myth. There are no cures for a hangover. There are tips for avoiding hangovers and for easing the symptoms if you have one.”

Drinkaware provides some advice: “As well as water, drink fresh juice to give yourself a vitamin boost.” Sugary food may also help in stopping the shakes but an antacid might need to be forced down beforehand.

For the banging head, a paracetemol should do the trick but avoid aspirin as it might further irritate your stomach and make the nausea and sickness worse.

One thing to definitely avoid is ‘hair of the dog’. It doesn’t matter how many bar flies swear by it - science and medicine say no. It’s a temporary fix that postpones the effect of a hangover without actually curing it and it does also mean double the pain at a later date.

A more sensible approach is eating a banana. The high levels of potassium in the fruit help nurse the pain by replenishing what was lost due to alcohol.

If you can’t cure a hangover, what can you do to prevent one? Once again medical advice on the topic is frustratingly simple: don’t drink. But with alcohol so engrained within our society and culture, it’s hardly very helpful.

It’s easy to say you actually don’t need alcohol, but peer pressure comes in all shapes and sizes. If you’ve just started a new job and your colleagues ask you to go for a couple of drinks after your first shift, are you likely to say no? Similarly, if a friend comes round with a bottle of wine or a few beers to celebrate some good news, are you willing to offend them by rejecting their offer?

You don’t need to have a drink; you’re not climbing up the walls because you haven’t had a pint in two days, but many people underestimate how hard it is to turn a drink down when our culture carries a stigma against doing so.

In my first year of university I gave up alcohol for a month. Not for charity, not to prove a point; instead because I’d got heinously drunk, vomited everywhere and made a complete and utter fool of

myself.

Everybody I spoke to thought I was insane for giving it up even when I explained to them that I woke up completely naked on my bedroom floor, covered in vomit and with no recollection of how I had got there. Even when you’ve got yourself into a state like that you’re still expected to suck it up and down another. Is that really normal?

There are some things you can do to prevent yourself getting into the sort of state that I got myself into, the first being to avoid drinking on an empty stomach. Everyone’s parents have shouted this piece of advice at them and it appears that it does in fact work.

By lining your stomach with carbohydrates like pasta or rice, you can slow the absorption rate of alcohol into your system so you don’t get drunk as quickly and your body has more time to pro-

“

Red wine, rum and whiskey are likely to make your hangover even worse due to natural chemicals which irritate blood vessels and tissue in the brain

many different ales as they can without getting too drunk From personal experience, I can say this one works a treat.

If you’ve followed none of this advice, however, a last ditch walk home can potentially save the day. The exercise encourages your body to metabolise the alcohol quicker, hopefully alleviating some of next day’s pain, too. However, whether you want to risk walking back home from the centre of town drunk and on your own just to avoid a hangover is up for debate.

A hangover is sometimes viewed as a badge of honour in our culture.

We’ve all had a friend who likes to boast about a night spent vomiting. A morning spent cradling your head feeling sorry for yourself (and occasionally with more vomiting) is laughed at and seen as a rite of passage.

But should we be a bit more worried?

While we’re enjoying the party lifestyle of being a student our bodies take an absolute battering and thanks to the fact that we’re young, we seem to be able to cope and recover to relative normality within 24 hours.

However, we won’t always hold this ability, so learning ways to ease the pain now might not be such a bad idea. Medicine is way behind humanity when it comes to partying and until a miracle hangover cure is created it might be worth heeding the advice from the NHS and Drinkaware.

No one is trying to tell you not to drink ever again, but being a little more sensible when you do can be the difference between having a night out to remember and a night where you remember nothing at all.

”

cess the booze.

Another tip is to drink water or a non-fizzy soft drink between each alcoholic drink. If you ever do a pub crawl around real ale pubs this is something you’ll see a lot of people doing, as these hardened drinkers want to sample as

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LIFESTYLE&TRAVEL

@forgelifestyle /forgelifestyle lifestyle@forgetoday.com

WHAT NOT TO MISS THIS FORTNIGHT

Fashion

By Paige Torrance

psy My Big fat gy

Folk night 3

Greentop cir cus Cabaret

Saturday October 12 at Penelope’s Bar: 8pm-3am. Tickets: £5 on the door and £4 online at www.ticketsoc.co.uk

Saturday October 12 at Greentop community circus centre: doors open 7.30pm, starts 8pm. Tickets: £12 online at www.greentop.org/ greentop-circus-cabaret-halloween

Bringing you folk, funk, world beats and more in a night of musical talent from Sheffield and beyond. This event is in aid of Friends of Irise, a charity that aims to enable the empowerment and education of women and girls in East Africa.

The variety of music available means there will be something for everyone. Here is your chance to try something new and remember it’s all for charity.

Want to spice up your Halloween celebrations this year? This spooky circus cabaret will feature aerial routines, the magic of circus and object manipulation. Many professional acts are taking place including trapeze performances, parkour,free running and acrobatic displays as well as several audience participation activities.

No need to worry about refreshments as a fully licensed bar will be serving food and drink.

Trapeze W orkshop Sunday October 20 at Greentop community circus centre. Tickets: £35 Inspired by the circus cabaret? Why not try a one day workshop in this exciting circus art?

Includes warm up, body conditioning, rope work and moves on and under the bar. You’ll develop stamina, determination and self-belief and have the satisfaction of mastering the core moves necessary to progress your skills to the next level. This workshop is suitable for adult beginners. A great, fun way to do some exercise in a unique way.

How to beat freshers’ flu

by Victoria Beardwood

Lifestyle loves

by Hannah McCulloch New to Sheffield? Check out A New Shop.

At the far end of the relatable Aladdin’s cave that is Division Street, A New Shop sells both men and women’s vintage and remastered clothing.

The shop has been opened for around a year and is supplied by Barnsley-based vintage wholesaler Glass Onion. With accounts in both Glasgow and London, Glass Onion put on the vintage clothing kilo sale in the Foundry and Fusion in Intro Week.

Stocking everything from your quintessential men’s flannel shirts (£10) and high-wasted Levi shorts (£20) to the more on trend boyfriend jeans and over-sized winter coats.

These shorts will set you back £25 and were remastered by manufacturers in Sheffield.

Despite being slightly too summery for the recent turn in weather, the printed sunflower shorts would be a great Tuesday Club staple.

y festival Last laugh comed Daily shows at various venues, running until October 31. Tickets online at www.lastlaughcomedyfestival. co.uk This month there will be a variety of comedy acts performing at various venues to help you shrug off the blues of post freshers’ flu.

This is the longest running club in Yorkshire comprising of more than 90 shows over 30 days with some of the biggest, brightest, funniest talent the comedy world has to offer.

Image: Hannah McCulloch

Societies

Infiltrating the assassins guild

by Polina Ganeva

1. Library precautions The IC is a cesspit, yet a place where many need to go to be productive. When at your most infectious, keeping away from other studious folk is a necessity. I don’t care if you have to fashion people out of papiermâché, or black out the entirety of the room’s windows with duct tape, book a group room to yours­elf.

2. Swap H2O for CH3CH2OH We’re supposed to drink about two litres of water a day. During this period of extreme contagion, swap out the H2O and replace it with some wholesome vodka. Ethanol is a strong antiseptic. Thus, by drinking several glasses of it every day, you’re keeping your insides clean and healthy, warning away any harmful bacteria. But be careful, vodka may have some strange side effects.

3. Always use latex gloves Take a second to think about how many things you touch each day. During that second you will probably have touched at least five things. In reality you touch 432,000 things per 24 hours: food, handlebars, faces.

