Forge issue 90

Sober Night Out Live: The 1975 Issue 90 Features did a night Fuse went to see 1975 Friday 20 out sober, and reported at the O2, it was a to Forge Press November 2015 “delicious pop treat” and back how easy was it and gave it three stars, find out more...

FUSE P11

would they do it again?

FEATURES P16

Review: Steve Jobs Screen reviewed the new film about Steve Jobs, calling it “controversial” FUSE P13

American Football Sport explore the NFL’s impact and claims American Football in Britain is here to stay SPORT P29

“OUR HEARTS ARE WITH YOU”

Keri Trigg Hundreds of students filled the concourse outside the Students’ Union in a show of solidarity in the wake of recent terror attacks.

The vigil, held on Monday 16 November, was organised by the University’s Le Cercle Français and Amnesty International Societies.

Speeches were given in

English and French as passers by stopped on the bridge over the concourse to join the crowd in paying their respects.

The vigil was held to commemorate those who lost their lives in attacks in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad between 12-13 November by Islamic State. “Our hearts go out to the victims of Paris, Beirut and Baghdad,” said Anna McCartney, from Amnesty International

Society.

“Amnesty International has a long history of being an advocate for human rights.

When we look at Isis we see a terrorist organisation that has violated almost every single human right.

“They are not in any way to be associated with religion, race or nationality. They have killed Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

“We are standing here now, lighting candles for all the victims and their friends and families.

“Amnesty’s slogan is perfect to describe this - ‘it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.’

“Standing here right now, together in unity, is probably one of the most important things we can do... continued on page 6

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NEWS

In Brief...

Friday 20 November 2015 | Forge Press

@ForgePress /ForgePress

Devonshire Quarter just misses out The popular hub of independent shops, pubs and bars came second in the prestigious ‘Neighbourhood of the Year’ award. Hastings Old Town picked up the coveted accolade.

Chippie in UK Top 12 Two Steps Fish and Chips, located on Sharrowvale Road, has been named one of the best 12 fish and chips shops in the country. It has been legendary in Sheffield since its opening in 1865.

Steel City hosts Special Olympics The 2017 Special Olympic games will take place here in Sheffield, for its second time since 1993. The National Summer Games is the country’s largest multi-sports event for athletes with intellectual disabilities.

Bouncing Off the Walls A giant indoor trampoline park is opening this month in Rotherham with bounce space across 30,000 sq feet.

Dodgeball, wall running, slam dunk nets and fitness classes will also be there for the

Editorial

Welcome to the penultimate issue of Forge Press this semester.

We have some particularly exciting content. Our esteemed News editor Will went undercover at a Britain first conference, and has been made a blogger at HuffingtonPost for his awesome journo skills (congrats Will!). We also have a story on how our SU is so great, Oxford want to get in on the action too.

Comment have the first in a series of opinion pieces about the Paris attacks, the rest of which will be uploaded online.

And Features bring you the first in their new ‘Features guide to…’ series, which hopes to explain things that are commonly referred to, but that we don’t always necessarily understand.

Lifestyle bring you a piece on revenge porn, and on the culture of tattoos. While sports give an interesting insight into the impact of NFL. Coffee break is here to save your deadline dramas with its usual boredom busters.

It’s safe to say that the attacks in Paris have had an impact on all of us. Whether that impact is one of devastation for those who lost their lives, or the realisation that atrocities like this occur every day in the middle East and elsewhere around the world, or anger, at the fact that the horrifying nature of terrorist attacks like these are only realised when they happen on our doorstep.

It is easy to be angry, but now is not the time for anger, it is time for peace.

It is devastating that it has taken this happening in France to make most of our country care about what is going on, but instead of dwelling on that, we should optimise on this opportunity.

The country is united in its shared devastation.

This is the chance to mobilise those who care to act, and to do something about it. It’s easy for us as Western spectators to critique and share our opinions, in a media saturated world this is encouraged.

But rather than sit behind

What not to miss this fortnight Film Unit: Inside Out

Sunday 22 Nov 15:30-18:00

“Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness.”

Tickets: £2.75, SU Auditorium This is a special Film Unit screening of Inside Out for those who are hard of hearing. It will be accompanied by subtitles and closed captioning.

GIAG: Archery

more adventurous.

Hulkamania in Sheffield

1,000 loyal Hulk Hogan fans from across the world descended onto Sheffield Arena for a four hour meet and greet session with the legend. The 62-year-old wrestling champ admits to a troubled year.

a keyboard giving our own perfectly worded opinion, we should be trying to change the way that we think, to encourage acceptance and an openness in our society, so that we have nothing to fear.

Hate crimes and terrorism will exist as long as we legitimise this idea of separatism, the idea that this is ‘our country’ and we should protect ‘our own’ first. The only difference between us, and the Syrian refugees that are alienated in the news is a difference that we create.

We are all people, this is a world that belongs to all of us, and we all deserve peace.

Creating divisions is never the answer.

If you have a l w a y s wanted to try archery now is your chance! The sessions will be an introduction to archery with you learning how to loose arrows as well as answering any questions you have about the sport. There will also be a competition towards the end of the session.

Fri 27 Nov 17:30-19:30 Tickets: £2.50, £4.50 Activity Room 3, Goodwin Sports Centre

GIAG: Barista Training with Coffee Revs

Sun 29 Nov 18:30-20:00

Come and experience life on the other side of the coffee counter. Give it a Go Barista Tickets: £6, £4 Residence Life Training is an opportunity to find out how Coffee Revs, Students’ Union your favourite coffee is made. Craft your very own artisan coffee in the company of our best Baristas.

Want to write for us?

Email the editor of the section you are interested in and let them know! It’s as easy as that!

EDITOR editor@forgetoday.com Polly Winn DEPUTY EDITOR chloe.coleman@forgetoday.com Chloe Coleman PICTURE EDITOR dan.west@forgetoday.com Dan West FUSE EDITOR fuse@forgetoday.com Kazuma Osaki HEAD OF ONLINE ned.westwood@forgetoday.com Ned Westwood

NEWS news@forgetoday.com Keri Trigg Will Morgan Lisa Latham

FEATURES features@forgetoday.com Sheena Sidu Anna Gillies Hallam Roffey

DEPUTY NEWS news@forgetoday.com Jess Davis Nathaniel Robinson Ellena Rowlin

LIFESTYLE lifestyle@forgetoday.com Mojo Abidi Mared Gruffyd

COMMENT comment@forgetoday.com Robin Wilde Chris Saltmarsh

SPORT sport@forgetoday.com Ed McCosh Rob Milne Anthony Philips

COFFEE BREAK press.coffeebreak@forgetoday.com Adilah Hameed

MUSIC music@forgetoday.com Tara Hodgson

Charlotte Pick GAMES games@forgetoday.com Moya O’Rourke Ash Emritte ARTS arts@forgetoday.com Joshua Hackett Jo Gallacher SCREEN screen@forgetoday.com Rhys Handley Luke Baldwin COPY EDITORS Sophie Cockett Adilah Hameed

Bethan Littley Ellena Rowlin Emily Quigley Harriet Hales Joanna Booth Lotte Dobson

Forge Press | Friday 20 November 2015

@ForgePress /ForgePress

Student sexually assualted in city centre Jessica Davis and Ellena Rowlin

out enquiries following the incident.

She has been petrified to

Another victim of assault has been reported in the city of Sheffield, as a Hallam second year was attacked on her journey home from university.

The attack happened on Cemetery Road around 6:30pm on Monday 2 November.

The student said an unknown man approached her, grabbed her arm and grabbed her arm again, causing minor injuriesluckily she managed to pull free.

The suspect is believed to be white, in his 20s, and wearing dark framed glasses and a red hooded top.

She felt something sharp touch her side as he grabbed her. The attacker had ripped her top and bra and left her nail marks.

Her assailant had ripped her top and bra down the side: “I had cuts down my left side on my ribs.

South Yorkshire police have confirmed they are carrying

walk to university.

The city of Sheffield has had a number of assults.

Areas of the incidents include School Road in Crookes, Viper Rooms on Carver Street and Harcourt Road.

Harcourt Crescent is the most dangerous place for Sheffield students to live and has had the most record crime from September 2014 to July 2015.

Sharmin Jahan, the Women’s Officer at the University of Sheffield, said: “There are various services in place to help students, for example the advice centre and the SU Officers office supply safety alarms.”

She added: “The advice centre also offers various support and guidance for students. We also have a safe taxi scheeme and the women’s mini bus.”

There has been a number of attacks within the city and students across the city are

encouraged to stay alert when walking alone or late at night.

Students are also advised to report any suspicious behaviour they observe immediately, as it could be of help to fututre cases.

If you have any information on this incident, please come

forward: Please call 101 or email enquiries@southyorks. pnn.police.uk quoting incident number 1010 of 2 November 2015.

Oxford’s Merton college Junior College Room (JCR) voted at their last meeting to affiliate to Sheffield Students’ Union.

The motion was raised at an annual JCR meeting where members vote to reaffiliate to the University of Oxford Students’ Union.

The JCR is a social body within Merton college that provides a community for all undergraduates and provides them with entertainment.

The motion was initially raised as a joke, but was passed at the end of the meeting with a wide amount of support from members of the JCR. Sheffield’s Students’ Union was apparently picked at random, given Sheffield’s distance from Oxford, with the motion initially starting as a joke.

The motion started after two third year students present at the meeting, who were apparently tipsy at the time, proposed affiliating to Sheffield

Students’ Union as well as their own.

Hamish Forbes, a Merton college student present at the meeting, told Cherwell: “After great arguments in proposition such as Sheffield’s high treeto-people ratio and being the place The Full Monty is set, the JCR was convinced.”

Rhys Clyne, another Merton student present at the meeting told the Cherwell: “I could not possibly comment on the logic of the JCR in passing this absurd motion, though I see no practical implications beyond some sort of potential crewdate; apparently their SU bar is very impressive.”

University of Sheffield Students’ Union President Christy McMorrow has made contact with Merton college.

In correspondence with The University of Oxford Student Newspaper Cherwell, he said: “While this is clearly an amusing motion, we’re not surprised that Merton College JCR voted to affiliate with us.

After all, who wouldn’t want

SCIENCE & Technology

Cancer Death Clocks

Scientists from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge have discovered two “death clocks” within our cells that count down the time until we get cancer.

Imagine the second hand of a clock is a mutation. In a healthy cell the clock is ticking away very slowly, at a constant rate, but sometimes something triggers the clock to tick abnormally faster. These ticking clocks slowly accumulate mutations over time, causing a particular cell to become cancerous.

Knowing the rate of the ticks can establish a timeframe of cancer development, enabling scientists to predict when a cell may become cancerous.

It seems that time is our enemy after all.

Devon Smith Unstable Ice Raises Sea Level Fears

Oxford students prefer our Students’ Union Polly Winn

NEWS

to be part of the Number 1 rated Students’ Union in the country!”

“We hope Merton will be in touch, and would encourage any undergraduates there to come and join us as a postgraduate given your clear admiration for the SU.” Merton College’s JCR President Will Tilson said: “In terms of repercussions,

I am yet to delve into the issue but it is likely that it is unconstitutional so no further action will be taken. “[The University of Sheffield Students’ Union] know that it was all harmless fun, though I suspect the proposers of the motion will try to wangle a night out in Sheffield, hosted by their SU, for their efforts.”

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Once-stable glaciers in Greenland are melting quickly due to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, which could cause sea levels to rise up to 20 feet.

Greenland’s glaciers are found in fjords, narrow inlets with steep sides, and are curmbling due to rising coastal termperatures. This process started in the West and is now continuing in the North.

Ice shelves keep the glaciers steady but most have already disappeared, accelerating the ice melting.

Benjamin Boxall Origin of Earth’s Water Earth might have had water from its very beginning, claim geologists studying 4.5 billion year old rocks preserved in the Earth’s mantle.

Reduced deuterium (a type of hydrogen) isotope content in the rocks probably rules out water coming to earth during meteor strikes soon after Earth’s formation.

It is considered more likely that the water’s source was from the very same dust that formed our planet. This suggests that many more planets might have formed with water at the beginning, making the right conditions for life more prevalent across the universe.

Jonathan James

4

NEWS UniNEWS Jessica Davis

Student avoids 5p bag charge with suitcase A student at the University of East Anglia has taken saving those pennies to the next level.

They used a suitcase on a trip to the supermarket to avoid the 5p plastic bag charge.

Sam Berner was joking at first when he suggested taking a full-size suitcase to the shops, but it soon dawned on him that it was actually quite a good idea.

The case accompanies him every week to do the food shop.

Where’s my bedroom?

Drinking is a massive part of student life, but there’s always that one person that takes it a bit too far.

It’s fair to say that a student from York had his beer goggles on, when he mistook a patch of grass for his university bedroom.

He was so convinced that he was curled up in bed, that when passers by tried to help him up, he asked them to shut his window because it was getting a bit chilly.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

You know it’s getting to the festive season when the famous John Lewis Christmas advert airs on TV. However, students from the School of Communications Art have made a £700 parody of the ad, as they want to remind people that Christmas isn’t about flash presents and indulging.

At the end of the parody, a message reads: “Some things need a big budget.

Your Christmas isn’t one of them.”

Friday 20 November 2015 | Forge Press

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Sparks fly at Spiderwalk

Keri Trigg

A group of students were left “shaken” when a gang of teenagers through fireworks directly at them during the annual Spiderwalk.

The seven girls, who raised £600 for charity Stop the Traffik, were targeted by the gang when they were the first of the 250-strong group to enter Endcliffe Park near the start of the 13-mile walk.

“As soon as we got into the park we saw two fireworks land relatively near us,” said Isabel Dobinson.

“II think we all screamed from the shock and because we were all wearing highvis jackets we were basically sitting ducks.

“After the first two fireworks a load got chucked directly at us - maybe about five or six and they exploded right next to us.

“One or two actually hit some of the girls’ legs as we ran away into the park.”

The whole group was held up for around 20 minutes while they waited for the police.

When they did not arrive,

stewards decided to proceed through the park rather than take an alternative route.

“Fireworks [were] thrown in the direction of some random participants in Endcliffe Park,” said RAG Chair Zoe Wilson.

“One of our committee members who was stewarding there called the police but they never showed.”

Isabel added: “We think there were maybe 8-10 guys who seemed pretty young, maybe 15 years old.

“When they heard us screaming they obviously knew we were girls so probably thought it was funny.

“We were all pretty shaken.

It sounds dramatic but the fireworks were landing so close.

“We were really annoyed because not only are they not allowed to set off fireworks in the park but we didn’t understand how anyone in their right mind would think it was OK to directly throw them at people.

