INSIDE: The role of the housewife/ zero hours contracts/ drenge/ game of thrones/
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The independent student newspaper of the University of Sheffield. Est. 1946.
Issue 82 Thursday April 23 2015 @ForgePress /ForgePress
INSIDE
Comment
“We may as well chant ‘on average you’re poorer than us’”
Features Steel in the city: what does the future hold?
Fuse
“Curzon have fucked over our local independent cinema”
This city is ours
Inside: 16-page varsity pull-out Photo: Chris Chadwick
Sheffield Green candidate tells voters: your perception ‘doesn’t matter’ p.3
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Editor
elsa.vulliamy@forgetoday.com
Elsa Vulliamy
DEPUTY EDITOR Tom Schneider Managing Editor
j.may@sheffield.ac.uk
Jon May
fuse editors fuse@forgetoday.com Phil Bayles Kate Lovatt HEAD OF ONLINE matthew.smith@forgetoday.com matthew Smith News news@forgetoday.com Patrick O’Connell Neelam Tailor Adela Whittingham DEPUTY NEWS Estel Farell Roig Will Morgan Keri Trigg Comment comment@forgetoday.com Lauren Archer Isaac Stovell COFFEE BREAK letters@forgetoday.com Helen Hiorns Features features@forgetoday.com Kemi Alemoru Will Ross Polly Winn Lifestyle & travel lifestyle@forgetoday.com Isabel Dobinson Nikita Kesharaju Sport sport@forgetoday.com Joseph Bamford Edward McCosh Thomas Pyman Music music@forgetoday.com Rachel Bell Rebecca Stubbs Games games@forgetoday.com Samantha Fielding Robin Wilde Screen screen@forgetoday.com Joe Brennan Sophie Maxwell Arts arts@forgetoday.com Chloe Coleman Joscelin Woodend COPY EDITORS Lucy Barnes Elizabeth Cunningham Friederike Dannheim Declan Downey Helena Egan Claire Fowler Ellie Tudor Karen Wong M edi a H u b, U n io n o f Student s, We s t e r n Bank , S hef f ie ld, S10 2T G 0114 2 2286 46
Forge Press is printed on 100% recycled paper
Forge Press is published by Sheffield Students’ Union. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the the Union or the editorial team. Complaints should be addressed to the Managing Editor in the first instance, although a formal procedure exists.
in brief...
UNIVERSITY
COFFEE
Will Morgan
Keri Trigg
A series of 48 lectures were held in Hicks Lecture Theatre One over a period of 24 hours. The event was held in honour of Sheffield’s Dr Victoria Henshaw who died in 2014 and Dr Tim Richardson who died in 2013. The proceeds have gone to local charities: Inspiration for Life, Rotherham Hospice and Impact Young Heroes. A wide range of topics were covered from “the ins and outs of sperm donation” and “throwing spanners at nanobots” to the ultimate question “what is life?”
A pop-up café has opened in Sheffield city centre in aid of twin city Estelí in Nicaragua. The Twin Café Project, founded last October by three University of Sheffield students who visited the region, aims to raise money and awareness for causes in both Sheffield and Estelí. The café, which sells a range of coffees from the Central American city, opened its doors on Union Street this Monday, April 20, where it will stay for one week. Through selling their coffee at other cafés, the project has so far raised over £1,000.
CITY
CRIME
ENTERTAINMENT
Keri Trigg
Patrick O’Connell
Adela Whittingham
Lights are going out on communities across Sheffield as the city’s streetlights are set to fetch hundreds in online auctions. Sharrow Vale residents are campaigning for the Council to rethink the removal of their lampposts, following reports that they are being sold on by Streets Ahead, the company carrying out the work. All 68,000 of Sheffield’s lampposts are to be replaced with energy-saving LED models, with the old lamps sold for up to £250 apiece.
A man who walked down London Road naked has been charged with failing to stop for the police. Kelly Savage, 48, of London, was arrested by police at a junction after he left the scene of the original incident in a car. A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said “A call came in to police at around 2.15pm on Tuesday afternoon of a naked man who had entered a premise on Boston Street.”
Local businessman Paul Osborne has created a feature-film entitled Arthur and Merlin for just £200 000. The film, shot entirely in the Peak District, follows the mythical wizard-king duo on a quest to save dark ages Britain from a powerful druid “bent on destroying the Celtic people”. The film is available to stream in its entirety for just £1.50.
MUSIC
UNIVERSITY
Will Morgan
Elsa Vulliamy
Record shops across the city celebrated annual Record Store Day on April 18. The day encourages the use of brick and mortar record shops through releasing limited print vinyl records, including 3000 pressings of David Bowie’s ‘Changes’. 1.29 million vinyls were sold in 2014, the highest since 1996, but still only 1.5 per cent of the overall albums market. Record Collector, a vinyl and CD shop on Fulwood road, had people queueing from 11pm the night before in hope of getting one of the limited print vinyls.
The University’s Institute of Lifelong Learning is today, April 23, celebrating its relaunch as the Department for Lifelong Learning. The department gives mature students who may lack conventional academic qualifications the chance to get back into education. The relaunch will see the addition of 17 new degree courses with an integrated foundation year, as well as 12 part time Arts, Humanities and Social Science degrees, and 15 part time Certificates.
24 hour lecture held
News from the Steel City
Naked man charged
Street lights sold
UK’s record renaissance
Pop-up café to open
Budget magic
Lifelong Learning revamp
Photo: geograph.org
inside this issue... News Comment
Union redundancies, Amazon lockers, Jeremy Clarkson
“ Scotland has left England far behind ”
Features
Freedom of speech: your rights... and responsibilities
Lifestyle
#TheHomelessPeriod
Coffee Break
Puzzles... and Nick Clegg looking angry at a pothole
Sport
16-page Varsity pullout covering every sporting event
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YOUR UNIVERSITY
Redundancy threat in SU staff shake-up Patrick O’Connell Students’ Union staff members are facing redundancies as part of a bid to offset the Union’s £300,000 deficit. After the Union’s trustee board met on Friday March 13, it was announced to staff on March 24 that “significant changes” would be made to the Union’s staff structure in order to balance the books. In April last year it was revealed that the Union’s deficit stood at £283,344. The figure is believed to have since ballooned past the £300,000 mark. The Union’s proposed new staff structure generates savings of some £260,000 per year, according to a press release. A legally required consultation period surrounding the redundancies is ongoing. A consultation period where staff could suggest alternative structures ended on Monday April 20. The trustee board will meet to consider the suggested changes on Monday April 27. From May onwards there will be a final transition to the new structure.
Photo: Wikipedia
The Students’ Union Development Officer Jack Wyse said: “Generally, we can’t be in a position anymore where we’re spending money that we don’t have and that’s what the situation is at the moment. “With that much of a deficit, the amount of money that we’re getting in through the University subvention which is £2.7m and the turnover that our commercial areas take is still less than we’re spending on our staff and on our
students.” Changes in student spending behaviours have been attributed as part of the Union’s deficit problem, with a slump in bar sales being noted as a problem. “If students’ behaviours are changing we need to change how we deliver services to students in conjunction with that. “What we had last year and what we’re changing from is an outdated structure that serves
an outdated student set of behaviours.” But Wyse said despite the restructuring the Union must be able to provide a quality service to its students. “There’s a certain amount below which they won’t be able to deliver a quality service and so I think that’s the key. “We can’t let our services be poorly affected in how they serve students.”
‘Perception of voters doesn’t matter’
4Greens admit they ‘might have cocked-up’ in election newsletter after Labour’s Blomfield alleges a ‘deliberate misrepresentation’ Green Party parliamentary candidate for Sheffield Central Jillian Creasy has responded to Labour allegations of a “smear” a g a i n s t their rival candidate by insisting that “the perception of voters doesn’t matter”. Labour’s P a u l
Green party leader Natalie Bennet
Technology
The Earth is humming and now we know why Our planet produces a low frequency ringing sound that our ears cannot detect. The answer to why this happens was not certain, until recently. Scientists from France have found that this is due to large ocean waves that go all the way down to the ocean floor. The waves move at a high pressure, rocking the Earth as they do so. This may not seem very exciting as we cannot hear it, but it may actually hold many clues as to what is happening inside our planet, even as deep as the Earth’s core. Kasia Wzietal
The smell of happiness
GENERAL ELECTION
Tom Schneider
SCIENCE &
Blomfield alleged that the article, published in the latest edition of the Green Party’s constituency newsletter comparing his voting record with that of Green MP Caroline Lucas, was a “deliberate misrepresentation”. Entitled ‘Green policies in action – how the parties compare’, the article reports that Blomfield was “absent when vote was taken” this year for key motions on austerity, Trident and fracking. A spokesperson for the Labour MP said that this falsely implied he was an “absentee MP and imputing to him political views he does not hold”. Labour’s Paul Blomfield has accused his rival parliamentary candidate for Sheffield Central, Jilian Creasy, of “deliberately smearing” him in the Green Party constituency newsletter. But while Creasy acknowledged that Blomfield was in the Commons for two of the three votes, she insisted the article was “entirely legitimate. Absent in this context can mean abstaining or actually not being present”. Asked whether she felt the 40,000 voters who received the newsletter would perceive the use of the word “absent” in this way, Creasy told Forge that “the word covers both cases; the perception of voters sort of doesn’t matter”. Blomfield responded: “We’re in the middle of an election; the voters are the central issue.
“Quite reasonably, they are not familiar with the etiquette of Parliamentary language so this looks like a deliberate attempt to mislead them.” A spokesperson for the Green Party said: “There was no intention to mislead the electorate – we were not suggesting that Paul is an absentee MP. We were merely suggesting the positions he takes outside of Parliament need to be followed through with how he actually votes”. “We have no regrets over the constituency newsletter”, he continued. “When the issue was initially raised, I thought we might have made a cock-up but we would use the same phrase again, it was entirely legitimate”. Although Blomfield was elected in 2010 on a narrow majority of just 165 votes (0.4 per cent), the collapse in the Liberal Democrat vote has led to the Green Party becoming Labour’s main challengers in Council elections. This led to the Greens naming Sheffield Central as one of 12 constituencies listed nationally as key ‘targets’ for the 2015 general election. Blomfield said: “This is an example of the Greens engaging in cheap, dishonest politics. I want this campaign to be conducted fairly.”
They say happiness is contagious, but did you ever imagine that it could be spread through your sweat? A new study in Psychological Science has found that we may communicate our positive emotional state through “chemosignals” in sweat. During the study, women were asked to smell the sweat of men experiencing different emotions. Those that smelt the “happy sweat” showed more facial expressions indicative of happiness than the other groups, suggesting a synchronisation of behaviour between donor and receiver. Unfortunately, fear and other negative emotions also seem to be passed through sweat so don’t give up on deodorant just yet. Ella Hubber
But Cllr Creasy said: “I can understand that Paul was put out and hurt by this newsletter but it was not dishonest in any way. The Green Party are engaging in honest politics as usual”. The country goes to the polls on May 7. Photo: Creative Commons
Telecoms market plans released
Sheffield Central Labour MP Paul Blomfield
The European Commission has released plans for a ‘Single Telecoms Market’, which would unite European national markets and aid growth. It would see an overhaul of telecommunication regulations, allowing European companies to compete with WhatsApp and ‘voice-over-IP’ services like Skype. EU telecom firms blame these “over-the-top” services for their recent decline in revenue. New rules would see services such as Skype contributing more towards the networks they rely on, allowing investment into better broadband and infrastructure for mobile networks. This is unlikely to please US President, Barack Obama, who has already accused the EU of “protectionism” for scrutinising US tech rivals. Ashley Carley
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UniNEWS
Interesting stories from other universities around the world University conference
cancels
Hebdo
Queen’s University in Belfast has decided to cancel a conference on the fallout from the Charlie Hebdo murders in France. The event had been scheduled for June. Vice Chancellor Patrick Johnston said it was cancelled because of the security risk and concerns for the university’s reputation. Two academics who had been booked to speak at the event on free speech said the reason for cancelling was ironic. Twelve people died when two brothers, Said and Cherif Kouachi fired on journalists at the satirical magazine’s offices in Paris on January 7.