Latex gloves can protect you, plus they’re basically transparent, so people won’t even know you’re wearing them.

4. Wear a quarantine suit Taking the latex gloves idea one step further, a full quarantine suit can ensure safer passage through public spaces. If you can’t find one then a beekeepers suit should do the trick. This approach is both safe and stylish.

5. Alienate or hibernate It’s nice to have friends, sure, but everyone would rather be healthy and alone than sick and sociable.

Make sure you ostracise yourself from all possible friends by loudly stating unpopular opinions about anything, from Geordie Shore to politics. Just as celibacy is the best way to prevent STDs, hibernation is the definitive method of avoiding the dreaded lurgy.

In this new column, one Lifestyle writer embarks on the enormous task of testing out all of the societies the University of Sheffield has to offer. First up, the Assassins Guild society.

Although the name Assassins Guild may seem slightly menacing to those that have never had the society explained to them before, in reality they are possibly one of the friendliest and most fun societies on campus.

The aim of the society is to carry out university wide games of mockassassination.

Each player is given a target that they then have to track down and ‘assassinate’ whilst simultaneously being hunted down themselves.

The winner is the last person left alive.

With bright eyes and a wide smile, Ben Hawker is the president every society can dream of.

If I was a fresher, searching for a society, I would’ve no doubt joined the Assassins Guild society because Ben’s dedication and love for what he does has completely won me over.

The only president to hold the chair for two consecutive years, he was eager to tell me everything.

The Assassins Guild mainly does two things: runs mock assassination games and organizes socials which everyone in their community seems to enjoy.

Last year they ran a Give it a Go session. The murder mystery themed event took over Students’ Union for an entire evening with members running amock while dressed to impress.

With more than 200 members, running out of topics to talk about

Images: Ben Hawker

or falling short of fun games to play is unlikely to ever be an issue.

For the shyer freshers, just as I was, a society like this is an exotic wonder.

Not many dare to join or ask what is it about – and that’s certainly their loss.

Ben urges all new people to join the society and to do something ridiculous and fun while at uni: “Don’t just sign up for something you can do at home, do something interesting!”

When asked what he thought about this being one of the strangest societies around, he replied with a smile: “It is strange. It is the public perception that has to be altered, and people need to understand that strange doesn’t mean bad.”

The Assassins Guild has expanded tremendously and now has a very diverse community; students from different courses and backgrounds are joining and it is currently the biggest society not affiliated with an academic department.

Regarding the games, the main activity of the Guild there are many different types and according to their president they are fun and rewarding to everyone.

The society has its own website, www.sheffieldassassins.co.uk, where you can find a concise player’s handbook as well and a comprehensive rule book.

You never know when you might turn out to be the next master assassin of the year so give it a try.

Follow Polina’s progress on www.forgetoday.com

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Travel

LIFESTYLE&TRAVEL

On a shoestring: Vancouver and British Columbia

by Georgina Charlton

Anyone who has ever met me knows I have a poorly hidden love of all things Canadian, so no one was surprised when I decided to travel there this summer, albeit under a tight budget.

Finding flights during the notoriously expensive summer holidays was the first obstacle.

My friend and I used canadianaffair.com to find the best deals. We struck gold with our accommodation, managing to stay with friends for free for the entire month; www. craigslist.ca is also a great place to start looking for temporary accommodation for periods longer than two weeks.

We spent the month flitting between Vancouver and Whistler (situated in British Columbia), with a few day trips to Vancouver Island and Seattle for good measure.

Hitch-hiking can get you around relatively painlessly while saving you a bundle on travel costs too or try the increasingly useful craigslist listings to find ride shares.

Failing that, the ever faithful greyhound bus company can get you pretty much anywhere.

Remember though, Canada is vast and, nine times out of 10, the Rockies get in the way, so drives can be long and arduous.

Vancouver was a mix of fun and frivolity with highlights including a tandem bike ride around a gorgeous Stanley park, getting a sloppy smacker with a fur seal at the educational Vancouver Aquarium and meeting their incredible beluga wales.

Beware of the unimpressive Chinese night

Relationships

markets in the lower east side and Richmond. safe distance and the views from the top are A word of warning, if the meat is that cheap, incredible.

I’m guessing it’s probably not chicken.

The 11 minute ride across to Blackcomb on The notorious Whistler bubble, the name the ‘Peak 2 Peak’, a gondola lift which connects given to the idyllic bubble which seems to Whistler mountain to Blackcomb mountain separate Whistler from the rest of the allows you to observe the array of lakes that word, still stands strong and our speckle the valley below. two weeks there were blissful.

On taking the solar coaster It’s a must to spend a day chair down from Blackcomb, floating down the River it’s highly likely you will of Golden Dreams, see some of the beautiful starting at Alta Lake black bears that call these and winding round spectacular mountains Meadow Park all home. the way over to There are plenty Green Lake. of places to eat in It takes seven Whistler but the one hours on a good thing you must try is day so bring sun poutine. cream, speakers It may initially look (protected from like run-of-the-mill the elements in northern chips and sandwich bags) and gravy but the addition of cans of booze. cheese curds and various The steep price for extras makes the dish so a day pass on Whistler divine that I cannot even put Image: Georgina Charlton Blackcomb is worth every it into words. penny.

Beavertails are another local With this you can fully explore delicacy not to be missed, consisting of the area, using all of the available lifts and a sweet flat dough covered in cinnamon and gondolas. maple syrup.

Using the pass is undoubtedly the best way You can also have your beavertail covered to explore Whistler mountain. in Reese’s pieces – simply genius. Greggs, eat You can watch the mountain bikers from a your heart out.

According to my friends across the pond, true Candians only drink one thing: a Caesar.

The twisted sister of the British bloody Mary, the Caesar doubles up as meal and a drink all rolled into one. Atop the basic British ingredients the Canadians use the aptly named clamato juice, no points for guessing what it’s made of. Yep, clam juice. Remember when you were little and you swallowed too much sea water? Now add some tabasco, vodka and the juice of one tomato and there is your perfect Caesar.

Many claim it is the perfect hangover cure, combining your missing salts with some hair of the dog; I myself have never and will never see the appeal of clam juice. Ever.

Canada is a vast, beautiful and picturesque country where the people are friendly and everyone has a hot tub. What’s not to love?

End of the summer holidays bringing you down? Missing your Erasmus adventures?

Log on to www.forgetoday.com and search On a shoestring for more travel tales and inspiration.

Tinder: the fast track to local love?

by Natalie Reed

Often referred to as the Grindr of the heterosexual dating scene, Tinder is effectively the fast food app of social network dating.

Essentially you scroll through a menu, which boasts a mix of fresh lamb faced 18year-olds and optimistically stated 25-yearolds, who come complete with family home, children and new-frontier-seeking hairlines.

From this you can decide, almost solely on looks and whether they too enjoy Despicable Me (Facebook likes also show up on profiles, essential info of course) as to whether this suitor has the potential to be your baby daddy/ lifelong partner/ worth the hassle of organising a non-binding date.

Tinder uses the GPS in your phone to find people nearby, without giving an exact location i.e. less than one mile away, and then if you both ‘like’ each other you can begin talking, stirring up the kindlings of what will obviously be an eternal, awe-inspiring love.

If however they do not ‘like’ you then they will never know that you have ‘liked’ them.

After swallowing your rage and self pity you can continue your lonesome quest, safe in anonymity.