“It honestly could have really hurt one of us.”

The trek, organised by the University’s Raising and Giving

(RAG) Society, saw walkers set off from the Students’ Union at 6.30pm on Friday 6 November, arriving back at Broomhill around six hours later.

go into it with any ambition.

My experience of these things is that they live or die, the fact is that you can’t really predict.

So I have no idea.

“I’m well versed enough to know that 2,000 signatures in less than a week is pretty good.

I think that in general petitions that are focused on a specific local concern tend to be more likely to do well, than great big save the world petitions.”

“I’m going to sit back, see whether the rate of signatures changes, take a guess as to when it’s all over, and hand it over to the council.”

Suggestions have been made on Chris’ petition for the old Park Hill flats to be opened up to the homeless throughout the winter months. Chris informed Forge Press that he has been in contact with the council.

Forge Press spoke to the Sheffield City Council about their plans regarding shelter for the homeless.

Councillor Jayne Dunn, cabinet member for housing, said: “We are aware of about 12 rough sleepers in Sheffield at the moment. We know there are other people who may appear to be sleeping rough, but many have got somewhere to stay, and may be involved in street activities such as drinking and begging.

“It’s really important that we

help all these people and we work with local charities, the police and other partners to do this. Nationally figures show that homelessness is increasing, but Sheffield is bucking the trend. We are focussing more on prevention and this is having an impact, but I am conscious that the impact of the Government’s welfare reforms have not fully hit here yet.

“During severe winter weather we provide accommodation to anyone who is forced to sleep on the street. We’re able

South Yorkshire Police were unable to confirm details of the incident, but anyone with information should call 101.

University employee calls for shelter for homeless

Polly Winn

A University of Sheffield member of staff has started a petition for Sheffield City Council to open up its empty properties to homeless people through the winter months.

Chris Dunlop, a member of staff at the University’s admissions department, started the petition on 38 degrees after the initiatives in Manchester to provide shelter for homeless people.

Speaking to Forge Press, Chris Dunlop said: “I received emails from 38 degrees, they sent an email saying this had worked in Manchester and Bradford, and that people should think about starting it up in their own city. So I thought, why don’t I just do it, it’ll take five minutes. So I just did it.”

“I picked up on what was going on in Manchester through stuff that was coming out in the mainstream press, as the footballers made a bunch of news by getting involved.”

Chris started the petition on Friday 6 November, and within three days it had reached 1,000 signatures. By Thursday 19 November it had reached over 4,000 signatures.

When asked how many signatures he’d like the petition to achieve, Chris said: “I don’t have any idea, I didn’t really

to meet the demand for this so are not planning to open up empty buildings at this time.

“I really welcome the concern shown by others about this. If you are worried about someone sleeping rough please contact our rough sleeper service on 0114 275 5973 so they can get the help and support they need.”

A spokesperson for the council said that they are currently focusing on prevention, to channel help through charities to those on the streets.

Forge Press | Friday 20 November 2015

@ForgePress /ForgePress

NEWS

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SU President faces fire over BME Councillor Resignation Robin Wilde and Joshua Hacket Nazmin Jahan served as BME officer for less than a week before announcing her resignation on Facebook.

Jahan cited irreconcilable differences with the President, in particular about the perceived lack of BME representation on slates - a group of students with similar politics who stand jointly in election.

At the first SU Council of the year, Chair Adam Hanrahan called slates “cliquey and disgusting.”

In some of the most damaging criticism the Union President has come under, concerns have been raised about the representation of BME students within Councillor positions.

Jahan was elected on Thursday 29 October, with 748 votes. The position was uncontested, with 119 votes to re-open nominations.

The BME councillor’s role

is to represent the views and opinions of students from BME backgrounds on the Students’ Union Council.

They sit alongside councillors representing International students, women and LGBT+ students.

The Big Decision elections for Students’ Union councillors and NUS National Conference delegates were criticised this week for general low turnout - with only four per cent of registered students making their voice heard.

Concern was also raised about the election of incumbent education officer Minesh Parekh to one of the NUS delegate positions, after confusion over the election’s Rules and Regulations.

Ex-Councillor Jahan, as well as SU Officers Christy McMorrow and Minesh Parekh have not yet been able to comment, as the situation is still being resolved.

The SU Council election results SUC Chair for first term Adam Hanrahan SUC Vice-Chair for first erm Serena Cavasin

Academic Representative Committee Billy Bryan Simon Todd Adam Hanrahan

Constitutional Committee Trustee Board Nomination Committee Peter Backhouse Serena Cavasin Minesh Parekh Katie Pinch

Forge Press Jargon Buster

In last week’s SU Council, members of the council questioned what some of the key terms meant. So we thought we’d break them down for you

Jargon

PGT

PGR

Usually refers to a specialised language that is used amongst a group of people that share work

Initialism for Postgraduate taught courses

Initialism for Postgraduate research courses

Are joint slates democratic?

Robin Wilde gives his perspective on whether slates are good or bad

In an election with multiple candidates, the aim must surely be to give electors as great a range of choice as possible.

The use of slates necessarily slashes that choice, and means that voters who are unaware that several candidates are standing on the same platform may have the illusion of choice where none exists.

It not only locks out independently minded candidates from having a decent chance at victory, but on SU council and the NUS,

it smooths out differences and reduces the necessary nuance and compromise of governance.

But more than anything else, it seems a remarkably pointless exercise. Despite the presence of a slate in this NUS Delegate election, not all of those listed were elected as the slate intends. It marks out again the problem of social media - that messaging simply pinballs around among those who already know about or support it, while not reaching the vast majority. It’s perhaps the reason we’re seeing turnouts of four per cent, and it’s damaging for democracy.

LGBT+

Slate

BME

Stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and the plus incorporates any other ways that individuals may define. The University has an elected LGBT+ Councillor, who is responsible for chairing LGBT+ committee. The elected councillor for this year is Lizzy Kelly

A joint ticket, on which those with shared values run collectively.

Candidates that run together on a slate effectively endorse each other, and encourage their own supporters to vote for whoever accompanies them on the slate

Black, Minority, ethnic. The University of Sheffield has an elected BME councillor that leads the BME committee, and is responsible for representing BME students and ensuring equality. The position is currently vacant

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NEWS

Firday 20 November 2015 | Forge Press

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“By standing here, we are answering with unity” Keri Trigg “The terrorists want to separate us. They want to make us afraid. They want to make us react with hate, divide us by religion or into other categories, and by standing here we are answering with unity, not with division.

“We are praying for the world. We are praying for Paris, Beirut and Baghdad.

“We are praying for peace.”

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West said: “To all those who feel fear and loss, your University will stand with you.”

“But we want to do more than that. We want to work together to show that there is a better way. To continue to use our education and our research to make our whole world a better place.”

Toby Varian, from Le Cercle Français, also spoke of his year abroad in Paris and his personal thoughts on the attacks.

He said: “Last year, I was lucky enough to spend 10 months living abroad in Paris, and any of my friends will be able to tell you how every time I mention my year abroad my face just lights up.

“However, over the past few days this light has been dampened by the atrocities which have taken place over the weekend.

“There is something very different about people being murdered along streets you have walked in and can visualise, where people you care about live.

“And while I don’t think anyone consciously places greater value on the lives of one group of people than another, you do feel like the attacks are a lot

closer to home.

“If I personally learnt anything from my time abroad in France, it’s that the French people stand tall and proud in the face of fear. They unite together to convey a message more powerful than fear.

“Although these terrorist attacks may break and shake us, we will come back stronger than ever, and we will prove to the world that France will not cave in to these extremist threats.”

A French poem was also read, before Students’ Union President Christy McMorrow led the crowd in a three-minute silence - one minute for each country affected.

“I am very honoured on a day like today to represent a student body which has turned out in such numbers to show

its love and support to the people who are facing violence around the world,” said McMorrow.

“In the last week, we have seen real human tragedies around the globe. We have seen shocking terror destroy communities and families with no interest in violence.

“As a student body, today we express our love and solidarity with all those people affected.

“We also want to send our support to French, Lebanese and Iraqi students, and those closely linked to these countries, who have seen their home countries at the end of this violence.

“Our hearts are with you.

“The attacks in Paris have stunned many of us. France is a country that many of us have had the benefit of visiting,

most of us have studied some of its language, and it is one of our closest neighbours.

“All of this means that, understandably, we feel shocked and scared by the violence there.

He added that the attacks “feel close to home and show that none of us are immune from a world at war with itself.”

He added: “We must not let hate divide us. In the coming weeks we know full well that these atrocities will be used to justify generalisations, war, the closing of borders and discrimination against Muslims throughout Europe.

“To allow such acts to divide us, is to let the violence win.

We must stand tall in our defence of diversity, solidarity and unity.”

Action for international students

Keri Trigg

University of Sheffield students joined a country-wide walkout on November 17 to show support for international students and migrants.

“Today, it’s the national day of solidarity,” said International Students’ Officer Peggy Lim. “We have had too much from the Government. International students are always on the migration targets.

“So we asked students to walk out at 10.30 to show solidarity with international students, refugees and asylum seekers.”

Students were also encouraged to share their messages to the home office, to be compiled into an open letter.

“We have done something extra with our campaign,” added Peggy.

“We are asking students to send their messages to the Home Office.

“It’s just not fair. Everybody is international. Especially after the attacks, we have people saying ‘shut the borders’ and I just think that’s quite harsh.

“It’s not necessary because we are not the ones who have done this. It’s just going to create more tensions and divide people.

“It’s not just about the walkout, it’s about the message that we send as well.”

The Day of Solidarity, organised by the NUS, saw students across the UK walk out of lectures at 10.30am.

Uni study finds benches improve mental health Jessica Davis

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have found sitting on public benches is beneficial to mental health.

They found that spending time on benches should be essential for sound mentality/ wellbeing according the research publish by the University and The Young Foundation.

This is part of the Bench Project, set out by the University’s Department of Landscape and The Young Foundation with Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Sussex and the Greenwich Inclusion Project.

The project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and there has been an 18 minute documentary produced, titled ‘Alone Together, the Social Life of Benches’.

This will be premiered in Woolwich and Sutton in November.

Landlords fined in crackdown on hazard houses Lisa Latham Two landlords have admitted neglecting to address safety and general maintenance issues on multiple counts in Sheffield properties.

Mohammad Altaf Hussain, 74, has received a fine and costs totalling £3,000 following the discovery of six safety hazards including a collapsing floor and serious fire risks in his property on Pitsmoor Road.

Nadeem Hussain, 44, faces a fine of over £16,000 for similar offences in five different properties, two in Sheffield.

Councillor Jayne Dunn, Cabinet Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods, said: “We are doing what we said we would do. We are cracking down on landlords who refuse to accept their responsibilities.”

Forge Press | Friday 20 November 2015

@ForgePress /ForgePress

Britain First bans "racism" at Sheffield conference Will Morgan A Britain First conference was held in the Sheffield area on Saturday 14 November.

Britain First is a far-right Christian nationalist group that has more than 1,000,000 likes on its Facebook page, 500,000 more than the Labour party or the Conservative party.

The conference took place in Renishaw, a village on the outskirts of Sheffield, in the function room of the Sitwell Arms.

Conference attendees were required to go to the Welcome Break service station on the M1 to receive instruction on where the conference was being held for fear of an anti-fascist protest.

These instructions then lead to a further relocation point where the real destination was revealed.

Attendees were then allowed to enter the venue after having their social media profiles checked.

The room was furnished with floral drapes, multi-coloured lights and a disco ball.

Using hand held Union Jack flags, around 50 attendees

voted to ban the religion of Islam in the United Kingdom and to ban the word “racism”, citing freedom of speech as a justification.

The group also amended their unit leader’s roles to “commander” and “deputy-commander”.

The vast majority of policies passed at the conference passed with no dissent.

During the conference, leader Paul Golding stated that the group, though a political party, was unlikely to gain power through election but through a “bloody civil war”.

In the English Civil War, 1642-1651, 3.6 per cent of the population died.

Britain First’s founder Jim Dowson resigned in 2014, giving Britain First’s “racists and extremists” as his reason.

Britain First’s website claims that the group isn’t racist as “the word “racism” was invented by a communist mass murderer, Leon Trotsky, to silence European opposition to “multi-culturalism”, so we do not recognise the validity of this made-up word.”

The Oxford English Diction-

ary places Richard Henry Pratt as the first person to use the word in 1902.

Paul Golding is a former BNP councillor and helped bring the group to fame through videos on Britain First’s Facebook page with content including harassing taxi drivers in Rotherham and interrogating migrants in Calais.

Attendees were also lead in

the Lord’s Prayer before being shown a montage of soldiers in Afghanistan, followed by a minute silence.

• At the time of going to print, News Editor Will Morgan was banned from the Britain First Facebook page as a result of an article he wrote on the conference for Huffington Post, which can be found on their webiste.

Alice Farmery

Ellena Rowlin

Firth Court opened its doors to dance performances, film projections, and live bacteria fighting on November 13.

The free event ran through the evening as part of KrebsFest, along with that giant E-Coli structure, celebrating the work of Sir Hans Krebs.

The festival has been running different events across the city for the last month, which have been organised by the University.

Science fans of all ages enjoyed a range of activities both outside and inside the campus building, which is also now home to a glass hand blown glass mitochondria (a type of cell), as well as the more rec-

ognisable inflatable E-Coli.

The lights of the court walls were lit with graphics and artworks and short videos explaining the science behind diseases. A particularly popular activity was the walk across custard to discover the fun behind nanoscience. Liquid Nitrogen was also served in the Krebs Café, to a queue out the door.

Greg Gilmour, a University of Sheffield MBB student, said: “This night was a great opportunity to bring science to life and to celebrate the work of a great scientist in a fun and unique way.”

Krebsfest continues through the month with talks with various Nobel prize winners at Firth Court.

NATIONAL NEWS Anti-Lego slippers Lego has announced that they are introducing Lego foot-protectors to protect parents’ feet from stray Lego bricks.

French advertising agency Brand Station collaborated with the Danish toy firm to come up with a solution to this parental nightmare in time for Christmas.

The Lego-branded slippers are going to be made with an extra-thick sole to protect sensitive feet from Lego related anarchy.

The slippers are designed to allow parents to stride into any play room without fear of the rogue Lego brick and come in both a red and yellow design.

The safety wear is regrettably limited to only 1,500 sets which will be randomly given away to customers who create a wish-list on the Lego France website, so you will have to be quick to snap up the safety wear of the century.