YOUR UNIVERSITY
Survey reveals University staff’s gender pay gap Patrick O’Connell A survey by The Times Higher Education magazine has revealed the extent of the gender pay gap among academic staff at universities across the country. The survey also revealed the bonuses that Vice-Chancellor Sir Keith Burnett took home on top of his £374,000 salary. Burnett was given £4,000 in additional benefits from the University. The amount of additional benefits given to VCs across the country ranged
from nothing to £53,000 for Middlesex University’s Michael Driscoll, though Driscoll’s salary of £273,000 is substantially less than Burnett’s. Overall, the average package of salary and benefits for vicechancellors rose by £8,397 to £240,794 in 2013-14, a 3.6 per cent rise. In the same period, rank and file staff were awarded a national increase of 1 per cent. Burnett’s salary rose 1.1 per cent. The survey revealed that Nottingham Trent University’s
Neil Gorman is paid a staggering £623,000 including salary, benefits and pension, topping the list of highest-paid VCs. Elsewhere, the survey revealed the extent of the gender pay gap in academic staff wages throughout the University of Sheffield. While male professors on average earn £74,308, female professors on average earn £3000 less, at £71,157. Staff members categorised as “other senior academic staff” by the survey revealed an even
bigger pay gulf. Men on average earn £86,849, while women on average earn £74,884. The gender pay gap exists throughout the complete total of academic staff, with male staff members earning £48,321 on average and female staff members earning £44,116. The study surveyed the average pay of all full-time academic staff from 2013-14.
Adela Whittingham Student’s marathon balls-up
A University of Portsmouth student will take part in the London Marathon 2015 dressed as a pair of testicles. Jack Woodward, 22, will run the 26 mile race dressed up to raise money for the Male Cancer Awareness Campaign, after a close friend and housemate died from testicular cancer. His friend Rob Harris died aged only 21 – just a month after being diagnosed. Woodward and his friends Joe Kelly and Jonni Smith have set themselves the target of raising £5,000 before the marathon, which will take place on April 26. Woodward believes people should check themselves regularly. He said: “We want to get this message across and hope that, by running in the costume, more people will notice the cause and think about the message.”
Estel Farell Roig
Photo: Mirror Uni starts teaching GoT
Students at Northern Illinois University are exploring the world of Westeros in a new module on Game of Thrones. The course, titled ‘Game of Thrones, Television and Medieval History’ involves watching episodes of the show, based on the books by George R R Martin, and looking into its portrayal of medieval times. Students will also be considering how the show relates to history, technology and current events. Professor Valerie Garver, one of the course tutors, said: “It’s a really good example of a piece of modern culture that draws on how the past impacts the present.”
Keri Trigg
NUS chided for £40k campaign Elsa Vulliamy The National Union of Students has launched a £40,000 campaign to encourage students not to vote for ‘pledge breakers’ in the upcoming general election. The campaign, entitled ‘Liar Liar’, urges students not to vote for ‘Liar Liar’ candidates, which is the term they use for the politicians who pledged to cut tuition fees and failed to deliver. Billboards and posters have been put up in Sheffield, as well as a few other cities around the UK. The NUS, which is not meant to be affiliated with any political party, has been under fire for showing bias against the Liberal Democrats, and accused of being dominated by Labour voters. An event was set up on Facebook pushing the hashtag #trollNUS, with 214 people – primarily young LibDem supporters having clicked ‘attending’. The group claims that the NUS had a “tradition of being dominated by Labour students, aggressively pushing an agenda that hasn’t been endorsed by the many it is meant to represent.” The group urges people to ‘troll’ the NUS by donating money to the Liberal Democrats. University of Sheffield student Harry Matthews, who is a Liberal
Democrat candidate for Crookes and a member of Liberal Youth said that he felt the campaign was a deliberate smear against the LibDems. He said: “There will be some people who will judge us for one thing we could not do. But many fair minded people will judge us by what we have been able to do… “The system now is fairer than Labour’s fees system. No one pays up front; no one pays a penny until they earn £21,000, and graduates who go on to earn less in their careers will pay less than those who earn more. “The proof is that more students are going to university to study full-time than ever before, including more than ever from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.” There has also been controversy surrounding the cost of the campaign, which totalled £40,000. Joely MacKenzie, and English Language and Linguistics student at the University of Sheffield said: “There’s a lot of better things they could have spent the money on, like student services. They should have spent the money better instead of trying to sway our vote.” The NUS recently voted
against having a trans* officer, on the grounds that they couldn’t afford it. Zac Snape, a transgender student who has been elected trans* welfare officer of the Sheffield Students’ Union
LGBT committee for 2015/16 said: “I think it’s extremely disappointing that there have been so many people saying NUS can’t afford a trans officer when they have spent so much on other campaigns.”
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STUDENT LIVING
NUS say gay men ‘appropriating black women’ is ‘prevalent’ Elsa Vulliamy
The 2015 NUS Women’s Conference has passed a motion that accuses gay men of ‘appropriating black women’ and aims to ‘eradicate’ this behaviour. The motion, which was submitted by NUS LGBT, is based on the idea that “the appropriation of black women by white gay men is prevalent within the LGBT scene” and that “white gay men are the dominant demographic within the LGBT community, and they benefit from both white privilege and male privilege.” Motion 512 was entitled ‘Dear White Gay Men: Stop Appropriating Black Women’, taken from an article in TIME magazine of the same name, written by student journalist and freelance writer Sierra Mannie. The article, states “you are not a black
woman, and you do not get to claim either blackness or womanhood. It is not yours. It is not for you”. Mannie argues that “the non-black people who get to enjoy all of the fun things about blackness will never have to experience the ugliness of the black experience” and urged white people to think before they appropriated certain behaviours. The ‘appropriation’ includes emulation of the mannerisms and phrases attributed to black women, and AAVE: African American Vernacular English. Conference cited the fact that few LGBT black women attend the NUS LGBT conference. They said that the appropriation of black women by gay men may cause delegates to feel uncomfortable or unsafe at the event. The motion documents state that
What do students think of NUS Women’s Conference?
conference believes “this type of appropriation is unacceptable and must be addressed”. They resolved to work to eradicate these behaviours in conjunction with NUS LGBT “to call it out as unacceptable behaviour and, where appropriate, to educate those who perpetuate this behaviour.” The motion has been met with a negative response in the media and among the student population. This motion, as well as another passed motion which banned cross dressing among cisgender students has been criticised in several publications aimed at the gay readers. Isaac Eloi, vice-chair of Sheffield Students’ Union who is also a member of the LGBT community agreed with the motion, he said: “I support the motion in principle, as I’ve suffered microaggressions from gay men myself who have claimed to have ‘a little southern black woman’ in them or get what it’s like to be a ‘sistah’, and think that acting like that will bring
them closer to me as an individual. “The situation the motion speaks on happens very frequently, and it’s a disrespectful one too. You have two groups of people who are oppressed by powers in society. But instead of supporting one another, you have one using the other for comic relief.” Jack Spall, chair of the Sheffield Students’ Union LGBT committee said that, “We agree with the general principles of the motion: black women shouldn’t be mimicked for the sake of ‘sassiness’” but said there were some issues: “the fine line between culture of black women and the culture of camp gay men is incredibly blurred. “Gay men aren’t the only demographic that may engage in such behaviour and it’s quite unjust to target such a specific group, this behaviour can be seen in other groups regardless of race or sexuality. We support the motive behind the motion but the motion itself requires some work.”
You have to be I think it’s an This is offensive to I feel that the gay sensitive to people’s important issue almost everyone. scene and black opinions. but I also think the The NUS not people have had a I’m offended NUS should stop only assumes all common ground. by people being going on moral black women act They shared the misogynistic, there crusades and focus the same but also same space in New are some people more on student that acting like a York disco scene who think that’s issues. black woman is during the 70s and ridiculous. I think the NUS something that 80s. They were I’m not a black could better spend needs to be banned. brought together woman, so I can’t their time uniting It also tries to during that time say whether this students instead of prevent gay men because they were motion represents their views. together in being different and oppressed. expressing themselves in the manner they dividing their opinions. choose. The whole thing is just so offensive That togetherness is the route of the it borders on hilarious. overlap between the cultures. Ian Firth, Chemistry
Kemi Alemoru, English Language
Chris Chadwick, Engineering
Sarah Burns, English Literature
YOUR CITY
Dead body found at City Centre construction site Sheffield Hallam University
Arundel Gate The location of the building site
Photo: Open Street Map Neelam Tailor A dead body was found at a building site in Sheffield city centre on Monday 20 April. The body of a man was discovered at around 8am and is believed to be in his 20s but has not yet been formally identified. Police were called to the site in Furnival Gate, located in the city centre opposite Genting Club.
South Yorkshire Police have said that the death is not currently believed to be suspicious, but officers are investigating the circumstances leading up to the man’s death. A spokesman said: “The investigation is still in its early stages and no more information is available at this point”. Police are asking that anyone who may be able to inform the investigation should call 101 quoting incident number 136.
Photo: Rosie Walters
The building site where the body was found
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YOUR UNIVERSITY
Brothers jailed over student house collapse Polly Winn Two Sheffield property developers have been jailed for 12 months each for causing the collapse of a three-storey building in 2013 which left three people trapped in the rubble. Naveed and Rizwan Hussain were handed their sentences on Tuesday April 14 after both admitting to contravening Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) regulations. They accepted that they had failed to ensure that both themselves and their tenants were not at risk, and failed to take measures to prevent danger to others. Rizwan also admitted to breaching a HSE prohibition notice. The building which was on Broad Lane, Brook Hill, collapsed in March 2013 after a mini-excavator struck a loadbearing column. Two occupants, including a University of Sheffield student, were in the living rooms of their flats when their floor collapsed into the basement, burying a workman. The three were taken to hospital after the incident, and 20 University of Sheffield students who had been living in
the flats were left homeless. Officers from the HSE launched a £150,000 two-year investigation into the collapse in order to bring those responsible to justice for what they described as a “flagrant disregard” for health and safety. The Student Advice Centre provided financial and personal support to the students affected, and subsidised accommodation was provided. Sheffield Crown Court was told that Naveed, 33, of Pitsmoor Road, and Rizwan, 39, of Rutland Road, had consulted a builder and a structural engineer over plans to lower the floor level and extend the flats to reopen an Indian restaurant. However, the brothers then proceeded without their services. Nigel Lawrence, prosecuting, said that neither of the brothers had the experience or qualifications to carry out the structural works, nor had they sought planning permission. Judge Michael Murphy described the incident as “blatant and financially motivated.” Christine Bogue from the Student Advice Centre said: “Although this is clearly an extreme example of ‘rogue landlord’ behaviour, it does show what can happen when things go
YOUR CITY
The building now badly wrong. “We would urge all students to make sure you know your housing rights and find out what you can expect from your prospective landlord before you sign a contract or hand over any money.
Photo: Ellie Holt “Our housing advisers have years of experience of the student housing market in Sheffield. “We provide a free contract checking service and can offer help and advice on any housing related issue.”
Former Top Gear host to bring live show to Sheffield Motorpoint
Photo: Wikimedia Adela Whittingham Jeremy Clarkson is to appear in a live show at Sheffield Motorpoint arena with his former Top Gear colleagues on June 5. The dates for The Top Gear Live Show 2015 were planned before the presenter was sacked from the BBC show. He was dropped from the show
following an incident involving producer Oisin Tymon. Following the decision to remove Clarkson from the show, more than a million people signed an online petition to reinstate him. BBC Worldwide said it had agreed the tour could continue “so as to not disappoint fans”. However, the 90-minute
show will be called ‘Clarkson, Hammond and May Live’ and will be stripped of all its BBC branding and content. Thousands of fans had already bought tickets to the shows, which will be taking place in various venues around the world including Australia, Norway, South Africa and the UK. A spokesperson for the arena
show said highlights will include the world’s largest ‘Cage of Death’, where seven motorcyclists will circle the inside of a giant globe and a driving sequence featuring two custom-built BMW M3s covered in over 600 metres of LED lighting. The show kicks off at The Belfast Odyssey on May 22.