Sean Rad and Justin Mateen co-founded Tinder in the US in 2012 and since then, Rad claims 50 million matches have been made globally. But what makes Tinder any different to the big dating sites such as Match.com, or the infamous Grindr, with its reputation for quick and easy hookups?

Unlike Match.com you don’t have to come up with an elaborate profile, fun facts or intriguing interests. By linking to Facebook, Tinder automatially has access to all your basic information.

Luckily you only have to choose up to five pictures (not the entirety of that grisly album named ‘s1ck biology field trip 2k10’), your interests, and any mutual friends you might

have. an online discussion?

Once you have chosen your most pouty Another issue is whether it is healthy pictures, or that one that makes you look dark or productive to spend time trying to find and interesting with a questionable hint of dates based solely on a set of five photos chest hair (its mysterious, and sure it was the and a minimal amount of trivial information. lighting but they don’t know that), you can Undoubtedly the app is a great way to pass the add a bit more content. Here’s you chance to time if you have absolutely nothing to do (get add a witty tagline, I like sharks for instance some friends involved and the hilarity quickly (noble and majestic creatures), or a personal multiplies) but for those seriously hunting for favourite: I don’t talk about elements all the love finding the right match out of hundreds time, just periodically, then you are ready to of pictures could take forever. begin matching.

In an internet age Tinder really takes away Tinder, according to its co founders is the effort of going out and trawling bars for trying to move away from the casual sex potential mates,. It may just be an opportunity aspect which is often associated with Grindr to get an ego boost too many or to baffle and Blendr. If you’re looking for a quick hook people by commenting on every aspect of up, the app definitely doesn’t rule it out, but their face, but in amongst all of those strange usually opening with “what you saying about and egotistical characters genuine nice people some (insert inappropriate comment of may exist. Nice people who may be willing to your choice) though?” probably isn’t the way buy you dinner, and everyone loves dinner. forward. Luckily there is a block option for that level of brazenness.

Things to avoid: There are pros and cons to this fast food styled dating system. In the real world, when Group photos ordering a takeaway, you are safe and secure Nobody wants to investigate five photos of in the knowledge that your cheeseburger a group of women or men to find the repeat will be delivered pretty much hassle free; offenders, only to discover it was the big if you don’t want your gherkin it can be muscly one not the happy ginger one. Let’s be surreptitiously tossed aside without bruising honest we all want the happy ginger one. its inanimate ego.

The ease with which you can pick up Exes in pictures dates however, can often come with a huge Yes, you and your ex look very happy, and they downside. Much like that pizza you ordered are unattainably attractive. Let them go, you which looked amazing in the picture but are alone now. Welcome. turned up stone cold and soggy, you can’t be certain that when your potential love matchk12istina15 Drunken Tinder Image: /Flickrliking arrives it won’t just be a huge dissappointment. a) Inevitably you will like everyone who is They may lie about their commitment to inappropriately older,.

Despicable Me, and, unlike pickled garnishes, b) You may be unapologetically rude “you if you don’t like them they can be fairly look somewhat like an orc, orcward…”, uncooperative about being put in a bin. Alas, c) The app’s use of GPS could lead to your how much trust can you put in a picture and hasty drunken liking turning into awkward

real life mettings. d) You will try to be the smartest guy/girl on tinder. Which may not work out for you.

See below.

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LIFESTYLE&TRAVEL

@forgelifestyle /forgelifestyle lifestyle@forgetoday.com

Can’t cook? Won’t cook?

If first time cooking is proving more daunting than hitting up Embrace wearing a University of Sheffield hoodie then it might be time to fall back on the age old student cheat. With a little help from our friends at Hungryhouse.com, Lifestyle had four eager reviewers sit back, relax and see what Sheffield’s takeaways have to offer for two for less than £15.

Café Masala, Walkley

China Garden, Hillsborough

By Rachel Smith After a series of very poor Chinese takeaways during my time as a student – I know my way around a spring roll – it was about time for a very good one.

Hillsborough’s China Garden doesn’t quite meet the mark with its flavour but does go a long way with its generous portions and fast service.

Some students may be put off slightly by the postcode, straying just a bit too far out of Crookes and Walkley, but what’s a Chinese if it’s not being delivered to you in your pyjamas?

Unfortunately, after much research, it seems that a £1 delivery charge is all but unavoidable with Chinese takeaways – and 50p surcharge on credit and debit cards is irksome – but value for money at China Garden is not disappointing. With a speedy 20 minute delivery time, the food was piping hot and well packed.

For £14, we enjoyed a giant set meal for two: large portions of egg fried rice for both of us (albeit dark and slightly too salty, and lacking a little in egg); great tasting sweet and sour chicken and beef in black bean sauce, the latter packed with fresh vegetables and garlic, as well as sweet, sticky barbecue spare ribs and obligatory prawn crackers.

The chicken was sweet and full of pineapple and onion, although the sauce was quite gelatinous and turned unappealingly thick after a few minutes on the plate.

This is the only complaint however, as the pork spare ribs were tender and falling off the bone and the beef was full of flavour and texture.

Needless to say we struggled to finish it all and were left with plenty of crucial morning after leftovers.

7.5/10

Oasis, Broomhill

Café Masala, located in Walkley, offered me a cheap, filling and delicious Indian meal, with plenty spare for my flatmate to share.

For just over £15 and a 40 minute wait, I tucked in to two huge onion bhajis, two meat samosas, the best peshwari naan I have ever had, and a variety of delicious curries.

A buttery, creamy saag aloo accompanied my meaty, beautiful korma on top of some relatively nice pilau rice.

The korma itself had lots of tender chicken smothered in a coconut-infused velvety sauce that spilled over the edges of my plate.

The accompanying sides were totally unnecessary, but awesome nonetheless. The bhajis were crispy yet soft, and not too greasy, unlike some I’ve tasted before.

Korma-soaked samosas are one of the best things in life, and from Café Masala they truly are fantastic.

The peshwari was so fruity and packed wth coconut that I had to save it ‘til last to properly savour how great it was.

One complaint I had was that the food wasn’t warm enough by the time it arrived since they deliver it in a single plastic bag containing the tin tubs, but the flavour and portion size more than made up for this.

The promise of free delivery on orders over £8 and the proud proclamation of a National Award Winner are two further reasons to order from Café Masala.

Of all the Indian takeaways I’ve had since being in Sheffield this was by far the nicest, largest and best value curry.

8.5/10

By Karen Scattergood

Burgers are great. They cover all food groups really, don’t they? Meat, carbs, possibly dairy, even some veggies counting towards your five-a-day if you’re lucky.

However, the burger is often an overlooked choice when it comes to takeaways. Pizza seems to rule the roost.

Well, it’s time for a revival of the burger, so we took it upon ourselves to order three burgers with some sides from Oasis in Broomhill.

Oasis is one of those vague takeaway places that does a bit of everything. Whether you fancy fish and chips or a cheeseburger or a pizza, they’ll set you up, so I wasn’t expecting anything particularly special.

The burgers didn’t arrive particularly promptly, they took about 40 minutes. However, everything was hot and there were no initial complaints.

The chips were surprisingly good - often with cheap fast food, chips can taste stale and a bit like cardboard unless you totally drown them in salt, but these were pleasantly crisp and tasty.

The burgers themselves were delicious, properly meaty patties which were juicy and flavoursome. However, they did come with salad as default, so for those who aren’t interested in greens, you’ll have to pick it off yourself.