Yorkshiremen choose pints over flooding

Acts announced for Outlines festival In-Kreb-ible night to celebrate science

NEWS

7

The organisers of Sheffield’s Tramlines have announced the creation of a brand new music festival, which will take place in the city on February 27 in multiple venues across the city centre.

The one-day event, named Outlines Festival, is being branded as Tramlines’ ‘younger cousin’, with venues ranging from The Harley, Queen’s Social Club and Plug, to more eclectic spaces such as the city’s roller rink.

As expected, the line-up incorporates a variety of genres to cater for a wide range of musical tastes, showcasing a mix of established acts and emerging talent from Sheffield and further afield.

The ‘influential UK bass mu-

sic pioneer’ and winner of a MOBO for Best Hip Act, Roots Manuva will headline the festival.

Described as ‘the voice of urban Britain’, Roots will be accompanied by London-born musician Georgia, UK hip-hop artist Loyle Carner and Tramlines veterans Hey Sholay.

Other acts that have been confirmed include the girlsbands The Big Moon and PINS, indie-pop artist Oscar, Nimmo, Kagoule (‘structurally dynamic alt-rock’) and Thee Mightees (‘inventive, jangly pop music’), with many more to be announced in the run up to the event.

With an exciting line-up and Super Earlybird tickets starting from just £16, Outlines promises to be popular with both students and locals alike.

Two men in Leeds have been pictured sat in a pub garden, continuing to finish their pints despite being waist-deep in floodwater.

John Kelly and Steve Hoult are both owners of the pub in Leeds and were undeterred by the rising tides.

Far from being put off by the overflowing River Aire, Mr Kelly and Mr Hoult decided to make the most of their Sunday afternoon by enjoying a quiet one in their new surroundings.

In a statement they said: “We weren’t impressed with the river’s watery nonsense so we thought we’d just have a pint in our beloved beer garden anyway.”

The display of Yorkshire stubbornness attracted a crowd of spectators to the pub.

When the waters receded and the crowd dispersed Mr Kelly and Mr Hoult began the clean up and said they look forward to seeing the “stupid pictures.”

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NEWS

Friday 20 November 2015 | Forge Press

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Students hitch to Glasgow Hollywood?

More like for local charities Fulwood Luke Baldwin

Around 200 University of Sheffield students hitch hiked to Glasgow on 11 November as part of the annual charity fundraiser, Baby Bummit.

Departing from the Students’ Union at 8.30am, the participants were required to reach Glasgow by the end of the day, travelling approximately 260 miles.

The first group arrived in Glasgow at around two o’clock, but some groups failed to reach the destination at all.

Students were encouraged to spend as little of their own money as possible on the journey.

After arriving, they spent a night in Glasgow, staying at a hostel, before returning to Sheffield the following day.

Organisers also revealed the final location for this year’s main Bummit event, which will be Ljubljana, in Slovenia.

Baby Bummit is labelled as the taster event for those considering taking part in the pan-European hitchhike which takes place during Easter break. This year’s Big Bummit is to Slovenian capital Ljublja-

Dan West

na.

Every student taking part was required to raise a minimum of £75 in order to take part in the event, but organisers have revealed that the current figure raised is over £18,000.

This money will be used to aid four local Sheffield charities including the Newlife foundation who provide specialist equipment to help disabled children, and the Margaret Carey Foundation who offer workshops to young offenders in prison in order to give them valuable skills and help with the rehabilitation process.

The money will also be donated to the South Yorkshire Eating Disorder Association and ASSIST Sheffield, helping find accommodation and provide better living conditions for refugees.

Third year Journalism student Alex Grove, said: “It was a lot of fun considering I’ve never hitch hiked before in my life, and to do it for such great local charities really made it that little bit more special.”

Alex and his two groupmates raised a total of £275 for four local charities.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties, starring Elle Fanning (Maleficent), Nicole Kidman and Matt Lucas, among others, has begun filming in Sheffield.

It is sci-fi romance film based on an award winning short story written by Neil Gaiman in 2006.

Under director John Cameron Mitchell they have been shooting at Record Junkee, on Cambridge Street, at people’s homes in Meersbrook and at La Perle Cafe in the Wicker.

The cast were spotted in 70’s attire, as many of them are playing punk-rockers.

Sheffield is standing in as a 1970s South London and filming is reported to be taking place in Sheffield and South London for 6 weeks.

Junior Doctors to strike after landslide vote Ellena Rowlin

Junior doctors will strike next month after an overwhelming 98% voted for drastic action.

The series of walk-outs are

the reaction to the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt’s proposals for a new contract which will see longer working hours with no corresponding pay rise.

The ballot saw a turnout of just over 37,700 members, over two-thirds of the workforce, which resulted in 98% voting for a full strike and 99% voting in favour of action

just short of a strike.

The first walk-out will start on December 1 with two more strikes in the planning for later on in the month.

Despite Jeremy Hunt calling it “very, very disappointing” news, junior doctors in the making are not so sure. Forge spoke to University of Sheffield student, Lianne Sellors, last issue after she received national press from posting on Facebook that she’d be better off working in McDonald’s than becoming a doctor under the new contract.

Third year Medical student at the University of Sheffield, Katherine Godfrey, said: “Although on paper the new proposal to raise basic pay by 11% may seem attractive, the accompanied increase in basic working hours mean the proposal is not only unfair, but is unsafe too.

“Working until 10pm on weekdays and on Saturdays will leave junior doctors too tired to carry out their roles effectively, and it will be the patients who suffer.”

Toddla Tree Robin Wilde

Protests against the felling and replanting of a small number of trees across Sheffield have branched out into new realms with a rap from Sheffield musicians Coco and Toddla T. As part of the music video, Coco raps: “Whatever happened to us keeping it green?

“True to say I’m part of the Sheffield scene and I’ve got to represent for the Sheffield team.”

The protests, gathering 10,000 signatures for a Lib Dem petition, sprang up following objections to the felling of trees on Rustlings Road, despite the street’s close proximity to leafy Endcliffe Park.

Sheffield City Council maintains that the trees block road access for wheelchairs and pushchairs, and that some of the trees are at risk of dying.

Forge Press | Friday 20 November 2015

@ForgePress /ForgePress

NEWS

9

Sheffield welcomes founder of Black Lives Matter Lisa Latham

Active member and co-founder of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Janaya Khan, visited Sheffield Students’ Union on Wednesday 18 November.

A public event was hosted in the Nelson Mandela auditorium to discuss issues surrounding unnecessary police brutality across nations.

The NUS Black Students’ Campaign organised the visit in recognition of high levels of deaths in police custody and the lack of scrutiny around police involvement, particularly in the UK. Black Lives Matter has been central in addressing issues of unnecessary law enforcement violence, and has sparked global debates regarding the mistreatment of black people at the hands of the state.

The national organisation was founded in 2012, following the acquittal of charges against a US police officer for shooting and killing 17-yearold Trayvon Martin with no evi-

dence of crimes committed.

Janaya Khan is a black, queer, gender non-conforming activist, staunch Afrofuturist, and social justice educator.

Janaya, who also goes by the name Future, is touring UK Universities to globalise Black Lives Matter, raise awareness of state inequalities and encourage those who feel strongly about it to unite.

SU Women’s Officer Sharmin Jahan said: “The event was very inspiring and highlighted the importance of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.”

“Having the co-founder come from Toronto was incredible, the audience were very engaged with Jay/Future.”

“At one point she said “all lives will only matter when black lives matter” the audience responded to this saying “that’s deep””.

“We have received a lot of positive feedback from it and many students left their details to be involved in future campaigns/events the BME Students’ Committee does.”

Forge Press: blast from the past Nathaniel Robinson In the 1970s Sheffield experienced the winter of discontent, the introduction of pocket calculators and the Darts’ “nipple probe” feature.

The feature discussed the major incident of “BOSOMS” bursting out over all of the pages of women’s magazines.

The capitalised emphasis on “BOSOMS” was evidently symbolic of the severity of the incident and of the importance of Bosoms to Darts’ readers.

Followers of women’s magazines were apparently left “impressed” by the bursting out of “NAKED, shielded, or flimsily covered; breasts.”

For students dependent upon getting their fortnightly nipple fix, Darts reassured readers that they “are

preparing a full page photo feature” illuminating the nipple probe phenomenon.

For those reading more scientific degrees graphs were offered which “dramatically” illustrated the rise in nipple incidence over the last few months.

Readers were also reminded not to forget the upcoming Art Festival Special Edition of Darts which promised to give “the low down on Tits.”

In other nipple related news Darts reassured readers that it would follow up on its feature and “expose the tits!” in their next issue.

Friday 20 November 2015 | Forge Press

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Children playing in the Bogside, Derry, Northern Ireland. Photo Credit: Gisueppe Milo, www.pixael.com

We wouldn’t tolerate the politics of religion anywhere else - so why in northern ireland?

Robin Wilde

T

his week, the Northern Irish Assembly voted to legalise equal marriage, bringing it into line with not just the rest of the United Kingdom, but after Ireland’s vote earlier this year, with the whole of the British Isles.

But registrars will not be drawing up certificates any time soon.

The reason is that the Democratic Unionist Party, Ian Paisley’s tubthumping vehicle for Protestant anger, blocked the move on a “petition of concern” - a measure introduced in the Good Friday Agreement that allowed Assembly Members to block legislation considered to unfairly impact a religious community.

A YouGov poll this summer suggests even among unionists, same sex marriage has majority support among both Catholic communities and Protestants - 75 per cent and 57 per cent respectively. Among the young those aged 18-34 - support stands at a staggering 82 per cent.

This is not a divisive measure, and the DUP’s move is clearly abuse of a mechanism designed to stop the inflammation of religious tension.

But that this move is being undertaken is representative of a broader problem with Northern Irish politics - one which underpins most difficulties that area now finds itself in.

Northern Ireland must be one of the few places in western democratic society where religion and nationality, more than any other issue, can be used to predict how a person will vote. At the general election in May, 597,000 votes

were cast in Northern Ireland for parties in either direction associated with the nationalist or unionist communities.

Just over 100,000 were cast for nonsectarian candidates.

If Northern Ireland is to make progress in both the social and economic spheres, it is high time for the UK’s major political parties to grow a backbone and start opening their offices. The argument goes that this issue is above politics and that tensions would be inflamed.

But tensions are already inflamed.

The Stormont assembly is in perpetual deadlock, as we saw over summer when unionists took their ball and went home.

The Good Friday Agreement lays out that Northern Ireland shall remain part of the United Kingdom unless and until a majority of its citizens desire otherwise.

That should remain the case. But while it remains in the UK, the people of Northern Ireland - 1.8 million of them, with lives and hopes and aspirations - need better governance than fan clubs to the battles of forty years ago, fighting back and forth over flags and marriage.

“We do politics a disservice if we pretend these six counties exist in a vacuum” The Northern Ireland Conservatives do operate on a small scale. But this usually takes place in alliance with the UUP, tarring them with the explicitly unionist brush. Their support is also minimal as the national party do not wish to draw the fire that would come from the unionist establishment for their campaigning.

The Northern Ireland Labour party is a full constituency party, with rights to take motions and delegates to national

conference, to elect the party leader, and to stand as candidates anywhere across the UK. But those 1,000 men and women - larger than many English or Welsh, and all Scottish constituency parties - are denied the right to vote at home for candidates who match their beliefs.

The ethno-nationalist focus manages to obscure what are the most important factors in driving voting behaviour in almost every other functioning democracy - the division of wealth, the availability of jobs, and the level of wages a person has. A Protestant shop worker on minimum wage from East Belfast has far more in common with their Catholic counterpart from the West than either does with a Protestant banker who moved away ten years ago and votes DUP by post from the City of London every five years.

There is no avenue, for instance, for a person of conservative tendencies who also happens to believe in a united Ireland. They must vote for either the centre-left SDLP, or the hard-left Sinn Fein. Nor are there options for a person who believes in Northern Ireland as a unified part of a socialist UK - they are forced to back a constitutional position they don’t believe in, or an economic and social position they hate.

These people should see options on ballot papers that reflect their opinions.

The left wing unionist would be voting Labour, as might a conscientious nationalist who trusts the GFA settlement.

The right-wing Irish Nationalist can vote Conservative, knowing that unification may come some day under the GFA, but that meanwhile centre-right policies will be enacted in government.

It will stop the disenfranchisement of all those in Northern Ireland forced to vote for parties which can never serve in government. It will also challenge the total disenfranchisement of those in Sinn Fein constituencies, whose MPs take their salaries but refuse to defend their constituents in the chamber. They talk the left-wing talk, but when the division

bells are rung, refuse to participate on the basis of arcane politics 90 years past.

Those in mainstream UK parties might tell us that it is too risky - that the Northern Irish settlement is above politics. But when the executive was thrown into crisis as the Unionists walked out, that was a political decision, as it was when Martin McGuinness met the Queen. Politics happens in Northern Ireland, like it or not, and often isn’t done well. We do politics and the battle of ideas a disservice if we pretend these six counties exist in a vacuum, kept away from normal political discourse by the patronising view that their inhabitants cannot be sworn off violence.

Young people in Northern Ireland today did not grow up in the midst of violence and suspicion like their parents in the 1970s and 1980s, nor under the political strife and

segregation of their grandparents in the 1950s a n d 1960s. They are to be trusted with their futures, but political involvement won’t appeal to them while still restricted by old certainties of nationality and old-fashioned dividing lines between communities.

It’s clear that on certain issues there are strong differences in views between Northern Irish people of different faiths. A recent YouGov poll on an EU referendum, for example, finds Catholics near unanimously in favour of membership, while Protestants lean fairly heavily towards exit.

But that’s true as well of supporters of different political parties in the rest of the UK too. In a developed nation, there’s no reason EU membership has to

be or, in a developed nation, should be decided along religious lines. People in Northern Ireland are grown up and sensible enough to leave the church and politics on different sides of the room, but they have to be treated that way.

The mainstream parties making their entrance in Northern Ireland isn’t a radical or new idea in the political discourse - it was an idea heartily endorsed by Andy Burnham in this year’s Labour leadership election but even if it was, it would be a lie to suggest it would be destabilising or a step too far.

The Northern Irish parties already act as de facto backers of the UK parties anyway. The UUP only split from the Conservatives in the 1970s and the DUP still follow the party’s whips, increasing the government’s majority by 20. The Social Democratic and Labour party follows Labour’s whips in the Commons, and before her defeat in Belfast East, Naomi Long of the Alliance party nearly always voted with the Liberal Democrats.

With the normalisation of Northern Irish politics away from the ethnonationalist parties - which may, full confession, take decades - those 1.8 million people can get on with answering the truly important questions.