YOUR CITY
#Varsity tweets hashed by Hallam Will Morgan Sheffield Hallam University has received ridicule online after they misspelt their own Twitter hashtag, causing #HallamVaristy to trend on the social media platform. The former polytechnic is regularly stereotyped by its Russell Group neighbour, the University of Sheffield, for being of a lower academic standard. Many of Hallam’s official Twitter accounts unwittingly tweeted #HallamVaristy, including their Students’ Union and official magazine’s sports account, who tweeted “Massive celebrations Hallam win the lacrosse varsity point!!! #HallamVaristy”. Possibly letting the excitement of scoring a point against Uni of’s impressive total affect their typing. Spelling has long been a weakness at Hallam’s institutions, as their Students’ Union account made the same mistake last year. Twitter user Chelsea Leivers compounded Hallam’s shame by tweeting “we’d have another varsity point of [sic] cheerleading was in it #HallamVaristy”, showing a reckless disregard for the English language. However, the misspelling marathon was not entirely one sided as, to our shame, Forge Radio Sport also used the hashtag whilst live-tweeting the Women’s Lacrosse results. Joj Kaye neatly summarised the online reaction to the hashtag trending with “#hallamvaristy is trending in Sheffield hahahah they can’t even spell varsity”.
WELFARE
Stalking aware week launched Patrick O’Connell The National Stalking Helpline has launched a publicity campaign for National Stalking Awareness Week. Statistics from charity Suzy Lamplugh Trust revealed that one in six women and one in 12 men will be a victim of stalking at some point. The trust aims to educate the public about stalking and make clear it is a serious offence. Kristiana Wrixon, Manager of the National Stalking Helpline, said: “Stalking is a very common and sinister problem in the UK but there are still a lot of myths around it that need to be dispelled, which is why this film is so important. “We know victims who have contacted the National Stalking Helpline to tell us they felt unable to seek help early on because of a fear of being called dramatic, laughed at or dismissed. “If a victim of stalking is unable to seek help early then they are at higher risk of experiencing psychological distress, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or being physically assaulted or even murdered.”
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YOUR UNIVERSITY
Students pull out all the stops in tampon donation Tom Schneider Students have taken part in a ‘pad and tampon drive’ to help provide homeless women in Sheffield with essential sanitary products. The campaigners collected pads, tampons and money to purchase the products on the concourse. Although fundraising on the concourse has finished, donations can still be brought to the Welfare Officer’s office until April 26. The donations will be delivered to the Cathedral Archer project which provides services for the homeless in Sheffield. The campaign highlighted that “for homeless women, getting your period isn’t just a hassle – it’s a nightmare. Since pads and tampons are taxed as ‘luxuries’, women living on the streets often can’t afford to buy sanitary products for themselves, and it also means that people rarely donate them to homeless shelters.” As of 2001, tampons have been taxed at five per cent but, following a student-led campaign earlier this year, the Students’ Union shop are selling tampons and pads tax-free. Research conducted by the
YOUR UNIVERSITY
Plans to improve the University of Sheffield campus will increase the number of car parking spaces despite the recent approval of a scheme to encourage students to cycle. Sheffield City Council cabinet approved in principle a request for a £2.89 million investment from the Sheffield City Region Investment Fund in order for the University to continue carrying out its ‘Campus Masterplan’. Under the Campus Masterplan 2014, pedestrianised areas will improve accessibility to university buildings. The area around the Information Commons and Leavygreave Road could potentially become closed to cars. However, parking spaces that will be removed in this area will be replaced by the car park under construction next to Sheffield Students’ Union. The new multi-storey car park on Durham Road will provide over 500 parking spaces, considerably more than the current number of parking spaces around campus. Despite a quote from a University spokesperson in the Sheffield Telegraph in 2013 stating that the car park would be privately-run, the University was unable to confirm that this will still be the case. The University has also stated around 100 of these spaces
£120,000 cat cinema to open The world’s first cat cinema is to open in London. Paula Pamela, 25, and William Piper, 24, are aiming to raise £120,000 to set up a cinema where you will be able to watch films with cats. Great Kitten will provide a “loving and safely designed space” for rescue cats. The couple said the felines’ welfare is at the centre of their plans and that they are planning to have a “cats only” room. They said: “Not only will we offer a place for busy Londoners to unwind and enjoy the company of cats, but we will also give back to the community.” London’s first ever cat café, Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, opened last year.
Estel Farell Roig Tampon drive volunteers Daily Mirror found that if the tax were removed, users would save between £1.50 and £8.80 each time on tampons, a maximum of £114 a year. One of the campaigners, Elsa Vulliamy said: “It is unfair to tax sanitary products as luxuries when there is no alternative to using them. It seems particularly unfair given that men’s razors are taxed as necessities. Personally I would rather have a beard than bleed all over everything.”
Photo: Estel Farell Roig As well as receiving donations from students, Boots and Tesco were among companies that supported the project. Vulliamy also said: “The campaign has been a great success. “We got almost 1000 products on the first day and I can’t wait to count up the total. A lot of people came up to us and thanked us for making them aware of the problem. I guess it hadn’t occurred to them before”.
The campaign to end the tampon tax has received support from major political parties including Ukip and the SNP. The tax was also called “ridiculous” by Labour leader Ed Miliband and he pledged that a Labour government would commit to removing it. Vulliamy said that “the campaign will continue. We are working with the Union to devise a joint initiative together for next year”.
University’s car park hypocrisy Adela Whittingham
National News
will be allocated to the nearby Children’s Hospital, although a £40m development of the site is currently taking place which will include the construction of an underground car park. Traffic and congestion around the Students’ Union and Sheffield Hallamshire Hospital has long been a concern for residents and Sheffield City Council. In 2013, when the proposal for the car park was put up for Council approval, there were fears that there would be increased congestion and air pollution and that the car park would promote car use amongst students that would drive to university when they were late for lectures. Brian Webster, the Green party spokesperson who submitted an objection to the car park, said plans to build a privately-run multi-storey car park to replace the existing facility on Clarkson Street will likely increase traffic, air pollution and road safety problems in the area. The University of Sheffield also has plans to create 500 secure cycle spaces to encourage the use of bicycles on campus. A new hub with 200 secure cycle spaces will be built adjacent to the Hicks building, less than half a mile from the new car park. The City Council and the University of Sheffield have been jointly developing proposals for
Photo: Wikipedia Bassett man in the dog house A man from Royal Wootton Bassett filmed himself having sex with his dog and then accidentally sent the video to his girlfriend. The video was sent to his girlfriend’s phone after it was uploaded to their shared cloud storage, causing her to immediately call the police. David Buchanan, 34, pleaded guilty to sexual assault before Swindon magistrates and had to register as a sex offender, as well as receiving a 12 week suspended sentence. Buchanan’s defence painted him as a loner, saying “he spends most of his time at home drawing or playing Xbox, and he doesn’t seem to have any friends” Will Morgan
Glasgow’s 75mph bumper car
Durham Road car park the ‘Campus Phase 1 works’ over the last two years. However, for work on the project to continue, the Traffic Regulation Order proposals put forward by the University require final approval. The completion date of the car park has been set back to early 2016. When asked by Forge Press
Photo: University of Sheffield whether the car park would be privately owned, whether the University had an idea of the parking rate per hour and how many disabled spots there would be, a University spokesperson said: “The car park will provide much needed spaces for visitors to the University, the Octagon Centre and the Students’ Union.”
A converted bumper car is set to take to the streets of Glasgow. The vehicle has seen extensive work to make it roadworthy, and has a petrol engine as well as working lights, wipers and indicators. It was given to Tom Evans, 69, who used to run a fairground, for Christmas by his wife and children after he found it on eBay. He thought all hope was lost when it disappeared from the site, only to discover his family had bought it to surprise him. The vehicle can reach speeds of up to 75mph, and will be road legal after another £700 of work. Keri Trigg
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YOUR UNIVERSITY
Amazon stopped by locker blockers Will Morgan Proposals to install Amazon Lockers in the Students’ Union have been blocked by SU council. The parcel drop-off point, meant to benefit students unable to collect parcels at a specific time of day, was intended to be placed at the top of the stairs to Bar One opposite Santander in March of 2015. But after a petition opposing the lockers was posted online by first year Politics and Philosophy student Chris Saltmarsh, the issue was referred to SU council. Saltmarsh’s petition gathered 32 votes in favour of blocking the installation of the lockers, and 26 against. At the council meeting, the motion to ban Amazon Lockers was introduced by SU President Yael Shafritz on behalf of Development officer Jack Wyse, who was absent from the meeting. The arguments in favour of blocking the lockers centered around Amazon’s status as an unethical and tax-avoiding company, meaning it has no place in the University of Sheffield’s Students’ Union. The internet giant only paid £2.4 million in tax in 2012, despite an estimated £4 billion
in sales. This led to Amazon’s Andrew Cecil being grilled before parliament’s Public Account’s Committee. It was also noted that the SU’s planned future use of the ethical auditing system Corporate Critic, a website that gives companies a score out of fifteen in ethical standards, would cause a clash with the lockers as Amazon has a ban-worthy score of just 2.5. The author of the petition on the SU’s website, Chris Saltmarsh, told Forge Press: “I don’t think that our SU should facilitate the profit of socially corrosive and exploitative corporations like Amazon”. Saltmarsh said the company had “been pretty devastating for independent book stores” and went on to talk about the “dreadful working conditions” at the online marketplace, as part of his argument against the implementation of Amazon Lockers. After a brief counterargument, provided by Computer Science Councillor Dario Panada, consisting of how the lockers would benefit students positively, the council voted overwhelmingly in favour of banning Amazon Lockers from the University of Sheffield’s Students’ Union.
Amazon lockers in Stoke-on-Trent
FORGE PRESS
It’s a Winn-win situation for new Forge team Keri Trigg Polly Winn was elected the next editor of Forge Press at the team’s Annual General Meeting this Monday, April 20. She will take the reins next issue, assisted by Chloe Coleman as Deputy Editor. Second year History and Sociology student Polly, 19, has been on the Forge team since starting university, spending a year as Copy Editor before moving to Features last year. She beat back two competitors to claim a comfortable 48% victory, and is looking forward to running the show for the next year. She said: “I’m thrilled, I just can’t believe it. I was up against two brilliant candidates – I was lucky to win. “We have got a great team for next year and I’m really excited to work with everyone.” Phil Bayles retained his title as Fuse Editor for a second year, and will be joined by current Arts Editor Joss Woodend.
