Forge Press issue 49

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

FREE Issue 49 Friday September 14 2012 @ForgePress /ForgePress

The story the University doesn’t want you to read

INSIDE:FESTIVAL OF THE MIND/sleeping dogs/WET NUNS/LONDON MET/sheffield on screen The independent student newspaper of the University of Sheffield. Est. 1946.

FREE Issue 49 Friday September 14 2012 @ForgePress /ForgePress

Sport debate:

Will the Olympic legacy really last? p.25

Comment discuss: Are the building works worth it? p.8

‘Uni of the Year’ exploits loophole to slash workers’ pay

Lifestyle find: The city’s best hotspots, p.1415

‘The 9k effect’ Jonathan Robinson

Alisha Rouse Students’ Union officers have expressed their concern about the University’s plan to use a legal loophole in order to pay workers, including many students, less.

Accommodation and Commercial Services (ACS) has set up a subsidiary company which from this month will be used to employ all of their new staff.

The company, to be known as Sheffield Trading Services, will be used to bypass University standards of pay and conditions, leaving their profits higher and workers out of pocket.

In an unprecedented move, ACS has banned this edition of Forge Press from being distributed to Universityowned residences, including the Endcliffe and Ranmoor villages, in response to its intention to print this story. They have also told Forge Press that they are unwelcome at events at residences over moving-in weekend.

In 2010/11 ACS ran at a deficit of £98,000. Using this

new mechanism they intend to achieve an overall profit of £223,000 by 2016/17.

In a document seen by Forge Press, ACS state the loophole company can “better manage and control direct operational costs”, allowing it to decrease its deficit and increase profit levels by 12 per cent, to a level it describes as “industry standard”, by effectively decreasing pay rates offered to staff.

ACS are using a ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’ (SPV), a business model that is created solely for particular financial transactions the front company is unable to perform, in this case, paying students outside of the University’s pay model.

In a statement to Forge Press, the Students’ Union Officers said: “We are concerned about this move by the University due to our commitment to the Living Wage Policy that was voted for by students. We will continue to support students in the Living Wage Campaign throughout the year.”

The Living Wage Policy is intended to ensure all

university staff are paid a ‘living wage’, in which they are paid the amount to comfortably live on, which is said to be £7.20 an hour.

However, from this month staff over 21 employed by Sheffield Trading Services, which will include the new Endcliffe Village Store and all new casual staff at ACS outlets, as well as venues at the University House from 2013, will be paid at the rates of National Minimum Wage merely £6.08. Workers under 21 will be paid more than minimum wage, but less than those employed through the old scheme.

Discussions have been ongoing in University Council for many months, with many high-ranking University staff members present including Vice-Chancellor Keith Burnett and several heads of faculty. However, until this time the proposal has been kept firmly under wraps, described in the University Council’s public minutes as simply “the SPV proposal” or “the structural delivery mechanism”.

Forge Press reveal the story they’re desperate for you not to read, continued p.4

The University of Sheffield suffered a steep drop in applications for courses starting this September amid claims that the tripling of tuition fees deterred over 2,500 home students from applying.

A total of 24,170 applications were made by UK applicants in the 2012/13 admissions cycle, which is a drop of 2,532 from the figure of 2011/12.

The fall of 9.5 per cent is seen by many as clear proof that would-be students have been put off applying to the University of Sheffield, after the Russell Group member announced it would increase tuition fees to the maximum of £9,000.

Students’ Union President Abdi Suleiman said the drop of over 2,500 UK applications was proof that promising students were being driven out of higher education.

Abdi said: “Students marched, students lobbied and students wrote letters to their MP’s warning a raise in fees would deter people from university.

“These figures prove we were correct and this roughly 9 per cent drop is happening in almost all universities around England.

“But let’s remember also that the drop has been even higher amongst mature students whom the government should be encouraging to go to university not recklessly deterring from university.’’

A spokesperson from the University admitted many students had been put off applying due to fears over debt, but said the decision to increase fees was “necessary”.

Continued on p.3

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Student swaps lab coat for drum sticks at London 2012

Rachel Dixon

A fourth-year Physics student at the University of Sheffield swapped his lab coat for a golden leather jacket this summer, taking to the stage in what he described as a “once in a life time opportunity” at the closing ceremony of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A member of a youth drum group from Barnsley, Sam Manger drummed alongside British model icons, including Kate Moss, and performed with singer-songwriter Annie Lennox in the Olympic closing ceremony, while also sharing a stage with worldwide phenomenons Coldplay, Rhianna and Jay Z at the Paralympic closing ceremony.

21-year-old Manger, said: “It was a million miles away from when I was in a scout band, aged eight, playing small local parades in my home town of Atherstone, Warwickshire - we are all really proud of ourselves.”

Sam usually plays the baritone but was more than happy to play drums when given such an ‘exciting’ opportunity.

The Company Performance Ensemble are one of the few youth marching bands, drum and bugle corps operating in the UK with a majority of their members from South and West Yorkshire.

Drumming to David Bowie track ‘Fashion’, they escorted a handful of the world’s most iconic supermodels onto the main stage in front of a crowd of 80,000 at the Olympic Park on August 12.

Programme Director at The Company, Craig Sherratt, 41, has kept the organisation’s involvement in the ceremonies under wraps for over two years before revealing the news to his colleagues a few months ago.

“The Olympic closing ceremony was a fantastic experience, but it was hard work and quite intense.”

As well as their performance at the Olympic and Paralympic closing ceremonies, The Company have also provided backing

Alisha Rouse

DEPUTY EDITOR Rowan Ramsden Managing Editor Mikey Smith WEB EDITOR Adam Harley fuse editors fuse@forgetoday.com Arnold Bennett Coral Williamson Head of Forge Visuals Adam Harley News news@forgetoday.com Lauren Clarke Rachel Dixon Jonathan Robinson Comment comment@forgetoday.com Martin Bottomley Hamilton Jones LETTERS & COFFEE BREAK letters@forgetoday.com Holly Wilkinson

Photos: The Company Performance Ensemble

Features features@forgetoday.com Sophie Allen Lizzy Jewell Nicola Moors Lifestyle & travel lifestyle@forgetoday.com Olivia Adams Laura Davies Sport sport@forgetoday.com Adam Hancock Will Aitkenhead Matt Smith

Top left: Sam Manger about to step on stage at the Paralympic closing ceremony, Top Right: Celebrating the closing of London 2012 & Bottom: 45 members from The Company. drumming for pop star Alesha Dixon on her single Drummer Boy, performed in the opening of popular ITV1 show Dancing on Ice and at the Help the Heroes concert in Twickenham.

54 members including Sam, were chosen to represent The Company on September 9 at the

Paralympic closing ceremony.

The student’s performance at the ceremony was one of his last as he plans to leave The Company at the end of their competitive season to concentrate on his studies.

Sam said: “I have definitely left The Company with a bang to say

the least. The whole experience has been fantastic, sharing a stage with some of the world’s best artists, what more could I ask for?”

The drum group also hope to retain their European Drum Corp title in the Netherlands next month.

Professor’s door-swap trick is Wall Street hit person.

However, four out of six people A ‘Candid Camera’ style failed to notice any change and experiment by a University of continued to give directions.

Sheffield Psychology Dr Stafford used the professor has been door-swapping trick to featured on the front test a concept known page of the Wall Street as ‘change blindness,’ Journal. in which people fail Dr Tom Stafford to notice differences found more than half in critical information of his participants when distracted. failed to notice when Dr Stafford said: the person they were “The moral of this speaking to was story is not that many swapped whilst they people are stupid, just were momentarily that attention is a distracted. double-edged sword.

The experiment, “The good citizens which was carried out of Berlin focus hard in Berlin, involved a on giving directions, man asking passersby not on monitoring for directions before the identity of their Dr Tom Stafford a wooden door blocked interlocutor for signs of their view. an improbable change.

During that time the man “The phenomenon shows how seeking directions was replaced much of the environment we by a different, much shorter are not aware, but it is also a Jonathan Robinson

Editor

alisha.rouse@forgetoday.com

back-handed tribute to our ability to focus our attention where we want.”

An article appeared on the front page of the American Wall Street J o u r n a l edition on September 6, reporting on Dr Stafford’s findings.

What’s on your mind?

Comment on this article online: www. forgetoday.com

Music music@forgetoday.com Amelia Heathman Lianne Williams Games games@forgetoday.com Kaz Scattergood Andrew Smith Screen screen@forgetoday.com Phil Bayles Dan Meier Arts arts@forgetoday.com Olivia Middleton Amy Claire Thompson

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Record fall in applications from £9,000 ‘generation’ Continued from p.1

The statement explained: “The University went through a lengthy process of analysis and debate before deciding to set its fee levels in the new environment.

“Increased tuition fees may deter some students, particularly if the repayment arrangements are not well understood.

“The University faces very deep cuts in the amount of government support it receives both for teaching and facilities.

“In this context, it concluded that it was necessary to set fees at £9,000 in order to continue delivering the highest possible standard of education.”

The decision to allow universities to increase tuition fees to £9,000 per year provoked public anger and dented the credibility of the Liberal Democrats, after the party had made an election pledge to phase out fees.

The University of Sheffield’s drop in applications mirrors the English average of 10 per cent, which Ucas estimates equates to about 50,000 fewer students taking up higher education.

Labour MP for Sheffield Central, Paul Bloomfield, said the falling figures were proof that the policy was unfair.

He said: “We’re now seeing the real impact of the government’s decision to treble fees to £9,000.

“The huge increase in the burden of debt that students now have to take on is a major disincentive to applying to university and, like so many of this government’s policies; it’s hitting the poorest hardest.

“The national decline in applications will reduce the life chances of those who now can’t afford university and undermine the development of the skills that the economy needs.”

Coupled with rising tuition fees, there was also a fall in the number of overseas students applying to study at the University.

The drop may be a result of the University losing its place on the Times Higher Education world’s top 100 universities 2012 list - which many international applicants use as a guide for where to apply in the United Kingdom.

A total of 31,619 applications were made for 2012/13; 24,170 of them being from the UK and 7,449 being from abroad.

This means there were 1,863 fewer international applicants for courses starting this year compared to 2011/12.

April 2010 Nick Clegg pledges to phase out tuition fees in his party’s manifesto We will s cra tuition fe p unfair universit es so ev y ery the chan ce to get one has a degree regardle , ss of the ir parents income. ’

Roughly one in 11 fewer UK undergraduate applications to the University of Sheffield for 2012/13:

9.5% 2,532 fewer UK applications than in 2011/12

11/12 10/11 09/10 08/09

31,619 36,014 40,214 34,258 31,746

October 2010

April 2011

The Brown Review is published, calling on the £3,290 fee cap to be scrapped

The University of Sheffield announces plans to increase fees to the £9,000 maximum

November 2011 A national demo is held as thousands of students march through the streets of London

Tuition fee timeline

University ‘concern’ over London Met saga Jonathan Robinson The University of Sheffield has condemned the decision to revoke London Metropolitan University’s license to admit and teach international students.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Keith Burnett joined other academics across the country in voicing concern over the decision.

It comes after the UK Border Agency found student attendance at London Metropolitan University was not being correctly monitored and that many students might have no

right to be in the UK. In a statement, Professor Burnett said: “The University of Sheffield works closely with government and students to fulfil all its legal obligations in relation to visas, but is concerned that the UK does not unwittingly

deter people of talent who have a great contribution to make and who are such a vital part of the success of British universities.

“Our duty of care to those who put their trust in us is absolute. It is a core human, and British, value of our dealings with

University named best in region The University of Sheffield has been named as the best institution in Yorkshire and the Humber, after rising six places in the latest QS World University Rankings.

The University climbed to number 66 in the ranking of over 2,500 institutions.

The ranking took into consideration staff-student ratios, research facilities and the proportion of international students.

Research which hasn’t fallen on deaf ears

fewer UK

12/13

Forge in Brief

Jonathan Robinson

applications in 2012/13

Total applications (UK & Overseas) received:

NEWS

Researchers at the University of Sheffield say they have made a huge step in treating deafness, after stem cells were used to restore hearing in animals for the first time.

A UK study in the Nature journal reports that hearing partially improved when nerves in the ear, which pass sounds into the brain, were rebuilt in gerbils.

Over 10 weeks the gerbils’ hearing improved; on average 45 per cent of their hearing range was restored by the study’s end.

Rachel Dixon

Arts and Humanities Faculty Head steps down The Head of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities has stepped down from his role at the University of Sheffield.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Mike Braddick will leave his role in April 2013, after deciding to concentrate on his studies of history.

Prof Braddick, who is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, led the seven departments that make up the Faculty.

Vice-Chancellor Keith Burnett praised the work done by Prof Braddick as Faculty Head.

He said: “Being a Faculty ProVice-Chancellor is a job that demands intellect, imagination and commitment. Mike has given these unstintingly.”

Jonathan Robinson

family, friends, neighbours and communities.

“A big part of this is not changing your mind when you have made a decision to work with someone, and protecting those who have been honestly fulfilling their part of a bargain.”

Students’ Union President Abdi Suleiman also criticised the decision and said the UK’s international studying reputation will be “damaged”.

For comment, see p.9.

Professor Mike Braddick

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NEWS Forgein brief Tuesday Club moves from Union The Tuesday Club is temporarily moving venue to the Leadmill after 14 years at Sheffield Students’ Union, as Foundry & Fusion undergoes refurbishment.

Tuesday Club Promoter Mike McQuillan said: “The Tuesday Club has enjoyed massive success at the Foundry & Fusion running weekly Tuesday events for the last 14 years.

“The move to the Leadmill, which is steeped in musical history and renowned for being one of the best live music venues in the country is one we are very excited about.”

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Pay-for-lockers installed in the Union Lauren Clarke The Students’ Union has installed lockers so that students can leave their belongings somewhere secure.

The new ‘Ulockers’ are located at the top of Bar One behind propertywithUS. Prices for use of the lockers range from up to £3 for smaller lockers and up to £5 for larger ones.

They are available for 24 hours and are accessible when the

Union is open.

Sara Moon, Development Officer, said, “Students are free to dump their bag if they don’t want it with them.”

She added, “[The lockers] are really useful for students who may have been home for weekend, gone straight to a lecture or for between lectures, wanting to unload lots of really heavy books.

“The Union had many requests from students to install lockers so hopefully they will be well used and helpful to many students.”

Ulockers: Would you use them?

Rachel Dixon

The Leadmill will now host the popular student club night.

Jonny Landon, Union employee

Hazel Stanworth, Fourth-year Biology

Calum MacDonald, Fourth-year Physics

Lauren Silverstein, Postgraduate Archeology

“Personally I wouldn’t use it because I already have somewhere to store my stuff but I think its still a good

“I probably wouldn’t use it because I organise my stuff at home. If it was a case of being a deposit, I would be more likely to use it.”

“£5 is quite a lot, it would be better if it was £1 or £2. Its maybe a good idea for girls on a night out because guys don’t have much to carry.”

“I don’t think I’d use it but maybe if it was at a higher price for the whole week it would be better. I’d just carry a heavier backpack.”

‘Determined to drive down pay’

Golden girl will open new casino

Continued from p.1

University of Sheffield graduate Jessica Ennis will be swapping her running shoes for the roulette table for an evening, as she opens Sheffield’s new casino.

The Olympic gold medallist will join a host of VIPs and 1,000 guests at the launch party of the Genting Club on September 29.

Winners of the exclusive launch party tickets will be welcomed with a champagne reception.

The new casino, complete with gaming florr, two restaurants and three bars, can be found on Arundel Gate in the city’s iconic ‘Cheese Grater’ building.

The document also details ACS’ intention to “increase opportunities for casual work experience”, including apprenticeships, which they claim will assist the local community and students by “enhancing their employability skills.”

Concerns have also been raised about whether this sets a worrying precedent for local pay bargaining, which could see staff paid by local labour market standards rather than by national pay scales. This would leave employees, including Sheffield students, being paid less in Sheffield than they would be elsewhere, for doing the same jobs.

The document states ACS’ intention to reach the “hospitality sector norm” of 40 per cent staffing costs, as opposed to their current 53 per cent, making them a competitor in the hospitality marketplace.

ACS claims establishing Sheffield Trading Services will “facilitate substantial improvements in financial performance”, and consequently improve service and employment opportunities for students.

However leading union, Unite, claim this is at the detriment of student welfare.

In a damning statement, Chris Daly, regional officer for Unite said: “Given the University can employ these workers directly, the only reason I can see for the SPV is to employ people on inferior terms and conditions of employment. The University seems to be determined to drive down pay, access to sick pay and other employment rights.”