How do they support local business?

How do they create jobs? How do they raise wages, provide housing, improve educational outcomes, tackle crime?

Those are questions which affect the lives of the Northern Irish people far more than drawn-out rows over the Troubles and the waving of flags. And those people will be grateful for real answers.

Got an opinion? Join the debate at press.comment@forgetoday.com

Forge Press | Friday 20 November 2015

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COMMENT

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s we lead up towards the end of the year, we’re aware there’ll be endless drama and worries to reflect upon. As unmitigated champions of life, we’re here to tell you what you’re going to do about it.

To receive our agony relations’ advice in response to your problem, email press.comment@forgetoday.com, or tweet us at @ForgePress

Higher education must be about more than money and jobs

H

Jack brentnall

igher Education is under attack.

The demonstration in London on 4 November is just one manifestation of a student body that is tired and fed up of continued Conservative pressure. Amidst talk of a student strike to protest these assaults on higher education, you may well ask what we can do as students.

We should not sit back and look to the NUS. It is too bureaucratic and replete with aspiring career politicians to ever offer meaningful change. We should take a step back from such a representative model and see what we ourselves can do at a local level. It is here that change is truly possible and we need to start now.

The issue with existing higher education practices (and education in general) is that they are encouraging hierarchies and following orders. It is interesting to note that our education system is based on the so-called

Prussian model, developed in the 19th century as an explicit attempt to eradicate free thought.

Johann Gottlieb Fichte, a famous proponent of the Prussian system, openly claimed that “The schools must fashion the person, and fashion him in such a way that he simply cannot will otherwise than what you wish him to will.”

“Higher education is being infested with right wing ideology” As university students it is our responsibility to challenge these outdated educational models and seek to institute alternatives. One such alternative takes the form of so-

called “counter-hegemonic learning environments”. Despite the somewhat grandiose title, this simply means offering an alternative to the existing structures of higher education. One way we can do this is to reject the assumed superiority of teachers over students and university’s preparation for the rat race. By rejecting these ideas we can move towards a more egalitarian system in which the advancement of knowledge serves as the end of education, rather than a method to attain the status of ‘employable’.

We should recognise that learning is not a passive process in which we absorb the knowledge of a lecturer but a synthetic discussion between all parties. The establishment of nonhierarchical learning environments including workshops and seminars offer a valuable solution. Through these we can challenge the prevalent structures and push for a non-hierarchical, more democratic form of education.

Higher education is being infested with

right wing ideology, turning universities into factory farms for corporations and conglomerates. We are commodified and told the purpose of university is to get a respectable, well paid job and that we must market ourselves if we are to swim, not sink. Couple with skyhigh fees and see how the student has paradoxically become consumer and commodity rather than person.

Counter-hegemonic learning spaces help challenge this process. They represent the introduction of a fairer, more democratic system of learning that is better for all involved and allow us to push the boundaries of education and what it can mean.

For far too long education has been about passively accepting received wisdom – counter-hegemony offers the beginning of a new wave of education.

University is not about employability but about learning for no other purpose than learning itself. It is time this was recognised if we are to ever win out in the fight against marketised education.

We should remember those lost in paris, and eradicate racism from society

J

MElissa Matos

oseph Goebbels, in his article entitled ‘The Jews are Guilty!’, said “The Jews are a parasitic race that feeds like a foul fungus on the cultures of healthy but ignorant peoples. There is only one effective measure: cut them out.”

When Goebbels wrote this article in 1941, the Nazi’s Final Solution had been finalised at the Wannsee Conference.

Four years later, British troops entered the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and discovered Hitler’s devastation.

10,000 corpses lay in piles, lining the gutters whilst thousands of prisoners continued to die from diseases such as typhus, typhoid and tuberculosis. In total it is imagined that approximately 11 million people were killed in Nazi concentration camps, and the world promised ‘never again’.

Fast forward to 2015, a year in which the consequences of the Syrian civil war have arguably come to the forefront of the western conscience. The war began as an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship in 2011 and has since descended into a complex civil war involving both the Sunni and Shia sectors of society alongside jihadist groups such as ISIS (or Daesh as they should really be called) and foreign powers such as the United States and Russia, who are manipulating the war into a proxy war of their own.

Nevertheless, there has been documented use of chemical weapons, 7.6 million Syrians have been internally displaced, a further four million have fled Syria and over 250,000 have

ultimately died. Alongside images of disfigured adults and children, not to mention the picture of Aylan Kurdi washed up on a Greek beach, it isn’t hard to understand the motives for the recent refugee crisis, nor the struggles they face in attempting to flee Syria itself.

“Many forget that the majority of victims of jihadist groups are Muslims themselves” On 13 November, Paris became headline news for the second time this year as yet another terrorist strike hit the city. News of spot terrorist attacks are starting to feel all too frequent in Europe, from Lee Rigby’s murder in London to the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January, and the frustration and sense of urgency to combat this terrorism is growing.

ISIS have already claimed responsibility for the attack, and in doing so have exacerbated racism and hate towards Muslims of all kinds, despite the fact that they are no representation of Islam at all. A scroll through Facebook at the moment is enough to lose faith in humanity altogether. The UKIP rhetoric of closing borders seems to be brainwashing even

more people, despite the fact that the refugees coming through our borders are escaping this exact type of terror which occurs in Syria on a daily basis.

Even more disturbing are those insulting and threatening Muslims and sounding very much like Joseph Goebbels reincarnated; the hate and venom shown towards Muslims nowadays is growing ever more similar to the anti-Semitism of Nazi Germany.

Many forget that the majority of victims of jihadist groups are Muslims themselves; 41 were killed by Isis suicide bombers in Beirut last week whilst a mass grave was recently discovered in Sinjar, Iraq which is believed to contain the remains of 70 women killed by the group. Similarly, Boko Haram are still unleashing terror in Nigeria after the well-documented kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls; a story which faded quickly from western media.

While many people do not share some of the more extreme, racist views towards Muslims, the Facebook frenzy following the Paris attacks proved that ultimately, unless you’re white or European, we simply don’t care. Civil wars, bombings, shootings and genocides take place in various countries all over the world every day and never do we show fellow human compassion to these people, nor our ‘western values’ of ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’.

While the French flag on Facebook is used with the best of intentions, as well as Instagram pictures of the Eiffel Tower or light displays across Wembley Stadium, I see them as nothing more than useless gestures in the face of

“Having seen Justin Bieber’s beautiful penis, I don’t think my boyfriend can ever compare.” - Chloe Chloeman

L

et’s be honest, celebrities are superhuman cyborgs designed and raised by our economic overlords to be an uber-class of impossibly attractive people for us all to aspire to emulate the unattainable beauty of.

This tricks us into spending all of our money on consumer products marketed to the ugly mediocrity of humanity, and spending all of our time on frantically pursuing the unrealistic human ideal.

The creation of this celebrity uberclass is a campaign of social control and domination to maintain us as obedient, passive little consumers.

So Chloe, your obsession with Bieber’s perfect penis, and dissatisfaction with that of your boyfriend, is playing into the hands of our capitalist oppressors.

We must embrace the mediocrity of our partners’ penises, for it is the only way to resist the creeping consumerism.

Yours, Chris

such tragedies and an insult to those that have died and continue dying around the world and who escape our attention.

Perhaps a more fitting tribute to those that died in Paris on Friday and in Beirut on Thursday would be to strive to eradicate racist views from our society and work to end the suffering of the millions of people in Syria and indeed worldwide, so that ‘never again’ can really mean ‘never again’.

“My flatmate won’t stop making bad puns” - Bill Phayles

I This is the first in a series of Comment pieces regarding the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. The views expressed within are those of the author and not necessarily representative of either the Comment editors or Forge Press.

Go to www.forgetoday.com for more.

t sounds like your mate is flat because of an underinflated ego. The best solution is one containing vinegar and bicarbonate of soda.

If you need something to distract you, I’ve been reading a book about how to keep healthy in zero-gravity. It’s impossible to put down.

Issues like this are a bit like a baseball. You spend ages trying to work out why it keeps getting bigger, and then it hits you.

If my advice doesn’t help, my experience might - I once had a friend, a musician who wouldn’t stop making bird puns, but then I realised toucan play at that game. It didn’t quite stop him though, so I hooked him up to a car battery. Turned out he was right to be in music - he was such a good conductor.

You shouldn’t just let this fester, Bill or you’ll end up paying the price.

Yours, Robin

Friday 20 November 2015 | Forge Press

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Understanding

Consen t Has to

KEITH BURNETT, ACT YOUR AGE; PAY YOUR STAFF A LIVING WAGE

start Early

stuart mcmillan

N

Jess Williams

as consent. This discussion is one which needs to be had urgently, especially given the chilling statistic that 80 per cent of rape victims know their attacker.

There shouldn’t be a grey area in terms of consent in which people are not sure because this only leads to dangerous situations and too many unjust outcomes.

Further shocking research released by the Daily Telegraph showed that one in every three female students are assaulted whilst at university. But statistics only show half of the story. On campus rape culture is prevalent and has only recently begun to be examined in much depth.

Incidents and examples range from Aberystwyth University cricket team’s “Casual Rape” t-shirts being banned

to St Mary’s sports chant advocating the rape of under-age girls.

As students we frequently hear things that have been said “lightheartedly” such as a male student saying he would like to take a paralytic girl home, have sex with her and then make it back out.

The fact that these kind of instances still occur shows that we need to be much less tolerant of rape culture as this also blurs the boundaries of what is and isn’t acceptable in terms of consent.

The rise of rape culture on campus has led to consent workshops popping up at various universities. The aim of these is to open up a dialogue about what counts as consent. However they have received backlash due to a number of male students protesting

The attack on junior doctors is an attack on us all

pay for all work done.

Proper hours safeguards protecting patients and their doctors Industrial action for junior doctors poses some serious questions to medical students: do they leave their placements to support their colleagues and defend their future careers?

The General Medical Council say that a medical student is “unfit to practice” if their attendance is less than 80 per cent, so medical schools are currently unable to explicitly support their students in strike action. It will come down to the individual’s decision if they want to join the junior doctors on the picket line.

If medical students do attend placement on the days of the strike, they risk the pressure of doing more procedures unsupervised, on understaffed wards, putting themselves and patients at risk. If they don’t, they risk penalisation for their absence.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, they now need as much support as possible from their peers and lecturers.

How does this fit into the NHS as a whole? Since Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt refuses to back down on the most contentious issues of the Junior Doctors contract, health workers and patients must unite to defend their NHS. If the BMA (the union Aneurin Bevan had to pay off in order to found the welfare state) isn’t safe, then nobody is.

L

ast week I tuned in to watch “Is This Rape? Sex On Trial” in which teenagers were shown a dramatized scenario of a boy having oral sex with a sleeping girl and asked to decide whether it qualified as rape. As soon as I saw the scenario it was clear to me that it was rape - the girl had been sleeping. She had not said yes, and therefore at no time did she give consent. I assumed this was a given, and was shocked and disheartened to hear how many teenagers did not see it the way I did.

Statements such as “I think he raped her but he is not a rapist” and “She didn’t say no” were thrown around which were really concerning to hear.

But it isn’t just these teenagers who are confused on the issue of consent.

A 2010 survey showed that one in 20 men would not see a problem in having sex with someone who is asleep.

What this shows is that there is a definite confusion among young people about what does and does not qualify

Rachel hallam On 28 October, around 250 Sheffield students travelled up to Leeds to join a 2,000-strong protest against the new junior doctors’ contracts. This protest mirrors protests and marches taking place up and down the country (including a march of 20,000 in London) in the past two months and support has been building to oppose contracts which are unsafe for patients and unfair to doctors.

The “non-negotiable” terms of the new contract are an extension of the existing standard working time of junior doctors from 60 to 90 hours per week, changing ‘social hours’ to 7am10pm Monday to Saturday. This means that Junior Doctors will be paid the same for working 9am on a Monday morning as they will for working 9pm on a Saturday.

The new contracts put an end to banding payments, which have builtin safeguards to prevent excessive hours and to ensure sufficient breaks.

This means there will be no way of preventing unsafe hours from being worked or to guarantee junior doctors are paid when shifts overrun.

Changes to pay progression

will impact heavily on part-time workers and will put junior doctors off undertaking specialist training, in addition to disadvantaging those wishing to take maternity leave.

These changes will affect the quality of life for those giving care, overall exacerbating the health inequalities already rife within the UK. Get the 83a in Sheffield from Fulwood to Ecclesfield and the life expectancy of the people around you drops by a year for every three minutes you travel. GPs who are tired and demoralised will not be able to treat their patients to the high standards NHS patients deserve.

The British Medical Association (BMA) balloted its junior members in England for industrial action, with an almost unbelievable 98% voting in favour. If strike action takes place, the BMA require the following concrete assurances before re-entering into the negotiations with NHS employers: • Proper recognition of unsocial hours as premium time • No disadvantage for those working unsocial hours compared to the current system • No disadvantage for those working less than full time and taking parental leave compared to the current system

that they do not need to be taught how not to rape.

Although I think the intention of these workshops are good, by the time people enter university (if indeed they ever do) it is too late to start teaching what is and what isn’t consent. By the time students get to university they will have been able to have sex legally for at least two years. They will have learnt about the basics of sex many years before. Consent needs to be taught in schools.

We have sex education at a fairly early age in order to teach us the key facts we need to know about sex.

The basics such as pregnancy, STIs and contraception are topics usually covered. Surely consent should be involved in this teaching as one of the key things you need to be clear on before you have sex with anybody.

Consent needs to be part of the curriculum in order to hammer the point home from an early age: Anything other than yes is not consent.

ew figures calculated by the Living Wage Foundation show that the Living Wage is now £8.25 an hour, taking into account the rising cost of living across the country.

Thanks to pressure applied by the University of Sheffield Living Wage Campaign, the Students’ Union, trade unions and broad public support, the University announced in August last year that it would pay a ‘living wage’ of £7.65. This was welcome news, but it didn’t go nearly far enough.

The rise only applied to ‘core staff’, meaning those who do casual work did not feel the benefit. Because the university is not signed up to be an accredited Living Wage employer, it is now no longer keeping that pay rate in line with the living wage.

We seem to need to annually remind the university that it is fostering poverty.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the cost of living for people in the UK is rising faster than wages. The ominous shadow of tax credit cuts still looms over the poor and vulnerable in the shape of George Osborne’s fixed sneer. Property prices continue to rocket in a process which in some areas can only be described as gentrification and what’s left of British workers’ rights are being dismantled to the point of near non-existence. The University’s choice to pay a two year out-ofdate minimum standard for living is an acceptance and perpetuation of this state of affairs. The fact that casual staff don’t even get paid this is shameful, especially considering the worrying increase in people’s reliance on such forms of work.

