Forge Issue 91

Issue 91 Friday 4 December 2015

Music and Fashion Fuse explore how music and fashion have changed together over the years FUSE P3

How to Deck your Halls Features looked at how to decorate your halls this Christmas time and keep your deposit FEATURES P16

Review: The Good Dinosaur Screen went to see the The Good Dinosaur calling it “unoriginal, but still enjoyable” FUSE P14

Winter Varsity Rob Milne speaks to Ski and Snowboard captains ahead of 2016’s Winter Varsity, which will kick off on the 1 Jan SPORT P30

UNIVERSITY MOVES TOWARDS FOSSIL FREE FUTURE

Polly Winn The University of Sheffield has announced that it will divest from fossil fuels in the next academic year.

In a joint statement from Vice-Chancellor Keith Burnett, and Students’ Union President Christy McMorrow released on the University website, it was

announced that the University has made a “commitment to eliminate exposure to investments linked to explicit environmental damage.”

The University has come under increasing pressure in recent months to divest, with 12 UK universities having made the commitment to divest.

The Universities of Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Birmingham,

SOAS London, Bedfordshire, Glasgow, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Warwick, Portsmouth, Westminster and the University of the Arts London have all committed to divestment in recent months. The University of Edinburgh has also committed to partial divestment.

People & Planet Sheffield’s Fossil Free campaign arranged a debate on 14 October to

discuss whether the University should divest from fossil fuels.

The campaign won the public debate, with 91 per cent of the audience voting in favour. The result of the debate was fed back to the University Council and Investment group.

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In Brief...

Forge Press | Friday 4 December 2015

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas The Union Christmas market is back and bigger than ever.

The 45 stalls are situated throughout the Union, selling a variety of festive goods and accompanied by a Christmas playlist from Forge Radio

VIP passengers A photographer became a VIP cabbie for Public Enemy after their taxi left them stranded shortly before their performace at the Motorpoint Arena.

They had been in Record Collector in Broomhill doing a signing for their new album released 29 November.

Sheffield student wins big bucks Debbie Southwell, a student at the University of Sheffield, won £250 of Meadowhall vouchers from Stagecoach Yorkshire and Supertram from a competition she entered during this year’s Freshers’ week

Out with the new, in with the old

The long awaited tram-train is on its way to Sheffield. They will be part of a new scheme that will link the tram routes and National Rail lines from 2017. The tram-train will link Sheffield and Rotherham.

PICTURE EDITOR dan.west@forgetoday.com Dan West FUSE EDITOR fuse@forgetoday.com Kazuma Osaki

do support intervention are uneasy about what exactly is going to happen.

I know that we weren’t the only ones feeling that way.

Feeling festive can be joyous in our own little lives, but these ceremonial little things feel uncomfortable while we’re in the knowledge that British airstrikes are being launched.

I’m no expert on foreign or military policy, and I won’t pretend to be. But none of us should let this be something that slips to the back of our mind. It’s easy for us to feel safe and insulated while we set up our Christmas trees, but we need to remember that some will have a very different winter.

I just want to finish off by saying how proud I am of the whole of the Forge Press team.

I’m so lucky to work with a group of talented, motivated and generally lovely people. A lot of people don’t appreciate what a slog it can be to put together an entire paper every two weeks, on top of course commitments, jobs and anything else we have going on. We all chose to do this, and love it, but it can be testing.

We nearly have a massacre every print day. But this team make it so worthwhile.

I hope that you can all see the effort that the editors have put in this semester, we’re super excited to bring you even more in the new year!

(P.S. I’m writing this while nursing a Corp hangover, so I’m sorry if it’s not one of my best - here is a pic of me, Anna (features) and Rhys (screen) looking very out of it for you to enjoy) Merry Christmas to you all.

Forge love as always xo

What not to miss this fortnight Thursday 10 December 3pm - 5pm & 4pm - 6pm

Meet in the SU Lobby near the Welcome desk “A collaboration between Bakesoc and LGBT+. We plan to bake gingerbread folk with members from LGBT+ and bakesoc.