Daly continues to say the University have shown no

Rachel Dixon

Festival of The Mind to celebrate magic and mystery Over a week of free events celebrating magic, mystery and the creative arts will be held at the University as part of the Festival of the Mind.

The celebrations are being held between September 20 and September 30, and will be taking place across campus beyond.

See Features on p.20 for the full story.

Jonathan Robinson

intention to seek the recognition of a trade union, despite having four trade unions on campus and that “this can only be to the detriment of those who work there, I am sad to say that the University of Sheffield has joined the race to the bottom.”

ACS has acknowledged that they do not intend to seek recognition by a trade union, but will instead use ‘Employee Forums’ to “encourage a collaborative liaison approach with staff.”

In a statement to Forge Press, ACS said: “The establishment of Sheffield Trading Services Limited (STS) to operate brand new hospitality and retail services, commencing with a convenience store in September 2012, will enable the creation of new jobs within the city of Sheffield.

“These opportunities are for new staff, offering a comprehensive reward and recognition package that is competitive within the hospitality and retail sectors.

Whilst the casual rate of pay is lower than that offered by the University, it is the same as that available in the Students’ Union and generally slightly higher than other Sheffield hospitality and retail industry employers.

In fact, STS is positively offering higher than National Minimum Wage to those under 21-yearsold, which is typically not offered by highstreet employers.”

Last year, a story by Forge Press revealed ACS had been forced to pay out tens of thousands of pounds to residential mentors who were paid less than the minimum wage. Later their status was moved from ‘employee’ to ‘volunteer’ to avoid having to be them the National Minimum Wage.

COMMENT Rowan Ramsden

Do you remember when ACS made your damage deposit disappear?

How about the time they asked for your student loan in return for a panini and a macchiato?

Well they’ve moved onto bigger things now. Much bigger things.

Under the guise of ‘Sheffield Trading Services’ (no doubt using the sexy/ sinister acronym STS) everyone’s favourite University department intends to substantially increase its multimillion pound turnover at the expense of students and their lowest paid-staff.

Not content with ripping off residential mentors and exploiting the naiveté and credulity of new students with extortionate rent payments, ACS plans to set up a limited company to employ the majority of its new staff.

Functioning under this essentially anonymous Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will let them distance themselves from University pay standards meaning they can decrease wages and operate at a greatly inflated profit margin.

Using an SPV would also allow the University to continue to exist behind a façade of social and corporate responsibility while profiteering behind closed doors.

It has long been apparent that ACS operates a system based

heavily on financial gain, but what’s really concerning about this business plan is that every part of it is sanctioned and refined by top University management including Vice-Chancellor Keith Burnett.

We’re heading down an extremely concerning path when our University begins to prioritise commercial gain above the fair treatment of its staff and student body.

The University’s SPV plan looks set to take advantage of workers, many of which will be current students, by paying minimum wage and offering unpaid casual work experience.

This is a terrific U-turn from Burnett, a man who once claimed “I refuse to look on students as simply a cheque book.”

There is no doubt that the University needs to put in place measures to address ACS’s substantial trading deficit (£98k for 2010/11 period) but this covert use of an SVP with the sole intention of employing staff on inferior terms and conditions of employment is certainly not the way to go about it.

ACS’ perogative should be to operate primarlily as a service provider, at no point should turning a profit have become top of their agenda.

To compound this, the lack of transparency and the apparent intention to conceal these plans from staff and students is laughable.

It’s a spectacular low from an, apparently, progressive University that claims to have integrity and a desire to invest in its students.

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Hollaback! movement launches in Sheffield Alisha Rouse

Campaigners armed with bananas take on weapon trade Lauren Clarke Sheffield Oxfam held a demonstration demanding that the UK government support a strong international arms treaty on Monday.

The event took place at the Peace Gardens with campaigners holding gravestones to highlight the number of lives lost because

of the uncontrolled spread of arms.

They also handed out bananas to passersby as they say that it is easier to trade bananas than weapons.

This is based on the fact that the food safety of bananas is regulated worldwide by the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary

Measures, whereas no such treaty covers comprehensive international weapon trading.

Ellen Rignell, 21, a Biology student at the University of Sheffield who helped organise the demonstration, explained, “We have strict trade rules for all kinds of products from iPods to bananas – but not for tanks, machine guns and bullets.”

She added, “Far too many people around the world have lost a loved one because of this deadly unregulated trade.”

The UN drafted an Arms Trade Treaty to regulate international trade in conventional weapons in July. Ninety states signed the documents.

For comment, see p.9.

Hillsborough documents “deeply distressing” Lauren Clarke Prime Minister David Cameron branded the Hillsborough disaster a “double injustice” for the victims’ families this week, as he revealed details of the independent report to the House of Commons.

The Hillsborough documents have finally been released to the public - 23 years after 96 Liverpool fans were killed in a crush at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club’s stadium.

A statement on their website club said, “We can only hope that the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report goes some way to providing the closure sought by all those involved.”

Cameron said that the report’s findings were “deeply distressing.”

There has been new evidence to suggest the extent of the failure of authorities to help protect people is bigger than previously thought.

For the first time the shortcomings of the ambulance and emergency services response has been examined.

New documents show there was a delay from the emergency

services when people were being crushed and killed.

The report also states that the football ground failed to meet minimum safety standards and the “deficiencies were well known”.

Both the turnstiles and crush barriers were inadequate.

In fact, there had been a crush at exactly the same fixture the year before.

The police and the media also attempted to create a completely unjust account of events, essentially accusing fans of causing their own deaths through “drunkenness, ticketlessness and violence”.

News International revealed that these allegations came from a Sheffield news agency, reporting conversations with South Yorkshire Police and Irvine Patnick - the then MP for Sheffield Hallam.

Police reports were also significantly altered, 164 statements were amended and 116 removed negative comments about the policing operation.

The prime minister sympathised with the families of the victims and said, “Anyone who has lost a child knows the pain never leaves you, but to

read a report years afterwards that says – and I quote ‘a swifter, more appropriate, better focused and properly equipped response had the potential to save more lives’ can only add to the pain.”

Photo: David Parker

The Attorney General will now decide whether a new inquest at the High Court.

For comment, see back page.

The international Hollaback! movement to end street harassment has been launched in Sheffield by three ex-University students.

Kate Blamire, Natasha Vavere and Anna Mayo, all graduates from the University, launched the Sheffield branch last Friday, whose aim is to reduce street harassment and increase dialogue between victims.

Hollaback! is a global network of activists hoping to end street harassment against girls, women and LGBTQ individuals, bringing attention to a subject they believe is often ignored and never legislated against.

Hollaback! use social media to create an open platform for individuals to break the silence against street harassment, with more than 3,000 people telling their stories to date on their iPhone and Android apps, as well on their website.

‘Breaking the silence’ is an integral part of the work Hollaback! do, as well as encouraging the public to ‘have each others’ backs and to support a victim if we see harassment on the street.

Kate Blamire, one of the founders of Hollaback! Sheffield said: “Every student should feel excited about coming to Sheffield and safe and happy when they live here.

“Street harassment can really affect the student experience and how welcome we feel in a city.

Harassment is not considered acceptable at home or in the workplace, so why should it be acceptable on the street?”

The launch was the beginning of a season of activities for the activists, including an Anti-Street Harassment day on October 18 in the Students’ Union.

Women’s Officer Amy Masson said: “I hope that through the work of Hollaback! Sheffield, students and other residents of the city will come to see street harassment as a serious problem and as part of a wider culture of sexism and objectification of women - a culture that often serves to make our public spaces hostile and intimidating to women.”

The Anti-Street Harassment day will see students encouraged to discuss their experiences on film, as well as attending a workshop about how best to handle the harassment.

Founders: Kate Blamire, Natasha Vavere and Anna Mayo

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National news Michael Gove attacks Wales’ GCSE regrade Education Secretary Michael Gove has criticised the decision by his Welsh counterpart to regrade the controversial English Language GCSE. Labour’s Leighton Andrews has ordered the WJEC exam board to carry out a regrading of the exam sat this summer in Wales.

This could result in some pupils in Wales moving up from a D grade to a C grade, while pupils in England with the same mark are missing out.

Mr Gove said Andrews’ decision was “irresponsible and mistaken”.

He was giving evidence to a House of Commons education select committee, which is investigating claims by head teachers that the GCSE grades were unfair.

Jonathan Robinson

Michael Gove

UK unemployment falls again The number of people out of work has fallen by 7,000 to 2.59 million in the three months to July.

The number of people out of work for more than a year was 904,000, the highest since 1996, official figures showed.

The Office for National Statistics said the Olympic Games was likely to have been a factor behind the jump in employment, with London accounting for 91,000 of the increase.

Rachel Dixon

Regal remains found in car park A skeleton found in a car park in Leicester by archaeologists could be the body of King Richard III. The medieval king died in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.

The bones found have a curved spine, consistent with historical records of the monarch.

Richard Taylor, from the University of Leicester, said, “A powerful and historic story is unfolding before our eyes.”

To confirm the identity of the remains, DNA will be compared with a relative of King Richard who was traced by historian Dr John Ashdown-Hill.

Lauren Clarke

Richard III

Sheffield makes £20m

Rachel Dixon An economic boost of £20 million from the Olympics has helped turn the Steel City gold, with an additional £10 million of investment of sports facilities expected.

With the final figure set to be even higher, Sheffield leaders are now keen to capitalise on its success.

One in seven athletes in Team GB trained in Sheffield in the run up to the London 2012 Games and now the city is well and truly reaping its rewards. _______________

Lasting legacy

_______________ With the premise of the Games to ‘inspire a generation’, the city’s athletes hope they have done just that. They are now aiming to help build a long-lasting legacy.

Ben Brailsford, Sheffield City Council’s Olympic and Paralympic delivery manager, said: “The Olympic and Paralympic Games have really helped build the city’s profile as an elite sporting centre. It’s not just about that two week period, it’s about the last five to six years.”

After choosing to stay and train in her home city, there is no doubt that heptathlete Jessica Ennis’ golden performance has put Sheffield on the international map.

He continued: “A personal highlight for me was seeing Jessica win her gold – it was a real highlight for Sheffield. 20, 000 people turned up to congratulate her at her homecoming, it’s just fantastic.” _______________

Training camps for these teams were based at Sheffield Hallam University and the Motorpoint Arena as well as EIS-Sheffield and Ponds Forge.

Surprisingly many GB boxers did well in London 2012 and the sports officials and enthusiasts are calling for the ‘legacy’ to help expand local clubs. _______________

Community projects _______________

Glyn Rhodes, owner of Sheffield Boxing Centre said: “Sheffield is now one of the best cities in the UK for boxing. Nicola Adams’ success has really helped high-light women’s boxing and it is now becoming more socially acceptable. People see women boxing and no-one thinks twice.

“More money now needs to be spent on grassroot boxing and grassroot sports in general, providing the city with even more facilities.”

Ben Brailsford added: “Money and focus will now be put into c o m m u n i t y sport clubs inspiring schools and building on existing relationships with elite sporting groups and facilities.”

Sheffield City Council Leader Ben Brailsford C o u n c i l l o r Julie Dore said: “Sheffield clearly has a great reputation on a global scale to be able to attract such world class athletes and their

being implemented.

Earlier this year, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley announced that the country’s first ever National Sports and Exercise Medicine Centre of Excellence will be developed following £30 million of funding.

The Centre will be truly national, promoting sport and exercise medicine it will be made up of three network partners around the country of which Sheffield will be one.

The Centre will help people to be more active, treat injuries caused by exercise and conditions associated with lack of exercise.

It will also help people use the benefits of physical activity to cope with existing medical conditions, such as diabetes.

The establishment of the Centre will fulfil one of the government’s key 2012 bid commitments and is hoped to be a lasting legacy.

Sir Andrew Cash, Chief Executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “The city is well placed to ensure this project is successful. Sheffield has world class sport and medical facilities complemented by world class research and educational programmes in the cities two universities.”

Pre-games camps have also seen money spent in the city’s hotels, bars and transport industries as well as other areas, giving a vital boost to the city’s economy.

International host _______________

However, the golden girl wasn’t the only South Yorkshire athlete to prosper at the Games - the world’s first ever women’s boxing Olympic gold medallist, Nicola Adams, also trained in the city at the English Institute of Sport.

The GB diving, boxing, table tennis and volleyball teams all trained in the city in the run-up to the Games, as did the British Paralympic table tennis team.

The city was also host to international talent as the Russian rhythmic gymnastic team, the USA diving team, the Brazilian judo team and the Canadian wheelchair basketball squad all chose Sheffield as their base.

Will Bayley won a Paralympic silver medal. Photo: Graeme Benson training camps to our city.

“This has definitely put Sheffield on the international map and I know we will be working hard to keep up this momentum over the coming years to keep the money flowing into the city.” _______________

Medical excellence _______________

Plans to build a legacy from the Games in the city may still be in discussion but ideas are already

Lorenzo Clark, Director of Operations for Sheffield International Venues (SIV), which operates many of the sporting venues used by elite athletes in the city, added: “To come away with six medals, including four golds, is an incredible achievement and testament to the years of hard work and training.

“SIV is committed to delivering first class facilities to help athletes achieve their dreams.

“The performances at 2012 can only inspire more children and

FORGE PRESS Friday S eptem b e r 1 4 2 0 1 2

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@forgepress /forgepress

from London Olympics

news@forgetoday.com

NEWS WORLD news

Europeans favour Obama in US election According to a new international poll, the reputation of the US in Europe risks lowering dramatically if Mitt Romney becomes president.

Only around one in 20 of those surveyed in Britain, France and Germany by YouGov held a positive view of the Republican presidential nominee.

Rachel Dixon

Obama is the man for Europe

UNICEF says global child mortality rates have fallen

Boxing Varsity 2012 - Olympic legacy aims to inspire a generation and keep students healthy. Photo: Liyana Yeo young people to get involved in sport. These athletes are ambassadors for their own sports and a nation of potential medal winners in the future.” _______________

Industry success _______________

The economic impact has helped a wide breadth of industries across the city stablise and expand.

Arnold Laver, a timber company founded in Sheffield,

provided 50 per cent of the timber made to build the Olympic Park.

The company was solely responsible for the timber provided to build the Olympic Velodrome.

The company’s marketing manger said: “It was a very important project for the company – it helped us expand operations in the south east of the country as well as secure and expand employment opportunities in Sheffield.”

Ben Brailsford told Forge Press that both table tennis, athletics and boxing clubs in the city have reported a surge of interest with people of all ages wanting to get involved: “The vision is to stay healthy and active – there

are lots of discussions with the government and Sport England on how to best keep this interest growing and these facilities we’ve developed used.

“Plans are on the table and programmes are being put into action – when young people leave school and go to university there is a drop in the activity they continue with, we aim to bridge this gap and keep people active.”

It has also been revealed that the possibility of a major international conference on ‘Sporting Legacy,’ selling the world class expertise based in the city to future host cities and event organisers is also being discussed.

Did you know? Yorkshire completed the Olympic Games with seven gold medals, two silver and three bronzes, placing it 12th in the medal table if regarded as an independent country. The world's first ever women's boxing Olympic gold medallist, Nicola Adams trained in Sheffield.  Six students and alumni from University of Sheffield took part in the Olympics and another in the Paralympic games.

The number of children dying before the age of five has fallen significantly over the past 20 years according to the UN children’s agency.

Last year, 6.9 million children died before they reached the age of five in comparison to 12 million in 1990.

Almost 19,000 under-fives died daily in 2011. Under nutrition accounts for more than a third of such deaths.

Countries with the greatest decline in under-five mortality rate include, Laos, Liberia and Nepal.

Rachel Dixon

Who’s Your Daddy?

A man in a van is offering paternity tests to men in New York.

Costing £200 to £300, the tests give men the opportunity to find out if their children are theirs.

Participants have to give a cheek swab which is analysed and the results are returned in a couple of days.

The owner of the vehicle, Jared Rosenthal, believes he is providing an essential service.

“It’s not something people talk about, but there is a big need for it. There’s a lot of difficult situations and tough moments and heartbreak.”

But he added that there are happy endings too.

Lauren Clarke

Jessica Ennis who graduated with a degree in Pyschology from the University of Sheffield in 2007, won gold in the heptathlon to set a British and Commonwealth record. Psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters, a lecturer in medicine at the University, was sports psychologist to GB cyclists Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy, and Victoria Pendleton.

Paternity tests on wheels

8

COMMENT

Friday S eptember 14 2012 FORGE PRESS

@forgecomment /forgecomment comment@forgetoday.com

With new students paying £9,000 a year, Forge Press asks:

Is the University House rebuild worth the fuss?