But why do we need to demand this change if the government is doing it for us? Aren’t the Tories already introducing a ‘national living wage’?

The answer is, objectively, no. Their calculation is based on the rate which ‘the market can bear’, rather than what workers can bear, perfectly illustrating the priorities of the professed ‘party of working people’. The Tories are also certainly not the party of young people, with the new minimum wage only applying to those over the age of 25, as if a 22 year old working the same job isn’t just as productive, and as if outrageous student debt and lack of job prospects weren’t enough for us.

Accreditation as a living wage employer would ensure that all staff receive an income that meets the current cost of living. If the university can afford to make an annual loss of £140,000 on their culinary vanity project INOX Dine and pay its vice-chancellor Keith Burnett a £374,000 salary, it can definitely afford to do this for its casual workers. As we brace ourselves for the next four and a half years of falling living standards and brutal attacks on some of our most basic rights, now more than ever is the time to make this step.

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: o t e d i u G s e r u t a e The F

Conflict in the Middle East

We are exposed on a daily basis to news of conflicts and wars in the Middle East. However, many of us remain puzzled as to what is at the source of much of ths conflict and which groups are involved. Devni Kitulagoda attempts to clear the fog.

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he unrest in the Middle East has been a daily news story for decades. Each day our screens and papers are filled with wars that rage over borders and acts of terrorism that claim countless innocent lives.

While vicious religious battles and the struggle for control over oil reserves are to blame for much of the current conflict in the Middle East, the real reasons seem to lie in nations pursuing their own interests at a terrible cost.

Even though we hear about the Middle East on a daily basis, many of us are still confused about what exactly occurs there. With allies who are not really allies, wars within wars, and much news shielded by bigger stories like the rise of Islamic State – it’s no wonder we are all confused.

Here is a short guide to some of the main conflicts in the Middle East, in an attempt to clarify this confusing topic.

YEMENI CIVIL WAR The Yemeni Civil War started up once again in March of this year and is very much ongoing. Several different factions have embarked on a bitter struggle for power in Yemen that has had a spillover effect into Saudi Arabia.

The main struggle is between factions loyal to president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and those who have formed alliances with Zaidi Shia rebels (Houthis), who forced the president to flee the capital weeks after declaring war.

The security forces also have split opinions, which led to an intervention

by Saudi Arabia, who formed an alliance with President Hadi. They

have been launching air strikes in Yemen with US assistance. These air strikes have claimed over 1500 civilian lives, which poses a significant threat to the US government. The US could be accused of assisting Saudi Arabia and Yemen in war crimes. It has been said that this could eventually strengthen Islamic militants.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is also at work in the YemenSaudi Arabia border, and has been named the most dangerous faction of its parent organisation by western intelligence organisations.

Oil is also a key player in the conflict because of Yemen’s strategic position on the Bab al-Mandab strait, a narrow waterway linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

This waterway is used for many oil shipments and Houthi control over it could be detrimental to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who rely heavily on this strait.

A War within a War in Syria It has been a long time since Syria reached its breaking point and the repercussions of letting an antigovernment movement evolve into something much darker is now being felt throughout the country.

These repercussions have even crossed international borders with thousands of civilians forced out of their homes and walking hundreds of miles to safety. In addition to a civil war, Syria has also had to battle the rise of ISIS which is growing at a fast pace, with radicalised young people flying in from all over the world to fight alongside them.

Sunni against Shia

The civil war is mainly being fought between president Bashar al-Assad’s government and rebel groups who want to overthrow Assad. The government is supported by Russia, Iran, Hezbollah (a Lebanese Shia Islamist militant group) and other local militants.

The rebel groups are supported by the United States, Turkey and a few Arab nations. In many ways, it is a religious war which pits the Sunni majority against the president’s Shia Alwaite Sect. The bitter civil war has fragmented Syria, which is now controlled by small divisions, with the government controlling only a fraction of the country.

The Rise of Islamic State

ISIS wants to both overthrow Assad and to create a caliphate which engulfs Syria, Iraq and other countries. The war against ISIS has made things worse for Syria, leading to a humanitarian crisis.

More than four million people have fled and the economic losses have surpassed $202 billion with four out of five Syrians now living in poverty.

ISIS has exercised their power through public executions, mass killings and sending Yazidi women and children into slavery.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has also reported the use of chemical warfare. Chlorine and ammonia have been used by the government in attacks against rebels in northern villages; IS has also been accused of using the blistering agent sulphur mustard against Kurdish forces and civilians.

Even though many defence experts claim that the best way to combat

ISIS is to contain them, this is easier said than done. ISIS is in part funded privately and resources keep coming in, some of which come from the Syrian government in an effort to ‘prevent further conflict’.

Those fighing ISIS also have their own disagreements. Russia and the United States have clashed for a very long time, which intensified when Russia began air strikes in Syria in late September.

Turkey and the Kurds also contribute to the overlapping conflicts in Syria. Turkey attempted to hinder Kurdish advancements in Syria and are bombing Kurdish rebels despite pledging its commitment to defeating ISIS. Iran and Saudi Arabia have their own squabbles, which took a turn for the worse when Iran and Hezbollah decided to fight rebel groups supported by Saudi Arabia.

IS, ISIS and ISIL? The Same Thing?

The militants in June announced that they were dropping the last two letters as an effort to rebrand themselves and to honour the caliphate they have created; Islamic State of Iraq and Syria became just Islamic State.

A letter to David Cameron signed by the Islamic Society of Britain and the Association of Muslim Lawyers said, “It is neither Islamic, nor is it a state. The group has no standing with faithful Muslims, nor among the international community of nations".

Islamic State of Iraq and the

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FEATURES Levant (ISIL) refers to occupied parts of Iraq while the Levant refers to an undefined region around Syria. Levant is an archaic French phrase for the “lands of the rising sun� and includes modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan.

The acronym is simply an alternative to ISIS, but it has been criticised as an invention of American Intelligence services rather than something created by militants themselves.

SINNAI INSURGENCY The Sinnai Province in Egypt is an umbrella group formed from smaller insurgencies in and around Egypt. They have been recognised as one of the strongest branches of ISIS outside of Iraq and Syria.

Despite its small size, the Sinnai Province has engineered a series of deadly attacks on government officials

and tourists. The 2014 shooting-down of a military helicopter revealed their possession of advanced missiles, and last year the Sinnai Province announced an expansion of its war from the north to the south.

They have also taken responsibility for the downing of Airbus 321 in the Sinai Peninsula on 31 October, which killed all 224 on board. The US and the UK have both said that intelligence strongly points to a bomb as the cause.

The containment of the Sinnai Province is proving difficult because of their strong alliance with the Bedouin people. The Bedouins severely resent the Cairo government who they accuse of stealing their land and water for tourism projects, and for hindering their traditional way of life.

ISRAELPALESTINE WAR The state of Israel was created in 1948, giving Jews their own state and homeland after the horrors of second world war and the Holocaust. The land on which Israel was created was originally called Palestine and the UN divided Palestine into a Jewish state called Israel and an Arab state called Palestine.

The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are occupied Palestinian areas and Israel severely restricts Palestinians from travelling to and from Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinians want their own state, with Israel giving back all the territory it took in 1967 during the war.

The Israelis want to prevent any suicide attacks, threats to their

sovereignty, and to keep some of the land they took in 1967.

In 2005, a political group called Hamas won the election in Palestine and took control. They refuse to recognise Israel as a country and want Palestinians to be able to own what they view to be their old home.

Hamas has been criticised as a terrorist organisation as it uses violence to further its aims. However, before the rekindling of the war, Israel and Palestine enjoyed a few years of peace from 2007 to 2014. The former Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, brought economic prosperity and many preferred not to fight.

These few years of peace were short lived as the systematic radicalisation of Jews and Muslims fuelled old disagreements. Radicalised young people have taken to the streets, wielding knives and Molotov cocktails looking for a target, unearthing old differences and starting the all-consuming war again.

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EVER TRIED A SOBER NIGHT OUT?

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or most of us, alcohol and a night out go together like yin and yang, like Tom and Jerry, like Cameron and Osborne. If you’re not going to get rat arsed then you may as well wind back the years and roll up at your year seven youth club instead.

I imagine we’ve all suffered some sort of inferiority complex after having ordered a water or a PG-certified Coca-Cola at the bar instead of raking in the tequila shots. But in all drunken honesty, is hitting town without alcohol really that insufferable?

Is it really such a horror to consider going out and dancing all night to Rihanna with your pals without a drink in hand? If you’re one of those superior indie-loving, Nicki Minaj hating music snobs, then the answer is probably yes.

In reality, there are many reasons why one wouldn’t drink on a night out. Firstly, you may follow a religion that doesn’t permit you to do so, or be on medication. You might also be the designated driver.

Sometimes it’s not a choice, it’s just life telling you no. However, that doesn’t mean you have to sit at home twiddling your thumbs watching Big Brother alone. In fact, if you do sit at home watching Big Brother then I urge you to switch off and get down to Pop Tarts asap - it’s a lot more stimulating.

However in many cases it is a choice. For instance, you may decide to embark on a hardcore ‘fitspiration’ Instagram-inspired eat clean, train dirty diet a la myself three years ago. For three solid months I continued my first year carefree hedonistic rampage through Carver Street and Corp without a single drop of ethanol passing my lips. Somehow, I survived!

They were not the worst nights of my life and came with numerous benefits. I saved money, I could keep my eyes open in my lectures the following day, and I could survive the compulsory stop-off at Broomhill Friery without salivating all over Dan Bean’s chips, instead patiently waiting for my friends. My willpower collapsed however on my 19th birthday and thus my lean dream is

In an environment where alcohol seems to be a prerequisite when it comes to enjoying yourself, contributor Melissa Matos questions just how viable a sober night out would be.

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still nothing more than a Valencia-filtered bowl of berries.

At this point it seems like I have debunked the myth; that alcohol really is just another capitalist ploy. But before you pour all of your Sainsbury’s Basic down the sink, let’s consider why indulging in a few too many cocktails might not be such a bad idea after all.

To start with, you might not be in the mood to deal with your drunk companions. You may rock up to pre-drinks feeling reasonably content, but once the alcohol hits them, you may realise you cannot keep up with their intense hyper enthusiasm. You will find that someone throwing the Ring of Fire cards all over the floor isn’t actually the funniest thing in the world when you’re sober, and your mood will subsequently drop.

Suddenly you feel like the fun-sponge of the group, silently lagging behind whilst everyone energetically piles into the taxi. And then, once you arrive at the club you don’t much feel like making friends with everyone around you in the queue, nor in the line for the toilet.

For some people being dragged out to those mainstream, chart-playing clubs is torture enough without having to do it sober. Even if you consider yourself pretty musically flexible you need at least two shots to get you through Meghan Trainor.

Sober, it may feel like you have stubbed your toe when a crappy cheesy song comes on, but if you’re drunk, you realise you don’t even care and sing your heart out anyway. Without this smothering of inhibitions you are left to ponder what Marvin Gaye would make of this utter sabotage of his legacy.

On the flip side, a sober night may leave you feeling totally comfortable. Sure, you don’t feel like swinging from the chandeliers, but you’re still in the mood nonetheless. I have never worked behind a bar, but one thing I always wonder about is what the bar staff think as they watch hundreds of drunk 20-somethings drop down to wiggle thinking they’re Beyonce.

If you are sober you can put yourself in this position and watch on whilst your friends grind away their dignity.

This brings me to another problem I have with alcohol: dignity. Thinking back to what you did on a night out is on the same level as listening to a recording of your own voice, if not worse.

Whether it’s sending a rather regrettable drunk text or snapchat, kissing what turned out to be a solid 0 (yes, girls can rate too), or walking through the door of Paris and losing your balance straight down the stairs, you can be sure that you won’t wake up cringing the next day if you spent

Thinking back to what you did on a night out is on the same level as listening to a recording of your own voice

the night on Diet Coke.

Depending on the severity of your actions, these undignified flashes may make for great memories, or they may send you down a long dark road of despair and a day hiding under your duvet.

A particularly awful part of being the only sober one in the group however, is turning into the mum/dad of the group whilst other people vomit their dignity down the toilet or on the floor of the taxi. At least when you are half cut the sight and smell of sick don’t bear much difference to a puddle of rain.

When sober on the other hand, you feel like a warrior going to war getting stuck in with your friend’s half digested lasagne. This point is particularly applicable if you’re brave enough to venture into Corp tee-total.

But at the end of the night when all is said and done, really it is a matter of personal choice and what you feel like on the night. At the risk of sounding like your mother or high school teacher, whether you choose to go sober, stick to one or two drinks or down a bottle of vodka in one, you shouldn’t feel pressured or judged. That is unless you’re one of those Grey Goose drinkers who hire out the VIP section of Viper Rooms...then you should definitely feel judged.

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Silence and Suicide Following a hard-hitting documentary by rapper Professor Green on BBC3 Billy Geeson, delves deep into the subject of male suicide, the biggest killer amongst men under the age of 45

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uicide is the biggest killer among men under 45, claims a recent BBC documentary that examines why there is an alarming number of suicides among men in that age range. ‘Professor Green: Suicide and Me’ is hosted by rapper Professor Green, whose dad unfortunately took his own life. Through a series of interviews with the people his late father was closest to, Green attempts to ascertain the possible reasons behind his dad’s fateful decision. Though a personal journey for Green, it is nevertheless evocative and raises the crucial, heartbreaking question that thousands of grieving families are plagued by - why?

Suicide must be one of, if not the worst, ways to lose a loved one. Unlike other causes of death, such as terminal illnesses for which there is (usually) time for families and friends to prepare for the inevitable, suicide carries an agonising side-effect: guilt. On top of coping with their loss, families begin to ask questions such as ‘where did we go wrong?’. They enter a destructive thought cycle, whereby every aspect of their loved one’s life is thrown into question. The quest for closure becomes a descent into guilt that they cannot control.

Unfortunately, this is all too common.

Organisations such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) provide support for bereaved families coping with suicide loss. Founded in 1987, its objectives include raising awareness and funding research. On their website, affected families are invited to share their stories. A piece by a man named Bud Pazur, whose 18 year old son tragically committed suicide in 2000, caught my attention. He writes very candidly about the seemingly endless emotional turmoil he experiences,

writing: ‘I live with the loss and guilt every hour of my waking life. I rely on habit, and keeping busy, because that’s all there is’. He also expresses regret for not having seen the ‘signs’ that may have pointed towards his son’s decision. Pazur’s story exemplifies the reality of what grieving parents have to endure, how the search for ‘why’ always seems to end with ‘what if?’.