We ordered cheesy garlic bread, and also received an additional free tear-and-share garlic bread. These were a little disappointing, as they weren’t nearly garlicy enough. The cheesy bread was sufficiently cheesy but had little to no garlic flavour; the garlic bread may as well have just been bread. But the free extra carbs were obviously appreciated.

We also had onion rings, which were well cooked and pleasantly soft and oniony.

Overall, the meal wasn’t fit for a king, but was certainly great value for money and definitely offered a particularly tasty burger.

For under £15 we got three burgers with chips, onion rings, cheesy garlic bread, a share size bottle of coke plus the free garlic bread, extremely good value for money.

7/10

By Will Ross

Pizza Pronto, Glossop Road

By James Kenny

Pizza Pronto at first sight appears to be a perfect choice for students. Whether a first year Sheffield novice in any of the residencies, or a veteran post-grad up in Walkley, Pronto will deliver to anywhere within the student community and is a stones throw away from the Students’ Union.

We decided to order, absolutely famished, after peak time on a Friday. Everything started positively enough, with a bamboozling number of meal based special offers.

After much debate, a two for £11 deal on 10 inch pizzas was plumped for: a ‘mighty piggy’ (ham, pepperoni, salami and spicy sausage) and a ‘quatro formaggi’ for a cheese addict.

These were to be accompanied with a side of cheesy chips, and washed down with the bottle of Coke which brought everything to a nice round £15. The anticipation only grew with the promise that if you spent over £8 you got free delivery to bring the pizza mountain straight to your door.

Unfortuately the positives end here. It took over an hour from the order to be placed for it to arrive, the distance from shop to house walkable several times over. The van finally emerged out of the night’s sky, the salvation to our starvation.

Both pizzas were, at best, lukewarm, not to mention soft and chewy. The ‘mighty piggy’s’ saving grace was the quality and quantity of the topping and the fact that it was spicy enough to obscure the taste of the rest of the pizza.

The concept of a four cheese pizza must have been lost as in the ‘quatro formaggi’ there was only one type of fromage in attendance and the cheese that bothered to turn up to the party was bland and tasteless.

It says a lot that the highlight was the bottle of Coke to try and wash any remnants of the pizzas’ putrid aftertaste from the mouth.

4/10

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@forgelifestyle /forgelifestyle lifestyle@forgetoday.com

LIFESTYLE&TRAVEL

Giving back

Breast cancer awareness month: Supporting the cause

By Niki Kesharaju

It’s October and not only is it time for Halloween but it’s also breast cancer awareness month.

Now we’ve seen our fair share of breast cancer awareness merchandise, like T-shirts and key rings, but these often stay forgotten at the bottom of our wardrobes and desks.

This issue Lifestyle has compiled a list of five useful and unusual products that we as students can purchase and use whilst supporting a great cause.

The camera

For all the photography enthusiasts out there, released in 2010 by Fujifilm North America, is the Fujifilm FinePix Z70 camera in berry.

awareness and the box included the camera, a little camera bag and a digital photo frame keychain, all in the name of promoting breast cancer.

At 12MP and only 17.9mm thin with a 2.7 inch LCD screen, this is perfect to fit into your clutch or bag for a night out.

The nail polishes

The beauty world is going ga-ga over breast cancer awareness cosmetics this October.

Brands from Avon to Bobbi Brown are all doing pretty pink lipsticks, blushes and make-up bags in a vast range of prices.

I picked ORLY’s Pretty in Pink 2013 collection which was released this October.

The collection costs £10.80 per 18ml bottle with 20 percent from each sale going to Breast Cancer Research.

This glitter nail polish collection has even been featured in Elle magazine online so this is a great product that will last you a while and help donate around £2 to Breast Cancer Research.

Head over to www.graftonsbeauty. co.uk to grab some for yourself.

The designer bag

It was released in America in association with the National Breast Cancer Foundation and you can find this camera on Amazon at a very affordable £61.

Fujifilm released a bundle box promoting

A lot of charities do tote bags to promote themselves. However, what if I told you that you could own your very own designer created bag for only £2.50 as well as raise

According to breast cancer campaign, “one in eight women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime.” Many of these cases will develop due to the BRCA mutation but what does it actually do and how can it increase the risk of breast cancer?

BRCA is a gene found in all humans. There are two types – BRCA1 and BRCA2. Both have a role in producing proteins responsible for repairing and destroying DNA. Problems can arise when the BRCA gene is mutated so it can’t function properly. Consequently, DNA damage can’t be repaired properly so cells are more likely to develop genetic alterations which may lead to cancer.

The BRCA mutation can be inherited by both men and women.

According to another statistic from breast cancer campaign, “one in 20 sufferers has inherited a gene mutation.” So, how to find out if we have inherited the mutated gene?

The first step would be to talk to your GP. There are two simple tests to see if you have the mutation.The first is a blood test in which a positive result from a relative is compared with your sample to check for a single mutation known to be present in that family. Alternatively, if there isn’t a blood relative available, a full test can be done to check the sequence of both BRCA1 and BRCA2.

According to Professor Gareth Evans, consultant medical geneticist at St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester, even with mammograms and MRI scans and an extremely healthy lifestyle the patient “probably can’t reduce their risk to below 50 percent.”

A mastectomy would reduce the risk of developing breast cancer by 90 to 95 per cent continues Evans.

Breast Institute figures showing that genetic testing for BRCA mutations at their clinic had risen by 67 per cent since Jolie’s announcement to undergo a double mastectomy.

Students interested in undergoing gene testing can enquire after more information at the University of Sheffield health service.

The personal organiser

The key to surviving university is being incredibly organised with your work.

Luckily Filofax are on the case and have collaborated with Breast Cancer Campaign to create a pretty, pink, personal organiser.

Retailing at £30-£35 depending on what size you buy, it may be a tad pricey for the student budget, but a Filofax is a student staple.

The organiser comes with individual pages dedicated to breast cancer awareness and Filofax donates £2 for each one sold.

It’s not too late to start getting organised for this year and it’s definitely not too late to be charitable.

Log on to www.filofax.co.uk/ breast-cancer-campaignorganiser to grab one of these life savers for yourself.

The crumpets You heard right, crumpets are promoting breast cancer awareness too.

Turns out breast cancer products don’t have to always be overtly pink and marketed only for women.

Asda has turned the packaging of some of its much loved everyday products to pink to promote their Tickled Pink’campaign.

What more can you want than a 6 pack of delicious Warburton’s crumpets for £1?

Other products in this range also include Kingsmill bread and rolls, Viennetta, Lucozade and lots more.

A percentage from all sales goes to charity and for £1, you can share the crumpets or eat them all yourself knowing you’ve contributed to a good cause.

Lifestyle’s cheap eat

Health

Testing for the BRCA gene

awareness for breast cancer?

Cue Asda’s Tickled Pink campaign which has collaborated with top UK designer Julien McDonald for a second year running in creating a ‘bag for life’ as a fashionable way to shop for your groceries.

The adorable blue and hot pink bag comes with the most gorgeous flamingo and heart print design and 72p, which is almost 30 percent of the price of the bag, will be donated to Asda’s campaign.

Poached chicken thighs and Asian-style broth

By Ghaniya Bi

by Mil Hare This recipe is perfect for students. Cheap, nourishing, and easy, it also allows you to make different meals so you have something super quick for later in the week.

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs 3 spring onions 1 carrot 3 celery stalks Ginger (a piece the size of your thumb) 2 garlic cloves 1 tsp Chinese five spice 1 tsp miso paste 20ml soy sauce 1 chicken stock cube 1/2 chilli

Method 1. Add all the ingredients to a pan, having roughly chopped the spring onions, carrot, celery and ginger and cover with water.