Photo: Hamilton Jones

Turning over a New Roof-less changes are a Leaf for the University huge pain in the neck Alice Burrow At the University of Sheffield we have a fantastic Students’ Union. Modern and packed with student-oriented facilities such as bars, shops and study spaces it has been voted best Students’ Union in the country many times in past years by the Times Higher Education. University House is a good 50 years behind the new Students’ Union, it was in desperate need of some TLC and thankfully 2012/2013 is the academic year it gets this much-needed overhaul.

Many complain that, in a year that sees the introduction of the raised tuition fees, it’s unfair to take away the many aspects of university life that came with University House and a huge nuisance to have a central part of the campus under construction.

However, services that were based within the University House have merely been moved elsewhere, the club nights included.

Foundry and Fusion were tired and shabby, and in the face of other city centre club alternatives often seemed unappealing.

‘There is going to be very little missed about the old University House’ Population, ROAR and Pop Tarts have been moved next door into the Octagon and are therefore still within the convenient distance of the Students’ Union. However, showing some consideration towards the nature of

the night, the Union’s most famous club night, The Tuesday Club, hasn’t been lumped into the Octagon, a venue where it frankly wouldn’t have worked.

Instead, it has been moved to the The Leadmill, long considered one of Sheffield’s best music venues, and although a considerably further distance to travel than the Union, the actual club night itself shouldn’t lose any quality.

As for the other student services, University House was the place students frequently turned to if experiencing any problems, whether that be financially or otherwise, and a trip down the musty corridors felt like a trip to the headmaster’s office. The cash office, registry services and SSID, amongst others, have moved home temporarily.

The new building will bring University House and the Students’ Union together as one building known as The Students’ Union Building. Amongst other things, expect to see spaces with longer studying hours, which should help the age old problem of finding space in the IC during exam time where by the time you’ve managed to find a free desk, settled down and opened your book, your exam is long since over.

There is going to be very little missed about the old University House and with a range of new restaurants, improved facilities and club venues due to come our way in new Students’ Union Building, we’ll wonder why we were ever attached to it in the first place.

It needed doing desperately, it’s being done for us and if it’s not done this year it would only be delayed another year where those affected would complain for the same reasons. It’ll be worth the wait.

Sophie Allen As a general rule, I’m not completely opposed to change. Everything needs to adapt in order to get better. For example, drinking coffee kept making me feel sick, and by no longer drinking coffee, I don’t feel sick anymore. There: positive change.

Sometimes though, while a certain change can be generally beneficial to all parties involved, it remains extremely irritating.

‘I remain against the refurbishment for the most selfish possible reasons’ Like when a supermarket changes its bakery section around so all the cakes can be found in one place; it will most likely be beneficial in the future, but in the immediate present I just can’t find any damn cakes anywhere.

This is the brand of change under which I would put the big refurbishment of University House–inconvenient change.

Recently, I had to man a stall at one of the University Open Days. That day, I embodied the epitome of organisation; I was on brand in my fleecy University of Sheffield Enterprise hoodie, and was laden with such a plethora of marketing materials–from leaflets to a digital photo frame and banner stand–that I looked as though I was striding confidently into an advertisement warzone.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a surprisingly hot day. The hoodie was extremely warm, and the marketing materials were pretty hefty, and the journey from my workplace to the Octagon felt like a very sweaty trek across the Sahara.

When I was stopped in my tortuous journey by huge barriers out of nowhere, it took real fortitude not to just give up, sit down and weep at my misfortune.

My issue with the University House refurbishment is that it really just gets in the way. Paths up to and between the Octagon and the Students’ Union have been blocked or cut off from use, so that the previously care free journey of strolling from Bar One to Space now requires you to crack out your satellite navigation and plan an elaborate trail around campus.

The revamp of other areas of the Union – which has already won Students’ Union of the Year, making the changes seem a tad superfluous – has scattered the Union nights out to venues across the city and bizarrely left the Union shop in the car park of the Arts Tower.

Admittedly, the University House refurbishment itself isn’t such a bad thing.

I think I’ve only been in there two or three times on work-related ventures, and each time I’ve struggled to find my way there despite having passed it hundreds of times on my way into University, and each time I’ve struggled even more to understand its general purpose.

For now though, I remain against the refurbishment for the most selfish possible reasons. It’s making my life difficult.

And that’s something to which I’m just fundamentally opposed.

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COMMENT

Female freshers, beware the slander London Met crisis

will come to haunt government

Harrison Worrell

Slut-shaming can be traumatic

Salma Haidrani The walk of fame. The stroll of success. It seems that the stride of confidence across campus in the same clothes as the night before, ducking behind buses and bushes after spending the night with a member of the opposite sex is now considered a rite of passage and even an imminent fate for many university students during Freshers’ Week.

Famed as the wildest seven days of a fresher’s university career, newly enrolled university students are actively encouraged to engage in activities otherwise unavailable to them before arriving at university, from binge drinking and drug use to casual sexual encounters.

And with a recent survey by student magazine Cosmo on Campus revealing that 42 per cent of freshers view casual sex as characteristic of the freshers week experience, it would appear that female undergraduates enjoy an equal opportunity to seek sexual satisfaction as their male counterparts.

But what is arguably celebrated as the strut of success for men is not the

case for women.

“There is no such thing as the walk of shame for a guy, only the walk of lad”, a popular Facebook page dedicated to the awkward post-coital voyage across town exclaims. It’s not the “walk of shame, it’s the strut of success #LAD”, UNILAD, the misogynist Twitter page with a million-strong male university student fanbase delightedly exclaims.

‘Famed as the wildest seven days of a freshers’ career’

Yet ‘The Slut Strut’, the thousand strong Twitter page is dedicated to exclusively slut-shaming women by publishing photos of women’s walks of shame from many parts of the world.

The idea that it’s shameful to be female and sexually independent is not only condemned throughout social networking but is prevalent in advertising where companies have created adverts around the walk of shame. Just last Christmas, the highend department store Harvey Nichols’ advert to promote womenswear

berated a woman’s decision to engage in casual sex.

The commercial featured women half-intoxicated with morning-after hair, smudged make-up, wolfing down kebabs in last night’s short, figure-hugging dress and platform heels, trying to avoid being seen in the sober light of the London morning and concluded the advertisement by instructing women to avoid what the retailer regards as ‘the walk of shame this season’.

Such widespread shaming of women in the mainstream media reinforces negative stereotypes of females who choose to engage in casual sex and arguably perpetuates these stereotypes at university.

‘No such thing as a walk of shame for a guy, only the walk of lad’ Despite women achieving sexual liberation, when the contraceptive pill was invented in the 1960s and sexual intercourse was no more entwined with reproduction, and sexual pleasure as a justification for intercourse developed, it is arguable that women are

not enjoying the freedom of their sexual liberation.

A sexual double standard of male and female promiscuity is arguably an inescapable, endemic feature of university life. Female promiscuity at university risks severe condemnation where the derogatory terms such as ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ will be used on said female, and ostracism from the university community; whereas sexually active males are not only more widely tolerated but respected and glorified as ‘heroes’ and ‘legends’.

And with a student magazine, the National Student, revealing in a recent study that almost half of students would lose respect for female undergraduates who frequently engage in casual sexual activity, it seems unlikely at this point in time that the culture of misogyny on university campuses will be declining anytime soon.

Sexual liberation? I think not.

Got an opinion on the topics discussed this fortnight?

Contact letters@forgetoday.com

As summer drew to a close and September began, MPs, like students, were looking forward to the start of a new term. However, after a last minute decision by the government, 2,600 foreign students studying at London Metropolitan University were told they could not return after their summer break. They faced the choice of either moving university, or deportation.

‘Foreign students should be treated with respect’ On August 29, the UK Border Agency revoked London Metropolitan’s ‘highly trusted’ status for sponsoring international students. This was the consequence of an ongoing investigation into failures surrounding admission and tracking of students from abroad.

The decision meant they will be banned from accepting students from outside the EU in future, but also, that current international students could not come back.

The thinking behind this decision is perhaps best understood in the wider context of this government’s immigration policy. David Cameron has consistently promised, somewhat ambitiously, to cut immigration down to tens of thousands. With net migration rising and the omnishambles earlier in the year, the government obviously thought now was

the time for some red meat on immigration.

The Immigration Minister (before the reshuffle) Damian Green had said, “Instead of years of talking tough and acting weak, we have a government that is acting tough as well.”

I believe we could well see this heavy-handed approach come back to slap the government in the face.

If this affects our reputation overseas, it will hit our universities hard.

Foreign students, who pay much larger tuition fees, provide a huge amount of revenue to our universities and should be treated with respect. It is disgraceful that, firstly, this ruling has been applied retrospectively, i.e. to students already attending, and secondly, has been applied to all students regardless of their credentials.

The serious alternative would have been to take away future powers of admission, but allow the current students to continue.

They have worked hard for their degree and paid a lot of money, they should be allowed to finish what they’ve started.

Punishment should fall on the shoulders of the university, not students.

London Metropolitan is currently mounting a legal challenge to this decision and I hope they win.

While grossly unfair, this treatment of international students remains an isolated incident. Although, if the government starts to adopt this aggressive examplesetting as the norm, it could could prove deadly come 2015 as it sees its competence challenged and its authority slip away.

Arms trade protest: A bit silly Hamilton Jones Today I learnt that each year two bullets are produced for every person on the planet, whilst this fact is deeply worrying it also shows the urgency that is required for the signing of an International Arms Trade Treaty, which would see stricter regulations on the trading of arms. But given

that the UK Government have been in favour of an Arms Treaty for many years, I can’t help but feel that the efforts of the Sheffield Oxfam campaigners to put pressure on the UK government are a waste of time.

Simply, Sheffield Oxfam are fighting a battle that has already been won.

Ellen Rignell, the chair of Sheffield University Oxfam society, said herself, “For nearly a decade successive UK Governments have set

their sights on a global Arms Trade Treaty”.

The UK Government have already signed a draft statement of support for the continuation of the treaty, and it was the US who blocked the treaty in July this year for more time.

So the question is, why put pressure on Nick Clegg and Alistair Burt when they are already fighting for the same interests as the campaigners?

Whilst raising awareness of the International Arms

Trade Treaty wasn’t the main aim of the protest, it was certainly the outcome, and saved Sheffield Oxfam from entirely wasting their time.

The International Arms Trade Treaty is a serious issue that needs more coverage and a more prevelant place in the media eye. If Sheffield Oxfam were to turn their efforts fully to raising awareness instead of campaigning for no obvious reason, they could achieve a lot more.

Arms trade: This shit is bananas.

Photo: Lauren Clarke

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COMMENT

Friday S eptember 14 2012 FORGE PRESS

@forgecomment /forgecomment comment@forgetoday.com

Choose life. Choose a career. Choose a reputable university – but why would I want to do a thing like that?

Editorial Welcome to life at the never dull, Forge Press Welcome to the new, and for many of you the first, issue of Forge Press. We are a fortnightly student newspaper, produced by a group of incredibly sleep deprived students, who work to cover the issues that matter most to the student body, and even some that appear to matter the least.

Forge Press is entirely editorially independent, and unless I am unconscious or move to Bermuda, always will be. This independence, unlike some student newspapers, allows us to print the stories that affect student welfare from the top level, no matter how many feathers get ruffled.

For instance, you’ll be hard pressed to find a copy of this issue in either the Endcliffe or Ranmoor student villages – and that is not simply because of the tough hills on the way there.

While I appreciate toned calves as much as the next person, Accommodation and Commercial Services (ACS, see the front page if you fancy getting a bit more familiar), who run the villages, have told us this edition can not be distributed there.

In journalism, particularly student journalism, where some weeks your best story might genuinely be an expired packet of crisps

Alisha Rouse - Forge Press editor

Russell Group universities find themselves at an advantage

Pete Woodward To many it would perhaps not come as a surprise that a study has found that students pick their university by reputation, rather than actual teaching quality or other factors, particularly those disgruntled with their course for whatever reason.

The information available from which to make a life changing decision is paltry, with no real comparison available between different courses and universities.

This makes for thousands of decisions based on the size of the Students’ Union bar, or how aesthetically pleasing your department’s building is.

Obviously there are the league tables and student survey results, which seem to have an inflated sense of importance attached to them, yet these are based on statistics which most final year students can’t be bothered to fill in, and to an extent more reflects the satisfaction of people who had arrived at university three or four years ago.

Yet I’m sure I’m one of many who has looked up where the University of Sheffield comes, only to dismiss the results as a load of rubbish when we come disproportionately far down in the overall tables. Surrey above Sheffield? Surely not!

Besides, a league table is just a collection of statistics, and is no substitute for the feeling you get about a

campus on an open day, or the recommendation of an older family member, or even where is popular with friends at college. There is a disproportionate amount of importance placed on them perhaps because they are one of the few sources of information available to potential undergraduates.

‘Decisions based on how aesthetically pleasing your department’s building is’ When looking for a postgraduate degree, the vacuum of information is even more apparent.

Perhaps I’m just looking in the wrong places, but it seems to me that teenagers are expected to make a crucial decision based on an overwhelming number of dry statistics and whatever open days they can afford to go to.

If I may generalise for a moment: students are either coming to university for a life experience, to improve their prospects of getting a good job, or both. For the first of these, it seems natural that students are looking to the big cities, as they are usually where the universities with the best reputations are found.

For those looking to get a good job, to go for a Russell Group university is an obvious choice, or at least

Photo: wistechcolleges/Flickr

one with a good reputation, assuming you can get the required grades at A-level: the name that will stand out on a CV. Short of taking league tables into an interview with you, it is just common sense to say that a degree from a university with a better reputation will potentially be seen as being worth more, even if the course in question is massively overrated.

The end result of this is that it makes life more difficult for those universities outside of the Russell Group, who will be the first to suffer if student numbers decrease following the rise of tuition fees to £9,000, particularly those that specialise in certain areas with high-quality courses.

‘Surrey above Sheffield? Surely not!’

Posting undergraduate lectures online, making them readily available on open days, or simply more details about teaching methods might give a flavour to potential students to allow them to make a more informed decision based on the quality of their course.

Without these sort of things being available across the board, it’s no wonder students pick their universities based on reputation rather than quality of teaching.

D.A.R.T.S.

from a Union vending machine, you will always know you’re onto something good when the other party runs scared.

Forge Press is here to operate as a real newspaper, for the benefit of students; whether you wish to enhance your CV, write, photograph or simply challenge something you don’t believe is right.

Nothing, save a Threadsstyle nuclear apocalypse (during which you’ll find us in the Harley “having a nice cold pint and waiting for all this to blow over”) will stop us from doing that.

alisha.rouse@forgetoday.com

Forge Press takes its satirical aim

The bloody Union rebuild

Quote of the fortnight:

Contrary to what you might read elsewhere in Comment, the Union rebuild’s a pest.

We pay several grand a year, choose the university touted as having the best Students’ Union in the country, and what do we get? Mild inconvenience, ugly scaffolding and noises that sound like dolphins being tortured.

Ignoring the under appreciated issue of dolphin abuse, it’s a disgrace that the Union has become part of the military-industrial complex in trying to make us obese and sedate by quietly getting rid of our favourite salad bar New Leaf. Then again, the Union Shop’s been moved to Timbuktu and forces us to move way too much. Talk about mixed messages.

“Before term starts, on a Sunday, LOVING life in the library. Us student media types are CRAZEE. ”

The D.A.R.T.S. guide to Freshers’ Week

‘Reach For The Stars’ at Pop Tarts while you still can without wanting to stab someone.

Second, no matter what anyone tells you, never, ever go to Embrace.

Third, don’t down it. You’ll really, really regret it.

Fourth, make an effort and explore the city. Sheffield’s actually a fucking great city and offers everything from great cinemas like the Showroom to excellent pubs, bars, theatres and raves. Keep your eyes open and get to know lots of people.

Finally, stalk Domino’s reps. Free pizza!

Freshers! Feeling lost after starting university? Too much on offer and you don’t know where to turn for the proper Freshers’ Week experience? Fear not, beacause you’ve just found the only honest guide to maybe the best (but certainly the drunkest) seven days of your life.

First off, enjoy the Union club nights.

They’re hideously unbearable, but you don’t know that yet, so enjoy bellowing along to

ACS nature lesson #1: Hawaii now has monkeys!

In a pathetic attempt to replace the International Food Court during the University House redevelopment, ACS has set up a dubious-looking van on the concourse which includes the wonderful Funky Monkey - Hawaiian Espresso and Deli. Comment do not approve.

Their attempt to make a van look permanent has entailed stapling a rubber skirt to cover up the wheels, however the suspicious wiring coming out of Hicks and

- @AlishaRouse, Forge Press editor, on the madness that was putting together this very issue

Student media does strange things to people

the rear brake lights are a bit of a giveaway.