As you’d expect, guilt and regret are common themes in the personal story section.

However, as I sifted through them, another trend became staggeringly clear. A large proportion of the accounts were about the suicides of young men, many of them in their teens. Recent statistics appear to support this eerie observation. According to AFSP, 77.9 per cent of suicides in 2013 were male. This alarming state of affairs is not exclusive to those across the pond. A recent study conducted by the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) in the UK has also revealed disproportionate levels of male suicide or suicidal thought.

It feels very clinical, almost cold, to discuss suicides in terms of figures and trends and correlations and other scientific jargon.

Though studies and statistics are useful, the very nature of them reduces their subjects down to mere bits of data. With this in mind, it is easy to see the importance and value behind websites of organisations such as AFSP, which approach the issue with humility and reveal the stories behind the stats.

However, in the interest of full disclosure, here are some findings regarding suicide among males. The CALM study found that four out of ten males aged 18-45 have considered suicide, while the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the male suicide rate has increased significantly since 2007, with males accounting for 78 per cent of UK suicides in 2013, a

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FEATURES figure that has risen from 63 per cent in 1981. These figures become even more confounding when you look at mental health statistics that compare men and women. In 2003, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence found that mood disorders such as depression are far more common in women, with one in four women requiring treatment compared to one in 10 men.

Why is there such a vast gap between male and female suicide rates? What has happened in our society to make men feel that the only way out is to commit suicide?

Of course there is never one answer. Take a look at CALM’s website; on the sidebar of the ‘Help section’, in alphabetical order, there are 27 potential reasons for suicide.

These include depression, homelessness, gambling addictions, alcoholism, bullying… it does not make for light Sunday afternoon reading. However, this

broad spectrum of causes raises another worrying issue. If we are told that there are a plethora of factors that influence suicide, is the problem too varied to find a blanket solution?

Well, no. Instead of looking at the immediate reasons or triggers for male suicide, we should be looking at the broader picture. At first glance, the relatively low figure for male mental health, when compared to women, is inconsistent with the high suicide rate.

This could mean that men are simply not talking about their problems. Statistics from Australia certainly seem to suggest this, as the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that 27 per cent of men will seek medical attention, compared to 40 per cent of women. Intriguingly, it was also discovered that men, particularly those under 25, will turn to alcohol and drugs to mask their problems, hence the

higher substance abuse rate.

This notion of masculinity, or machismo, has a lot to answer for. It has created a stigma around any form of ‘weakness’, leading men to bottle up their problems, seemingly through the use, or abuse, of alcohol and drugs. On the aptly named ‘suicide.org’, a non-profit organisation that raises support and awareness, a piece by Kevin Caruso entitled ‘Stigma and Suicide’ sums up the effect of suppression in a swift, clear way, stating: ‘unfortunately, untreated medical disorders can lead to suicide’. This may seem simplistic, but he is right. Help equals a higher chance of recovery.

Caruso goes on to provide an encouraging tone, he writes: ‘it does not matter what stupid and ignorant people think, what matters is that you get help for yourself. Period. Do not allow ignorant people to cause you any more pain than

you are now feeling. And remember, their ignorance and stupidity is their problem, not yours’. There needs to be more voices like this out there, fighting against the ludicrous ‘stupidity’ that, effectively, leads to men taking their own lives.

It is a proven truth that seeking professional help will increase your chances of getting better. It seems to me that, in order to address and help find a solution to the problem of suicide among males under 45, we need to be rid of the unnecessary stigmas and ideas about masculinity. There is no cut-and-dry way of removing this widespread concern, but surely having more and more people promoting the maxim ‘it’s ok to not be ok’ is a good start.

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The History of Tattoos

By Joseph Mackay

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attoos have been intrinsically linked to the culture of humankind for centuries. It’s not necessarily just your dodgy mate that got #MAGALUF2K15 tattooed across his arse on holiday; it is generations of artistic history. Just as the Renaissance art movement progressed into the neoclassical, tattoo styles are continually evolving and drawing inspiration from everywhere. Styles, trends, symbols and quotations embedded into the skin of a variety of people spanning a variety of cultures and sub-cultures until the bitter end, never to be truly seen again.

The permanence of tattoos is seen to be their defining quality, yet tattoo art is

probably the most temporary art form in the long run.

It’s hard to pinpoint where the practice of tattooing really began.

The oldest evidence of tattoos is on mummified remains, dating from as early as 6000BC in South America and around 2000BC in Egypt. Europe’s oldest known natural human mummy, Ötzi the Iceman (approx. 3300BC) is shown to have markings of tattoos. Asian countries such as Japan and China have a rich history of tattoos with a particular definitive art style (Irezumi), and tribes ranging across Northern Europe, Africa and South America also have tattoo designs representative of allegiance and

belief systems.

While these ancient practices of tattooing yielded a similar end result to modern tattooing, the actual practices themselves were far from similar. Dyes were often sourced from nature, with roots, berries and bark amongst the more common bases. Whereas modern tattoo machines comprise a motorised needle that drives in and out of the dermis layer of the skin up to 3000 times a minute, older practices included rubbing ashes into cuts or fashioning paintbrushes out of needles, which would be hand driven into the skin. Even today, ‘stick ‘n’ poke’ is a form of DIY tattooing where people tattoo themselves using a needle, some ink and a piece of string. You might give yourself hepatitis – but it’ll work.

There is always a certain taboo around tattoos, and there has been no exception historically. Whilst Egyptian leaders with entire body tattoos would be completely accepted by their followers, the kings and queens of England wouldn’t be caught dead with them. Notably in the fourth to fifth century in

more and more prevalent in modern society. The wide range of styles, from traditional Japanese images and Sailor Jerry inspired nautical tattoos to detailed portraits and abstract geometric constructions, means that everybody can represent themselves through tattoos.

Whether they have a specific meaning or dedication behind them, or they’re simply pictures that somebody enjoys – tattoos are a snapshot of yourself in time. A construction of the self through a collection of images over a lifetime. The loss of loved ones to good times with friends; tattoos are an everlasting

Japan, tattoos underwent a form of boycott as they began to be placed on criminals as a form of punishment. The thought process behind gang tattoos is that once somebody has one, they’re bound to that gang for life, and improvised prison tattoos forged out of literally anything the inmates can get their hands on are often crude and violent. People might be against the idea of vibrant, visible tattoos in the professional workplace just as they would be against the idea of somebody turning up to the office in a multicoloured t-shirt.

Ultimately, tattoos are becoming

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PornHub Takes a Stand

PornHub have taken a major step in the battle against revenge porn. Mojo Abidi looks at the changes they have introduced, and questions whether these developments are enough to help victims.

When one of the biggest porn sites on the internet starts to fight back against revenge porn, you know the issue is finally starting to get the attention it deserves.

PornHub have made it significantly easier for victims to get nonconsensual content, specifically videos and photos, removed from the site, simply through the use of an online form. The form was designed

to save the victims of revenge porn from having to go through further trauma and embarrasment.

Before the introduction of the form, anyone who found a video of themselves on PornHub would have to email administrators with an explanation of why the video should be taken down. Having to identify themselves and explain to another person how the video came about

could be embarrassing enough to put any victim off raising a complaint.

Now, Pornhub’s new form only asks for a name, email address, digital signature and the URL of the content they want removed. The victim only has to answer one question: “Have you ever agreed to the distribution of this content?”.

“With nearly 60 million visitors to Pornhub daily, it’s imperative that we remain ahead of this perpetuating victimization of innocent individuals and continue to combat this illicit behavior,” the company’s vice president, Corey Price, said in a statement. “Being a revenge porn victim is embarrassing enough as it is. We would rather not make the reporting process equally awkward”.

PornHub’s move comes soon after the first conviction of someone running a revenge porn site. Kevin Bollaert ran the site YouGotPosted, through which victims would have to pay to get their images removed. He

was convicted of 27 counts of identity theft and extortion related to his site.

He now faces up to 20 years in prison.

Only a couple of months ago, the first woman to be convicted of teenage porn in the UK was given a suspended prison sentence. Paige Mitchell admitted to uploading four explicit images of her girlfriend on Facebook to “hurt and humiliate” her after an argument. This case is a welcome reminder that anyone can be a victim or a perpetrator of revenge porn, and that all instances should be taken seriously by the legal system.

Many have praised PornHub for being the first major site with this sort of development, but others have highlighted criticisms that this may still not be enough to help victims of revenge porn.

Whilst smoother options for removal are helpful and hopefully empowering, many

would argue that, at that point, a lot of damage has already been done. It’s a hard area to control, with revenge porn being uploaded all over the web at an almost uncontrollable rate.

But it seems the law, and even the internet, are starting to catch up and fight back against the atrocity that is revenge porn. Pornhub’s progressive changes are a step in the right direction to empower the victims of revenge porn and deter potential uploaders.

Concourse Couture: Fashion on Campus Photos taken by Maren Koelpin.

Ziqi Li Postgraduate Marketing Management student Leather jacket: AllSaints, trousers: Asos, trainers: Nike

Joel Young First year Ecology student Jacket: Cow Vintage, shirt: Oxfam, jeans: H&M, shoes: TK Maxx

Patricia Ollo Third year English student Leather jacket, boots and shorts: Zara, top and bag: Stradivarius, headband: H&M

Jinny Kim Second year Politics student Denim jacket: Topshop, jumper: Zara, boots: Dr Martens

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Travel Corner: Festival Internacional de Benicàssim

Festival fan and budding traveller Abigail Herbert tells us about her unforgettable week at Spain’s largest music festival.

Last year, not wanting to spend £500 on a ‘lads’ holiday that wasn’t really our style, my friends and I set our sights on FIB as a cheaper, more adventurous summer holiday filled with music, sun, good food and the chance to meet some really interesting people.

We booked early, around January, and managed to bag our flights, transfers, festival tickets, Wi-Fi and lockers for £268. This, for roughly the same price as a trip to Reading and Leeds Festival, gives you four days of music and seven days of camping, during which there are DJ sets from the likes of the Libertines and the Horrors at the local open-air nightclub ‘Buddha’.

For festival fans, Spain’s largest music festival, ‘Festival Internacional de Benicàssim’, is a faraway dream, nothing more than a vaguely discussed trip for some point in the future.

With nothing but a lousy summer job and 63p left over of your student loan, most students won’t even bother to look into it, instead scraping together a few hundred pounds for the same festival they’ve been to four years in a row, or another booze-fuelled holiday to Magaluf.

What if I told you there was a place home to hundreds of musicians, including headliners straight off the stage of Glastonbury, alcohol cheaper than Aldi, a waterpark, two beaches and share bags of Cheetos for 37p, complete with free temporary tattoos?

All of this positioned in the middle of the Spanish landscape, where you shower out in the open in 32 degrees heat, watching the sun set over the mountains, surrounded by the kind of friendly, relaxed festivalgoers who are one in a million at British festivals?

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to FIB - the 50,000 capacity music festival situated in a small town three hours down the coast from Barcelona.

The festival ticket itself starts off at £70, which is beyond reasonable for a consistently incredible lineup, having featured the likes of the Arctic Monkeys, the Stone Roses, the Strokes, Blur, Oasis and Kasabian.

Now, I will admit one of the reasons we managed a week-long holiday abroad for so little money was the apparently brave decision to camp at the festival for free, rather than paying for a hotel, something we were warned against doing by practically every forum on the internet.

But, being students, we stuck it out and were determined to prove them wrong – and we did.

Not only did this save us at least £150 which was much better spent on cocktails in ‘Tiare Tahiti’ – the fab little rooftop cocktail bar on the main road in town – but camping also gave us the opportunity to meet some amazing people and bond over drinking games, cool boxes and the pains of being woken up at 7am every morning by the insane heat.

And here lies the only downside to a budget trip to FIB – the heat. Collapsing in your tent at 4am after a fantastic night of music, drinking and dancing only to be forced out, dehydrated and hungover, three hours later by the choking heat is painful to say the least, and can cause a lot of arguments amongst friends if you’re not careful.

Camping at FIB isn’t for the faint hearted, but that only adds to the sense of adventure and community among neighbours. And anyway, with the amazing waterpark, beautiful beach and incredible music, it’s hard to let anything get you down when you’re at FIB. So get your tickets booked, sun cream on, £6 tents bought and get ready for the best week of your life.

Learn a language: Spanish One of the ways to have an easier time abroad, as well as making new aquaintances, and even friends, is being able to speak the langauge. If you’ve been inspired by Abigail’s unique festival experience and are now planning to head to Spain yourself, here are some useful phrases to take with you.

Welcome: Bienvenido Hello: Hola Good morning: Buenos dias Good evening: Buenos tardes Goodnight: Buenas noches What is your name?: ¿Como te llamas?

My name is...: Me llamo...

How are you?: ¿Qué tal?

Very good, thank you: Muy bien, gracias How old are you?: ¿Cuantos años tienes?

I am...years old: Tengo...años Where are you from?: ¿De donde eres?

I am from...: Soy de...

England: Ingleterra Scotalnd: Escocia

Ireland: Irlanda Wales: Gales Where do you live?: ¿De donde vives?

I live in: Vivo en...

I want...: Quiero...

A beer: Una cerveza A white wine: Un vino blanco Mineral water: Un agua sin gas

Do you speak English?: ¿Hablas inglés?

Yes: Si No: No I understand: Entiendo I don’t understand: No entiendo How do you say...in Spanish?: ¿Cómo se dice...en español?

Please speak slower: Por favor hable más despacio How much does it cost?: ¿Cuánto cuesta?

Where are the toilets?: ¿Dónde están los sanitarios?

Where is the station?: ¿Dónde está la estación?

One lanaguge is never enough: Un solo idioma nunca es suficiente I like...: Me gusta...

I love you: Te amo I miss you: Te echo de menos I don’t know: No sé

Forge Press | Friday 20 November 2015

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LIFESTYLE

Fashion Column: What is fashion?

Jess Davis gives her opinion on fashion and explains why she believes it is important and prevalent in everyday life.

Whenever I tell people that I am interested in the fashion industry and how important it is to me, I always get a mixed reaction. It normally entails something like ‘ooh that’s interesting’ or just a look of disgust, as though I am some materialistic moron who only cares about fashion and not ‘real life’.

It is interesting, as the dictionary definition of fashion reads: “a popular or the latest style of clothing, hair, decoration, or behavior.”

However in reality, the social phenomenon is more important than is first thought. In some way or another, fashion helps us to show who we are and depict our personality visually.

