INSIDE:WOMEN IN THEATRE/ARGO/BLESSA/NADINE DORRIES/gaming girlS/BUMMIT/MURRAY
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The independent student newspaper of the University of Sheffield. Est. 1946.
Issue 53 Friday November 16 2012 @ForgePress /ForgePress
Features meet: The students trying to ‘Stop the Traffik’, p.14
Screen find:
Lifestyle talk:
Disney own everything, Fuse, p.5
How embarrassed are you to buy condoms? p.18
Uni’s ‘depressing’ pay gap for women Lauren Clarke
489 per cent of lowest paid workers are women 4Most of highest paid at Uni are men
Most of the University’s lowest paid workers are female, while most of the highest paid are men. Women are also the majority of people being paid below the living wage by the University of Sheffield. Forge Press has discovered that 88 per cent of those paid below £7.45 per hour are women, a figure women’s officer Amy Masson said was “a depressing reflection of the place of women in our society.” 337 employees working for the University are paid under the wage that is considered necessary to cover the basic cost of living in the UK. 297 of these employees are women, while only 40 are men. At the Accommodation and Commercial Services (ACS) wing of the University, there are currently 82 staff who are working below an hourly rate of £7.20 and at Sheffield Trading Services, a subsidiary firm, there are currently 41. 89 per cent of employees paid under the living wage working for ACS are female. Of the 501 members of staff on the highest clerical grade, 320 are men and only 181 are women. While women make up just over 50 per cent of the University workforce, all of the highest pay bands are mostly male. Continued on p.4
Students at risk after just 14 use taxi scheme Jonathan Robinson Just 14 students from the University of Sheffield have used a Union scheme designed to allow students to get a taxi home when they don’t have the money to pay the fare so far this year. Police said the low number meant students were putting themselves at unnecessary risk by walking home after nights out. The low take-up comes after a spate of recent attacks against lone pedestrians at night.
Inspector Darren Starkey, who leads the Sheffield Central safer neighbourhood teams, said students were often putting themselves in danger when choosing to save money by walking home from club nights. He has encouraged more students to use the later payment scheme as a risk-free way of getting home. Starkey said: “Planning for the taxi home should be built into the overall budget for a night out. “There have been cases where robbers have targeted
lone pedestrians, so if walking alone, students must keep their valuables out of sight. “Students are advised to try to book taxis home or flag taxis from busier areas and, where possible, avoid waiting for a taxi on their own.” The ‘safe taxi scheme’ was introduced in February by then University of Sheffield Students’ Union welfare officer, Mat Denton. The University joined Sheffield Hallam University in linking up with City Taxis at the start of
the year to allow students to use their union cards as a deposit. The UCard is returned to the student once the fare has been paid. Starkey said the safer neighbourhood teams were currently working with the Union in ways to better publicise the scheme. Speaking about the 14 usages of the taxi scheme so far, Students’ Union welfare officer Jon Gleek said the number was “significant”, and that the scheme was one of several options for
students to travel around at night safely. “[It] is great to see that a significant number of students have used [the taxi scheme] to get home safely, possibly in emergency situations. “With the taxi scheme, all publicity and all promotions have been produced by City Taxis, supported by the Students’ Union.” Continued on p.5