Another fatal flaw to their otherwise foolproof van concept is that monkeys don’t actually live in Hawaii, funky or otherwise, so we are mildly baffled by their choice of theme and name.

But the apex of Funky sodding Monkey’s devilish plan is that they’ve camped out directly opposite Coffee Revs, and charge marginally lower prices. Sneaky bastards.

It is safe to say that we at Comment won’t be venturing to Funky Monkey at any point this year to enjoy their plastic chairs outside in the cold, but instead we will be in warm, comfy and frankly lovely Coffee Revs.

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COMMENT

NUS demo 2012: As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly Martin Bottomley So what’s it going to be then, eh? Another year, and another round of student protest has been announced by the NUS in an effort to stop and/or reverse the incumbent government’s policy on tuition fees.

Considering that the fees have already been trebled and the first round of £9,000-a-year students are entering university, it’s a more fatalistic protest and a far cry from the memorable 2010 protests where masked demonstrators famously smashed the windows of Millbank Tower.

But while those protests hit front pages across the globe, they weren’t perceived in the way the protesters intended. Instead of forcing the issue of UK higher education into the public discussion, the media reception opted to drown it out with furious condemnations of the violence.

They chose to portray it not as protest, but as a dystopian vision of lawlessness and nihilistic ultra-violence straight out of A Clockwork Orange, no matter how ignorant said perspective was. The student protest had failed to do what it needed to: Explain to the country and government that they are Britain’s future, and they are furious for a reason.

‘They chose to portray it as a vision straight out of A Clockwork Orange’ The 2011 protest demonstrated the failure aptly. Again, the main story wasn’t the discontent with grotesquely high fees, or the blatant stupidity of marketising higher education, it was whether kettling those pesky students was a bad idea or not.

The debate wasn’t framed as an issue of national importance with relevance to many generations to come, but as the self-serving entitlement of an egotistical bunch of wannabe Alex DeLarges.

Protesting students, in public perception, became nothing more than radicalised thugs, and outbreaks of black bloc violence only furthered that narrow perspective.

The NUS has decided this year, then, to play it safe. Felling the decision to hold another national demonstration at their conference in Sheffield earlier this year, they decided to campaign under the slogan “Educate, Employ,

Empower”. Acutely aware of the image problem, they proclaim that they are “working to set a tone which shows how passionately we feel without jeopardising anyone’s safety”, and that they are protesting for employment, education that “provides opportunity”, and a diffuse notion of democratic empowerment.

But as valid and important as the first two points may be, they completely miss the greater issue at hand. Talk of cuts and fees may be extremely meaningful to students, but the wider public evidently couldn’t give a toss about them. Why should the anguishes of some coddled students be their problem?

What this disaffected opinion misses, however, is that higher education is a vital part not only of a person’s life experience, but also Britain’s economic fortune. Not only is university an important hotbed of questioning of traditional structures, not only is it a place for every student to grow NUS President Liam Burns in action

as a person through learning, an opportunity to explore with the inevitable experiences stemming from the clash of cultures, but it’s also the most significant economic capital Britain has. Britain’s universities have an excellent international reputation, and the concentration of knowledge and investment into learning is one of the most significant advantages Britain has in a global economy.

‘The idea that this slogan would give any impetus for change is ludicrous’ Turning higher education into a marketplace not only undermines the quality and financing of education, it upholds established privileges by placing ‘reputable’ universities at an advantage, and forces former polytechnics to compete in an environment they

were never intended to compete in. It also coerces universities into attracting significantly more (profitable) foreign students.

The simultaneous increase in teaching of students from abroad while funding is turned into an uncertainty will undermine Britain’s excellence of teaching and research and, ultimately, damage the lives and futures of generations of Britons. Higher education reform affects everyone.

The main problem with the national demonstration is that such an anemic motto could never be effective in putting across this message. The very idea that a dounto-us slogan, subservient to a sickeningly paternalistic view of government, would give any impetus for drastic change of direction whatsoever is completely ludicrous.

Instead, the stated goals of the NUS demonstration demand a grander scheme of action, one in which the student protests try to win over not just mildly left-wing Photo: NUS

voters and families with children currently enrolled in higher education, but pretty much the entirety of the political spectrum, a necessity for higher education to become a prominent, first-rate political issue.

It needs to be made clear that education is completely inseparable from economic policy, and that it determines a country’s fortunes. The NUS needs to start actively lobbying policymakers and use the media not for halfbaked demand soundbites, but detailed explanations of why their goals matter.

The irony of the Clockwork Orange-style smears is that they completely misunderstand author Anthony Burgess’ novel. The film version omits the novel’s twentyfirst and last chapter, in which the cynicism of the previous line “I was cured all right” is softly erased by a slightly older protagonist who, tired of his old ways, slowly comes to the realisation that fulfillment comes not in excess, but in a more content life. In short, he grows up from being a thug.

It’s the simple message that the deeply conservative Burgess tried to convey: People grow up, if given the chance. Forcing them in line only furthers their frustration and aggression.

At some point, we’ll all turn away from the angry student stereotype to some degree. We’ll realise that some things (like throwing fire extinguishers off buildings) are stupid and best left behind, and we’ll abandon other passions for the constraints of getting by in daily life. But while we’re in the process of discovering life, we students can show a much greater willingness to embark on ventures to change things for the better. We have the time and – with state aid – the means to question society and create ideas that can improve it for years to come.

Students are a progressive, integral part of society, and disenfranchising us will make Britain a lesser country. The NUS needs to abandon its purely utilitarian rhetoric and start inserting itself into the public media discourse. It needs to change the headlines. It needs to communicate that we students are literally the future, and that the government’s policies are slowly burying possibilities of a better tomorrow. Only when the student protests become relevant to everyone will we see even an inkling of change.

Join the Conversation: @ForgeComment on Twitter facebook.com/ForgeComment

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Friday S eptember 14 2012

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LETTERS

Engineering jobs: Don’t tell us Equality for women, not men? who we are allowed to work for Dear Forge Press,

Dear Forge Press,

I’m sure everyone is bored of debating this topic by now, but I couldn’t NOT join in and give my point of view on the article “Engineering jobs have become virtually synonymous with an arms trade job’.

I have always been very passionate about this and was one of the people that started the engineering departments petition to kick, ‘Kick ‘Em Off Campus’ off campus. However, in respect to the most recent letter...

Is Phil Armitage an engineer? I’m going to guess no. This is obvious for several reasons. First of all, Rolls Royce a car company? Okay, possibly in our grandparents time, but I’m pretty sure everyone now will tell you they are an aerospace company.

As for “provides around a quarter of the world’s military aircraft”, I’d like to see a reference. Rolls Royce develop engines for aircraft, many are used in fighter jets yes, but that is not to say they are an arms company as has even been suggested by councillors when discussing the unions arms policy. These engines are also used to take you on holiday, and are used in aircraft for reconnaissance, and saving lives.

As for this other points, it’s just easier to go through them step by step: “Students are not aware of what these companies do” - well yes they are. Ever been to a job interview?

Particularly an engineering one? No way are you getting through, often 2/3 day, assessment centres without some pretty good knowledge of the company and your role. In addition to that, these companies dont just arm people to the teeth as the writer suggests, they also develop

technology that saves lives, and that you use every day.

GPS for example, chips used in laptops, simulation algorithms used in games, all developed by companies on military projects. Sorry, but that’s where the money is, and you can shout at the government all you like for that, but you should probably stop using your phone, and GPS, and laptop, first.

Also, our department is not “practically sponsored

by BAE and Boeing”. In fact while I am aware of the Boeing site at Sheffield Parkway, I have never heard BAE mentioned in my four years of study in Aerospace Engineering.

The departments also have studies going on from Siemens into wind turbines, but then that point doesn’t support the authors ideal that we are all military loving warriors or clueless bystanders.

For ethical suggestions of companies we are encouraged to apply for, how about Airbus (the original writer may debate this since his definition of an arms company seems relatively broad), Siemens, or GKN? My friend even did a placement with a company who manufactured solar panelled toys.

The author suggests that BAE and Boeing are pushed on us, but no more so than other companies, he possibly believes this as they are the biggest, and hence the most memorable when someone gives you a list of names.

My last and most vital point is simply, why should one student have the right to impact on another’s careers prospects? I don’t stand outside the English department screaming and throwing paint around because the author of Alice in Wonderland was

once suspected to be a child molester and they’re studying it.

If companies cannot enter engineering careers fairs to advertise jobs, many students would have to go out of their way to find the information on these companies they wanted, and the university and union would not be doing their part in giving them the best chance of finding a suitable career.

If companies cannot attend they cannot meet students, and it helps when they recognise you at assessment days. If the university doesn’t work on research projects with these companies then students never see ‘real’ engineering, and trust me, it’s disheartening to spend years learning theories you never see put into practise in a real life application.

On top of all that, the companies pay for a lot of equipment in our department we need, and its this availability of equipment, and industry expertise that has allowed out department to rise to one of the best in the country, trust me when I say the way academics see engineering is not the same way industry do!

There are many more points that nonengineering students just do not think of, and they seem to think they have the right, with mis-informed information, to impact on others education. Isn’t that a type of discrimination?

These students should stop looking at this from just one angle, and think about the effect their suggestions would have on the students actually studying the subject.

I recently read a small article you featured about the NUS. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it said that a proposition was passed that said 50% of all places for delegates are now reserved for women in order to combat the inequality in the NUS? Now I would be fine with this, but I then read that the other 50 per cent will be open to either gender?

Again, correct me if I’m wrong as I read it a few

days ago, but I believe that is the general twist.

Can someone please explain to me how it is ‘fair’ that women must get 50 per cent of the seats, but then they can also get the other 50 per cent?

Did anyone stop to think about how this is sexism against men, that they need to compete against both men and women for a smaller number of seats, while women only need to compete with their gender?

If you want to give women 50 per cent of the places,

Dear Forge Press, My name is Lil and I am writing to complain about an article in the 18th May edition of the Forge Press paper.

On page 4 you ran an article about IDAHO, which is the International Day Against Homophobia which has also added Transphobia to its message.

In the second paragraph of this article, the paper refers to transgender people as “Transgenders”.

The word transgender is a descriptive, not a

noun. I am a woman and a transgender person, not a transgender, much like how a gay person is a gay person, not a gay.

I found this offensive and exactly the kind of thing that this day is trying to educate people not to do.

The event itself focuses in Homophobia issues, as did your article.

I would very much like to see an article in your paper that focuses on the problems that transgender people face, that is written well and does not commit errors such as these, that

The deeper you go into a language, the more you uncover.

Yours, Katherine Paynter 4th Year Aerospace Engineering

Fighting the stereotypes: the teenage mum vs. the working mum be at school for most of its waking hours. It’s just not a good enough start to a babys life at all.

I am strongly pro-life and the idea of abortion, however, makes me feel sick, and the best way to deal with these tween mums is to have their babies adopted out. Maybe then people might actually be able to adopt a baby in this country.

Parents feel too shy these days talking to kids about sex. They need to learn that its OK to keep your legs closed, preferably until in a long-term relationship

and have been together about a year. They still need to know where to get contraceptives but no parent teaches the values today.

It’s not just the stigma of teenage parents, but in today’s culture people are given a stigma if they’re a virgin, which is out of order and needs to change. I am 22 and very happy being one.

Girls need to know about waiting for the right person and maybe then they might not get up the duff quite so young!

Dale G

I’m shocked and disgusted, and hopefully I won’t be seen as a ‘sexist pig’ for my views which, in my opinion, are the only actual fair ones I’ve ever seen expressed in Forge Press regarding sexism and feminism.

Yours, Daniel Nicholas Cunningham

A descriptive: Transgender is not a noun

Your comments on www.forgetoday.com to:

I for one do NOT want a baby in my 20s! I want a financially stable future for my children with a mummy and daddy who are happily married.

For me, the age of motherhood should start with a three. But then again, if you try and start a family at 45 and it doesn’t happen you’ve only got yourself to blame.

Age might be just a number. But what about the 13/14 year-old mum?

She can’t parent it herself.

The grandparents income will be stretched to breaking point and she will

give the other 50 per cent to men and actually be fair, or we could always leave it let the best applicant win...

Russian Intelligence Analysts £25,056 | London A conversation turns from sport, to the economy, to politics. And you’re there not just to translate it, not just to interpret it; you’re there to add a depth of understanding that enables us to make the right choices to help safeguard national security.

For more information and to apply, visit www.mi5.gov.uk/careers/russian Discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

also educates people about the best ways to talk about and treat transgender people.

I am willing to have further contact with you about transgender issues, as I have had contact with reporters about these kinds of issues in the past. I sincerely hope at the very least that my complaint is taken seriously, and your editors catch such errors in the future.

Thank you for your time.

Yours, Lilith Wright

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Friday S eptember 14 2012 FORGE PRESS

Lifestyle & Travel

Fashion Food & Drink Health & Fitness Travel Giving Back Sex & Relationships Technology

Welcome to Sheffield!

Firstly, congratulations for making an excellent choice! For the next three years or so, this will become your new stomping ground, the hub around which your life will revolve. From the supermarkets and takeaways in Broomhill, to the vintage shops on Division Street, the bars of West Street and the parks of Crookesmoor, Lifestyle is here to help you discover your new neighbourhood.

So welcome freshers of 2012, to the next phase of your life in the heart of this fantastic city.

The Lifestyle editors:

We are back - and another year older and wiser. With this in mind, our freshers’ issue is jam packed with our picks of the best nightlife in Sheffield, a ‘cheap eat’ recipe and some campus stereotypes to look out for

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FORGE PRESS Friday S eptem b e r 1 4 2 0 1 2

Olivia Adams

3rd year Journalism student Age: 20 From: Stamford Likes: Eggs Dislikes: Messy people

Laura Davies

3rd year Geography student Age: 22 From: Bristol Likes: Wine gums Dislikes: Walking to Uni in the rain

@forgelifestyle /forgelifestyle lifestyle@forgetoday.com

Best place to try something new: Ride the paternoster lift in the Arts Tower

Best place to get a 3am takeaway: Broomhill, next to Endcliffe and Ranmoor

Best place to study indoors:

The Information Commons (I.C.) open 24/7!

Best place to study outdoors:

Weston Park, home to an ice cream van

Best place to get a burger: The Harley, just past the I.C.

Artwork by Dom Walker

Friday S eptember 14 2012 FORGE PRESS

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Fashion Food & Drink Health & Fitness Travel Giving Back Sex & Relationships Technology

Lifestyle & Travel What’s on this week?

Sheffield’s legendary nightlife The Leadmill

MONDAY

By David Ewing

The Best Shag in Sheffield! Freshers, welcome to The Leadmill.

Possibly one of the cheapest nights in Sheffield, Shag at The Leadmill will inevitably become a staple part of your weekly club life once that bursary and loan has run out.

Don’t believe us? How about 80p for a vodka and 60p for a shot?

As well as being gloriously cheap, Shag is also a really great night if you’re more of an indieorientated clubber.

The main room is standard club fare, with chart being played alongside your big indie anthems and floor-fillers.

The second room is where the magic really

happens, as motown is mixed up with indie classics and 60s rock’n’roll, to lay the foundation for a night of non-stop singing and dancing.

The atmosphere is friendly and fun as all anybody wants to do is get drunk.

But a word of advice - you have to get down early to avoid cutting your evening short, as a night this good and this cheap doesn’t come without queuing.

However, if you text ahead you get discounted entry at £3 before 12pm as an added incentive to cut the pre-drinks short and get dancing!

Watch out for: Groups of 30-40 year olds on a a work night out trying to relive their youth.

DQ

ROAR

jagerbombs for £6.

DQ is a popular choice for many, and definitely a venue you must experience on a Monday night whilst you’re here.

Watch out for: The guest-list! DQ is an awesome night out but paying £5.50 just to enter is pretty steep. However, if you sign up for the guest-list on the DQ Facebook page you can get in for £3-4 if you arrive by midnight!

WEDNESDAY

By Alice Burrow

ROAR is the night associated with the sports clubs and societies.

However, don’t be deterred if sports aren’t your thing, as ROAR is usually one of the biggest nights in Freshers’ Week and continues to be a consistently great night throughout the year.

Held in the Octagon, the music is

mostly dance, RnB and chart toppers but expect a few indie favourites thrown into the mix.

The University’s feline mascot, Rory McTaverstock, is usually knocking about for photo opportunities, and drinks are reasonably cheap.

Tickets are priced at £3.50

from the Union box office, and it is recommended that you buy in advance as the Freshers’ Week ROAR always sells out.