Photo: Creative Commons
YOUR CITY
Ale enthusiasts set to revel in Sheffield ‘Half Pint Marathon’
Tom Schneider
Ale lovers will again be able to enjoy the ‘Half Pint Marathon’ as the annual celebration returns to Sheffield this May. Organised by Thornbridge Brewery and Forum Café Bars LTD, the month long celebration allows revellers to visit some of the city’s best independent beer venues while also raising money for charity. After they’ve picked up a specially designed card, participants can go to thirteen sites across the city. Once they have enjoyed a drink in each of the venues, those taking part can then submit their card into a draw to have a chance of winning a number of prizes including brewery tours, tasting sessions and beer. The event comes the month after April’s newly rebranded ‘Yorkshire Half’ where 8,000 people took part in a race through the streets of Sheffield. Through beer sales, events and the draw, the marathon aims to raise £13,000 for local charities St Luke’s, Roundabout, The Children’s Hospital and Bluebell Wood. Some of Sheffield’s best known pubs are taking part including The Greystones, The Bath Hotel, The Hallamshire House,
Polly Winn
STUDENT LIVING
NUS elect new President Elsa Vulliamy
Photo: Creative Commons
One of the 13 participating pubs The Stags Head, The Forum, The York, Shakespeare’s, The University Arms, Kelham Island Tavern and The Rutland Arms. All of these venues will be serving a specially created collaboration between the two brewers called Stitch which was
described as a “light, hoppy, 4 per cent ale”. Thornbridge bosses said “This is a fantastic chance to make a tasty new beer, work with some great Sheffield pubs and make some money for good causes. We’re very excited for the month
of May”. Forum Café Bars managing director Kane Yeardley said “The Half Pint Marathon will be a great opportunity for Sheffield to get out there and support their local independent pubs and some great causes in one go!”
The National Union of Students has elected 24-year-old Megan Dunn as their new president at the annual national conference. Megan Dunn, who was previously the vice president of higher education at the NUS graduated from Aberdeen University with an MA in Politics and International Relations. Dunn’s only opponent was Beth Redmond, a “revolutionary socialist feminist”, who recently told the Guardian: “I hate the NUS – I think they’re a bunch of scabs” but said that she wanted to run in order to make a speech at the national conference. Redmond received 202 votes against Dunn’s 413, with 79 voting to reopen nominatons. Dunn said in her manifesto that “as president, I’ll make sure that politicians never get away with going back on their promises.”
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HILLSBOROUGH
Union accused of forgetting Hillsborough victims’ tribute Patrick O’Connell
Photo: Dan West
The Students’ Union has been accused of forgetting to create a permanent Hillsborough memorial, nearly a year after the policy was passed through Union Council. A motion to create a permanent memorial for the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster was passed unanimously by council 11 months ago, but no plans have been drawn up. Currently a memorial tree stands outside the Students’ Union, but Union staff were unable to confirm when it was planted. The tree is in memoriam of Paul Clark, Tracey Cox and
Joseph McCarthy, who were all University of Sheffield students. Tracey’s boyfriend Richard Jones, who also died in the disaster, was a University of Sheffield graduate. The memorial tree stands near the outdoor amphitheatre space on the concourse. It formerly stood near Interval restaurant but was uprooted to make way for a bike shed. Some students have called for a better memorial to replace the current tree, which has had its branches cut off and has no foliage. Although the motion to create a permanent tribute had passed last May, no firm plans to create the new memorial have yet been made. The issue will now be referred to the University’s Estates and Facilities Management. Former International
Students’ Officer Alex Kohnert, who proposed the motion last May, said: “I mean honestly, my personal feeling is they deserve more than a scraggy tree planted in the ground. They were three amazing students from everything I’ve heard and read, and the Uni is intrinsically linked with Hillsborough through them. “Tributes from the Uni are all well and good, but it’s corporate and feels insincere. But when it comes from students and is based in the place that those three drank and went through their lives in it means something.” Kohnert, who now lives in Hawaii, said a new memorial could be arranged at minimal expense to the Students’ Union. He suggested renaming a space in the SU in honour of the victims and erecting a new plaque. Kohnert said it would be easy to implement, noting the Union’s Gallery Room 3, which bears a plaque in honour of Leon Greenman, an English Auschwitz survivor and antifascist campaigner.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Neelam Tailor
Social Policy & Sociology “It doesn’t look like a memorial, it just looks like a dead tree to me. A tribute that doesn’t look so neglected would be more appropriate for the victims.”
Alice Chitnis Sociology
“I feel like it might be a bit inappropriate in the sense that there’s nothing really significant here. The tree is depressing, but what happened is of course depressing.”
Jasper Morvaridi History & Hispanic Studies
“Having studied here for four years and not known it’s a Hillsborough memorial says a lot about it. It’s the right idea and a good idea, but perhaps something more obvious would be a bit better.”
Forge Press: blast from the past
March 2008: The Varsity issue that photo editing forgot Will Morgan
ith another fantastic Varsity W issue under its belt Forge Press looks back at one of its old
incarnations, Sheffield Steel Press, and its coverage of the interuniversity sporting challenge. In the rosy days of 2008, before the world witnessed the twin horrors known as Jedward, the tense sportfilled week of Varsity resulted in a 20-20 tie. The nail-biting result came from a few key defeats for the University of Sheffield in events such as Men’s Rugby Union, 18-5, and Women’s Hockey, 3-0. A few results for the University of Sheffield teams do stand out, with the Women’s Rugby’s destruction of their Hallam rivals 29-0 the most impressive. By thirty minutes the team’s flyhalf, Emily Braund, had scored 19 of the University team’s 24 points, converting three tries and ensuring her team’s victory. The previous editors of the newspaper were particularly on-point with their Varsity banter, a highlight including their evolution-themed “Do Hallam students have opposable thumbs?” Their suggestions for solving the tie included: mud wrestling, musical chairs and their bizarre idea for a mascot battle that would be “like a fetish porn film crossed with something David Attenborough might produce.” Here at Forge Press we are disappointed that there will be no tie-breaker mud wrestling for Sports Officer Jonny Block.
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Zero-hours? Fine, if you need flexibility
Adela Whittingham Given my dissertation-based sense of impending doom, I finally decided that writing about the 2011 intervention in Libya was a more effective use of my time than pulling pints of Carling for the masses of students drunk on the April sunshine. Opting out of work for the next month was easily achieved, of course, because I am on a zero-hours contract, along with a considerable number of other students that Sheffield Students’ Union employs to man its outlets. The publishing of party manifestos ahead of the general election next
month has sparked a wider political debate over zero-hours contracts. In a typically sensationalist assessment by Ed Miliband, the 2.3 per cent of the UK workforce that are employed on zerohours contracts reflects an ‘epidemic’. I cannot stress enough how well a zerohours contract has benefitted me while studying at University. Of course there is always uncertainty as to how many hours you will be allocated, but perhaps we are spoilt at the Students’ Union in that it has never been an issue to ask for more or less hours. George Osborne has recently said he would find it ‘very difficult’ to live on a zero-hours contract and I think that for people that need a secure income from a set number of hours per week, zero-
hours contracts are not going to work. I only have to feed myself, and if I can’t afford to do so I always have the painful option of asking for a pay-out from the Bank of Mum and Dad.
“Blaming employers isn’t helpful to anyone” Natalie Bennett’s bold claim that she wants to see an outright ban of zero-hours contract is therefore in my opinion ridiculous. There will always be employment that is seasonal; before I
worked at the Union, I worked in an ice cream shop. Did anyone want to buy ice cream from Southend-on-Sea seafront in the middle of December? No, and we weren’t selling enough sticks of rock to pay for my wages either. Something does need to be done for employees who’s primary income is from from zero-hours contracts, and Labour’s solution of a law that gives employees the right to a regular contract if they choose seems promising. As is always the case though in the run-up to a general election, jumping on the bandwagon and blaming employers for exploitative contracts isn’t helpful to anyone.
Best new Varsity chant: “you are less economically privileged than us haha” Got an opinion about one of these pieces?
Isaac Stovell
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Varsity is here again. Sheffield’s most exercise-prone students from its two universities will do a variety of impressive things with their limbs to win a variety of arbitrarilydefined points.
“Banter, sinister? Surely not!” Even those who don’t care about sports in the slightest (guilty) find it hard to avoid the festive spirit, campus bedecked as it is in the blacks and yellows of competitive pride. But however honourable or friendly the competition may be for the actual teams, this is a time of year when the rivalry between Uni of and Hallam fully rears its head. And this is something that I am concerned about, as visible in the ‘banter’ are sinister undertones. Banter, sinister? Surely not! How could I be trying to imply that those harmless chants at amateur sports matches and in depressing nightclubs aren’t funny, aren’t perfectly okay? The redbrick University of Sheffield and the ex-polytechnic Hallam fling just as much mud at each other. If it’s mutual, surely it’s fair? When the two encounter each other on Carver Street, the default bellowing of “I’d rather be a poly than a [guess
the expletive]” and its response “well, I’d rather be a [same] than unemployed” are but jokey spats. There is nothing actually wrong with this mutual aggression. Well, no. An article called “The Five Best Varsity Chants” on a student media site (we won’t say which, but Forge Press is better) recommends “Give us a D, give us a D, give us an E, what do you get? Into Hallam!” The UCAS joke is fairly witty, and fitting given Hallam’s generally lower entry grades, but the obvious implication of stupidity is misplaced given that two-thirds of their students attain degrees at 2:1 or better. Some others listed are “what’s that coming over the hill, it’s unemployment, it’s unemployment” and “your dad works for my dad, nah nah nah nah”. Again, touché; despite Hallam’s strong employment record and excellent range of vocational courses, Uni does have higher graduate prospects. But I’m not trying to dispute the grains of truth in these mantras – I’m just saying that they’re bad jokes to make. When you boil the rivalry down, effectively all you’re left with is two groups of people trying to make it clear that the other is generally dislikeable, apart from the Hallamers are also hit with reminders of their rivals’ statistically-actually-better futures. We call them thick, or lazy, or uncultured, but at the end of the day we’re basically just gloating about our bigger economic privilege. We may as well chant, “on average you’re poorer than us and will be for the rest of our lives”. But nobody would chant that, because it’s too close to the bone; it’s this that makes it darkly questionable as ‘banter’. When inequalities become part of
We may as well chant,
“on average you’re poorer than us and will be for the rest of your lives”
the joke, you’ve gone too far. These points smack all the harder in light of significant correlations between background and academic achievement; poorer kids are, due to their environments, less likely to make it to university in the first place. Even when they do, they’re often alienated by the middle-class cultural atmosphere - especially at Russell Group unis. The same site cited earlier published a reflective piece last year called “Has the Hallam/ Uni Of Rivalry Gone Too Far?” Standard clickbait title, but possibly a sign of realisation and turnaround. It’s a valid question to ask. We need to reassess our standards for what makes an acceptable insult. Swapping mutual obscenities is fine. Exploiting real social advantages for extra put-downs though – that’s just not cricket.
Photos: Jack Dismorr (not real Hallamer)
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English voters can make Westminster change its tune Tom Schneider For the first kingmakers, there was Cleggmania; this time, there is the somewhat uninspiringly titled ‘Nicola mania’. But there’s more than electoral arithmetic behind the rapidly escalating profile of the Scottish National Party. True, most pollsters put Labour and the Tories neck-and-neck – they are set to be at least 40 seats short of an overall majority in the House of Commons on May 8. Those same polls give the SNP somewhere in between 35-45 seats, out on their own in third ahead of the hapless Liberal Democrats (whose electoral fate we will assess elsewhere) and in a uniquely powerful position come May 8. But there is a much more fundamental reason why we’re talking about the SNP at the moment. It’s because they provide an alternative to the Westminster consensus. They campaign against a costly and anachronistic push for the renewal of Trident; their rhetoric on immigration is an improvement on much of Westminster as it manages to not make me feel physically sick; and their leadership don’t all look and sound like identikit Oxbridge protégés of Blair. More importantly still, they’re not afraid to agree with a host of eminent economists who recently confirmed that the austerity experiment has failed, even in its own terms. As Simon Wren-Lewis from the University of Oxford said “the only interesting question is how much GDP has been lost as a result of austerity”. But the reason why Nicola is the darling of the commentariat runs deeper than policy. It is because the SNP has true legitimacy. Due to the largely proportional method used in Holyrood elections, outright majorities are supposed to be hard to come by and the party has had to initially govern with the support of others in a relatively fragmented parliament. This situation lends itself to a politics of negotiation, consensus-building and compromise. Our anachronistic, unfair and damaging electoral system means these ideas alien to the needlessly adversarial sabre-rattling government-opposition dichotomy we see embarrassingly played out in Westminster every Wednesday lunchtime.