In these sessions, you will be able to express your inner artist when decorating your yummy gingerbread folk!”

Have you never baked before? Not a problem, the bakesoc crew will be there to help you with any problems you might encounter!

Tram-train, anyone?

DEPUTY EDITOR chloe.coleman@forgetoday.com Chloe Coleman

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n the run up to our final issue before Christmas, the hub has been busy and bustling. Particularly in these last few days as Comment editor Chris has been leaping around like a spaniel on acid after the University announced that they will divest from Fossil Fuel.

Forge Press sends a massive congratulations to Sheffield’s People & Planet campaign.

They’ve worked tirelessly to mobilise students and staff, and this announcement was a huge achievement for then.

It really shows what we can accomplish by coming together for a cause. I know this will sound very similar to last week’s editorial, but it is so important. It’s easy to feel demotivated and like you can’t really make a difference, but as students we’re lucky to live in an environment where people are so active in trying to implement change.

This Wednesday before print we all sat around finishing off our pages feeling merry listening to Christmas music, but at the same time we were checking constantly for updates on the Syria debate. In the media hub, there’s nearly a consensus anti-intervention sentiment. Even those who

Genderbread Folk with LGBT+

Another vinyl records shop has opened in Sheffield, as first the popularity for this old style of music continues to increase.

Bear Tree records in Orchard Square aims to have unique touch with a personalised note added to each record sold.

EDITOR editor@forgetoday.com Polly Winn

Editorial

NEWS news@forgetoday.com Keri Trigg Will Morgan Lisa Latham DEPUTY NEWS news@forgetoday.com Jess Davis Nathaniel Robinson Ellena Rowlin COMMENT comment@forgetoday.com Robin Wilde Chris Saltmarsh

GIAG: Christmas Cross Stitch, Decorations and Cards It’s nearly Christmas and so come and make all you need with Stitch Soc, such as felt decorations and cross stitch cards.

No experience needed and all materials provided!

COFFEE BREAK press.coffeebreak@forgetoday.com Adilah Hameed FEATURES features@forgetoday.com Sheena Sidu Anna Gillies Hallam Roffey LIFESTYLE lifestyle@forgetoday.com Mojo Abidi Mared Gruffyd

Tuesday 15 December 5:30pm - 7:30pm Tickets: £4, £2 Residents Life Activities and Sports Zone, Students’ Union

SPORT sport@forgetoday.com Ed McCosh Rob Milne Anthony Phillips MUSIC music@forgetoday.com Tara Hodgson Charlotte Pick GAMES games@forgetoday.com Moya O’Rourke Ash Emritte

ARTS arts@forgetoday.com Joshua Hackett Jo Gallacher SCREEN screen@forgetoday.com Rhys Handley Luke Baldwin COPY EDITORS Sophie Cockett Bethan Littley Emma Quigley Harriet Hales Joanna Booth Lotte Dobson

Forge Press | Friday 4 December 2015

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Sheffield students Reclaim the Night

Lisa Latham

Women from across Sheffield gathered on November 30 to participate in a “Reclaim the Night” march and celebrate their right to walk late at night in safety.

Sheffield’s Women Committee and both Student Unions collaborated to organise the event and rally support for the campaign.

“Reclaim the Night” was first created to unite women in the 1970s during the Yorkshire Ripper’s reign of terror when women were advised to stay indoors by police. The marches continued after the Ripper’s arrest in Broomhill in 1981 as an ongoing stand against assault and sex-related violence against women.

On Monday 30 November around 100 women met at Sheffield Cathedral to march through the city together.

The march started at around 6:30pm following a rallying speech by Sharmin Jahan, the University of Sheffield’s Women’s Officer.

In discussion of the aims of the campaign, Sharmin said: “It’s the organisation in Sheffield of the student unions, both of them working together and going on this march to say

Sheffield has welcomed the legendary Bavarian bar chain Bierkeller and its phenomenal cask ale.

The cult bar and restaurant will be situated at the bottom of West Street, replacing former hotspot Vault after it shut unexpectedly earlier on in the year.