Lovingly dubbed ‘Corp’, the ‘Skool Disco,’ the night is arguably the most cherished part of student life here in Sheffield and undoubtedly one of the cheapest nights.

Providing you’re wearing a white shirt and tie, then entry is free

before 10:30pm and just £1 after.

Drinks are also dirt cheap, the infamous Corp ‘quad vod’ (legend has it that they brew their own vodka) for less than £2.50 before midnight.

As the night gets later, the toilets

get more squalid and Corp TV claims more victims. In the meantime, the music progresses from chart music into good old-fashioned cheese.

Corporation

Look out for: Topless guys, and lots of them.

FRIDAY

Drum’n’bass and dubstep your kind of thing? Look no further than The Tuesday Club which this year will be held at The Leadmill.

Showcasing the finest talent that the UK (and beyond!) has to offer every week, The Tuesday Club is certainly not one to be missed by all those bass addicts out there.

Last year saw acts as major as Skream, Rusko, Jack Beats and Benga grace the stage, in what has widely been described as one of the greatest student nights in the UK, and when you get down there you’ll see just why.

The atmosphere is always manic, always crazy, and always amazing.

The people, be them hardened regulars or relative newbies, are all unified by one thing: their love of great bass music.

There’s only one downside: drinks aren’t as a cheap as some of the other club nights in Sheffield.

A can of Red Stripe will set you back £2.99, as will any double and mixer, but you’ll be hard pressed to find artists as brilliant as the ones you’ll find here on a Tuesday from 11:30pm.

Resident DJ Andy-H will be spinning tunes from the opening until the first act graces the stage, and if all of this still hasn’t persuaded you into heading down, we’ll leave you with the words of the Steel City’s very own Toddla T: ‘Tuesdays are the new Fridays in Sheffield, believe the hype!’

Watch out for: The person who wants to have a three hour chat with you about systems and love and then goes off to touch the speakers whilst smiling vacantly.

Carver Street

By Holly Wilkinson

A night out on Carver Street generally occurs after being accosted by wristband wielding promo people, who cleverly convince you to accept the proffered arm adornment.

Carver Street consists of Beg, Borrow and Steal (BBS), Paris, Viper Rooms, Crystal and Babylon.

Yes, for the £1 wristband you gain entry to five delightful venues. Most of the bars have a smart-casual dress code, but Paris suffers from sticky floors, Crystal from a more middleaged crowd trying to pin down their youth, Viper Rooms is home to the high-heeled Hallam folk, BBS is busy due to it’s petite size, and Babylon will without doubt get you onto the dancefloor with their pick of 90s music.

You will always have a great night out on Carver Street, and the beauty is that if you get bored, you can just move on. A Carver night is always memorable, always dirty and always outrageous.

Watch out for: Very steep staircases. Everywhere.

Population

By Laura Heffernan

Watch out for: Corp TV, and avoid it - it ruins lives.

Propaganda Space

By Ben Richards

By Adam White

The UK’S biggest indie night. Yes, practically every city has one, but all are equally awesome.

It is a huge venue filled with loud indie classics, and a roaring crowd.

Queueing is inevitable, and the entry price is expensive (£4 in advance, more on the door) but all students are willing to pay to kick-start their weekend in style.

Propaganda is located out of the usual nightlife territory, based in the O2 Academy next door to the Odeon cinema.

Another Octagon based night, this is a favourite with third years and freshers alike.

The perfect start to the weekend for anyone looking to let their hair down, with cheap drink prices, multiple bars and a burger van parked conveniently on the concourse.

Entrance costs £4 in advance and doors open at 11pm.

We’d recommend you tuck in to the triple cheese burger, to ease that morning after feeling.

Watch out for: Spilt drinks. You will easily slide from one end of the bar to the other in a few seconds.

By David Ewing

Watch out for: Ending up a loner. The multiple levels and huge expanses of crowded dancefloor make this a very likely outcome.

THURSDAY

By Laura Heffernan DQ, without a doubt, is home to some of the best DJs in Sheffield and their spot-on music selection attracts the masses every Monday.

Head to the main room for hip hop, house, and dance, or wander upstairs to hear dubstep, electro and drum’n’bass.

Aside from the music, you’re a student, so you probably want to hear that drinks are pretty cheap. Single vodka mixers are only £1.50, or you can double up for an extra £1.

Shots start at £1 too, and you can get three

TUESDAY The Tuesday Club (TTC)

Population takes over the Octagon on a Thursday night.

Tickets are £3.50 in advance or £4.50 on the door. Drinks are reasonably cheap and are also significantly less than other Union nights.

Due to the huge venue, if you’re not a fan of queueing or just fancy a spontaneous night out with guaranteed entry and cheap drinks, there’s no faulting Population!

Watch out for: The theme! Population has a unique theme every week, anything from Baywatch to hat parties. Find out in advance, get dressed up, and get stuck in!

SATURDAY Pop Tarts

By Charlotte Elmore

Prepare yourself for Sheffield’s cheesiest night, as Pop Tarts takes you back to your youth with music from the 80s/90s and early noughties in its main room.

Those classic tunes you’d long forgotten come back with a vengeance, and every verse just seems to roll off the tongue. Pop Tarts is a nostalgic night out that reminds you that you’re never too old for the Spice Girls.

That’s not all – just when you thought there wasn’t any better way to celebrate the weekend, you’ll discover another room

blasting out all time favourites from the 50s, 60s and 70s. (Think jazz hands and the Jackson 5!)

The tickets cost £4 in advance, or a fiver on the door if you’re a spontaneous type.

Covering such a wide range of music styles, Pop Tarts has something for everyone – unless of course you don’t like corny tunes, in which case this probably isn’t the night for you!

Watch out for: Injuries sustained by erratic dancing.

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@forgelifestyle /forgelifestyle lifestyle@forgetoday.com

Campus stereotypes revealed Olivia Adams Ah choices, choices.

The dating scene may be strange and different now you’re at university, but you’ll find that certain stereotypes remain.

Lifestyle & Travel have composed a general selection of classic campus stereotypes, plus individual flirting techniques for each social circle.

there’s absolutely nothing a gapper likes more than to recall their exotic adventures to a captive audience.

Try to slip in the line “I’ve always wanted to head Down Under”, but only if you think you can pull it off.

The Fresher

The Jocks

While we’re the first to say that looks aren’t everything, even we can’t help getting a little flustered when we spot a gorgeous guy working out.

If you’re sporty yourself, you could try out for a team or even the cheerleading squad.

Joining the gym is also a successful way to eye up the lookers, but if you fancy saving the hot and sweaty for later, you could just get yourself to ROAR - the Union’s sports night where tops are discarded and muscles are on show left, right and centre.

The tactic: These people have a naturally competitive streak, so it’s well worth using this to your advantage and challenging them to something lighthearted (eg. an arm wrestle). Then say that if you lose you’ll have to buy them a drink…

The Drama Lot Enthusiastic, confident and willing to wear their heart on their sleeves, the drama guys and girls always seem to be loving life.

The easiest way to seek them out is by joining the Drama Society.

It’s a great way to make friends, enhance your CV and bag yourself a date.

The tactic: Try complimenting him/ her on a great performance. Flattery works nine times out of ten.

Photo: magazine.tcu.edu

The Gappers You know the ones, they’ve been abroad for a year, finding themselves in some far-flung and exoticsounding destination.

They will generally be spotted by the beaded bracelet, picked up from their time helping others.

We’d say your best bet is finding them pitching ideas at the weekly RAG meetings.

The tactic: This one’s a no-brainer.

Ask them about their time abroad, as

conversation with them, ask them about their home country or ask them to teach you a few stock phrases of their own language, before suggesting a few translations of your own! Try out anything along the lines of “but the only French I know is a lyric beginning voulez-vous”.

Photo: gapyearprograms.net

The Movie Lovers The film buffs are perfect for uni dating - think long nights in, curled up in front of a great movie, saving your student loan for a night out at the Union.

You could try hanging around outside the Media Hub where we work (the Screen section is male dominated) or you could take the easier route and join the Film Society - which has the motto ‘bringing film lovers together’.

The tactic: Watching films means you don’t have to worry too much about awkward conversation. Bag a seat next to your favourite looker and work on those ‘accidental’ touches.

The Literary Lovelies Imagine yourself sipping a frothy cappuccino, accompanied by a gorgeous guy or girl, discussing the latest fast-paced novel to hit the shelves that week.

Sounding good? Literary lovelies are, as a rule, more sensitive to our inner desires and emotional turmoil, thanks to their over-exposure to renaissance poetry.

The obvious place to find them is the library, the perfect spot to start discussing romance in the hope to getting some real action later.

The tactic: Grab a pile of books (do check which ones first so you aren’t caught out with the latest Fifty Shades of Grey) and ask him/her to watch them for you while you nip to the coffee machine. And of course, it’s only polite to offer to pick him/her one up while you’re there.

The International Students Let’s be honest, we all love the accents of the exotic and fascinating.

There is nothing more exciting than partaking in a foreigntongued encounter with one of the international students, but bear in mind that they will, sooner or later, have to return overseas at some point.

You’ll often find them in the more expensive union cafes.

The tactic: When you strike up a

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Email us at lifestyle@forgetoday.com and we will add you to the mailing list so you can find out more about our meetings, stories to be written and other opportunities.

Freshers are excitable and keen, and can often be spotted clutching a map and looking confused around the concourse.

After University hours they will be ridiculously wasted, staggering around in what started out as a Corp ‘school uniform.’

The tactic: We’ll be honest, these need very little tact. Mostly young, naive and almost always drunk, freshers are usually keen to make an older and more ‘experienced’ Uni friend.

The tactic: Ask him/her what inspired them to start playing or painting. Remember, there is nothing more attractive than someone who seems genuinely interested in what you have to say.

The Media People Whether they’re writing for the University newspaper (like us) or spinning the discs on their Forge Radio show, these guys and girls have a certain effortless confidence that cannot be resisted (okay, okay, so we’re slighty biased!).

The obvious trick is to get involved yourself, by becoming a contributor to the paper, or by bagging your own radio show.

The tactic: Again, a little bit of research makes all the difference.

Re a d i n g F o r g e Press or

listening to Forge Radio not only gives you the low-down on what’s going on around the university, but also means you’ll be loaded with plenty to say to your media man or woman when you meet them.

Geek Chic We know that, stereotypically, geeks are not considered great date material. But think again!

With an IQ like that on side, you never need to fear the pub quiz again.

Plus, it’s well documented that the geeks of today are the hotties of tomorrow.

The tactic: Try asking for help using the photocopier, or something equally techno-terrifying, and keep him/her in a string of appreciative chitchat as they come to your aid.

Photo: wessexscene.co.uk

The Artistic Wonders What is it about musicians and artists that make us go weak at the knees?

Is it their passion for all things creative, their rock and roll star looks, or their nimble finger-work?

Whatever it is, we love them.

Find yours at the Union’s live music nights, or pubs like The Harley which play ‘alternative’ music.

Photo: ParkCitiesPeople.com

Lifestyle’s Cheap Eat

Breadcrumbed Pesto Chicken Ingredients:

2-4 chicken breast fillets (one per person) 4 tsp green pesto 2 garlic cloves (chopped finely) 2 slices of bread (crumbed) 4 tbsp olive oil Serve with salad, rice or cous cous

Method:

Photo: slinkii.com

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees/gas mark four. Place a layer of tin foil over a baking tray/oven proof dish and coat in two tbsp of olive oil.

2. Take a chicken breast and cut it in half longways so that you have two thin fillets (two thin fillets per person).

Repeat for the rest of the chicken. Dip both sides of each fillet in the oil on the baking tray and then place on the tray. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Spread over 1/2 to one tsp of pesto on each fillet.

4. Food process the bread into fine breadcrumbs (can use a grater instead), and mix in the crushed garlic and one tbsp olive oil. Season and drizzle any remaining olive oil on top.

5. Cook in oven for 20-25 mins or until chicken is cooked all the way through and the breadcrumbs are golden brown and crispy.

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Friday S eptember 14 2012 FORGE PRESS

Paving the way to gold

How you could follow in Jessica Ennis’ trainer-clad footsteps.

I

f you’ve not heard of Jessica Ennis then it is safe to presume that you are not from Sheffield.

Not only does the London 2012 Olympics gold medallist still live in the city, but she was born and raised in Sheffield and is also an alumna of the University of Sheffield after graduating in 2007 with a 2:2 in Psychology.

Deciding against studying in America like a lot of athletes do, Jess chose to stay in Sheffield because the city ‘‘had everything that she needed here’’. During her time at university, Jessica still competed in athletics professionally often missing lectures to attend sporting events. However her dedication and sporting ability led her to winning a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Later that year, she also competed at the European Championships in Sweden finishing in eighth position.

Her experience of balancing sport and study makes her the perfect choice to be the first patron of the Elite Sport Performance Scheme (ESPS) which was launched in 2010 and shows that the balance is achievable, even at high standards. If you are worried about balancing study and sport, then relax as there is help available in the form of the ESPS. The scheme enables athletes studying at Sheffield to gain financial and nonfinancial support to succeed academically as well as in their chosen sporting field. In March this year, 33 students were awarded the scholarship by the scheme’s second patron Dan Walker – an alumnus from the University best

@forgefeatures /forgepress

features@forgetoday.com

Words and pictures: Nicola Moors

“

The legacy that is left for Sheffield is only just beginning thanks to our golden girl Jess.

She has helped change this city of ours from a city of steel to a city of gold.

Council leader, Julie Dore

”

known for presenting BBC’s Football Focus and Match of the Day. An example of the talent supported by the scheme is David Wetherill who competed in table tennis at the Paralympics this summer (and made that incredible dive across the table to win the point against opponent Tomasz Kusiak. If you haven’t seen it, then we recommend that you do – it’s amazing!). David graduated from the University last summer with a BA degree in Biological Chemistry.

Great Britain hockey player Hollie Webb is another athlete who credits the scheme for helping her to balance her university work and her training without having to worry financially. She told Amy Stone, media relations officer at the University of Sheffield, ‘’Without the scholarship I wouldn’t be able to play at the level I am and do well at university, so it’s helping me to reach my goals. ‘’Before coming to university I had a part-time job to pay for transport so I could get to training. Now I’m at university, I wouldn’t really have been able to work so something would have had to give. The scholarship was one of the reasons I chose to come to the University as there’s not many others that would offer something like this.’’

Being part of a sports team brings lots of benefits – firstly it’s a cheaper (and probably more fun) alternative to the gym meaning that your physical wellbeing can be improved. The NHS recommends two and a half hours exercise a week which

features

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can easily be fulfilled with team practices and matches so you won’t even feel like you are working out.

You’ll also reap the benefits socially by meeting like-minded students from different courses – people whom you might never have crossed paths with otherwise.

Exercise is good for stress levels as it releases endorphins and can give you a welcome break from studying. Research by the Mental Health Foundation shows that 50 per cent of students showed signs of clinical anxiety – students are more likely to become depressed as they struggle with the pressures of moving away from home for, often, the first time.

The University of Sheffield’s Sports Officer Luke MacWilliam added, ‘’All of the University sports clubs are run by students so they understand that people also have academic needs, so practices will fit around classes. Sports can take up as little or as much time as you want – I was part of two sports clubs and still managed to graduate from university. ‘’Being part of a sports team can give you so many skills which you can develop by joining committees. You could run the club in the future which will give you some fantastic skills and makes you more employable.’’

After the Olympics, younger people are now able to find inspiration role models in athletes other than Z-list ‘celebrities’.

Luke said, ‘’I think role models, like Jessica Ennis, coming from Sheffield will inspire people to get involved in sport and I think that the aim of the Olympics Games is to provide inspiration for the younger generation. Having a gold medal winner from this city can only boost that for Sheffield.’’

In fact a seventh of Great Britain’s 2012 Olympians, as well as teams from other countries such as the USA’s diving team and Brazil’s judo team, who competed at the world event this summer, trained in Sheffield showing just how good the city’s facilities are and why more students like yourselves should get involved. ‘’Sheffield has world-class facilities. Jessica Ennis trains here at the EIS with some of the best indoor facilities in the country but then we also have the Don Valley Stadium and Ponds Forge, a world-class swimming facility, to name a few. Sheffield has everything. ‘’ As Luke said, Sheffield is the perfect city to take up sport and, in 1995, it was even named as the first National City of Sport in the UK due to its impressive array of sports facilities. The University of Sheffield utilises these facilities as well as its own collection of facilities including 45 acres of playing fields for rugby and football, five floodlit synthetic pitches, bouldering wall and a large fitness centre. The University offers 47 sports clubs from skiing to athletics.