“We’re talking about the SNP at the moment... because they provide an alternative to the Westminster consensus” The SNP can also point to a turnout of 84.6 per cent (higher than any UK-wide general election figure and with a turnout of 80 per cent even among the supposedly disenchanted youth) in last autumn’s Independence referendum as evidence that they’ve got people thinking about politics again. One key lesson from last September’s vote was that not all of 21st Century Britain is part of an inevitable decline in political participation. Coupled with the closeness of the result, the high turnout showed that constitutional reform is neither boring nor dead. “That’s all very well”, many mutter, “but that’s not what the SNP want from this election. They just want another divisive and damaging independence referendum despite receiving a definitive answer less than a year ago.” This is almost certainly true. But that’s nothing to be scared of. The ongoing independence debate should be seized as both opportunity and evidence for the need for a serious conversation about the kind of politics
(it’s a sturgeon)
we want to see in the UK going forward. How can we live in a country where, like ‘em or not, those purple upstarts can have the support of around 13 per cent of the population but look set to get a paltry 0.7 per cent of MPs? No wonder nearly eight out of ten people are dissatisfied with the state of UK democracy. Britain sends electoral observers to countries with more equitable voting systems. And here’s the worst bit: not only are the SNP committed to a four-pronged attack on Westminsterism while also being self-acknowledged living proof of the need for a constitutional conversation, but they also have the cheek not to stand in over 90 per cent of constituencies. (I think we tried a British-wide version of a Nationalist Party but they turned out to be a far less reasonable bunch). So what can us south of the border Nicola maniacs do come May 7 to help kick-start the process of creating a Nicola of our very own? It certainly won’t be easy: with not just the electoral system but the entire political culture loaded against us, Scotland has left England far behind. But, there will be a party on the ballot sheet that joins the SNP in their fourpronged attack on the cosy Westminster ideological consensus; only that party’s manifesto contains a commitment to a desperately overdue ‘Peoples Constitutional Convention’ that would seize and broaden the constitutional agenda from nationalist movements. The Westminster pass the parcel has gone on too long. In the words of t h e i r sensationally good election broadcast parody, it’s time to tell the Unfab Four to ‘change the tune’. This time, an ideological tweak here or there is not good enough: we must send a message that the status quo is nowhere near good enough. Any ‘tactical voting’ scare mongering from the Westminsterists over the next 30 days should be seen for what it is: the last resort from practitioners of a bankrupt ideology. The rise of the SNP has provided the English with a wakeup call that the politics of the future need not and must not look like the politics of the past. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to send a message about how broken the system is and, more importantly, take the first step towards fixing it. On May 7, vote Green. Images: Wikipedia
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Are politicians people? Prove it in promises that matter, not PR stunts
Chris Hedges The airwaves are awash with a stream of posts, articles, documentaries, tweets, interviews, selfies, and whatever else, struggling to convince us that our politicians are indeed one of the people. If they’re not like us then it follows that they can’t understand us, they can’t empathise with our issues, they can’t represent us. To their PR armies this means a constant parade of pictures of them drinking local ale, sitting in classrooms, pointing at babies and other such ‘normal’ activities. But really, I don’t
want to want to know that Davey and Eddy are just like that slightly racist bloke down the pub, or for that matter even like me, because I know me. I struggle deciding what to Netflix-binge next, let alone how best to govern a country – and as for the rest of ‘the people’, well, I have even less faith in them. Think about how inept the average person is – who do you actually want in charge? I want hyper-functional solar-powered cyborg geniuses from the future, forget ‘one of the people’. Having said that, empathy is still an integral part of politics. And yet we can’t help but be a little bit sick in our mouths whenever we see these PR stunts, because we know that’s all they are. They say more about the people who work for them than for the politicians themselves. I think it’s safe to assume that Cameron, Miliband or any of their competitors or cohorts rarely know what darling personable thing they’re about to do next until their tour bus pops up five minutes before and the
Editorial We’re all Winn-ers. Hello! Well, we’ve done it! We’ve won Sheffield Varsity for the third year in a row! Forge Radio is blasting out the classic ‘We Are The Champions’ along with ‘Black and Gold’ (black and gold, black and goooold) as I type. Luckily for you, we’ve been working on 16 whole pages of Varsity coverage for you on top of our usual sport pages. Every Varsity match has been covered by our dedicated Sport team and contributors, and we’ve fitted it all into an exclusive pullout for your enjoyment. I will fully admit to buying a Varsity baseball jacket from Our Sheffield about an hour ago despite the fact that not only do I have a deathly fear of team sports
but I’m too asthmatic to walk up a flight of stairs. Think I’ll stick with journalism. In other news, my reign of terror over this publication is soon to come to an end. The Forge Press AGM took place on Monday, proving to us all once again that a) change is inevitable and b) we’re all pretty bloody replaceable. Thankfully, the Forge team have been replaced by 41 of the best student journalists around. Ms Polly Winn, Features editor and wonder-woman extraordinaire has been elected as your new editor, the fourth woman in a row to take the position (wahoo!) I’m sure her editorials will be far more entertaining than mine. Happy Reading!
insipid media genie from ‘communications’ gives them their brief; they’re too busy thinking about the important parts of governing. We should think about these bodysnatchers in the same way as we do actors. They’re always being asked how they keep grounded, and generally their answer falls along the lines of “well, most of my friends are normal people.” Your social circles mould your personality; if Ed’s surrounded most closely by people who think the best way to reach the public is attempting to eat bacon, then I despair for how out of touch the political class must be.
“Think about how inept the average person is – do you actually want ‘one of the people’ in charge?” There have been only two revelations of a politician’s personal life that I’ve ever found of interest. The first was the story of Clegg getting trollied and setting fire to some
D.A.R.T.S.
cactuses in his youth. What a master stroke of image crafting; a sign that Nick wasn’t always as boring as he now comes across. The second was that Nigel Farage doesn’t read, listen to music, or watch TV. Now that is just deeply harrowing. I was only semiserious about wanting politicians to be super-effective machines – it’s nice if they can still identify as human. Ed Miliband is apparently a don at pool. But no matter how good he is, everyone’s response to “would your vote be swayed by the possibility of playing pool with the leader of the Labour Party?” is probably “not really.” The best way to make people believe you understand them and their issues is not through small kitchens and combinations of shirt-and-jumper. It’s through policies which help common people. Scrapping the bedroom tax, maintaining the NHS, not freezing people’s benefits. If you can’t demonstrate to people through your policies that you understand their problems and that you want to help them, then you shouldn’t even be attempting to get into Parliament.
Forge Press takes its satirical aim
Farewell from Archer & Stovell
As we write this, the Forge Press AGM is less than two hours away, come which our reign of incompetent irony will be ended. Whether this is a good thing or not, we’ll let you take up with our successors. Cheerio, readers of Comment and DARTS, and thanks for finding us funny - especially if you do.
Varsity Animals of the fortnight
We at DARTS take sports really seriously - so much so, that in recognition that we know almost nothing about it and our trying to write about Varsity seriously wouldn’t do it justice. So instead of writing about it we’ve found some of nature’s finest characters bedecked in black ‘n’ gold.
‘Lol sorry nope’ of the fortnight
Following last week’s debates between opposition leaders Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP, Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru, and Natalie Bennett of the Greens shared a group hug. Doubtless their solidarity as politically empowered women and their shared antiausterity policy aims spurred the moment. Ed Miliband, our dear Labour Party leader, looked on, left out. Though he’s male and supports public sector cuts, his awkward dejection at the scene suggests he would have given up those aspects of his identity for a whiff of human contact.
Winner of the 200m sprint. Foul play suspected.
Runner-up in the triple jump. When we tried to interview him afterwards he kept ranting about Katie Hopkins instead of answering our questions.
Elsa Vulliamy - Forge Press editor elsa.vulliamy@forgetoday.com
Quote of the fornight “I just want to drink Pimms and watch fit boys punching other fit boys” Lauren Archer, on ideal prospects for life after Forge
Just one of the audience, but obviously very keen.
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Recent events have demonstrated that Katie Hopkins, Jeremy Clarkson and Nigel Farage have the power to influence a significant amount of the British public. Anna Gillies has looked at the debate over free speech and asks have we gone PC crazy or are we just protecting peope’s right to a safe space?
It’s “your
K
fault that you’re fat, and losing weight is easy
atie Hopkins is like marmite - I don’t mean she’s brown and spreadable but most people have a love or hate relationship with her. Hopkins is a runner-up from BBC hit TV show The Apprentice, who made her name by offering controversial opinions on issues such as children’s names, benefits, ginger people, Palestinians, and she even filmed a documentary where she gained nearly half of her body weight and subsequently lost it, just to make a point about obesity. In short, her view is thus: it’s your fault that you’re fat, and losing weight is easy. A lot has been said about Hopkins’ comments, both good and bad. Some applaud her no nonsense attitude and fearlessness when speaking her mind on contested issues that others would avoid, while many see her as offensive, insensitive, a woman out to make money by causing controversy. Whatever you think about her, her outbursts - often done via Twitter and interviews - provide an interesting area of discussion, what are the limits of ‘free speech’, particularly on our social media sites and television programmes and when does it become ‘too much’? What’s the difference between a safe space and censorship, and how should we prioritise the freedoms of individuals? Some say Katie Hopkins should have the freedom to say what she wishes, others claim something should be done when her views may compromise the freedom others to enjoy a safe space in society. We Brits uphold free speech as a democratic right and in comparison to many other countries, we have a fairly good record of allowing free expression of opinions and ideas. However, within the realms of free speech exists what is called the ‘offence principle’, which states that some forms of expression should be prohibited if offence is caused to society, an individual or a group. There are several limitations in place for example against hate speech, slander, libel, public security and public order to name a few. The issue of freedom as a concept and how we allow everyone to be free has been at the heart of much political research. John Stuart Mill, a prominent scholar, coined the phrase ‘harm principle’ which states that actions of individuals should only be limited in order to prevent harm to others. This leads to the problem of what constitutes harm and who decides what is harmful. What is deemed ‘harmful’ may differ greatly from person to person and this can be particularly complex when taking into account factors such as gender, race, sexuality and class which affect how people perceive and interpret a comment, situation or viewpoint. Who decides what is acceptable, what should
be classed as offensive, and where should limitations should be implemented? To an extent, governmental policy has a hand in deciding on these contentious issues. The Human Rights Act established in 1998 goes beyond simple ‘free speech’, stating UK citizens are also entitled to freedom of expression. This includes not only spoken word, but written material, images and other published or broadcast material. However, there is some legislation that recognises a need to put limitations on the boundaries of free speech and recent years have seen a rise in cases of arrests of those who have posted things deemed offensive on social media. Facebook has recently faced a challenge over censorship of material put on the site, after complaints of videos that depicted decapitation and beheadings particularly, relating to the conflicts regarding ISIS in the Middle East. It initially refused to remove the content stating it wished to “preserve people’s rights to describe, depict and comment on the world”. However, the videos were subsequently removed flagging up the issue of how far censorship is acceptable in order to protect the freedoms of users, to be able to arguably be protected from potentially upsetting scenes. Facebook argues that their ‘large and diverse community’ make it difficult to implement suitable protection procegures. It’s impossible to please everyone, and it seems the growing terror threat in recent years has seen a rise in these kinds of responses to comments made on social media sites. Following the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris in January, at least 54 people have been detained by French police for “defending or glorifying terrorism” in the wake of the attacks. In these instances, the rights and freedoms of those with the potential to take offence have been prioritised over the essence of ‘free speech’. In order to give some groups a voice and protect their ability to operate in a safe space, it seems that in some cases it may be necessary to infringe on someone else’s liberties. The rise of controversial content on Twitter and Facebook has become a prominent focus police scrutiny. In 2012, 20-year-old Matthew Woods was arrested and jailed for 12 weeks for making a number of derogatory posts on Facebook, in relation to missing children April Jones and Madeline McCann. It seems obvious that these posts could cause harm and offence to others as they comment on an upsetting and sensitive subject, but what about arrests on those where there is no clear victim? A case In 2010 saw Paul Chambers, 28, found guilty in May 2010 of sending a “menacing
electronic communication”. He was charged after posting a tweet which threatened to blow up an airport after his flight was delayed and although later his conviction was overturned, spoke of the disruption the case had caused him after he lost his job as a financial supervisor shortly after. So, Hopkins’ tweets that target the overweight and the unemployed (to name a few) could be considered a cause of harm or offence. However, is it we, as a society, that have drawn the boundaries around what is acceptable? Targeting those in a situation viewed not to be self-inflicted, such as the families of abducted children, may be seen as a bigger violation of freedom than a tweet about the strains of obesity on the NHS, which may be seen as something that can be changed. Should people be made accountable for what they say, whether it be on a social media site or otherwise, or by intervening do we run the risk of dipping a toe into the realms of censorship? Controls on freedom of speech do not only occur on a governmental level but are often visible in areas a little closer to home, such as in our very own Students’ Union. Spiked Online have released data after examining the attitudes and policies implemented by both universities and their unions with regard to free speech, and Sheffield has been awarded an amber rating; green for the university as it allegedly has no policies restricting free speech, and red for the union due to its zero tolerance on sexual harassment and anti sexism policies. Other Union policies such as the banning of The Sun due to its perceived unhealthy page three content, the banning of payday loan adverts and the refusal to allow Julie Bindel to speak at an event due to her alleged transphobic opinions, all constitute infringements on free speech and whether justified or not, contribute to the amber rating. So, as it stands, it seems that society, supported by the government, has taken a stance that freedom of speech is a human right that should be protected. However, in some cases it may be acceptable to infringe, if protecting others from harm. The reluctance towards censorship in the media may mean that figures like Katie Hopkins continue to be able to act freely and although she may cause offence to some, it is deemed her right to be able to express her opinion. From past cases, it seems that if the right to free speech can be perceived as contributing to a potential threat - like terrorism and extremism - or the free expression causes harm to an individual or group, then intervention is necessary and the right to free speech is forfeited.