2. Bring to the boil with a lid on the pan. This should take about 10 minutes. Afterwards, remove the lid, turn the heat down, and poach the chicken for 10 minutes. For poaching, the broth should be similar to a gentle simmer.

3. By this stage the chicken should be cooked. Check by making sure the juices run clear.

4. Now you choose your options. Either heat some oil in a frying pan and crisp up the skin - perfect with buttered new potatoes and courgettes - or remove the skin and bones and shred for salads and sandwiches. Don’t throw away the skin and bones.

5. To make the Asian-style broth, reduce the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes. If you chose to shred the poached chicken, add in the skin and bones for extra flavour. Remember to strain before serving.

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COFFEE BREAK TWEETS OF THE FORTNIGHT

@FPCoffeeBreak /forgepresscoffeebreak

Earthscape artist Andres Amador has been creating amazing artwork like this on beaches for over 10 years. Armed with his sketchbook and a garden rake, he etches his intricate designs directly into the sand. By the time he has finished they last just a few minutes before the incoming tide begins to wash them away. His designs are inspired by patterns in nature such as cracks in mud or ripples in water. This piece is one in a series entitled ‘Kelp’.

Find more of his work at: www.andresamadorarts.com

Photograph of the fortnight: Impermanent sand art

Photo: Andres Amador

Tourists behaving badly Five things you probably shouldn’t do in public: spit, urinate, pick your nose, litter or queue-jump.

These might all seem like common sense, but the Chinese government has been left redfaced this week after having to issue a behaviour guide for Chinese tourists travelling abroad who don’t abide by these basic behaviour norms.

Tourists have been given instructions ranging from not urinating in swimming pools or making slurping sounds when eating soup, to more safetyoriented concerns such as not removing the life jackets from under their aeroplane seats.

Possibly the most alarming piece of advice given is that they should not leave footprints on the toilet seat.

Chinese tourists seem to have gained an embarrassing

international reputation for being badly behaved. Although some of this behaviour can be attributed in part to differing cultural norms, there have also been a few recent scandals involving Chinese abroad.

One notable incident was earlier this year when a 15-yearold Chinese boy carved his name into a 3,500 year old Egyptian statue - not exactly good for international relations.

It remains to be seen if tourists will actually follow these guidelines, with many complaining that the 64-page booklet issued by the government is too lengthy and complicated to remember. Although unlikely, Coffee Break wonders if any other countries will follow China’s example. Spain might be quite pleased if tourists there were discouraged from destroying one party island at a time.

Word of the fortnight Alpenglow, noun: 1. A rosy glow that is seen near sunrise or sunset on the summits of snow-covered mountains.

.

.. w o n k d you

Di

It is completely coincidental that we exist on a planet and in a time when our star is covered exactly during a total eclipse.

We are the only known planet to experience total eclipses, and at some point in the future they will cease to occur on Earth too.

The German government refuses to recognise Scientology as a religion, and in fact has officially labelled it as “an abusive business masquerading as a religion”.

Polls suggest that most Germans favour banning Scientology from the country.

How to dance your way into unemployment Picture the scene; you’ve finally had enough of your job and you want to quit.

There are multiple ways that this could go down. The normal way - you hand in your resignation and leave. The awesome way - you pull epic pranks on your coworkers before leaving in a fiery blaze of glory.

Or the weird and wonderful way - you announce that you’re quitting through the medium of interpretive dance.

Marina Shifrin, formerly a video producer at Taiwanese company Next Media Animation, chose the latter approach.

She filmed herself after hours dancing in various places around the office to an accompaniment of Kanye West’s ‘Gone’. While this song is appropriate, Coffee Break feels that Shifrin wasted her chance to choose a much more amusing song title; Kanye’s ‘See You In My Nightmares’ comes to mind, or perhaps ‘Good Riddance’

by Green Day. The video was punctuated by subtitles explaining why Shifrin decided to leave: her main reason being that her boss apparently only cares about “quantity and how many views each video gets”.

Fair enough, but we’re more

interested in how the video will affect her career. Will she rise to the top as a role model for those who dare to speak out against their employers, or will future companies hesitate to employ her while they wonder if she will make a viral video about their flaws too? Regardless, Coffee Break admires her guts - and so did Next Media Animation, who responded to her dance video with one of their own.

Shifrin’s former colleagues recorded themselves dancing to the same song, wishing her well before going on to make the rather pointed announcement that they are now hiring. They

oh-so-unsubtly mentioned their rooftop pool and sauna, before showing everybody in the office getting up to crazy hijinks like freestyle dancing while wearing motion capture suits.

An attractive prospect, particularly with the sauna thrown in, but presumably Shifrin knows what she’s missing.

Coffee Break anticipates the other amusing resignation videos that this one might spawn, and is looking forward just as much to the sudden spate of companies that might be hiring in the near future.

Photo: Marina Shifrin/Youtube

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@FPCoffeeBreak

COFFEE BREAK

/forgepresscoffeebreak

Puzzle Page: sudokus Medium

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Quote of the fortnight

“

You’ve got this life and while you’ve got it, you’d better kiss like you only have one moment, try to hold someone’s hand like you will never get another chance to, look into people’s eyes like they’re the last you’ll ever see, watch someone sleeping like there’s no time left, jump if you feel like jumping, run if you feel like running, play music in your head when there is none, and eat cake like it’s the only one left in the world!

C. Joybell C.

”

dingbats

Across:

Down:

1. Lots (of something) (9) 8. Calm, unaffected by emotion (5) 9. Root vegetable native to South America; if improperly prepared can lead to cyanide poisoning (7) 10. Magician (8) 11. Exclamation used to surreptitiously attract someone’s attention (4) 13. Purple flowering plants; subjects of a Van Gogh painting (6) 14. One of Santa’s reindeer (6) 16. Abound with (4) 17. Storyteller (8) 19. Enter without permission (7) 20. Popular Japanese dish (5) 21. The name of this device is derived from the Greek meaning of ‘distant voice’ (9)

1. Remote, sheltered (8) 2. Be greater than (6) 3. One of the seven deadly sins (4) 4. Doctor responsible for putting patient to sleep (12) 5. Flighty and disorganised person (12) 6. Specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders (12) 7. Happening by chance (12) 12. Team sport played with long sticks (8) 15. Small outside building open on all sides (6) 18. English alternative rock band, frontman Jarvis Cocker (4)

Dingbats are visual word puzzles from which you must identify a well-known phrase or saying.

1.

2.

Find the answers to this fortnight’s puzzles online at: www.forgetoday.com/category/coffee-break

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@forgesport

SPORT

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Matchdebating

Should Premier League teams be allowed to field B teams in the lower leagues?

It works in Spain, so why not England?

Our lower leagues should be protected

Kristian Johnson

Phil Hammond

There is no doubting that there is a dearth of young talent in English football.

In recent years, Jay Bothroyd, Kevin Davies and Jonjo Shelvey have all received call-ups to the England squad. 1,000 miles further south, Santi Carzola and Juan Mata struggle to make the Spain squad on a regular basis.

However, it’s not only the Sunday League mentality and a lack of quality coaches that stunts a young player’s improvement on these shores - although shouts of ‘stick it in the mixer’ hardly endear themselves to fans of tiki-taka.

A major issue for youngsters plying their trade in England is that so many of them don’t play first team football on a regular basis.