One of the famous sporting venues in the city includes the English Institute of Sport Sheffield – one of the country’s best indoor sports venues – which boasts an athletics arena, sports science and medicine faculty and a variety of sports halls along with other features. Many world-class athletes train at the centre including David Wetherill.

Another is the Don Valley Stadium where Jessica Ennis first competed at the age of 13 when she joined the City of Sheffield Athletic Club. The venue can hold up to 50,000 spectators and is also the home ground for Sheffield Eagles Rugby Club.

After her achievements during this year’s Olympics, Sheffield City Council painted a postbox gold in honour of Jess and granted her Freedom of the City. She has already been awarded with an Honorary Doctorate at the University of Sheffield after winning a gold medal at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

However it’s not only Jess who has benefited from the games – Sheffield City Council will be getting an extra £10 million grant from central government to invest in sports facilities for the city.

It looks like sport will be on Sheffield’s agenda for the foreseeable future.

“

Being part of a sports team can give you so many skills - you can even run the club in the future which will give you some fantastic skills and makes you more employable.

Sports officer, Luke MacWilliam

”

Jess’ gold postbox

Welcome home, Jess!

It was never going to be a quiet affair when the country’s golden girl returned to her home city of expectation, but to be honest having the great people around me who’ve supported me has after winning a gold medal at this year’s Olympics, where she stormed home in the final event of taken a lot of pressure off me. I’ve just been training hard and staying focused. ‘’ the Heptathlon, the 800m, beating her nearest rival, Germany’s Lilli Schwarkopf, by 306 points.

Before the homecoming celebrations got underway, a large screen broadcasted Jess’ successes However, at Jessica Ennis’ homecoming celebration held at Barker’s Pool last month, over from the early days of her sporting career along with interviews with Jess herself and her coach, 20,000 people crammed into the city centre to catch a glimpse of the unofficial face of the London Toni Minichiello, who later joined the champion on stage. A second stage was placed on Fargate 2012 Olympic Games. to ensure the whole crowd was able to see their golden girl on stage.

Being greeted by over 20,000 cheering supporters waving Great Britain flags and holding Council leader Julie Dore also showed her support for the athlete and gave a speech messages of praise clearly overwhelmed the 26 year-old athlete who gushed that ‘‘it was an commending Jess for her loyalty to the city where she was born and raised. ‘’ We are so proud amazing feeling’’ to receive the amount of support that she has over the years. and grateful that Jess decided to stay in this fantastic city. The legacy that is left for Sheffield ‘‘I could never ever have imagined this. To just is only just beginning thanks to our golden have come away with this medal is more than girl Jess; she has helped change this city of enough but to have all you people supporting me ours from a city of steel to a city of gold.’’ is lovely. If I could thank you all individually then Doremy Friend, from Rotherham, cheered I would - even when I’ve been injured you have Jess on throughout the whole of the Games. continued to support me.’’

She said, ‘’I watched Jessica throughout the When asked at the event why she’d never left games. You can’t help but cheer her on, she’s the city that she was born in, Jessica admitted our golden girl. After I missed out on seeing that she had looked at universities elsewhere, the Olympics, I thought that this event ‘’I did look at universities in America and there would be the only chance that I would get are some fantastic universities there but I had to see her.’’ everything I needed here. Sheffield is a beautiful Jess’ ‘Sheffield Legends’ plaque had been city with great people and this is my home.’’ temporarily removed and painted gold in Being hailed as the face of the games meant honour of her success at the Olympics. The that Jessica had a weight of expectation before newly painted plaque was then presented to she had even stepped foot on the track. ‘‘There her at the ceremony. has definitely been a lot of pressure and a lot The waiting crowd at Jess’ homecoming in Barker’s Pool

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Words: Sophie Allen Images: HumanStudio

H

ave you ever thought about how academic views on uncertainty could inspire improvised performance?

Have you wondered about 50 ways Sheffield could be made a better place to live? How would you like to take a stroll through a series of open air Shakespearean workshops – right on your doorstep?

While in the first few weeks of university there seems to be little on many students’ minds other than booze, nights out, and, well, more booze, all that is about to change. New students are about to have a hefty and irrepressible dose of Sheffield pride injected into their veins before they’ve even had chance to work through their first Corporation hangover.

There is a whole lot more to Sheffield than the nightlife, and from the 20 - 30 September the culture, creativity, and innovation of our city and our university will be celebrated with the Festival of the Mind.

The festival is the brainchild of Professor Vanessa Toulmin, a prominent academic at the University of Sheffield specialising in film and entertainment history. This description, however, goes little distance in describing the exciting work Vanessa does not only inside the University but in the city, across the country, and internationally. She is the director of the National Fairground Archive and the Head of cultural engagement, as well as being a member of the Sheffield Association of Independent Festivals, the body behind Tramlines, Sheffield’s huge annual music festival which runs in venues across the entire city.

The Festival of the Mind is her newest project, designed to promote and celebrate the city, the University, and the collaboration between academic and creative minds.

“I came back to the University about fourteen months ago and found it had been split into faculties. While this was brilliant, I felt we’d lost the sense of being one university,’ says Vanessa. ‘I want everyone to feel part of the University of Sheffield. I came here when I was 18, and I’m from the fairground - a background where most don’t read or write, let alone go to a school - and I all of a sudden came to this place where people welcomed me and made me feel really special.

“I still remember that. My whole career has been based at the University and I think it’s an amazing, special place.

I want the students to remember that, I want the city to remember that, and I want my staff to realise we’re in a fantastic place to work. I think this festival is a way of me saying thank you to the University.”

The festival will take place in a series of venues across the University campus and the city of Sheffield. Academics from a diverse range of University departments including Psychology, Philosophy, Nanotechnology, and Animal and Plant Sciences will be teaming up with poets, artists, musicians and performers to create an astonishing series of projects to fit themes of magic, science, city, craft, and space.

“We’d thought of including death as a theme but thought it might be a bit nihilistic!” Vanessa laughs. “I wanted to have a positive culture; I thought, in this first year, let’s show the strengths of the city of Sheffield. ‘“I let everyone choose their ideas –I’m not the puppet master, I’m the festival director and I just provide the infrastructure. We want people to be true to themselves.

I think because of my background in entertainment and burlesque and history some of my colleagues thought at first I wanted them to put on feathers and do a burlesque performance. But it’s about taking the strengths of the people involved and applying them to a partnership that

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they feel comfortable and relaxed with.”

The dynamic pairing of world class academics with talented artists brings the research conducted in the University into the spotlight, in a way that is accessible not only to students, but to the general public too.

“Really one of the fantastic things will be the Researchers’ Night on the 28 September , where the whole of the university from the music and arts departments to the sciences will be open to the public,” says Vanessa.

“The whole programme, though, really is astonishing.

There will be poems about the dawn chorus tweeted every day, with poetry used as a means of communication, not just as a type of literature. We’re not dumbing down; it’s all about world class research, investigations, and technology.

For example, there are computer scientists meeting up with artists to make a robot arm that draws graffiti. Some of the projects are just – amazing.”

“

This festival comes out of my desire for my university and the city I live in to become as inseperable in people’s hearts and souls as they are economically and socially Professor Vanessa Toulmin

”

With such refreshing, quirky events as these making up the evening programme, it’s no wonder Vanessa and her team were confident enough to hold the festival during the first fortnight of university, when hundreds of bars and venues will be competing to draw as many students as possible through their doors. As Vanessa says, the presentations and projects of the festival will provide a reminder to new students of why they’re here.

“People did wonder why we’ve chosen to hold the festival when we have, but I think the timing’s perfect,” she says.

“New students will have just arrived in Sheffield and the first thing they’ll see is Festival of the Mind, and they’ll realise just why they came to Sheffield.”

Vanessa hopes this celebratory, creative, inclusive culture will encourage students to get involved.

“The most important thing we did was take the techniques of a festival. I’m a member of the Sheffield Association of Independent Festival, so all those people that run such huge impact events on limited resources were the people that advised me,” Vanessa says.

“I really want volunteers, even for just half a day. We’ll be working at some great sites in the city, and we just want people to be there in their Festival of the Mind t-shirts to talk about the University of Sheffield and why we’re doing this. I want students to be ambassadors for the projects. I want students to be proud of their university and proud of what we’re doing. I want students to be fighting to wear our t-shirts.”

When asked about her personal highlight of the programme, Vanessa laughs.

“How can I say that? I’m the director! On a daily basis I find different highlights. If anything, I’m really looking forward to seeing everything just work. If there’s a great buzz about it, and people come, I’ll be happy.

“This festival comes out of my desire for my University and the city I live in to become as in inseparable in people’s hearts and souls as they are economically and socially.

The University and the city are inseparable in many ways, but visually, and emotionally, people don’t make that connection – and we should!”

To learn more about Festival of the Mind, or to view the programme, go to http://festivalofthemind.group.shef. ac.uk. To volunteer, get in touch with Sheffield Volunteering or email v.toulmin@sheffield.ac.uk.

Many performances will be held in the Spiegeltent, a temporary venue in Barker’s Pool where events will range from cabaret shows and plays to morning poetry readings.

The venue in itself is reminiscent of Victorian fairgrounds and carnivals, and is a far cry from the grubby, off white tents of your average musical festival.

“The Spiegeltent is the centrepiece of the festival. It’s our hub. It’s where you’ll come down and find out what’s going on,” says Vanessa. “We’re going to have events there every night; we’ve worked with the Harley and Club 60, and even a Sheffield variety company. I’ll be bringing some wonderful street theatre as well.” she adds, “And we have a bar!”

The Spiegeltent programme is a veritable challenge to the standard boozy nights that comprise the usual opening weeks of university.

Whether you fancy throwing down your moves to Russian ska, crooning away to motown, or shimmying to 20s, 30s and swing after a screening of Bugsy Malone, it truly promises something for everyone.

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Brave New Words

A

Words and images: Lizzy Jewell

ttention booklovers, because here is Sheffield’s newest, and best kept secret. Part old-school reading circle and part treasure hunt, welcome to the Hidden Book Club. Set up at the beginning of summer 2012, Helen and Victoria Turnton began the phenomenon winning the hearts of bibliophiles across the city.

The rules are simple: every Sunday, a book is hidden somewhere around Sheffield city centre. The location is announced via the Hidden Book Club’s Facebook group and people can visit to swap books until midnight.

The location could be anywhere; in a bar, cafe or hidden somewhere in a public space. Anybody can turn up and take the book from this location, leaving another book of their choice in its place. It is totally free, anyone can take part and books can be fact or fiction and in any condition.

Through the club you can discover a new favourite book and a new favourite place in Sheffield.

The joy of the club is in its mystery and secrecy. As there is no way of knowing what you get until you get there, you could turn up and find a gem of literature that you never would have come across if you were perusing a library or browsing in a book shop alone.

“

It’s great when someone feels the same way about a story as you do.

The Hidden Book Club just sort of progressed from there.

Helen and Victoria Turnton, founders of The Hidden Book Club

”

Completely opposing the fact that the bestseller charts and most discussions about books in recent months have been dominated by a particular sadomasochistic trilogy, the founders of the club point out the fact that the members have “very varied tastes”. This increases the variety and your chances of stumbling across something completely new. And while there is no denying the storming popularity of the 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon, something a little different might be refreshing.

Feedback from members of the Hidden Book Club and discoveries of books are related and discussed on their Facebook page, where you can find out “who picked up the book you left and what they thought of it”. Most comments on the page are extremely positive, gleaming with excitement for what books they will be able to find in the secret location. There are, however, some book fans in distressing dilemmas, wondering which books of theirs they will be able to give up in the exchange. A harrowing choice.

Running a book club in the middle of the city centre does have its perils, as the Turntons describe a couple of instances where members of the general public unaware of the club have come across books in public spaces and not replaced them. “Not that you can blame them for that!

If I found an interesting looking book hidden in a park or up a tree I’d probably do the same!”

A fine line between club membership and theft, since the club’s early days this problem has begun to be remedied, by pinning notes to the covers of the books in the hope that people will learn why the book is there, rather than just taking the book away.

The Hidden Book Club, despite some risk of loss of books and the rise of the e-reader has been extraordinarily

successful since its inception: it is gaining new members online almost every day. The immediacy of the Book Club’s success must be down to just why people love borrowing books.

Fervent book lovers themselves, the club was started

by Helen Turnton and Vicky volunteered soon after to help keep the organization running. Although neither of them have a formal background in literature both have a zealous relationship with books.

“We can literally spend hours in bookshops and we both have boxes of books at home. We buy new books before we’ve even finished the ones that we are reading.

It’s great when someone feels the same way about a story as you do. The Hidden Book Club just sort of progressed from there”.

Better still, add to that the mystery and excitement of not knowing what book you will find. What you get feels like “taking part in a Famous Five adventure”, according to one member of the Hidden Book Club.

Whether you come across Enid Blyton or contemporary crime fiction, you are guaranteed to find something somebody else has read and enjoyed, and passed on to you.

Or, perhaps if the weekly treasure hunt isn’t quite your style, there are plenty of other book clubs to sink your teeth into across Sheffield. The University of Sheffield has a book club society that meets every three weeks to “discuss, spew vitriol, or sing the praises of the book we just read”. Additionally, for the bookworm with a sweettooth, the delectable Cocoa cafe on Ecclesall Road runs a book club monthly – and their hot chocolate is to die for.

Clearly, the art of curling up with a book and then sharing it is not a thing of a past, yet the brains behind The Hidden Book Club point out that Sheffield Library is under the threat of closure, and how it makes “taking part in book clubs like this seem even more important”.

Another aspect affecting the fate of the printed book as we know it is the digital version, stamping its monstrous feet. In 2009, e-book sales overtook print ones for the first time and since then, the future of the book in print has looked a bit precarious. Kindles and e-readers can provide instantaneous access to whatever book you can think of, but The Hidden Book Club offers something which reading from a screen can never parallel.

“I guess we’re both [Helen and Victoria Turnton] old fashioned in this respect ... I love actually owning something tangible. Although I’d have a lot more space in my house if I put all of my books on a Kindle I’d really miss not having them around.”

Books in print, particularly second hand, are also affordable which makes sharing and lending them to friends and clubs much easier. For second hand books in Sheffield try charity shops or Rare and Racy on Division Street.

The Off The Shelf Festival runs from October 13 to November 3 and The Hidden Book Club is getting involved.

Off The Shelf is a Sheffield based festival of words and is running events, workshops, poetry and storytelling events.

Every Sunday throughout the duration of the festival the hidden location of the book will be in venues already running Off The Shelf events. The Hidden Book Club founders hope this will “encourage more people with an interest in books and literature to get involved in the club.

It’s also a good way for people taking part in the Hidden Book Club to perhaps stumble across an Off The Shelf event they might like!”

There is hope yet for bookworms. Clubs and festivals live on, spreading the joy of literature and there are plenty of ways for you to get involved.

Find BookSoc on the University website, search ‘The Hidden Book Club’ or befriend Cocoa Sheffield on Facebook to stay updated with their respective events. Visit http:// www.offtheshelf.org.uk for more information, programmes and tickets. And if that doesn’t keep the inner book worm satisfied, visit your local library. It misses you.

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COFFEE BREAK overheard

Overheard something funny this fortnight? Have your friends said something really stupid? Then tweet @FPCoffeeBreak, with the quote and location of your overheard, or email letters@forgetoday.com.

in sheffield

Immortalise your space cadet tendencies.

In Interval: Girl 1: “So if beer is 5% alcohol, does that mean it is 95% water?”

Girl 2: “No, Sweetie, it doesn’t work like that.”

Friday S eptember 14 2012 FORGE PRESS

@ FPCoffeeBreak /forgepress

Wonder Kitty survives brutal trans-Pacific confinement in a freight container This is one tough little kitty.

After accidentally ending up inside a freight container bound from Shanghai to Los Angeles.

The cat survived three weeks at sea and travelled 6,500 miles from home.

Described as being at “death’s door”, he was found by Los Angeles county animal control officials and rushed to a local veterinary clinic.

Animal Control official Aaron Reyes described finding him: “He was curled up in a ball with his eyes shut…and he actually appeared deceased.

“He’s gone from this shrivelled up little kitten with shallow

On This day 260 yEARS AGO:

bRITAIN ADOPTED THE GREGORIaN CALENDAR

Now renamed Ni Hao (which means ‘hello’ in Mandarin), the

employees at the shelter where he was taken suspect that the cat lived because he had eaten, and had something to drink, immediately before boarding the container.

Although some speculate that it is because “he is so young his resilience is off the charts.”

However, despite suffering from muscle atrophy after his voyage, Ni Hao’s only persisting symptom of his gruelling experience is a limp, which Reyes describes as “his own strut.”

Ni Hao has made an astounding recovery and will start a new life with a family in the LA suburb of Redondo Beach.