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Thursday April 23 2015 Forge Press
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n the eyes of many, the title ‘Steel City’ harks back to a bygone era when Sheffield was consumed by the billowing smoke of 19th century industrial Britain. But what role did steel play in shaping this city? Is its significance in popular culture merely symbolic, or has it become outdated and survived purely by its aesthetic value and rich history? And what role will it play in the future? Long before it became known as the Steel City, Sheffield already had a worldwide reputation for making cutlery. Starting in the Middle Ages, this trade led to the foundation of the Cutlers Company of Hallamshire in 1624. Named after a famous American fighter who died at the Battle of the Alamo, Sheffield’s ‘Bowie Knife’ found a mass market in the United States and the city overtook London to become the leading powerhouse of cutlery production. It was against this backdrop, and with the help of local pioneers that the stage was being set for a series of technological breakthroughs. The first came from Benjamin Huntsman, a clockmaker frustrated by the poor quality of steel clock springs. In 1740 he found a way of producing steel that was stronger and harder than ever before, known as crucible steel. Despite quickly gaining world-class status it was eventually replaced by a new method capable of producing steel on a much larger scale - the ‘Bessemer converter’. Developed by Henry Bessemer in 1856, it has now been restored to its full glory on Kelham Island for the
delight of the viewing public. It may come as no surprise that the history of steel is intertwined with the history of the University of Sheffield itself. Firth Court is named in honour of the steel manufacturer Mark Firth who established Firth College, one of a number of institutions that later became part of the University in 1905. Another of the University’s founding institutions, Sheffield Central Technical School, was founded by steelmaker Sir Fredrick Mappin. Mappin became the University’s first Pro-Chancellor and the engineering faculty’s main building is named after him. Helping Sir Fredrick to found the University was a steel scientist called Henry Sorby. His name was added to the old Sorby halls of residence that were demolished in 2006 to make way for the new Endcliffe student village. However, Henry Sorby’s remained associated with the University due to the current as a new facility that carries out current steel research, called The Sorby Centre, was christened after him. Other University buildings that lend their names to workers and innovators of the steel industry include the Goodwin Sports Centre and the Sir Robert Hadfield Building. Invented by Harry Brearley in 1912, stainless
steel is perhaps the most iconic symbol of Sheffield’s industrial history. It was considered such a spectacular and alluring material that it was incorporated into the entrance canopy of the Savoy Hotel in London in 1929. While working on steel gun barrels in the run up to World War I, Brearley accidentally discovered that he could prevent the barrels from eroding away simply by adding chromium into the steel. Dr William Hatfield took Brearley’s work further and in 1924 patented what has now become the most widely used variety of stainless steel. Sheffield produced most of the world’s steel in the middle of the 19th century and remained a major industrial city throughout the first half of the 20th century. But the economic downturn after the 1970s oil crisis and various other factors led to the closure of many steelworks. It is difficult to picture the scenes at Orgreave, a quiet little town in east Yorkshire in 1984. That year pitched battles were fought between thousands of armed policemen and striking miners - a defining moment that eventually led to the defeat of
the miners and a far-reaching political victory for Margaret Thatcher over the wider trade union movement as a whole. What followed was a steady decline in the manufacturing industry and the wholesale restructuring of the UK economy towards the services and financial sectors. Yet, where the ashes of Orgreave now lay, sits the home of new industry. One dedicated to the production of high-tech components for the aerospace, automotive and nuclear industries. The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which is a partnership between the University of Sheffield, Airbus, Boeing and Rolls Royce, has received a massive £10 billion of government funding. The 21st century has also seen the rise of the technology sector and local entrepreneurs such as David Richards. The son of a steelworker, David founded a software company called WANdisco in 2005. Headquartered at the Electric Works on Sheffield’s Digital Campus, and with regional offices in California’s Silicon Valley, the company is now valued at £37 million and employs 200 people.
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D
ue to the fact that steel has been around for such a long time, many people view it as a somewhat obsolete material. However, nothing could be further from the
truth. Newer types of steel incorporating exotic alloying elements mean that steel can certainly keep up with the competition, and is here to stay. One of the wonderful attributes of steel is that it can be alloyed, or mixed, with many other elements to create a material with a vast array of properties that can be tailored to a particular need. Steel itself is a mixture of carbon and iron and it’s long been known that varying the amount of carbon leads to steel with different attributes. Increasing the amount of carbon leads to a harder yet more brittle material. Introducing additional alloying elements alters the properties further. Despite the overall decline of the steel industry in Britain over recent years, is is making something of a comeback in Sheffield. Labour costs and raw material availability means that for large scale steel production, Sheffield can’t compete with producers abroad. However, the city is a world leader in
steel used for niche, high specification applications. Sheffield Forgemasters is a company that is globally renowned for its high quality components. In sectors such as nuclear and power generation, where safety is critical, they can charge a premium for delivering products conforming to highly stringent specifications. By investing in research and development to further expand their capabilities, such companies can not only stay ahead of the competition, but advance the science of steelmaking to keep up with the demands of the future. While some uses for steel may have been usurped by some materials, such as carbon fibre, steel is making a comeback in other areas. In automobile bodies, steels are used to produce thinner and lighter body panels. This regains some of the advantage that previous grades of steel had lost to aluminium. As the world’s population increases, so will the demand for steel. Not only is the population increasing but it’s also becoming more urbanised. This means greater quantities of steel will be needed for creating modern housing and public transport
systems. With the increasing importance society places on reducing carbon emissions, any material of the future must be sustainable. Steel production has an image of being a dirty process and a relic of the Victorian era. Whilst it’s true that steel production is energy intensive, research is being carried out to make this process more efficient. It currently requires 50 per cent less energy to make a tonne of steel than 30 years ago, and continued research will reduce this further. While it requires a lot of energy to create, large quantities of steel are recycled. Steel is currently the most recycled material and can be recycled many times. In contrast the properties of paper and plastics degrade significantly after being recycled. Although newer and more glamorous materials may have captured the public imagination in recent years, steel’s wonderful versatility, combination of strength and ductility, and low cost means it will be very much part of human technological endeavour in the future.
By Rory Hulse and Faris Karouni
Thu rsday Apri l 23 2015 F O RG E P RESS
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LIFESTYLE&TRAVEL
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Lifestyle loves by Isabel Dobinson
Beauty Lush face masks For years I have been a devoted fan of the fresh, sustainably sourced and gorgeous smelling face masks at Lush. The store offers a fabulous range of unique masks designed to tackle a number of skin problems, from acne to old age and dry skin. My old favourite is Love Lettuce, a bright green mask packed full of natural ingredients including exfoliating almond shells, soothing seaweed and lavender to brighten your complexion. The Brazed Honey face mask freshens your face with ginger root, detoxing coriander and moisturising honey while Cosmetic Warrior cleanses spots away with antibacterial tea tree and fresh garlic. As well as another five great face masks on offer, there is also a body mask called Mask of Magnaminty which is definitely worth a try.
For women sleeping rough, ‘period pain’ is an understatement. Emily Baker looks at the campaign to help homeless women’s monthly struggle and how you can get involved. For most, menstruation is a taboo topic and regardless of age, us women generally want our periods to be dealt with as discretely as possible. When ‘that time of the month’ arrives, most of us are well prepared and stocked up with tampons and pads galore. The majority of us also have access to clean facilities in which we can change and dispose of our sanitary things hygienically and hasslefree. That said, it is difficult to believe the gruelling struggle our homeless women have to endure once a month.
Image: Wikipedia Image: Flickr
Drink Ginger beer I might sound like an old man when I say that ginger beer is my favourite summer drink to enjoy in the beer garden, but after one taste it won’t be long till you’re ditching the beer and cider. Not only is it refreshing, the ginger tangyImage: Flickr ness is tasty and doesn’t leave you bloated. The classic Crabbies is a great option but most pubs also offer Jeremiah Weed Kentucky style ginger root beer. Another refreshing and tasty option is Ginger Grouse and of course, Old Jamacia Ginger Beer.
Cooking
Vegetarianism Whether it is for health benefits, environmental and moral reasons or that you just want to explore your cooking horizons, there are plenty of amazing vegetarian recipes that will make cutting down meat a lot easier and tastier than you might expect. Yes, you can stick to green leafy salads if that is your thing but vegetarianism doesn’t necessarily mean you have to eat like a rabbit. Why not try cooking a wild mushroom risotto, Moroccan chickpea soup or walnut and fennel bulgar wheat salad? If you’re feeling more adventurous then how about making your own hummus and chickpea burgers, torfu and spinach cannelloni or kale with chana and coconut? There are plenty of great vegetarian food blogs making inspiration as easy as a click of a button.
Image: Wikipedia
#TheHomelessPeriod
For women sleeping rough, having a period is an undignified and unhygienic process which cannot be avoided. Access to feminine hygiene products is limited as they are expensive and so managing a period requires resourcefulness. What little money homeless women do have is spent on food, thus many resort to shoplifting sanitary products or use make-shift pads from used bras or socks. To prevent dirtying their minimal clothing, some women even make do folding up squares of toilet paper to insert as a tampon. Others
dehydrate themselves and drink less water in order to change less often than is necessary. When losing blood, it is crucial that women keep themselves healthy and adhere to basic standards of hygiene by drinking enough and regularly changing dirty tampons and pads: otherwise they are susceptible to infections.