Take a look at Wilfried Zaha. The Manchester United youngster moved to Old Trafford in the summer after bamboozling Championship defences on a weekly basis to help Crystal Palace win promotion via the play-offs.

Despite his obvious talent, the 20-year-old winger has played just 60 minutes of football for the Red Devils’ first team – all of which came in the Community Shield.

Zaha recently scored in a 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers reserves for United’s second-string side. Despite his goal in an emphatic win, surely Zaha would have learnt more from coming up against hardened professionals in the Championship? There’s no doubt that he’d be kicked from pillar to post if

he were to come up against QPR’s snarly midfield duo of Joey Barton and Karl Henry, but the winger would learn how to evade a knee-high tackle.

“The introduction of B teams in League One would be beneficial for all, and undoubtedly boost attendences” We’re often told that Spanish football is the perfect role model.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are consistently amongst the world’s greatest football teams and each have a core of world class home grown players.

Those of you who believe that the likes of Sergio Ramos, Xavi and Lionel Messi waltzed straight into the first team squads at the Camp Nou and Bernabeu should think again.

Messi played a full season in Barcelona’s C team (yes, they even have a C team) and a further year for the Catalan club’s B team before making the step up to play alongside Andres Iniesta and Xavi in La Liga.

In fact, nine of the 11 players in Spain’s starting

line-up for the Euro 2012 Final played in their respective clubs’ B teams before making the step up to first-team football.

It’s not just the two big guns who are represented in the lower leagues, either.

Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal are further examples of La Liga sides who are represented at a lower level by B teams.

Rather than being detrimental to the Football League, the introduction of B teams in League One would be beneficial for all, and undoubtedly boost attendances.

Would you rather part with your hard earned cash to see a 16 stone Ade Akimfenwa lumber around the pitch or watch the next Paul Scholes strut his stuff?

I know who I’d rather pay to watch.

This debate has been successfully reignited

by Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers after he joined a growing list of managers - Jose Mourinho, Andre Villas Boas and Rafa Benitez to name a few - that have called for a Spain-esque B team system to be deployed in England.

But there is no way Premier League managers should get their way and be allowed to field B teams in the lower tiers of the English football league.

There is definitely logic to the idea. Firstly, allowing young players to play competitive football for their club’s B team in the lower leagues would enable the club’s coaches to have full control over their development, whilst also

Lionel Messi, the finest player to ever play B team football

drumming a certain style of play into them.

It’s a system that has been in full flow for years in Spain, with Barcelona B being cited as one of the biggest success stories and credited as being key to the development of a certain Lionel Messi.

This makes it easy to say ‘it works in Spain, so why not import it here?’

Because despite the failings of the national team, English football still holds one strength that is incomparable to any other nation; our lower leagues. They are the best in the world and should not be

jeopardised.

In clubs such as Oxford United, Exeter City and Forest Green we see a game rooted in the community, where the definition of glory and source of interest differs so greatly to that of the elevated star factories in the Premier League.

The connection between those in the stands, those on the pitch and those in the boardroom is different Photo: Wikipedia Commons completely

from the rarefied atmosphere of the big boys.

The inclusion of elite B teams would inevitably harm this unique feel of lower league teams.

“What gives the elite the right to barge their way into a league structure that has been in place for over 100 years?”

I want to be watching passionate local derbies such as Sheffield Wednesday vs Sheffield United- if they are ever to grace the same league again- and Exeter City vs Plymouth Argyle. I don’t want to be watching the Sheffield teams do battle with a Manchester United B side. We’ve got the Capital One cup for that.

What gives the elite the right to barge their way into a league structure that has been in place for over 100 years? It sounds like the football equivalent of the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer, all in a vain attempt to get more English players coming through and stopping them stalling as they remain in limbo between the reserves and the firsts.

The idea of feeder clubs in the lower leagues should also be explored. Such a relationship between, let’s say Manchester United and Torquay United, would see the ‘haves’ of the football world lend a helping hand to the ‘have nots’ - something which would make a timely change.

Forge Sport awards

Forge Sport editor Jack Taylor chooses his heroes and villains of the week Bryony Page

üü

University of Sheffield’s very own trampolining goddess took gold at the Trampolining and Gymnastics World Cup in Denmark.

Max Whitlock

ü

The 20-year-old Olympic Bronze medalist went one better this week when he took silver on the Pommel Horse in the World Gymnastic Championships.

Jack Wilshere

û

The England and Arsenal midfielder caused a stir this week with his comments about only English players being allowed to play for England.

Ivaylo Petev

ûû

Levski Sofia supporters were so angry as Petev’s appointment as their new head coach, that they forced him to take his shirt off in his first news conference.

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SPORT

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Sports personality of the week

Forge Sport Editor Peter Grieve met men’s rugby league club captain Dan Johnson for an interview

University rugby clubs across the country have a bad reputation, with some being banned by several institutions. Why do you think this is and do you feel this is fair?

I’ve heard a few stories of clubs being banned from various universities, and in most cases I’d say it’s probably right that they were disciplined. I think that reputations build up because of the relationships the players need with each other; many clubs take a shortcut to friendship through off-colour social themes and tasks for their players, getting to know each other through their status as ‘a bit of a card’ or whatever. We have our share of unbelievable stories, but thankfully not many of them are through club encouraged activities.

“We’ve definitely got more than our fair share of loose cannons” What separates men’s rugby league from other sports clubs in Sheffield?

Sense of humour. It’d be easy for me to say ‘a real family vibe’ or similar because our players really do feel like brothers, but I’m sure that feeling is shared by many clubs. To me, it’s our ability to laugh at ourselves - we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

I suppose another string to our bow is inclusion. We don’t have trials, we don’t have initiations - if you want to be a part of our club; you’re more than welcome.

What was the best social you’ve been on?

Our grand final days are always something special. The climax of the year’s Super League

competition (the European Rugby League’s ‘top flight’) occurs early in the University calendar, but we still manage to get great numbers in attendance. Everyone makes a great effort with the fancy dress theme. This year we went as cheerleaders, something we’ve not tried before. We always seem to come away with a good handful of memorable stories to help kick start our year.

Club initiations are banned by the University. Do you agree with that decision?

Completely. To my knowledge it’s not something we’ve ever partaken in. The reputation of initiations is what kept me away from the club in my first year, but after meeting then-captain Matt Cannon whilst playing at Hillsborough Hawks ARLFC I decided to give it a shot and have never looked back. Other clubs claim to be initiation free, but you still hear the odd story about what certain freshers have had to do here and there. Never from our club.

Men’s rugby league have had a reputation of getting into trouble, for example throwing punches in the intramural touch rugby and having players kicked out of the University’s nightclub.

Do you have any form of discipline for players that hurt your club’s image?

We’ve definitely got more than our fair share of loose cannons, but I think that comes with the sport we play. We’re very much a typical amateur rugby league club. Our aim is always to keep the aggression confined to the pitch and that’s the attitude we encourage from our players. We’ve not had an incident that I believe warrants club disciplinary action as of yet, and having witnessed the intra-mural incidents myself I’d call them an

overreaction to provocation. We don’t condone it - it was an ugly incident and we hope it’s never repeated.

What facilities do the University provide you with?

Not much, but enough. We’re provided with our o w n playing field up at Norton, w h i c h we love dearly, and we’re provided w i t h f o u r hours a week

on a number of the outdoor pitches at Goodwin. Norton is free and Goodwin is discounted generously. We’ve also been helped out by Sport Sheffield with our all new training equipment for this season. Our University has some top quality sports facilities, but lacks the space to cater to the needs of the large number of clubs representing it.