A Tale of Woe: Guys, a lesson in how not to propose.

When most of us picture a marriage proposal there are flowers, hearts and all of those fluffy, sick-inducing, loveydovey vocal accompaniments.

Not Alexey Bykov, of Omsk, Siberia.

He thought it would be a really romantic and cunning idea to fake his death whilst proposing to his girlfriend, Irina Kolokov, in order show her how much he meant to her.

The wealthy Russian hired a stuntman, make-up artist, screenwriter, and a director to stage a phony car crash, before asking his girlfriend to meet him at a certain place at a certain time.

No doubt Ms Kolokov made her way there with her heart soaring, imagine the most romantic setting possible, but it was not to be.

“When I arrived there were

mangled cars everywhere, ambulances, smoke, and carnage,” Kolokov with told Russian Holly Wilkin media. “Then when I saw Alexey covered in blood lying in the road a paramedic told me he was dead and I just broke down in tears.”

With his girlfriend in pieces, the dreamboat arose from the dead and proposed to his girlfriend whilst covered in ‘blood’ - this is starting to sound like a Bram Stoker sequel, we know.

Apparently Kolokov seriously considered killing him “for real this time”, but relented and agreed to marry the mad Don Quixote.

“I wanted her to realise how empty her life would be without me and how life would have no meaning without me,” Bykov said. “I think it worked but I promise it’s the last time.”

Small History Lesson: The Gregorian calendar is the internationally accepted civil calendar and was introduced by

The reformed calendar was adopted by other countries over

the following centuries.

The motivation for the Gregorian reform was that the Julian calendar assumes that the time between vernal equinoxes is 365.25 days, when in fact it is presently almost exactly 11 minutes shorter.

The discrepancy accumulates at the rate of about three days every four centuries, resulting in the equinox being on March 11 (a cumulative error of about 10 days since Roman times), and moving steadily earlier in the Julian calendar.

Because the spring equinox was tied to the celebration of Easter, the Roman Catholic Church considered this steady movement in the date of the equinox undesirable and so the new calendar was proposed and implemented.

Have you seen it yet?

Random Fact of the Week:

Look out Venti, there’s a 2,000 litre Guinness World Record Winning Cappuccino on the block

YouTube it:

Studies show that if a cat falls off the seventh floor of a building it has about thirty per cent less chance of surviving than a cat that falls off the 20th floor.

At some point in your university career being awake will become synonymous with drinking caffeine.

In the depths of the night, with a dissertation filling up your foreseeable future, a coffee nurses you through the hours and comforts you in the darkness (and happens to keep you awake too - a coincidence, Coffee Break is sure).

However, even the most hardened coffee drinker would be advised against consuming this beverage - a 2,000 litre cappuccino. Oh yes. Starbucks’ Venti cappuccino eat your heart out.

Over 1,000 trained baristas, used 22 coffee machines to create the record-winning drink in Zagreb, Croatia.

They beat the previous record by 455 litres, with the record being confirmed by Guinness World Records judge Seyda Subasi-Gemici,.

She went on to say: “This record category is a new record category at Guinness World Records,and always when there’s a new record category there is a minimum requirement which has to be fulfilled.

“And in this case for the largest cappuccino - actually largest cup of cappuccino - it has to be a

The Gregorian calendar was adopted by Britain and the British Empire (including the eastern part of what is now the United States) in 1752.

So Wednesday 2 September 1752 was followed by Thursday 14 September 1752. After 1753, the British tax year continued to operate on the Julian calendar and began on April 5, which was the ‘Old Style’ new tax year of 25 March. A 12th skipped Julian leap day in 1800 changed its start to April 6. It was not changed when a 13th Julian leap day was skipped in 1900, so the tax year in the United Kingdom still begins on April 6.

Morgan Freeman narrating Fifty Shades of Grey? Go on then.

Josh Robert Thompson, of Family Guy fame, reading the infamous literary drivel that is Fifty Shades of Grey is comedic genius.

Mainly because he does it in the voice of Morgan Freeman, which lends it a hilariously creepy, perverted edge which ventures very close to Se7en.

However, he also delicately includes appropriate amounts of both homespun wisdom, such as: “I like your kinky-fuckery - more like bullshit douchery, we never used such terms when I was young.”

YouTube search: Morgan Freeman narrates 50 Shades

Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on February 24 1582.

breathing and knocking on death’s door to this curious, playful, bouncy, affectionate, patient, little furry kitty.”

It supposedly takes about eight floors for the cat to realize what is occurring, relax and correct itself.

Coffee Break’s Word of the Fortnight: Velleity, (n.)

1. Volition in its weakest form.

2. A mere wish, unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it.

Fortunately it did no more than stress, the better to mock if you like, an innate velleity.

-- Samuel Beckett, Molloy

minimum of 1,500 litres.”

However, this beverage didn’t go straight from the machines into the 440 gallon mug.

Nope, it was carried cup-by-cup by a group of dedicated helpers, who poured each concoction into the ever-filling mug - which could be quite possibly the dullest job ever and a health and safety nightmare (hot fluids, yikes).

Julius Meinl, whose shop in Zagreb, has been in business for 150 years, said the enormous cup of coffee was made “exactly how

it should be.”

“In total there are about 1,000 baristas here. A thousand people, really, who do this job every day, who make cappuccinos every single day, and they are certainly good at this,” he said.

“What is also interesting is that we make cappuccinos by the book, so - one third espresso, one third milk foam.

“So each and every cappuccino here is made exactly how it should be,” he added.

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COFFEE BREAK

@ FPCoffeeBreak /forgepress

Puzzle Page: sudokus E

with Holly Wilkinson

H

M E

A

A

D I

S

R

U Y

nson

D

M Quote of the fortnight

Trending

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

Black Bear Casino Resort have made a 2,014-pound, 10-foot-diameter bacon cheeseburger.

“

”

Hot

Benjamin Franklin,

Sixth President of

Pennsylvania

The ‘Hello Vodka, Goodbye Dignity’ page on Facebook - too close to the mark sometimes.

lecture puzzle

Sunday September 16 2012 signals the return of Downton Abbey - drama fever returns.

Across 1. The West Midlands (5,7) 6. Tropical fruit (6) 8. Yeoman warder of the Tower of London (9) 10. Graceful, supple movement (5) 12. Slang, loose (8) 14. To feed, promote growth (7) 15. Separate fibres, mock (someone) (5) 16. Central part, nexus (3) 18. Italian liqueur (7) 21. Edible viscera of a fowl (7) 23. Playing card (3) 24. Break with established customs (5) 25. Be fatally overwhelmed, yield (7) 27. Comment, explain by notes (8) 28. The animals of a given area or epoch (5) 30. Being the person after whom a literary work is named (9) 31. Not sharp, blunt, emotionally insensitive (6) 32. Disembowelment (12)

Down 1. Inane chatter (6) 2. A solemn affirmation (4) 3. Someone in love with themselves (10) 4. The tower where the confusion of languages took place (5) 5. A beam or girder fixed only at one end (10) 7. Fragrant, odoriferous (8) 9. Hoisted as high as the tackle will admit, completely full (11) 11. Mint sweet, to deceive/hoax (6) 13. Questionable, doubtful, hard to solve (11) 17. A sudden change, oddity or defect (10) 19. Intellectual ability to penetrate to the core of an idea (10) 20. The peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf (6) 22. US Midwest state (8) 26. Dried grape (6) 27. Smaller than 31 across, ending in a sharp point (5) 29. A tiny hole admitting the passage of a liquid or gas (4)

Can you draw the hopscotch f i g u r e s h o w n in the illustration without taking your pencil off the paper or going along the same line twice?

Find the answer online at: www. forgetoday. com/ category/ coffee-break

Intro Week - a week of excess that welcomes an influx of fresh, young faces and older, wiser ones too.

The Olympics are officially over - goodbye to wasting monsoon-filled days with dancing horses.

Cold

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Friday S eptember 14 2012

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SPORT

Matchdebating

Debate: Is the Olympic and Paralympic legacy sustainable, or is it all just a flash in the pan?

Olympics truly will Money counts more inspire a generation than inspiration norm in certain sports, the Olympics have provided us with moments where good, honest people have achieved extraordinary feats. And then have been humble and thankful to everybody; there has been no gloating or arrogance.

The Olympians have taught our children how to win and how to lose. Their behaviour is a lesson to all of us.

So to the next

The diving coach at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, Steve Gladding, has already spoken of how he has begun to look for the next Tom Daley in his under 10s and 11s age groups. Here in Yorkshire the legacy is kicking into practice immediately and not just empty words and promises.

One council in West Yorkshire has invested £100,000 into grassroots

sports on the back of the Olympic success. St Paul’s Boxing Academy, where Bantamweight gold medallist Luke Campbell trains, already has to find a larger facility to cope with the added numbers. Attendance at the Pickering Athletics Club in North Yorkshire has doubled since that infamous night when Jess Ennis, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford wrote their names into the history books.

It is true that there is no evidence from previous Games that participation numbers have a long lasting increase, but no Games has ever set out to achieve this. Lord Coe and the other organisers set out with the sole intention of ‘inspiring a generation’ and they haven’t stopped there, the summer of 2012 has inspired generations, young and old.

The Olympics have also provided much needed revenue for many businesses on a local and national scale. The Stratford area of London has been turned around to be a place where people want to visit now and will bring in more money in the future.

Sports nutrition companies will also experience a dramatic increase in sales.

These Games have not only inspired people to try and emulate Bradley Wiggins, they have taught people how to behave. In a sporting era where fast cars and insolence are the

Matthew Smith: Mo Farah’s double Gold.

Will Aitkenhead: Hashim Amla’s triple century.

Adam Hancock: Wiggins’ Tour de France win.

Gemma Ricketts: Andy Murray’s US Open victory.

Arnold Bennett: Too many moments!

Lauren Clarke: Kimi Raikkonen’s comeback

It’s very easy to dismiss the Olympics as simply a group of people running in circles, but for me Mo Farah exemplified everything good about sport this summer.

His family escaped war in Somalia to come to Britain when he was eight, leaving him to struggle with a new culture and a language barrier.

However, with hard work and talent, he broke a long term Ethiopian monopoly, becoming Britain’s first Olympic champion over 5,000m and 10,000m.

Despite all the inspiring moments that the Olympics have given us, my moment of the summer came at the Oval in July.

Hashim Amla’s stunning 311* was a triumph not just for the post-apartheid era of sport in South Africa but is testament to the hard work he has put in.

Amla struggled at the start of his Test career but has developed into one of the best players in the world at the moment and was a key reason for South Africa’s success this summer.

The most famous sideburns in sport heralded the beginning of a golden summer.

Bradley Wiggins and his team controlled the tour from the start.

Surviving crashes, doping accusations and the torture of the mountains, Wiggins was victorious on the Champs Elysees.

Days later he took Olympic gold and even found time to be pictured in a London nightclub having a well earned drink.

Bradley Wiggins truly was the people’s champion.

After an unbelievable summer of sport, what better way to end it than with a ‘Brit’ finally winning a tennis Grand Slam?

This summer has been one of many firsts, and Andy Murray becoming our first Grand Slam Champion for 76 years capped it perfectly. Some were beginning to wonder if he would ever do it, but the feisty Scotsman finally came through with resilience and passion; qualities all of the athletes have used to inspire a generation.

Have you ever eaten too much chocolate and thought “that was a bit much?” This sums up the summer of sport for me.

When Andy Murray appeared in a second centre court final at Wimbledon in a matter of weeks, when I was asked to support a GB Football team after England’s ultimately draining jaunt at Euro 2012, when Wiggins followed up his Tour de France success with Olympic glory.

I haven’t had a moment to digest it.

Kimi Raikkonen holds a special place in my heart reserved for F1 legends.

This summer has been a throwback to those years because Raikkonen has made a comeback after a three year absence.

Currently third in the driver’s championship, he’s back to the days when he ruled the track, battling it out with Schumacher for the title. It’s good to see a veteran giving the younger drivers a real race, and though I still support my team (Mclaren), I never mind if Raikkonnen wins.

Will Aitkenhead Anybody that argues that these Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2012 will not have a lasting legacy must have been hiding in a hole in Mongolia for the last two months. The dedication, commitment and sheer endeavour of all the athletes will have a dramatic impact on generations to come.

Nobody will forget Nicola Adams of Leeds becoming the first ever woman to win a boxing gold medal or the moment the Brownlee brothers stood on the podium to collect their medals together, a family united by success.

“The Olympians have taught our children how to win and how to lose”

Adam Hancock There’s no doubting the quality of London 2012.

The Games were a success.

The transport system didn’t melt, the venue roofs didn’t blow off and Team GB performed beyond o u r

Now for the legacy. Clare Balding told us the Games would inspire a generation exactly 456,782 times this summer. But will they really?

Sadly, I somehow doubt it. This is the classic ‘Wimbledon effect.’ For two weeks a year the nation goes tennis crazy. Courts up and down the country are filled and everybody is an expert. Even my Grandad was talking about Ana Ivanovic.

“Until sport is more accessible, a generation won’t be inspired”

generation, Britain will undoubtedly perform even better in Rio de Janiero in four years time as they build on their success, but surely there will be no Games that will ever inspire the nation.

wildest dreams.

It was a summer of success and as the Paralympic flame was extinguished, we were left to bask in the warm glow of a triumphant summer.

Once the tournament is over, however, things change. Tennis courts once again become redundant and nobody cares for a year. Unfortunately, I feel this will be the same for the Olympics.

Participation in Olympic sports may peak for a short period after the Games, but this will soon disappear.

Yes, the Olympics probably will inspire a select few but it won’t make a mass change.

Local teenagers from Burngreave estates are unlikely to start performing Equestrian dressage on a Friday night. It’s just not feasible.

Like it or not, large parts of our Olympics success came from the vast amounts of money thrown at Olympic sports in the build up to the Games.

We didn’t dominate the Velodrome because thousands of people were inspired by Beijing; we dominated because of resources and money.

It’s a pity, but money talks. Most Olympic sports are dominated by people who can afford to compete in them. Many of the sports are just too expensive.

A generation could be inspired, but then that generation will turn up to a local sports hall and realise how expensive it is to go Fencing.

Take the University gym.

We have a batch of inspired students returning to Sheffield ready to hit the gym and emulate Mo Farah and the like. However, they will soon realise they need to take out a mortgage just to afford it following another rise in fees.

As David Wetherill discusses in his interview with Forge Press, he is struggling to obtain funds for the future and may require a part time job to keep going. Is that a legacy?

Until sport is more accessible, a generation won’t be inspired and an opportunity will be missed.

I loved the Olympics, but don’t tell me there will be a lasting legacy, as we will still be discussing this legacy in four years time.

Our favourite moments from this stellar summer

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Blades sneak a point Steelers shootout win Football Npower League 1 Scunthorpe United Sheffield United

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Matthew Smith - Chief Sports Reporter The Blades went into their trip to Glanford Park in full expectation of victory over a Scunthorpe side that were yet to pick up a point in the league.

However, they were glad to escape with a point, after having two men sent off in a bad tempered encounter.

Less than quarter of an hour in, Sheffield United were already reduced in numbers, losing captain Michael Doyle. The skipper was shown a straight red card for a bad foul on Iron forward Mike Grella.

This looked to have crippled the so-far unbeaten Blades, as they failed to truly trouble Sam Slocombe in the home goal, Nick Blackman and David McAllister both having shots from inside the box blocked before half-time.

Scunthorpe smelt blood, and started the second half with real intent, before breaking the deadlock on the hour.

Former Sheffield Wednesday forward Leon Clarke, making his debut for his 13th professional club, rose to nod home Mark Duffy’s delivery to send the home crowd into raptures and provide genuine hope of the team overturning their miserable start to their campaign.

This hope looked to have become certainty with 18 minutes remaining, as the visitors were reduced to nine men.

Winger Ryan Flynn followed his captain to an early bath with the second straight red of the afternoon, his challenge on Christian Ribeiro deemed worthy of the highest punishment by referee Rushton.

However, Sheffield United proved why they are considered promotion favourites, doing what the best title chasers do and grabbing a point from a game they were well out of.

Niall Canavan conceded a sloppy freekick out wide after 83 minutes, which Tony McMahon swung onto the head of centre-back Neill Collins, who brought the game level.

Scunthorpe tried to respond, Josh Walker’s effort from the edge of the area

drawing a save from Mark Howard, but neither side had enough left, and had to settle for a draw.

Blades boss Danny Wilson was full of criticism for the referee over the two dismissals.

Wilson told BBC Radio Sheffield: “When you get a performance like that from an official, I can’t understand why I’m not supposed to comment on that.

“It was a terrible game from the referee’s perspective.