Homeless women then face the challenge of where to clean themselves, how to dispose of their sanitary things and how to wash their clothes. When living on the street, women spend a lot of time on the ground and are in contact with public spaces but have no way to even wash their hands. Homeless women have restricted access to public toilets - even in homeless shelters bathroom visits are limited so women cannot change tampons or pads as many times as they need. A woman’s period can last from three to ten days which is a massive amount of time to manage without appropriate products, and with some women having to change sanitary tampons and pads every hour, this is an impossible task. Finding a safe public place to change can also be dangerous business as homeless women are at risk of being targeted by sexual predators. Being able to stay clean is a simple part of what it means to feel human yet due to social stigmas, menstrual care is undocumented and often neglected. For women living in such a modern society, being deprived of essential sanitary products is simply outrageous. Menstruation is a natural biological process and so sanitary products are a necessity, yet they are taxed as ‘luxury items’. Astoundingly, products such as crocodile meat, Jaffa Cakes and men’s razors are not taxed, yet tampons
are. Tampons and pads are just as necessary as toilet paper, and with contraception available for free there is no reason why sanitary products cannot be accessed free of charge either.
A recent drive to axe the tampon tax (five per cent) is quickly gathering popularity, and represents the first step to making sanitary products more accessible. Political leaders like Ed Milliband have also expressed their concerns over essential sanitary products being taxed, which makes this a very relevant issue for the upcoming elections. Our Women’s Officer, Miriam Miller started a campaign to sell sanitary products at cost price in the Students’ Union. Our Shop have adopted this since, selling Co-Op own brand sanitary towels from 51p a pack, tampons from 55p a pack and Tampax and Lil-Lets at cost price.
The Students’ Union officers have also launched a campaign collecting tampons, pads and donations on the Concourse that will go towards the Cathedral Archer Project, who provide services for the homeless in Sheffield. The first day of the campaign on Tuesday April 14 raked in 655 tampons, 303 sanitary towels and a significant amount of monetary donation. Until April 26, you can contribute too, by dropping off any donations to the Welfare Officers’ office on Level 5 of the Students’ Union. Get involved by contributing what you can, as no woman should have to face discomfort once every month and sacrifice their personal hygiene over something as trivial as a period.
Lifestyle investigates...
The healthier, greener and cheaper alternative
Cycling fan Abbie-Joelle Skliarksy gives us her top 10 reasons to why you should get involved in the nation’s cycling hype. While Dutch inspired hipsters are taking to the road on two wheels, the benefits of cycling cater for all, including us students. Whether you’re looking for an easier way to get around or an excuse to hit the Peaks and make the most of the short lived English sun, cycling is a healthy, green and cheap transport alternative. Abbie-Joelle Skliarsky lists her top 10 reasons to get back into cycling.
Image: Pixabay
1. It feels good. As weird as that might sound, you feel a sense of satisfaction arriving somewhere three times quicker than you would plodding along the pavement. Feel that Yorkshire wind in your hair, enjoy the downhill ride and never be late for a lecture again. 2. Cost. Bikes can be picked up from Gumtree, notice boards and even Endcliffe. You won’t need more than £40-50 to get yourself a pair of wheels and cycling replaces the weekly bus ticket and the occasional taxi, saving you unnecessary spending.
3. Fashion accessory. You can find bike accessories from charity shops or Amazon. Kit your bike out with a cute continental style basket or for the cooler lot, some neon trims to match your new cycling jacket.
4. Health benefits. A quick cycle to Hicks for your 9am will speed up for metabolism before you can say ‘quantum psychics’. This means you can feel less guilty about the 2-4-1 at Bungalows & Bears (remember, halloumi is good for the soul). Burning calories doesn’t always mean sweating it out at the gym.
5. De-stress. When your deadlines are sending you to an early grave, going for a swift 10 minute cycle can do you a world of good. It can clear your mind of any negative thoughts, so when you’re back at your desk you can re-focus and boss the horrific essay on Plato.
8. You become super-green. Not only is cycling good for you, ditching the four wheeled carbon-emitting cars and buses will dramatically lower your carbon footprint, helping you do your bit for the environment. 9. Toning up. Not a fan of those heavy weights at the gym? After a few months cycling (especially up and down Sheffield’s many hills), you’ll begin to notice yourself toning up. Who says working out can’t be fun?
10. Rules of the road. If it’s been a while since you passed your driving test, cycling will remind you of the rules of the road. It’s also important to remember to invest in a proper helmet and set of lights; safety always comes first.
6. What traffic? Forget being stuck behind somebody slow when you’re rushing for an appointment or that meeting with your tutor. Cyclists rarely have to answer to anyone and on your two wheels you can quickly glide past any slow coachers.
7. Freedom. Sheffield has plenty of quiet roads to escape to; who knows what you might find. Pack a picnic and take your bike to the Peak District and make a day of it!
Image: Flickre
FO R GE PRESS Th ur sd ay Apr il 23 2015
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LIFESTYLE&TRAVEL
Get involved: Save Our Sandwiches
Michael Kind tells you why you should get involved in the new student led volunteer group aiming to tackle the University’s food waste problems Food waste is one of the biggest social injustices in our country today. Given the surplus of food available and the staggering number of people unable to purchase food – whether that be through dependence on foodbanks, or as a result of homelessness. Sadly food waste is present even on university campuses, so a group of students - “Save Our Sandwiches” or “S.O.S.” have decided to essentially take on the task of becoming
Image: Tim Allen
the infrastructure needed to redistribute any surplus food from University outlets to those in need. The way it works is very simple. Volunteers sign up to do a collection from a University outlet on our rota, turn up at the outlet just before closing time and inform staff that they’re from the team. Having then collected any surplus packaged food, they then take it down to the Salvation Army on Charter Row and hand it over to them, who run a homeless cafe daily. All one has to do to get involved is like our Facebook page (“Save Our Sandwiches – Zero Campus Food Waste Group”) and sign up to do a collection on the rota. Initially the project started with daily collections from Coffee Revs, which was a good way of gauging and testing its practicalities. However, our ambitions are high and we slowly expanded the outlets that we save food from. This started with regular collections from Our Shop and up until the April 17 1,357 items of food have been saved and redistributed from University outlets.
Fashion
Sylvia Wanjiku MBA student Wearing: Dress and shoes from a market in Kenya and jacket from Primark
This all culminated in “Day Zero” - an event we organised on the April 17, in which we aimed to have zero waste across all University outlets. This was a difficult task, given the number of outlets we were targeting, and that as a relatively new project we are still learning about how each outlet deals with their surplus, and as a result of this we didn’t manage to ensure there was no waste. However, we did save and redistribute 128 items of food in one day – which is still a massive success.
In terms of going forward, the plan is to keep having regular daily collections from Coffee Revs, with collections from Our Shop on Mondays and the Arts Tower Cafe on Wednesdays. One of our longer-term aims is to be able to achieve zero waste across outlets once a week every week, and we’re pretty confident of this being possible as we gain more experience and gain volunteers. We’re looking at becoming a society soon as well, so if you think this sounds like a worthwhile cause then get involved!
Image: Toby Morris
Concourse couture
Zuneir Imtiaz, First year: Aerospace Engineering Wearing: Jeans and jacket from Topman, top from Ralph Lauren and shoes from Zara.
by Mared Gruffydd
Rhoda Olu Second year: Psychology Wearing: Jeans from Topshop, top stolen from her friend and coat borrowed from her brother
Ben Evans Second year: Zoology Wearing: T-shirt from H&M but bought from a charity shop, Jeans from Levi’s but bought from a charity shop and shoes are Doc Martens from a friend.
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The changing role of the housewife... We think we live in a modern and progressive world, but how far have we really come regarding traditional gender roles? Jessica Green assesses the issues around feminism, equality and the changing role of the housewife. It is a role that has been forced on women for generations, but is the housewife a voluntary job or a involuntary duty? But now in the 21st century can the West really claim to be free from such old-fashioned values? Before the First World War, women were confined to performing domestic chores and carrying offspring. They were appreciated for little else. However, after decades of struggle, a scattering of women are finally escaping from this archaic belief, achieving the top and highest paid positions. From leading a company to fighting on the frontline, women are thriving in the workplace.
Nevertheless, is it really so simple? Do more women than men want to be a dutiful housewife/husband simply because they choose to, despite the harassment they receive from ‘feminists’ and society as a whole? Or is it the case that only on occasion women are lucky enough to choose between working or being a stay-at-home parent? The vast majority of women still look after their children, still prepare the dinner, clean the house and wash the dishes. Only now they do all that along with the added pressure of trying to compete in the workplace.
So can women truly start celebrating? Are we finally free from those shackles and chains that confined us to the kitchen for so long?
Consequently, while the role of the housewife has changed, it has arguably not been for the better due to the fact that women now have to juggle both roles: the doting housewife and the career-driven woman.
New research from the Pew Foundation has revealed that ‘Stay-at-home dads’ have quadrupled; a great reason to celebrate. Yet in spite of this, househusbands make up only 16 per cent of all stay-at-home parents in the UK, suggesting that the role of the stay-at-home parent is still, as it always has been, the job of the wife.
So while many cheer and rave that the damning roles forced upon us centuries ago have finally been defeated, this is clearly not the case for every woman. It is unlikely that the out of date roles of housewife and breadwinner should have really been eradicated.
This shouldn’t be all that surprising though, claims Canadian magazine Today’s Parent, as some women don’t yet wish to hang up their apron in exchange for a business suit. The widely popular magazine states that a great number of housewives see themselves as much more than an unpaid cleaner and are proud to be gifted with the most important job of all - nurturing the next generation. Certain feminists lambast those women who choose to fulfil the traditional role, insisting that housewives are betraying the fight for female equality by succumbing to what a patriarchal society wants. Such women are judging choices made by other women. Feminism is defined as fighting for gender equality, so when a whole host of women are slandered by a refusal to treat their job fairly, they are not advocating gender equality. Hence there is a new kind of persecution facing the role of the housewife: from the dominant oppressive male to the power-hungry, ruthless female, society tends to turn
Image : Deviant Art
a belittling eye to the honourable housewife.
Looking a little deeper, none of us can really deny that the average woman still has to go home and do all the menial house tasks, whereas if the dad successfully changes a nappy he is congratulated almost with surprise, as if a dad completing his parental responsibilities is quite the novelty. Not only is this insulting to the father who is stereotyped as naïve in their parental responsibilities, it is also offensive to the mother who is expected to do these domestic duties day in day out with very little praise. Thus, the issue of the changing or rather the lack of change in the role of a housewife isn’t a women’s issue; it is a gender equality issue. Emma Watson in her UN #HeforShe speech said it perfectly; “Men don’t have equality either.” The stigma placed on a man who decides to be a stay-at-home dad is just as bad as that placed on a mother who is seen as putting her career before her child. Through these stigmas and stereotypes, we as a society reinforce the patriarchal confines we are trying so hard to escape from. If women or men were free to choose what their role in life ought to be, without fear of judgement, whether that be the role of the homemaker or a careerdriven individual, it would also lead to better gender equality, destroying any pre-subscribed roles. Neither men nor women should have a role decided for them from birth. Instead of focusing so much on what we are, shouldn’t we care more about who we are, not succumbing to society’s misconceptions of a “man’s” and a “woman’s” job?
Image : Flickr
FO R GE PRESS Th ur sd ay Apr il 23 2015
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TRAVEL
LIFESTYLE&TRAVEL On a shoestring : Malta
Malta is a happy medium combining hot beaches and rich culture. Lifestyle writer Abbie-Joelle Skliarsky tells you exactly why you should start planning for your perfect summer holiday location already. Malta is the tiny Mediterranean jewel that you probably haven’t yet noticed on a map. Only a three-and-a-half hour �light from the UK and with cheap �lights from Leeds or Bradford, Malta is the perfect place to spend your summer holiday. The temperature reaches around 30 degrees in May and continues to rise until around October, making it the perfect place to catch some sun. The language spoken is predominantly English, so no time-consuming language barrier. For accomodation, there are lots of hostels that have unique bedrooms and rates as low as nine euros a night. Transport is incredibly cheap; for 1.50 euros a day, you have unlimited travel on the buses so you can optimise your time here exploring. Make sure you
get a ride on the buses; it’s a truly Maltese experience to say the least.