But I disagree greatly. I believe fashion is important, whether you’re interested in it or not.

Fashion is everywhere and has a great deal of influence on our lives.

Fashion is all around us and morphs into many forms; it is constantly influencing the choices we make. In the way we choose our clothes we show our attitude to the world and to other people.

Fashion allows us to evolve into the person we want to be and gives us the tools to express ourselves. Even if you don’t care about the clothes you wear, those pieces of fabric give you your identity. Fashion describes who you are as a person, whether you are bothered about it or not.

Fashion is a kind of communication. We put some of our personality into everything in life; how we behave in different situations, what we eat, and which style of clothes we choose. All the parts of it build the mainstream of fashion,

as it is influenced by everything from car advertisements to art. Fashion takes inspiration from the world we see and those who interact within it.

What you may or may not see on the runway influences what buyers choose for retail. The process from the designer sketch to your purchase is a long one, but it is fashion communicating with the world and with you. Fashion keeps us creative, entertains us and even gives us confidence. Fashion is art.

Where to eat: Marmadukes Café Deli

Florence Wyatt-Brun pays a visit to a delicious new café located in Sheffield’s city centre. steaming cup of Marmaduke’s coffee. Of course, once you have walked past the counter filled with an incredible selection of cakes, you can’t help but get one of those too (no matter how well your diet is going).

I was drawn in by a giant slice of red velvet cake, coated in a meringue mousse and filled with two layers of thick Nutella spread. As you can imagine, I was very pleased with my choice.

Don’t have much of a sweet tooth? Worry not.

Marmaduke’s offers a delicious variety of sarnies, pies and fresh salads, as well as a breakfast menu for those early risers.

After having heard friends rave about this quaint little café for over a year, I thought it was about time I tried it out for myself – and boy was I glad I did.

The hype isn’t for nothing and this was evident in the fact that we were greeted by a bustling entrance, busy with people ready to order a

The café itself welcomes you with its warm and rustic décor. It may appear small at first but you soon realise the deception as you explore its whole three floors. Each room is filled with character as you are surrounded by sweet little plant pots and hilarious wall hangings. Marmaduke’s is definitely the place to take any visiting friends or family for a long catch up over coffee.

Friday 20 November 2015 | Forge Press

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COFFEE BREAK

Christmas movies to watch...

Home Alone - This Christmas classic tells the story of an 8 year old boy called Kevin who is accidentally left home alone.

The Santa Clause - A child hood classic, where Tim Allen accidentally kills Santa and suddenly finds himself with jolly Saint Nick’s job.

Black Adder’s A Christmas Carol - Join Rowan Atkinson in this Christmas special where a spirit persuades a kind shopkeeper to turn to the dark side.

Scrooged - Bill Murray, who plays a TV executive, is visited by three spirits to discover the true meaning of Christmas.

Make sure you watch this twist on Dicken’s classic .

Dingbats DKI

nEI

step step pets

Quote of the fortnight: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” - Gandhi

and chill.

Photograph of the fortnight

Caption: A Month till Christmas !

Events in Sheffield

6 Sept - 12 Dec - Going Public 22nd November - Sheffield Christmas light switch on.

20 - 22 November - Yorkshire Artspace Open Studios Weekend.

30 Oct - 25 November - Peter Phillips Exhibition.

13 November - 24th December - Sheffield Christmas Market

Forge Press | Friday 20 November 2015

27

Sudoku Easy

COFFEE BREAK

Medium

Hard

Crossword Across

1 Difficult (4) 3 Accept (responsibilities) (8) 9 Typical - routine (7) 10 Serpent (5) 11 Crossroads - no secret in it (anagram) (12) 13 Small in size (6) 15 Eight-legged arachnid (6) 18 Praise (someone for an achievement) (12) 22 Bird of prey (that’s bald in the USA?) (5) 23 Clumsy (7) 24 Freedom (of thought) - music festival (8) 25 Reside (at) (4)

Down

Answers

Credits for the crossword: Matthew Sapsed

1 Dreadful (8) 2 Appropriate (5) 4 Large wasp (6) 5 Disturb (5) 6 Highly valuable gemstone (7) 7 Thin river plant (4) 8 More than one (person, e.g.) (6) 12 Amiable (8) 14 Idea (7) 16 Brave (6) 17 Obstacle (6) 19 Lodger (at a hotel) (5) 20 Expect (someone’s arrival) (5) 21 Business agreement (4)

Across: 1 Hard, 3 Shoulder, 9 Regular, 10 Snake, 11 Intersection, 13 Little, 15 Spider, 18 Congratulate, 22 Eagle, 23 Awkward, 24 Latitude, 25 Stay.

Down: 1 Horrible, 2 Right, 4 Hornet, 5 Upset, 6 Diamond, 7 Reed, 8 Plural, 12 Friendly, 14 Thought, 16 Plucky, 17 Hazard, 19 Guest, 20 Await, 21 Deal. .

@ForgePressSport

Forge Press | Friday 20 November 2015

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SportsThoughts

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SPORT

Forge Sport’s Anthony Phillips explores the NFL’s impact overseas and claims American Football in Britain is here to stay. Image: Tumblr In 2007, the National Football League hosted the first NFL International Series game at the recently rebuilt Wembley stadium in London. It was the first regular season NFL game held outside of North America.

The game featured that season’s Super Bowl Champions the New York Giants against the Miami Dolphins. The game was not a classic; New York won 13-10 with Eli Manning throwing for only 59 yards.

At that moment in time, it was assumed that the NFL International Series was merely a gimmick, a one off novelty that wouldn’t last.

A majority of British fans had yet to warm to the NFL, they didn’t know the rules, didn’t know why there was no relegation or promotion between divisions and if you go back to watch that game, the loudest cheers from the crowd that day were during field goal attempts.

One thing was striking about the opening fixture, the first 40,000 tickets for that game were sold out in 90 minutes and the remaining 40,000 went within a day.

It was evident from day one that the United Kingdom had an interest in American Football, but in the past eight years the growth of the sport in the UK has been outrageous.

It is for this reason that I believe the NFL in the UK is here to stay and that in the next 10-15 years, the possibility of an NFL British franchise is highly possible.

Since 2007, 18 other NFL franchises have come to play a regular season game in London.

From 2008 to 2012, one regular season NFL game was held at Wembley, each drawing a high amount of British fans.

According to NFL statistics, “only three per cent of those attending the London games are Americans or American expatriates, while 22 per cent are from London and 60 per cent from elsewhere in Britain”.

With the experiment proving successful, the NFL announced in 2013 that the Jacksonville Jaguars, fronted by Fulham FC owner Shahid Khan, had agreed to play at least one home game at Wembley

for the next four years.

After their first game in London in 2013, the Jaguars extended that deal to 2020.

The deal was an attempt to make UK fans connect with a franchise in the hope of building up support for the idea of a British based NFL team.

Furthermore, the demand for more NFL games in London meant that in 2013, two regular season games were held in London when the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-27.

“It is possible to begin envisioning the UK hosting the Super Bowl”

The demand continued to rise and in 2014 and 2015, the NFL played three regular season games at Wembley.

The NFL has also signed an agreement with the Rugby Football Union to stage at least one regular season game at Twickenham from 2016 onwards, while in 2018, Tottenham Hotspur’s new White Hart Lane stadium will also host at least one regular season game.

This means that by 2018, at least a minimum of five games will be held across London.

The continued placing of NFL regular season games in London highlights that the NFL is very serious about the idea of a London franchise.

The growth of the sport in the UK is not down to the placing of more and more regular season games, but also the way it is broadcast.

Sky Sports now show five live NFL games a week whilst the NFL International Series games and the Super Bowl have been broadcast on terrestrial television.

Furthermore, Sky Sports also show NFL Redzone and programming from NFL Network

including live coverage of the NFL Draft, the Pro Bowl and the NFL’s main news programme; NFL Total Access.

College Football is also broadcast on BT Sport in the UK, with viewers being shown four live games a week.

This change in broadcasting, coupled with the placing of more NFL games in the UK shows that the NFL is here to stay.

The UK fans have also grown up tremendously, knowing the majority of the rules and embracing American pre-game rituals such as tailgating.

In British universities, American Football is one of the most popular sports played, with 78 universities competing regularly.

The BAFA National League has 70 teams across the league structure that competes to win the Brit Bowl.

The London Warriors won the 2015 title and have celebrity linebacker Vernon Kay on the roster.

There are also now more British born NFL players playing in the league than ever before.

Olympian Lawrence Okoye is currently signed to the New York Jets’ practice squad; Jay Ajayi is the backup running back for the Miami Dolphins.

Jack Crawford is currently on the Dallas Cowboys roster (as was Efe Obada before he was cut a few weeks ago) and Menelik Watson has played 17 games for the Oakland Raiders.

The NFL has contracts with three London stadiums to host regular season games, the Jacksonville Jaguars will play a home game at London till 2020, the broadcasting of the sport will continue to grow and the number of British born NFL players will slowly but surely continue to increase.

It is therefore possible to envision the UK hosting the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl or its own NFL franchise within the next 20 years.

After that, it is only a matter of time before the game is developed to such an extent that British players in the BUCS league will be selected in future NFL drafts.

Numbers Game

84,254

Record NFL International Series attendance, set at Wembley in 2009 when the Patriots defeated the Buccaneers 35-7 .

14

The number of NFL games to date played in Britain, with 20 of the 32 franchises involved.

3

The number of countries in which Buffalo Bills quarterback EJ Manuel has lost a league game - an NFL record.

4

The number of British-born players currently plying their trade in the NFL.

Forge Press Sport Awards

The Forge Press Sport editors look at who has been making headlines in sport, for better or worse... Photos: Tumblr

Star Performer of the Week Sport It was at a time of crisis, after the horror of the Paris attacks, that sport showed its true colours. The French team sheltered with their defeated German compatriots in the bowels of the Stade de France, and then England extended their support and sympathy at an emotional Wembley on Tuesday night. In the past sport has been divisive, but in the shadow of a horrific event it served only to bring people together. The past week has been a timely reminder that sport can be a force for good.

Czech Republic Fed Cup Team Petra Kvitova led the Czech Republic to their fourth Fed Cup title in the past five years and ninth overall after defeating Russia 3-2 in the final, highlighting a dominant run in women’s tennis that in all likelihood will not be matched.

Jonah Lomu

Russian Athletics

Jonah Lomu died at the age of 40 this week.

He is considered one of rugby’s greatest icons, scoring 37 tries between 1994 and 2002 for New Zealand.

He is the joint top try-scorer in World Cup history and will always be revered as a true legend of the sport.

After a doping scandal that threatened to tear athletics apart, Russia have been banned until they clean up their act. The fact they are still expected to be at the Olympics next year despite their transgressions makes a mockery of their punishment.

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SPORT

Friday 20 November 2015 | Forge Press

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Sports Personality of the Week Rob Milne spoke to Women’s Cricket captain Millie Boddington

Born in Cambridgeshire, Millie Boddington has played cricket since the age of 13. She is now the women’s cricket captain for the University of Sheffield and competes at county level for Northamptonshire, where she grew up and learned to play the sport.

Millie is proud of how far the sport has come: “The women’s game

has grown massively since I started playing and I think it will continue to grow in the coming years.

“In terms of the sport as a whole, the England national team has now become professional, which is a huge step for the girls who are playing.

Before, they had to split their time between jobs and training, whereas now they can fully commit to training and tours, further enhancing the standard of cricket.”

Millie is a qualified level two cricket coach, helping to train county-level players when at home, and is more than willing to help out the less experienced girls in the women’s cricket team.

Every budding cricketer has their own idol, and Millie’s is Kevin Pietersen: “Controversial I know, but I just enjoy watching him play.

Whatever he’s doing, whether it’s batting, bowling or fielding, he plays with flair and he never fails to entertain the crowd,” she said.

Millie, who also plays football for the University, set out four goals for the cricket team this year - to win the indoor league, win their regional heat in BUCS, win Varsity and have the development team finish higher in the league.

The team are well on their way

to achieving the first two of these goals, having won four out of four indoor games and two out of two of their BUCS games. But Millie is trying particularly hard to encourage involvement in the sport: “As a coach I’m big on volunteering. We wanted to get some of the girls getting their coaching badges and going into schools to help teach kids about cricket. We’re still in the organisation process of this, but we should be going into schools in February which I’m very excited about!”

The indoor league has recently been set-up for university cricket, Millie has relished the new challenge.

She said: “It’s very different in a batting sense as indoor cricket requires you to play shots with a lot less force than outdoors, and it’s a lot faster paced. The fielders have to be a lot braver too, as you’re very close to the batter and a run out opportunity will always come up.

“We train differently for indoor cricket, we play match scenarios a lot more and fielding drills involve walls.

Personally, I prefer indoor cricket to outdoor – it’s a lot warmer, that’s for sure!”

Millie described the club as “upand-coming” and was involved in

setting up a development league for the team to get more girls involved: “This allows not just the girls in Sheffield who already play cricket to participate, but the development league now encourages those who have never played before to come and have a go!

“This not only benefits our

as ‘gay lovers’. It’s not the record of Tyson Fury that makes him villainous, it’s the personality and attitude of the man.

This contrasts with arguably the best boxer the world has seen, Mohammed Ali. The thrice world champion, often referred to as ‘The Greatest’, also boasts an impressive record with 56 wins from 61 fights throughout his career.

Ali also had a certain air of arrogance about himself, but used it in a way as to inspire his own endeavours rather than discriminate, ridicule or threaten others.

One of his many quotes used for this purpose is ‘To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.’

Ali was and still is admired for his beliefs, as well as his phenomenal boxing skill. He has influenced many fans and much of the general public in their way of life, inspiring and motivating with many statements, a personal favourite being ‘Don’t count the days, make the days count.’

Another sporting legend not just loved for his footballing ability but also his demeanour is England’s ex-captain and UNICEF ambassador David Beckham.

Adored by women and respected by men, Beckham has become a worldwide phenomenon.

His footballing career began at Manchester United in 1992 and throughout his time there he picked up

six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a Uefa Champions League trophy.

Despite ups and downs, Beckham always remained on the more positive side of the public.

His work after football and his relationship with Victoria Beckham means he has since remained in the public eye and whether it’s lifestyle magazines or sports journalism, he’s ever present. His charitable and selfless work for UNICEF and Malaria No More UK again emphasise the genuine nature of his character and makes him almost hard not to like for the British public.

However, if you’re at the top, it’s a long fall down…

Tiger Woods being a perfect example. Having won 79 PGA Tour events, including 14 majors, and holding the record for the most consecutive weeks spent at No.1 with 281 weeks, Tiger was one of the finest the world of golf had ever seen. So where did it all go wrong?