As club captain, do you plan on making any major changes within the club or doing anything different?

Last year was fantastic. We were champions of the Yorkshire Men’s League, reached the quarter-finals of the national BUCS trophy competition and pushed Hallam hard in Varsity.

This year our aim is to promote a more professional atmosphere both on and off the pitch. We’re in a tougher league and we want to make an impact, and we want to win Varsity. We’ve got a new coach who’s an ex-Great Britain U24s Captain and Challenge Cup winner and a dedicated fitness coach, plus we’re increasing our ties with local professional club Sheffield Eagles after becoming a part of their ‘Player Pathway’ last year. We’re working more closely with our governing body, and we’ve massively boosted our sponsorship figures.

It’s about doing the little things that make the big differences.

Rugby League skipper Dan in a jubilent mood

What does Varsity mean to you?

It’s hard for me to place too much emphasis on Varsity since it’s been a good number of years since we’ve come away from it victorious. However, I think we all know it’s a big one. It’s the game everyone wants to play in, and 80 minutes where everyone gives their all. We fought hard last year and felt comfortably in the lead for 60 minutes until some brutal injuries allowed Hallam an enormous comeback.

It was tough to take and it’s a score we aim to settle this year.

“It’s a good number of years since we’ve come away from [Varsity] victorious” What is your favourite memory from your time in the club?

It’s tough for me to pick just one but winning the league last year has to be up there, despite being injured for much of our campaign. Off the field, there’s no event as memorable as the annual tour. Admittedly, most of those memories are all blurred into one but that’s what makes the event so good. It’s where friendships are truly made and you see a side of your team mates that you didn’t know existed. I think it carries the same stigmas as joining a club in the first place, and has the same result it’s scary at first, sure, but once you’re there you wonder why you didn’t go sooner.

Photo: Dan Johnson

United point won’t end Weir woes Football Sky Bet League One Sheffield United Crawley Town

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Jack Taylor Sheffield United scraped themselves off bottom spot in League One with a point against Crawley but Blades boss David Weir remains under pressure to retain his job.

United once again started slowly and were immediately on the back foot as Billy Clarke unleashed a powerful long range which was only helped wide by the way of a deflection.

The respite for United was not forthcoming and with only 10 minutes on the clock, Crawley took the lead as a cleverly worked short corner allowed Andy Drury to get in behind the United defence and deliver pin point cross for Jamie Proctor to head home with ease and put Crawley

1-0 up.

Crawley could easily have doubled their lead 10 minutes later as the Red Devil’s fullback, Mat Sadler, rampaged down the left to give him a clear goal scoring opportunity only to drag his shot well wide under no pressure from a ghostlike Blades back four.

United fans were left frustrated as their side created nothing from open play and the few set piece chances they did have were squandered with alarming regularity.

Crawley could have given Sheffield a mountain to climb in the second half had long range efforts from Nicky Adams and Jamie Proctor had the correct navigation, but instead it was to only be a mere hill as Crawley headed into the break with a 1-0 lead.

Weir later said that half time had led to a very vocal team discussion in the changing room and that was there for all to see

after the break as United finally managed to gain a foothold in proceedings.

On 53 minutes, Tony McMahon’s 30 yard howitzer hit the inside of the post with Crawley ‘keeper Paul Jones helpless but the ball trickled along the goal line to safety. However, this gave United the impetus to keep going forward.

They were duly rewarded on 62 minutes when Febian Brandy threaded through a perfectly weighted ball for Marlon King and the former Birmingham and Watford marksman coolly finished into the bottom corner to level the scores at 1-1.

It could have got even better for the Bramall Lane faithful when substitute Conor Coady took on a powerful side footed shot but Jones pulled off a fine save to his left to keep the scores level.

In the end United had to settle for a draw and Weir remains under extreme pressure in the Blades hotseat.

Marlon King celebrates with David Weir

Photo: Blades Sports Photography

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Rugby thirds not McKean enough Men’s rugby union BUCS northern 3B University of Sheffield 3s University of Leeds 5s

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James Kuligowski On a typically wet Sheffield afternoon, the University of Sheffield men’s rugby union 3rd XV hosted Leeds 5 XV for the first league game of the season. With the conditions not particularly suited to running rugby, it hung in the balance as to whether ‘Das 3rds’ could continue playing the flamboyant rugby they have gained a reputation for.

Both teams showed their early season nerves in the initial exchanges with neither team settling into the game immediately and trading knockons. The referee didn’t help the flow of the game with his somewhat petty policing of the rucks.

Leeds were the first team to settle into their game, but some solid defence from Sheffield prevented them from scoring despite a lengthy period in the Sheffield 22. Higgs Boson stood out, putting in a huge hit to force a Leeds knock-on just outside the 22. Leeds eventually came away with three points.

This lapse seemed to spring Sheffield into life, and they started to play the rugby they had shown they could in preseason training. Alex Kuklenko soon got into a metronomic rhythm with his line-out throws despite the windy conditions, whilst Tom Penn jumped well to win much of Sheffield’s own ball whilst stealing some of Leeds’.

Sheffield spent the final ten minutes of the half in the Leeds 22, with standout forward Matt McKean making some great carries from the base of the scrum, but some admirable defence from Leeds and the lack of a clinical

edge from Sheffield prevented any points being scored. The half time score was 3-0.

The second half started with Leeds on the front foot, but some good tackling from the Sheffield forwards managed to dispel the ball from the arms of the Leeds flanker. This induced a hectic pinball effect with the ball eventually being hoofed downfield by Aaron Powell, the Sheffield inside centre.

Substitute Cameron Leff made an instant impact when he came on and boshed his opposite number before galloping down the wing for an excellent gain; however Sheffield again could not convert their possession into any points.

The turning point in the game came with 15 minutes to go when Leeds were camped in Sheffield’s 22. The Sheffield forwards were defending brilliantly with debutant Matt McKean standing out around the rucks throwing his body everywhere. Sheffield were warned that another offence would result in a sin bin and replacement James Indoe succumbed to the referee’s apparent hypnotic powers and was sent to the bin for a team offence. Leeds came away with three points and soon after, Sheffield’s lack of organization in the midfield led to Leeds scoring under the posts. The score was 13-0 with eight minutes to play.

Sheffield again showed heart from the kick-off and contained Leeds in their own half. When the ball was turned over the people’s first team showed their capabilities and were now playing by far the most attractive rugby of the game. The game finished on a high for Sheffield with Sam Elliot going under the posts to end the game in a 13-7 loss.

It was evident that Sheffield could play an attractive brand of rugby and with hard work over the next few weeks; the shortfalls could easily be ironed out, showing promise for the season.

Fly-half James Kuligowski leaves a defender for dead

Photo: Josh Rock

Wednesday’s slow start continues Football Sky Bet Championship Sheffield Wednesday Ipswich Town

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Phil Hammond Sheffield Wednesday remain in the relegation zone as their slow start to the new season continued with a home draw to Ipswich Town.

The result means Dave Jones’ side are the only team without a win in the Sky Bet Championship this season.

After a slow start to the game, it was Ipswich that drew first blood, breaking quickly from a Wednesday corner in the 12th minute.

Lapse defending, a regularity for the Owl’s this season, lead to former Owls loan striker David McGoldrick being left unmarked just inside his own half.