“He sent Michael Doyle off for an alleged stamp and he’s nowhere near the boy.

If anything, Ryan Flynn’s red card is a booking.”

Following this game, Sheffield United are still unbeaten in the league, with their five games yielding two wins and three draws.

Their next game at Brammall Lane comes this Saturday, when they host Bury.

They may give a debut in this game to forward Paul Gallagher, signed this week on a month-long loan from Championship club Leicester City.

Ice Hockey Elite League Cardiff Devils Sheffield Steelers

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Matthew Smith - Chief Sports Reporter The Steelers got their 2012-13 season up and running in earnest with a hard fought win away in the Welsh capital, the day after a disappointing home defeat to the same side.

The Elite League season began at home for Sheffield, who lost out to the Nottingham Panthers in the end of season play-offs, and unfortunately this campaign started as the previous ended, with the home side on the end of a 4-2 defeat at the Motorpoint Arena.

It took a lot of hard graft to secure the season’s first two points, with a deadlocked game decided on a penalty shoot-out.

Cardiff took an early lead, Max Faulkner

scoring the first of a personal hat-trick for the hosts. However, at the end of the first period, captain Jonathan Phillips scored to make it 1-1 at the first interval.

Ryan Finnerty’s Steelers had momentum from this strike, and, further boosted by Cardiff’s Jamie Milam being sin-binned, they pushed ahead with a goal from Cory Pecker, who slotted home a loose puck.

Phillips then made it three for the visitors, assisted by Jason Hewitt.

However, the Steelers were unable to hold their commanding position, with Faulkner leading the charge. He scored twice in five third period minutes, assisted by Hewitt receiving an ill-timed sin-bin.

The game went to extra time, where Steelers goaltender John de Caro really began to come into his own pulling off some stunning saves, and the best was still to come.

In the penalty shoot-out, sudden death was required. Here de Caro stepped in, blocking Milam’s effort, and securing Sheffield’s first league points.

Hillsborough reaction Continued from back page

to how the reputations of innocent victims were tarnished by authorities who tried to cover up their shameful failings.

Now it is time for a small minority of ‘fans’ to follow suit. As horrendous as it sounds, some football supporters still feel it is acceptable to chant about the Hillsborough disaster.

Alarmingly this isn’t the only issue. The Munich air disaster is another topic which is the subject of tasteless chanting.

Wednesday was a harrowing day for society. An outpouring of anger and grief came from the relatives of Hillsborough victims. They finally received a sentiment of justice. The public now realises the truth, now it is time to respect that truth.

An end to vile chanting would be a start. Football is a game with the fiercest rivalries in sport. Yet when tragedy strikes it has a fantastic habit of uniting people.

On that frightening day in April 1989, football fans went to a game and never came home. Football fans, just like me and you. It’s time to unite and ensure such a sickening cover up will never happen again.

Yorkshire poised for return to dizzy heights Neill Collins’ header beats Scunny keeper

Cricket County Round Up

Yorkshire 312 & 252/8 Essex 177 Will Aitkenhead - Chief Cricket Correspondent Barring a bizzarre set of circumstances, Yorkshire will be promoted back to Division One at the first time of asking today after leading Essex by 387 runs just before the close of day three.

Anthony McGrath and Azeem Rafiq added a crucial 110 together to take the game away from Essex after Yorkshire had slumped to 111/6.

Promotion rivals Kent were forced to follow on against Glamorgan and struggled to 280 all out, despite 80 from Geraint Jones, setting the home side just 61 to win.

Providing Glamorgan complete victory a draw will be enough for Yorkshire to be promoted after they picked up more bonus points than their rivals. Usman Khawaja scored 71 for leaders Derbyshire as they took a three run first innings lead before reducing Hampshire to 102/4.

In Jason ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie’s first season as head coach they have performed above all expectations after being relegated last season. The former Australian fast bowler has been impressed with his side and how

they have performed this year. He had this say going into the final week of the season: “The most pleasing thing is when we’ve had opportunities to drive home and win games we’ve taken them.”

Going on to add that, “It’s nice to be unbeaten but that also shows how much cricket we’ve lost, which is disappointing.”

Despite suffering dreadfully at the hands of the weather, having lost more than 1000 overs of Championship cricket by the start of June, Andrew Gale’s side have made the most of their chances and remain the only unbeaten side in the country. Four wins complimented with 11 draws saw them head into the final round of matches just one point behind top of the table Derbyshire. Jonny Bairstow was the star with the bat at the start of the summer with three hundreds and whilst he has often been lost to England duty, the rest of the young line up have stepped up. Joe Root has matured well, scoring over 700 runs including 222* against Hampshire.

Gary Ballance, another youngster, and the experienced McGrath have added crucial runs down the order.

Off spinner Rafiq confirmed the confidence in the camp this week, “We feel we’re the best side in the league and we should be a long way ahead.”

The final push for promotion has been helped by back to back victories, one of which came in remarkable circumstances

Photo: Blades Sports Photography

at the end of the Scarborough Festival.

Having had two days lost to rain, Yorkshire declared their overnight score of 61/2 before some declaration bowling which allowed their opponents, Gloucestershire

Starc: key to the T20 success. Photo: Flickr

to rack up 159/0 in 10 overs. That left the Tykes needing 316 to win in just over 80 overs. Phil Jaques set the chase up well with 79 and veteran McGrath saw them home with a crucial 76* to set up a chance to return to the top tier.

They followed that up with an eight wicket win over Glamorgan, Adam Lyth scoring a half century as they chased down 111. Seam bowler Steven Patterson took career best figures of 8/94 in the match to set up the victory. Gillespie commented afterwards, “Character is the word that describes our win. All us support staff are very proud of the lads.”

Their success has been mirrored in the shorter format as well as they reached the T20 finals day for the first time in their history. Spearheaded by Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc who took 21 wickets at an average of just 10 in the group stages.

Starc was unavailble for the finals day owing to international duty but that didn’t prevent them easing past Sussex in the semi-final. Bairstow’s unbeaten 68 off just 45 balls set up a total of 176/6 and Sussex fell well short thanks to tight bowling from England pace man Tim Bresnan whose 2/22 included the key wicket of Matt Prior.

They fell at the final hurdle, however, ending 10 runs short of Hampshire’s 150 despite South African David Miller’s incredible innings of 72* from 46 balls which included five sixes.

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University sports clubs look ahead after triumphant summer of sport This year, the sports clubs of the University of Sheffield are keen to build on the summer’s Olympic success. The club captains here at Sheffield are looking for their next star player, here a selection of those captains outline their ambitions for the season: AMERICAN FOOTBALL Tim Mullinar, Head Coach and Sam Broughton, Club Captain Following our first piece of silverware in 2011-12, winning the challenge trophy, we have our sights set on being the best team

athletes and develop those who are on their way to greater things.

CRICKET Chris Hooper, Club Captain After coming out of the most successful season in the club’s history, I hope we can take this positive form into the new academic year. I know all the lads are hungry for another successful campaign after reaching the national finals at Lords last year.

If we put the work in we will win Varsity and I know the boys have what it takes. All three outdoor

Varsity.

MEN’S HOCKEY David Orr, Club Captain The club’s five teams all have something to strive towards and accomplish; a good cup run, league promotion or simply achieving in their respective leagues and competitions.

We aim to reach out to as many freshers as possible at the Sports Fair in what is one of the largest sports clubs at The University of Sheffield.

NETBALL Naomi Parton, Captain

Club

We were named Club of the Year last year, and it is our aim to keep our standards at that level. We want to play great netball but also show great sportsmanship too. I know everyone is so excited for the new season to start.

ROWING Parveen Jones, President

Athletics success at Varsity 2012. Photo: Andrey Vasilyev in the country. teams should be having a If you want to join us, crack at promotion. see us at the Sports Fair.

Whatever happens in this FOOTBALL academic year, I am certain Sam Strong and Grace that we will play with Mennem, Men’s and speed and violence, we will Women’s Club Captains beat Hallam, and we will bleed black and gold.

This year is set to be a successful one with ATHLETICS changes to the setup, Hannah Sargeant, Club including a partnership Captain with Hallam FC, where we will be provided with highly This year we aim to become qualified coaches in return as inclusive as possible for some of our players whilst still aiming and representing Hallam. achieving high.

After We will be creating a fifth competing in the test event team, playing in the intraat the Olympic stadium mural elite league system. earlier this year our team This allows us to open is on a high. We hope to SUMFC to more students carry this through with as well as giving something the freshers who have been back to Sport Sheffield. watching the Olympics this We’re hoping for a strong summer to inspire new season and for success at

After the London 2012 Olympics, we’ll be looking to capitalise on the interest that the sport has gathered, and show people that have never tried it before what is involved and how addictive it is.

After some brilliant results last year from our novice squads, we’ll be looking at them to carry on that winning success as they move up into our senior squads and to keep adding to our winning history.

we intend to make it a big year. With the recent purchase of the first ever flight of fireflies at the University of Sheffield, and a full calendar of team racing events up and down the country, we are looking forward to yet another successful year for the team.

SWIMMING WATERPOLO Steph Hackett, Captain

AND Club

In 2012/13 we aim to continue to be one of the largest sports clubs in the University, become finalists in our BUCS league matches and competitions and to win Varsity once again.

This year we are broadening our horizons and reaching out to the local community with volunteering and fundraising for local charities.

TENNIS David Charlton, Co-Club Captain Our main plan for this year is to further integrate our social side with our team side so that more players can improve their game at different levels.

We will be holding monthly tournaments and a ladder competition so that social players can test out their game in a competitive

Netball during Varsity last year.

Photo: Duncan Philpott environment, whilst still league competition and are having fun. Of course, our hoping to make an impact team are planning a 3-0 over the forthcoming year. whitewash against Hallam at Varsity!

VOLLEYBALL Stephan Vogt, Club TRAMPOLINING Captain Ashley Payne, Club Captain Our main goal for the year After winning Varsity last is to secure our position in year, the trampolining the Northern 2B league club is keen to come back for both the women’s and stronger. We are very men’s team. Besides that ambitious, with hard work we are hoping to set up already including a new a club constitution and website and a new kit. We sponsorship brochure. are co-hosting our first ever

MEN’S RUGBY UNION Rhys Coles, Club Captain We have an exciting season ahead of us with all three teams having a good chance at promotion, especially after the 1st XV narrowly missed out on promotion finishing a close 2nd in the league.

SAILING Hannah Commodore

Crossley,

The sailing club is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and

Sheffield Sabres, the American Football team, celebrate cup victory.Photo: Donna Whitaker

Forge Sport’s Heroes and Villains of the summer JESSICA ENNIS

WILL BAYLEY

BADMINTON

Who else? The pride of Sheffield produced gold at the Games and now has a stand named after her at Brammall Lane.

The table tennis star claimed a silver in the Paralympics class 7 competition. From Kent, Bayley trains in Sheffield.

Teams from China, Indonesia and Singapore were expelled from the Olympics for trying to lose.

KEVIN PIETERSEN The batsman was caught texting opponents resulting in him losing his central contract.

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No regrets for Sheffield graduate at the Games

COMMENT

Hillsborough: The truth at last Adam Hancock - Sports News Correspondent

David Wetherill in action and, inset, his incredible shot at London 2012.

Matthew Smith - Chief Sports Reporter David Wetherill hasn’t quite got used to being the latest YouTube sensation. More than five million people have watched the 22-year-old, who lives on Eccleshall Road and trains in Sheffield, making an extraordinary diving shot in his preliminary encounter at London 2012.

“It’s really weird”, the Uni alumnus told Forge Press, “but it’s great. People have been messaging me on Twitter telling me that I’m an inspiration”.

Wetherill, who suffers from a disability that means he has to play with a crutch in one hand and bat in the other, got into the sport at the age of 10, and cites his family as his major inspiration.

“My dad played table tennis, he introduced me and my brother. I always looked up to my brother - until I got better than him.”

Wetherill was soon rising the rankings - he reached the quarter-finals of the Beijing Paralympics four years ago, and was ranked fifth in the world going into the home games - but acknowledges the difficulty of combining top-level sport with higher education - “It’s incredibly stressful.”

However, he was full of praise for the University of Sheffield, which he says helped him combine his sporting ambitions with a degree in Biology and Chemistry.

“Balancing study and sport is difficult, but Sheffield made it easy. Playing for the Uni was great, really enjoyable.

“The sport at Sheffield was one of the main reasons for coming, there are some

Photos:Gael Marziou/Flickr (left)/Terry Robinson

world-class venues here.”

But what about life at University outside of the rarified world of competitive sport?

Even Paralympic athletes were freshers once.

“I stayed in Endcliffe in my first year, and I absolutely loved it during Freshers’.

There’s a real community feel, I made loads of good friends.”

Playing sport at the highest level didn’t stop David Wetherill from suffering the same highs and lows of any student.

Having only graduated last year, he still holds a deep seated hatred of the Information Commons. He didn’t say whether or not he’d ever had a dirty night at Corp, however. We can only speculate.

After leaving the University, Wetherill has stayed in Sheffield to train, and with this he was able to push on into the 2012 Paralympics. Just being able to walk out, in front of a home crowd, Wetherill describes as “the best experience of my life.”

He went on to say: “I’ve played in front of big crowds before, but when they’re all cheering for you, it’s some experience.

“When they announced my name - even just hearing it announced was surreal and the crowd cheered, that was awesome.

It really helped my game.”

However, in spite of the partisan support, Wetherill was unable to match his pervious Paralympic best, losing to Thomasz Kusiak 3-1 in his final preliminary encounter.

“I have no regrets on my performance,” said the defiant player from Plymouth, “but I am disappointed not to have gone further.”

So what is next for this internet star?

Wetherill has his eyes on Rio 2016, but admits there are obstacles, most notably financial ones.

“I’m staying in Sheffield - I’ve got everything here. I don’t know about my degree, because I want to train full-time, whilst I’m still young and able.

“I’ve had great support before, and I hope for more now. However [financially], I do struggle a little in everyday living. I may need a part-time job, unless I can get some sponsorship.”

We asked David one of the most pressing questions around in the hangover from this amazing summer will there be a sustainable legacy? He thinks so.

“There has been a real boom, one that we never expected.

“The message of London 2012 was ‘Inspire a Generation’. I think it really has been inspirational, I’ve had some great messages on Twitter.”

David Wetherill certainly seems content with his own summer of sport his only regret seems to be that he had little chance to see anything else.

However, that sport which he did get to see he talks of glowingly.

“I went to the Athletics Stadium. I was a bit jealous because it was much bigger than the Table Tennis arena.

“I managed to see Oscar Pistorius win the 400 metres. That was inspiring.

“Just walking around the Athletes’ Village, seeing what people can do under such diffculty, defying their limits that’s inspirational.”

“We will always be the losers from Hillsborough, but [for] my son and the 95 others, we were their eyes, we were their ears, and by God we were their voices, and I am so proud of the families for that.”

Those were the words of Margaret Aspinall, whose son was crushed to death at a football match.

The prime minister called it a ‘‘double injustice’’ and that it most certainly was.

It took 23 years for the truth to finally be revealed. In the modern era, that is an utter disgrace.

A conspiracy of lies, deception and more lies has finally been exposed. Liverpool fans weren’t to blame, their reputations should no longer be tarnished.

The cover up began instantly. Bodies were still being counted when South Yorkshire Police began to spin a web of lies to hide their incompetent failings.

All involved in the biggest legal cover up in British history must now face the consequences. Today, they should hang their heads in shame. This is a conspiracy of lies which shames so many.

Kelvin Mackenzie, the former editor of The Sun, tried to apologise yesterday. In 1989 he wrote ‘The Truth’ on an article which sensationalised these lies. His apology is worthless. Words don’t mask his shame.

“Kelvin MacKenzie’s words are too little too late. He is lowlife, clever lowlife, but lowlife.” Those the words of Trevor Hicks who lost two daughters at Hillsborough. I imagine he wanted to use stronger words but, unlike Mr Mackenzie, he still has his dignity.

Now, justice must prevail. Heads must role for this scandal and apologies must come from many. Hillsborough changed football, and now it is time for things to change further.

There has been a huge outpouring of relief, anger and sadness as the Hillsborough files were finally released. This reaction came from all quarters of the football world.

Wayne Rooney, an Evertonian who plays for Liverpool’s fiercest of rivals Manchester United, said on Twitter: “Everyone involved in the cover-up of Hillsborough is a disgrace and need [to be] punished.”

The whole of football is united in anger as (continued on page 26)

“

The University seems determined to drive down pay, access to sick pay and other employment rights. I am sad to say that the University of Sheffield has joined the race to the bottom.

�

Chris Daly, Regional Officer, Unite the Union