Almost simultaneously, Tiger Woods’ golf game and personal life seemed to collapse. On the 25th November, 2009, The National Enquirer released a story alleging an affair between Woods and a nightclub promoter. From here it went quickly downhill.

After the revelation of multiple more women who Tiger had cheated with, he eventually owned up to his infidelity. Woods then lost sponsorship, his wife, his No.1 ranking and a lot of

fans.

Woods returned to golf a year later, but in 2010 his best finish out of 12 events was tied fourth. It took until 2012 for him to finally win his next event but since the affair, he has never been admired the same again.

Woods currently ranks 384 in the official world golf rankings and ranks just as low in many people’s estimations.

A similar case is the one of Lance Armstrong who won the Tour De France seven times and was revered as one of the best cyclists in the sport.

Then in 2012, a United States Anti-Doping Agency investigation discovered that Armstrong had been using performanceenhancing drugs throughout his career and was consequently stripped of all his victories. Another hero of sport now seen as a cheat and a villain amongst the sporting world.

But it isn’t all doom and gloom. Yes, sports men and women can be loved or hated, either for their ability, their attitude and their personal affairs, but there are some whom we love for all three.

Usain Bolt – the world’s fastest man and the world’s most loved athlete. Bolt is an 11 time world champion, a six time Olympic champion, a triple world record holder and three time Laureus World Sportsman of the year. A tremendous portfolio to accompany a hilarious and

members, as many have never played cricket before coming to university.”

As a club, cricket is not sitting still, and involvement is continually increasing, they used to be unable to field 11 players but now they have three teams.

With Millie at the helm this is certainly a team on-the-up.

Heroes and villains of the sporting world Sports Thoughts Tom Holden With controversial boxer Tyson Fury scheduled to take on the reigning world champion Wladimir Klitschko on the 28th November, we look at the loved and the despised throughout the sporting world.

Tyson Fury is a 27 year old father of two with a flawless record of 24 wins out of 24 with 18 KOs, but despite this he remains an unpopular figure for the general public. Arrogance is understandably common in a sport where the goal is to out-punch your opponent and in some cases it can be endearing.

Unfortunately Tyson Fury seems to fall on the wrong side of arrogance.

Time after time, Fury seems to come out with controversial statements which pull him further down in the public’s estimations.

In one interview by the Guardian before Fury’s fight against Bosnian-born Neven Pajkic, Fury said: ‘When I go in there I’m trying to put my fist through the back of his head. I’m trying to break his ribs and make them stick out the other side.’ Slightly extreme?

Not only this, Fury recently claimed that legalising homosexuality and abortion was the same as legalising paedophilia. In 2013 he was also fined £3,000 by the British Boxing Board of Control for referring to Tony Bellew and David Price

passionate character.

Bolt made his name in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics in China when he picked up his first, second and third gold medals. But more importantly, founded his trademark celebration recognised across the world - ‘The Bolt’. What makes Bolt’s achievements even more remarkable is that he suffered from a recurring hamstring injury which spoilt his chances of attending the 2006 Commonwealth games, but managed to overcome this drawback to astound the world two years later.

His comical nature has been recognised time after time, from his mimicking of Mo Farah’s trademark celebration to his ninehour drunken bender in London. Not only this, he’s charitable as well. In recent weeks, Bolt has jumped to the assistance of William Knibb Memorial High School after a number of its sports programmes were threatened due to financial constraints, providing them with just over a million dollars. And when you think there’s nothing more to love about Usain Bolt, he also likes chicken nuggets.

Usain Bolt was once quoted that he’d like to be remembered as ‘one of the greatest athletes, funloving and down to earth’ and if he maintains his current efforts, I believe it’s almost a certainty that he will.

@ForgePressSport

Forge Press | Friday 20 November 2015

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SPORT

Men’s Hockey 1s in Women’s Hockey narrow Edinburgh defeat 1s draw again Hockey

University of Sheffield Men’s 1s Edinburgh University Men’s 1s

Tom Holden Photo: Sam Kite The University of Sheffield Men’s Hockey 1s lost 2-1 in a tight match against the University of Edinburgh 1s at Goodwin.

The BUCS Premier B North fixture started in lively fashion, and Edinburgh’s left winger was the first to test Sheffield keeper George Wright, forcing a sliding save after showing some good movement to skip past the centre backs.

Sheffield responded and began to create some chances of their own. Captain Josh Darlington went on a storming run, gliding past three defenders, but found his shot blocked.

Then, 27 minutes in, the ball was flicked into the area, where Jack Coulson controlled it before firing emphatically into the bottom right corner.

Edinburgh turned up the intensity following the goal, but Wright was at his best to contain the visitors’ forwards, making a tremendous triple save to keep the hosts’ lead intact.

The away side finally levelled the score just before half time, when a short corner was fired in, with the resulting shot striking the post and the

1 2

rebound falling to Edinburgh’s forward, who dispatched it into the gaping goal to make it 2-1.

The referee blew his whistle to call an end to the first half, with Sheffield shell-shocked following the two quick-fire goals.

Sheffield started the second half aggressively and pushed for an equaliser. A few decisions were highly contested, and the players engaged in heated disputes in the early stages of the half.

The pressure exerted by the hosts was dealt with by

Edinburgh’s defence, and they even managed to create their own chances on the counter.

The visitors then hit the side netting twice, but couldn’t find the goal to distance themselves from a floundering Sheffield.

In the final few minutes Sheffield won a short corner but failed to muster a clear attempt at the goal. The whistle was sounded shortly after, leaving a disappointed Sheffield narrowly beaten.

The defeat leaves Sheffield 1s without a win this season and at the foot of the Premier B North table.

After the game, Sheffield captain Josh Darlington told Forge Sport: “We earned the right to win that one. We did enough, we created enough, just today the chances didn’t fall for our forwards.

“They were a bit more clinical than us and that was the only difference.”

Hockey

University of Sheffield Women’s 1s Northumbria University

Ollie Thrift It was an unlucky afternoon for the University of Sheffield Women’s Hockey 1s on Wednesday afternoon at Goodwin as they drew their fifth game of the season with Northumbria University 1s.

Sheffield had the earliest chance from a short corner, but it came to nothing after good defending from the Northumbrian side.

The opening stages of play actually saw little goalmouth action between both sides.

Sheffield defended well, with Northumbria failing to breakdown a compact back line opting for long balls down the wing, which only succeeded to give possession back to the home-side.

On the 20-minute mark Northumbria got their first short corner, which they capitalised on and took the lead. Three minutes later Northumbria got the chance to double their lead, but wasted a glorious opportunity to double their advantage, blazing the shot wide.

The final action of the first half saw Sheffield denied from successive short corners.

The second half began in much the same manner as the first, with Sheffield trying to get the upper hand in the match. The home side were unfortunate not to come away with an equaliser for their efforts after two short corners were saved by the keeper and scrambled away from the goal to keep the score at 1-0 to Northumbria.

The game opened up much more for Sheffield in the final stages, and Sheffield drew level with eight minutes to go.

The game finished 1-1 and afterwards, captain Alice Williams said: “Dominated in all areas and that the away side were fortunate to come away with any points”.

Sabres slay Hawks in Homecoming bout A. Football

University of Sheffield Sabres University of Huddersfield Hawks

Anthony Phillips Photo: Jamie Stancombe The University of Sheffield Sabres American Football team secured their first victory of the season with an emphatic 4012 rout of the University of Huddersfield Hawks.

Having lost to the University of Central Lancashire Rams 29-26 last week, the Sabres were hoping to play well in their homecoming match.

40 12

On the opening possession of the game, the Sabres had the lead. Quarterback Jacob Hardy, who impressed last week, connected deep with Ola Fashoro for a touchdown.

This was Fashoro’s second touchdown of the year having scored a receiving touchdown last week. The following two-point conversion was good and the Sabres held an early 8-0 lead.

On the ensuing kick-off, the Sabres’ special teams forced a fumble which linebacker Charlie Taylor managed to pick up and run into the endzone

for another touchdown.

Sheffield added another two-point conversion to give them a 16-0 lead after just five plays.

When the Hawks’ offence managed to get onto the field, they failed to move the chains and punted the ball back to Sheffield.

Wide receiver Rowan Huggins caught his third touchdown pass of the season to make it 22-0 as Hardy showed he was in full control of this offence.

The Sabres’ defence, who played sloppy at times during last week’s loss, continued to play lights out, continually forcing pressure to the Hawks’ quarterback and creating mistakes.

Defensive lineman Mike Smith and linebacker Max Finch had two sacks each whilst defensive back Mofi Jaiyebo earned his first interception of the season.

Towards the end of the

second quarter, Hardy had his third touchdown pass of the game, matching his performance last week when he threw a short pass to Max Bohannon to give the Sabres a dominant 28-0 half time lead.

With the Sabres in cruise control, Hardy was replaced by second-string quarterback James Wege who threw another touchdown to Simon Arnold to make it 34-0.

Huddersfield finally managed to move the ball and added a late rushing touchdown of their own, before their defensive back intercepted Wege and returned it to the endzone to make it 3412 and add a little bit of respect to the scoreboard.

However the Sabres weren’t done yet and Adam Brownlees rumbled into the endzone for his first rushing touchdown to give the Sabres a 40-12 victory.

The Sabres now hold a 1-1

1 1

record in the division and face an away trip to Leeds Beckett University, who have made an identical start to their season, next week.

32 Friday 20 November 2015 | Forge Press

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SPORT

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Women’s Basketball 1s battle to victory over arch-rivals Basketball Featured Game of the Week University of Sheffield Women’s 1s Sheffield Hallam Women’s 2s Dominic Lowe Photo: Sam Kite The University of Sheffield Women’s Basketball 1s comfortably beat local and divisional rivals Sheffield Hallam 2s in the first meeting of the two sides this season.

The Hallam team were outclassed and outworked by the Sheffield side as they struggled to keep up with the hosts.

Home captain, Elina Helavouri, who missed the game through injury, said: “It was a team effort. We saw a lot of players step up, girls who don’t usually play as much. They really stepped up today and they made me really proud.”

The first quarter started as any game between the local rivals could be expected to begin, with a foul after six seconds. This would set the tone for a very competitive and demanding game from both teams.

The hosts impressed in the opening stages, with strong defensive efforts highlighted by blocks by Grace Alderson and Mariana Barragan.

A highlight offensively was

51 37

Belen Carreno spinning round one defender causing her to lose her balance and fall over before Carreno ghosted past a further two defenders and finished with an exquisite layup.

The first quarter concluded with Sheffield leading 18-9.

The beginning of the second quarter was characterised by

Sheffield’s outstanding team defence, with every player covering each other brilliantly.

Alderson again proved her abilities defensively recording another strong block.

After this, the momentum swung in Sheffield’s favour as Carreno, Claudia Chan, and Hannah Leung all scored threepointers in quick succession.

However, the relentless Hallam team stayed within touching distance with the score at the end of the second period 33-21.

In the third quarter, Alderson again stepped up, tenaciously grabbing defensive rebounds for her team.

Another great defensive presence was that of Carreno as she guarded Hallam’s star player and prevented her from having much impact on her

team’s offence.

With the help of this defence and Sheffield’s clockwork offence, they went on a 10-2 run in the first five minutes of the quarter.

Sheffield led 46-28 at the end of the quarter, with the game looking beyond the Hallam team now.

Up to this point Courtney Shaw led by example on both ends of the court with her tenacity to regain possession but also her willingness to increase the pace of Sheffield’s offence throughout the first three quarters.

However, the final period would see her in particular, as well as her teammates, come unstuck with turnovers and missed shots coming thick and fast.

The hosts only scored two

points in the first six minutes of the final quarter.

Meanwhile, the Hallam team came into their own offensively, catching the Sheffield defence asleep and hitting them repeatedly on the break.

In the entire final period, the hosts only scored five points.

Luckily, as Helavouri said, the team’s performance in the first three quarters outweighed the nightmarish fourth period.

The final score saw Sheffield take this one 51-37 in a comfortable but hard-fought win.

When asked about her side’s current form, Helavouri said: “I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t have an undefeated season.

“As long as we keep this up and don’t get any bad injuries, we will go undefeated.”

Darts 1s celebrate treble league success Darts University of Sheffield 1s

University of Manchester Dan Reid The University of Sheffield Darts 1s kept up their fine early season form in the North East University Darts League with a routine 9-2 victory over the University of Manchester at Stephenson Hall.

The Darts 2s played against the same opponent but lost

9 2

8-3, meaning they are yet to pick up a point in their maiden NEUDL season.

It was the 2s that faced Manchester in the first meeting of the day, and although the visitors dominated the two trebles matches, Sheffield fought back with two wins in the doubles.

Darts Society veteran Jose Poyan and James Piggin

secured the first point for the hosts, before 2s captain Tom Wright and Brad Clowery combined to make the scoreline 3-2 to Manchester going into the singles.

Jamie Barrington got Sheffield off to the perfect start, winning his singles match with ease, but the visitors ran away with the tie, procuring five of the six points on offer to prevail 8-3.

It was then the 1s’ turn to take to the Stephenson stage, and they did not disappoint.

Tom Hogg, Ed McCosh and Adam Warner won the first point of the tie, before Max Orange, Rob Matthews and 1s captain Jonny Kirk edged a nervy match to extend Sheffield’s lead to 2-0 after the trebles encounters.

Hogg then teamed up with Steve Organ to produce a

perfect performance to extend the home side’s lead, and although Manchester reduced the deficit for the briefest of moments, Orange and Matthews teamed up again to make the score 4-1.

Sheffield needed two wins in the singles to seal victory and they wasted no time at all, Orange and Hogg winning their matches in style to give the hosts an insurmountable lead.

It was Organ who provided the fireworks though, even after the excitement of the tie had fizzled out. An exquisite 127 checkout sealed a 2-0 win, and with Warner adding another point soon after Sheffield led 8-1.

Ed McCosh was on hand to secure Sheffield’s final point of the tie, going behind in the singles match before rescuing

the situation and winning 2-1.

Although Manchester picked up a consolation point at the last, the 9-2 scoreline flattered the visitors, who were second best throughout.

The win was the third in succession for the 1s, who defeated Loughborough A and Loughborough B 9-2 and 10-1 respectively in October.

It leaves them in a strong position in the NEUDL, with ties against Nottingham Trent University, the University of Nottingham and close rivals Sheffield Hallam University A and B to come before the halfway point in the season.

And although the 2s fell to a third defeat in a row, there were yet more promising performances put in by a squad bolstered by the evergrowing Darts Society.