He raced down the left and chipped a delicate ball into the path of winger Paul Anderson who finished spectacularly with a first-time shot past a helpless Kirkland.

Wednesday hit back almost immediately, and two minutes later the home side found themselves level.

Reda Johnson pumped a cross from the left wing into the penalty area, where 6ft 6 frontman Nuhiu was left free to head the ball across the goalmouth before Antonio headed powerfully into the net.

Ipswich were unlucky not to regain the lead in the 36th minute when Cole Skuse hit a terrific effwort from 25 yards which flew across goal and off the inside of Kirkland’s righthand post.

In the last minute of the half, Llera lobbed the ball over the Ipswich defence to Fryatt, who looked sure to score from eight yards but his sweetly-hit volley was brilliantly turned over by Dean Gerken.

Chances continued for both sides throughout the second half, Kirkland making two fine saves in the space of five minutes and Jermaine Johnson coming closest to giving Wednesday all three points with a thunderous effort from 30 yards that struck

the bar.

The home fans showed their frustrations at full-time, a chorus of boos ringing around Hillsborough as frustration grows over Wednesday’s winless start to the new campaign.

Goalscorer Antonio was adamant in his post-match press conference that Wednesday fans have to remain positive.

He said: “We believe one win will start a chain reaction and we will climb up the league.

“I feel that the fans should just have faith in us. We’ve done it once last season and we will do it again. I don’t think they should get anxious, just back us and give us a lift when we are playing.”

Manager Dave Jones said: “A point was a fair assessment, I think. They had the first half and we had the second. Probably it took us a long time to get going.

“We always knew three games in a week was going to be a tall ask. I can’t fault them [the team] for having a go but I can fault them for lacking that quality in the final third.”

Rebrand for Uni basketball team Men’s basketball Phil Hammond

Shooting from the free throw line at Varsity

Photo: Dom Hutchinson

The University of Sheffield basketball club has gone through a major rebrand this year with the club now being known as the USB Spartans.

Fraser Campbell, current second team captain, will manage the club this season.

The club, who are linked with Arrows basketball club, held a summer camp at Goodwin sports centre to help students improve their skills and work on tactics before the new season.

Also invited were a handful of talented young players from the Arrows basketball club.

Spartans basketball has also entered into a partnership with Diabetes UK and will be holding four fundraisers throughout the year.

University of Sheffield Spartans and Arrows basketball club go into their third academic year under a partnership which brought coach Jonathan Kelly to the club. In the previous two seasons under Kelly’s guidance, they have managed unbeaten promotion one year and a semifinal appearance in the Northern Cup. This year the club is hoping for both the first and second teams to get promoted and a cup run.

Kelly said: “It’s a very exciting time for the club and a great time to be representing the University. After the Varsity

success of last year, there is a great feel around the sporting community as a whole. I know that we as a club are honoured to be helping Diabetes UK, which is a cause close to my heart.

“As a club we worked hard over the summer with summer training camps and recruitment to be the best we can be. I know that there is a lot of pride for the USB Spartans already in the camp. We encourage students to get behind the Spartans and cheer on the black and gold.”

The Spartans start their campaign against Durham seconds at Goodwin Sports Centre on Wednesday 16 October.

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O’Malley’s late rally earns win Men’s rugby union BUCS northern 2B University of Sheffield 2s York St John 1s Peter Grieve

Gold medal success for Rio-bound Bryony Photo: Simon Wright

The University of Sheffield’s Bryony Page won gold at the trampolining gymnastics World Cup

Gymnastics and trampolining Phil Hammond The University of Sheffield’s Bryony Page won individual gold in the trampolining gymnastics world cup in Odense, Denmark.

Bryony, a third year Biology student and the current British trampolining champion, beat off competition from current world champion Dan Li from China and current Olympic champion Rosie MacLennan from Canada.

She found herself in a tight battle for top spot in the individual event with all three medalists finishing within one point of each other.

She won gold with 54.890 points, followed by silver medal winner Li with 54.850 points and MacLennan in third with 54.835 points.

Bryony, who is originally

from Wrenbury in Cheshire, said: “It hasn’t quite sunk in that I’ve beaten the current world champion and the current Olympic champion to world cup gold.

“I remember the moment the scores came in. I didn’t quite believe it and to be honest, I still don’t.

“It was an amazing feeling to be standing on the top of the podium, especially since it was such a strong field. I thought my routines went really well. My final routine felt particularly high and sharp, but it was definitely a surprise to see my name above Rosie MacLennan.

The win tops off a whirlwind couple of months for Bryony, who was crowned British champion in August before winning silver for Team GB in the Canada Cup, finishing just 0.3 points behind Rosie MacLennan.

After now beating Rosie, her

sights are set on next month’s world championships in Bulgaria.

“My performance from this competition has given me confidence in my training towards the world championships.

“There’s a new structure this year with the introduction of a semi-final, so I will need to be in the top two British participants because of the two country rule and the top eight overall.

“Because the British team is so strong it could be any of us that make it through.”

Juggling her sporting ambitions with a degree, the 22-year-old is part of the Sheffield Trampolining Academy, and trains at Ponds Forge international sports centre under the guidance of her coach, Paul Greaves.

He said: “Everyone at the Sheffield Trampolining Academy is feeling on top of the world after Bryony’s world cup success.

“To claim the gold medal

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ahead of not only the current world champion, but the current Olympic champion as well, is such a remarkable achievement.”

Further success in Sofia would further establish her as one of the best on the planet and add to her credentials to represent GB at the Rio 2016 Olympics – her main career ambition.

Bryony said: “I’d like to thank my coach Paul Greaves, UK Sport National Lottery funding, the University of Sheffield, my family and my friends for their help and support.”

In heavy rain and swirling winds, the University of Sheffield men’s rugby union 2nd XV hosted York St John 1st XV in the first league game of the season.

Winger Jordan Bulgin set the tone early on with a big hit on his opposite man; this was going to be a very physical game.

After a period of heavy pressure, York St John used their size advantage to great effect by continuously smashing into Sheffield’s defence like waves on rock, before the black and gold defence finally burst and allowed St John’s flanker through to score by the posts to make the score 7-0.

Four minutes later, York St John extended their lead by three points with a long range penalty.

Sheffield showed their resilience and came back fighting, Richard Knowles’ boot allowed Sheffield to camp in their opponent’s 22. After a line-out several metres out, the Sheffield pack began a driving maul.

However, scrum half Sam David saw a gap in St John’s defence and exploited it to pull the score back to 10-5 on 32 minutes.

A couple of minutes later Sheffield were attacking again; impressive hands down the line saw winger Jordan Bulgin equalise out wide, levelling the score at 10-10.

In the last play of the half, York’s physicality prevailed yet again as their forwards powered through to score and take the advantage going into half time at 17-10.

After the break, the University of Sheffield refused to give in, as shown by second row Dave Guinea constantly winning turnovers at line-outs. Their hunger was soon rewarded after a pass laced with flair from Chris Lambert allowed captain Ben Thompson to touch down and peg York St John back to 17-15 on 62 minutes.

With little more than 10 minutes left to play, Sheffield finally took the lead. Debutantfresher-substitute Andy O’Malley became the hero as he used his sheer volume to bulldoze his way past two defenders from a pick and go, making the score 20-17.

When York St John attempted to launch a fightback for the last 10 minutes, every Sheffield player stood up to their opposite man, forbidding anyone to break through the men of Sheffield’s defence. The solid tackling continued well into the last play of the game, before winning a penalty to finish the game, and therefore winning the first match of the year.

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