The traditional Maltese food is ‘Pastizzi’ which is a form of pastry which is either sweet or savoury with gorgeous �illings ranging from ricotta and peas to fresh �ish to sweet Nutella.
Be sure to check out Popeye village in Buggiba, which makes for a great day out. The village consists of the vintage set from the 1980 Robin Williams �ilm, which costs eight euros for an all day ticket The ticket includes Popeye punch, photos with the characters and performances and access-all-areas passes to the set including an opportunity to dine in the original restaurant. Malta is a real mixture of nature and culture.
For those of you chasing the sun, there’s the sea, rocks and beaches. For the more outdoorsy, the country side and cliffs are great for quad biking or hiking. There are lots of water sports opportunities all over the island from scuba diving to para gliding.
Golden Bay is perfect for the sun worshippers amongst you. It takes about 25 minutes to get there from the centre of Malta via bus and is the perfect place to watch the sun set. A sandier beach, it is a popular choice during spring and summer, so be sure to get down there early for a good spot. You can also rent kayaks from the edge of the beach for �ive euros an hour. Gozo is the sister island of Malta, with a total of 15 inhabitants. A single police of�icer patrols the island. A return ferry leaving from Sliema port costs �ive euros. It is worth making a day of Gozo; there are always festivals or carnivals celebrating Feast days there, as Malta is very religious. You can quad bikeall around the island in a day. If you could do one thing in Malta, set yourself the challenge of seeing everything Gozo has to offer. Another location in Malta, Mdina, is like looking back through time. The old capital has many coffee and cake shops and some of the oldest buildings on the island. Check out Mdina’s prime tourist spots, Saint Pauls Cathedral and the old dungeons. Vising Mdina is the equivalent of a semester’s worth of
LIFESTYLE REVIEWS
Lifestyle editor, Isabel Dobinson was lucky enough to sample the tasty new editon to Shef�ield’s culinary life
One look inside the tactfully designed chocolate-inspired menu and you instantly know that you are in a desert lover’s heaven. Faced with lists offering a range of unique ice cream �lavours, delicious waf�le toppings and mouthwatering cakes, you will de�initely need more than a few minutes to pick your tasty treat. Gelato Original’s ice cream dishes are not simply served to say the least and they are kitted out with all of the trimmings. If you are looking for a refreshing treat, why not try ‘Exotic Dream’: a pineapple, orange and mango ice cream served with whipped cream, mango and passion fruit puree, fresh pineapple and clementines. Other tasty options include the oreo bowl and the blueberry sundae. If you fancy something a little stronger then try the pinacolada style pineapple and coconut icecream or the banana split if you are looking for a more traditional dessert.
If you are wanting a more substantial treat then try the cafe’s fresh waf�les and crepes smothered in sauce and served with an ice cream of your choice. Choose from a range of tasty fruity �lavours including the ‘Strawberry Passion’ and ‘Banana Revolution’, or try ‘Nutty Heaven’ or ‘Chocolate Madness’ if you are more of chocolate lover. If you still can’t get enough then I would de�initely
Marsaxlokk comes alive on Sundays when the weekly market takes place. You can pick up pretty much anything you can think of. Home to a vibrant harbour, there are tonnes of fresh octopus or �ish if you fancy cooking yourself. Remember to barter for the best price, everything from �luffy bed socks to sweet potatoes is negotiable in Maltese markets. The best seafood restaurants are also nested in this traditional �ishing village. Alternatively you could rent a boat here and enjoy a boat party. Malta is one of those amazing places where there is just so much to see and do, that my six months as an Erasmus student there might just be insuf�icient. So if you’re struggling for your next holiday spot this summer, take a break, catch some culture and soak up some sun in this Mediterranean marvel.
All images: Abbie-Joelle Skliarsky
Lifestyle’s Recipe Corner
Gelato Original
Tucked away down a road off West Street, Gelato Original is Shef�ield’s new hidden gem. With summer on its way, this Italian inspired dessert boutique is perfect for those with a sweet tooth and a taste for rich treats.
History lectures.
recommend trying a slice of one of the freshly made cakes and desserts. Gelato Original serve a number of Italian cakes and semifreddo varying from the pastry based and apple �illed Crostata Di Mele, to vanilla cheesecake, panna cotta, chocolatey pro�iteroles and my favourite, tiramisu.
Veggie chilli
by Ojima Abalaka
This healthy, home-made vegetarian version of one of Britain’s favourite comfort foods, chilli con carne. This inexpensive but wholesome version should see you going nicely from winter to spring depending on if you pair it with rice or nachos. Ingredients: • • • • • • • • • • • •
2 small-sized sweet potatoes 3 mini peppers (a mix of red and yellow) ½ onion 1 red chilli 1 x 400g tinned kidney beans 1 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes 1 tsp of crushed garlic paste 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional) Olive oil Spices (cayenne, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, cinnamon) Sweet corn Soya mince (optional)
Method:
Want more of a kick? Gelato Original’s cocktails make the perfect treat if you are looking for an alternative to Bloo 88 or Vodka Revolution. As well as serving classics including the mojito, tequila sunrise and strawberry daiquiri, Gelato Original also offers more original �lavours such as the coconut �lavoured ‘Kiss Me’ and Baileys and ameretto �lavoured ‘Orgasm’. Alternatively, why not try a detoxing beetroot, orange and apple juice or a refreshing mango milkshake? What makes these tasty desserts even better is the friendly and quick service and amazing prices, providing a cheap and cheery alternative to your standard lunch break.
All images: Isabel Dobinson
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into bite-size pieces. Season with a pinch of each of the spices. Drizzle some olive oil and shake till all the pieces are well coated. Place in the oven for 40 minutes or until they are soft and golden. 3. Peel and chop the onion. Deseed and �inely chop the peppers and chilli. Leave the seeds in if you want it spicy. 4. Put a pan over medium-high heat and pour in some olive oil. Add in the garlic, chopped onion and peppers once the oil has heated up and cook for �ive minutes.
5. Add the spices as desired the red chilli and cook for another �ive minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Drain and add the kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Reduce to a low heat and leave to simmer for around 30 minutes. Also add some sweet corn and soya mince as it cooks. Stir occasionally and add some water if it gets too thick.
7. Add and stir the sweet potatoes through the chilli. Add some more spices if you feel it needs it. Veggie chilli is ready to serve. All images: Ojima Abalaka
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Thu rsday Apri l 23 2015 F O RG E P RESS
COFFEE BREAK April 23 in History 1348 – The Order of the 1900 - The word Garter, the first English “hillbilly” (then spelled order of knighthood, ‘Hill-Billie’) was first was founded. used in print in an article in the “New York 1789 - U.S. President Journal.” George Washington moved into Franklin 1936 – Roy Orbison House, New York. It was born was the first executive mansion. 1945 - The Soviet Army fought its way 1872 - Charlotte E. into Berlin. Ray became the AfricanAmerican woman 2005 - The first lawyer video was uploaded to YouTube 1895 - Russia, France, and Germany forced 2009 - The iTunes Japan to return the Music Store reached Liaodong peninsula to 1 billion applications China. downloaded
@FPCoffeeBreak /forgepresscoffeebreak
Did you know...
Sports Kiteboarding dates back to 13th Century China, where it was a means of a transport; kites were used to utilized wind, gather thrust and energy to propel canoes over bodies of water. 125 000 golf balls are hit into the water at the famous 17th hole of the Stadium Course of Sawgrass, every year. On February 6 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the moon, making it the only sport to have been played there.
PHOTOGRAPH OF THE FORTNIGHT
Tug-of-war was an Olympic sport from 1900-1920 More than 100 million people hold hunting licenses The Major league baseball team uses about 850 000 balls per season
Dates for the Diary
Photograph: Andrew Roe
Nick Clegg looking angrily at potholes in Sheffield. Enough said.
Word
of the fortnight:
Rurbanization, noun: 1. The influence of rural society on urban life, or vice versa; rural urbanization
April 26 is Hug an Australian Day! Created by wellcat.com, April 26 is a great day to improve your international relations and (literally) embrace any Australian international students you may know. Coffee Breaks suggest you acquire the consent of any Australians before hugging them April 26 is also Richter Scale Day! Richter Scale Day celebrates the birth of the inventory of the Richter school, back in 1900. The Richter Scale measures the severity of an earthquake by measuring the magnitude or seismic waves produced by an earthquake. A 4.5 an earthquake can damage buildings and structures. A 7 on the Richter scale can cause severe and catastrophic damage. The strongest earthquake every recorded occurred off the coast of Chile on May 22, 1960.
May 3 is World Press Freedom Day! World Press Freedom Day celebrates the value of freedom of expression and the sacrifices journalists have made in the name of free speech. Each year, UNESCO awards the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize to someone who has made a major contribution journalistic freedom.
May 4 is Star Wars Day! In 2005, a German News TV Channel interview incorrectly interpreted “may the force be with you” as “we are with you on May 4th.” Since then, cheesy Star Wars jokes have been a staple for Star Wars Day. Celebrate with a Star Wars marathon, a costume party or by brushing up on your Star Wars Trivia.
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FO R GE PRESS Th ur sday Ap r i l 23 2015
@FPCoffeeBreak
COFFEE BREAK
/forgepresscoffeebreak
PUZZLE PAGE: SUDOKU Easy
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QUOTES OF THE FORTNIGHT
“ Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying
the truth.
”
Lillian Hellman
“After all, memory may be the only thing
on earth we can truly manipulate to serve us, so we don’t have to look back at ourselves in the receding past and think, what an arsehole!
”
Steve Toltz
“ Of all lies, art is the least untrue. ” Gustave Flaubert
Crossword: Matthew Sapsed Across: 1. Long sleep (for free students?) (3-2) 4. Ruby red (7) 8. Electronic sensor (used to find buried treasure?) (5,8) 9. Satisfy (a thirst) (6) 10. Musical drama (5) 12. Go to bed give up work (6) 14. Act (6) 17. Garden flower lit up (anagram) (5) 19. Forgive explain (6) 22. Special reporter for a paper or crop end nets (anagram) (13) 23. Union secret affair (7) 24. Free from dirt (5)
Down: 1. Light (4) 2. Charge delegate (7) 3. Synthetic fabric (5) 4. Fume (with rage) (6) 5. Incredible (7) 6. Coffee made with espresso and milk (5) 7. Intimidate (8) 11. Vital (8) 13. Hold back (7) 15. Severe (like Government cuts?) (7) 16. Offensive instrument (6) 18. Immature animal (5) 20. Pessimist (5) 21. Amaze (4)
DINGBATS
Dingbats are visual word puzzles from which you must identify a well-known phrase or saying.
1.
2.
RE RE YO_ MIND
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Thu rsday Apri l 23 2015 F O RG E P RESS
@ForgePressSport
SPORT
/ForgePressSport sport@forgetoday.com
Photo: Chris Chadwick
Record crowd celebrates Uni Varsity victory (Looks like the Hallamers headed home)
Tom Pyman The University of Sheffield have overcome rivals Sheffield Hallam to win the Varsity trophy for a third successive year. Sheffield were ultimately 37-34 victors, with the decisive 36th Varsity point being won by the Women’s Hockey 3s team in a comprehensive 5-0 win at Goodwin Sports Park
yesterday afternoon. The destiny of the trophy in 2015 was still in doubt on Wednesday morning – which Sheffield began with a five point lead over their opponents – but it quickly became a question of where, rather than if, the Varsity title would be retained. For a while it looked like it could have been clinched at Ponds Forge, where both the Men’s and Women’s Canoe
Polo teams were victorious to leave Sheffield within touching distance of winning the trophy. It was presented to Sports Officer Johnny Block on ice at the now-traditional final showpiece event at the Motorpoint Arena, in front of a sell-out crowd of 7731 – setting a record for the highest Varsity ice hockey attendance outside North America.