The German haven of steins, oompah bands - involving tubas and lederhosen - and bratwurst already has bars in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Cardiff. It is the first of its kind in Sheffield since the early nineties.

Bierkeller has the potential to be a student hit, due to being open seven days a week until 3am and featuring a “Man v Wurst challenge” every Thursday.

The Leeds Bierkeller already promises live entertainment, special beer and wine tasting

SCIENCE & Technology

LI-FI Light Fidelity (Li-Fi), a developing form of wireless communication, has been tested in the real world for the first time this week by Estonian start-up company Velmenni.

Li-Fi uses the subtle flickering of LED light sources to transmit data to a solar panel receiver, delivering speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second – 100 times faster than traditional Wi-Fi. One major drawback is that it cannot be used outside due to interference from the sun. The technology could be ready in a few years.

Ella Hubber Lab-grown vocal chords

that violence isn’t ok, sexual harassment, sexual violence, all of it.”

“It’s 2015, the history of the march goes years back and sexual violence is still here. We need to end this and send that message out.”

The procession moved through the city centre, down

Division Street and West Street and towards the Students Union to drumming and chants like “Two, four, six, either, stop the violence, stop the rape” and “Blame the system, not the victim.”

Alice Rusling, a student from Sheffield Hallam University, said: “There’s been so many

cases of sexual assault in the city centre and area I live in recently, and the message I get from parents and university and everyone is to not go out and to be extra careful and stay in.”

“We want to send the message that we should be safe on the streets.”

German Bierkellar replaces Vault on West Street Ellena Rowlin

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evenings and a resident Burgermeister.

The opening of the bar dedicated to beer is great timing as Sheffield is found to be the best destination for cask ale in the UK for the third year running.

Campaign for Real Ale surveyed 145 pubs on one day to record the number of unique cask ales available within the city, finding 730 hand pumps offering 385 different cask beers. The average price for a pint was also found to be £2.86.

Local breweries in the city also scored highly, with Bradfield’s ‘Farmers Blonde’ being the most commonly available beer, closely followed

by Abbeydale’s ‘Moonshine’.

Specialised vibrating tissues responsible for voice have been bioengineered and successfully tested for the first time.

Researchers at the University WisconsinMadison cultured tissues from both healthy human vocal organs and those missing voice boxes.

When transplanted into a dog cadaver, lab-grown human vocal folds vibrated at similar rate to the healthy dog vocal folds, even sounding virtually the same.

This provides a potential therapy for patients with serious voice-related problems. The next step is to trial lab-grown vocal cords on live animals.

Sintija Jurkevica Diabeetus The Diabetes Research Institute has discovered a protein, BMP-7, which turns non-insulin producing cells into insulin producing cells in Type 1 diabetes patients.

Sufferers of Type 1 diabetes don’t produce any insulin in their pancreas.

This is a hormone that is needed to break down sugar in the blood.

This is a massive step forward for research into creating a bioengineered implantable pancreas, as currently the only available insulin-producing cells are from cadavers.

This could enable treatment of millions of sufferers worldwide, and as the drug already has clinical approval it can be fasttracked through the trials process.

Ellen Moye

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Faculty rivalries intensify

Bristol: Porn ‘n’ chill?

Nathaniel Robinson

Students from the University of Bristol were filmed watching porn together for a social experiment.

Unsurprisingly, the results were a little awkward to say the least.

The group was brought together by third year student Gemma Wilson, who filmed their reactions.

The project explored how both genders react to porn.

The social experimemt provoked mostly horrified reactions, with all of the students having never watched porn together.

Dissatisfaction is rising amongst Humanities students over the perceived prioritising and inequality in faculty resource allocation.

This dissatisfaction came to a head following a decision by the University to move Blackwells bookshop back into Jessop West Exhibition Space without student consultation.

Holly Platts, a third year History student, said “access to computers, library seats, and space for guest speakers is still limited, even more so now Jessop West have lost the Exhibition Space.”

A lack of student consultation over significant changes relating to the faculty has been cited as the reason behind the growth in student unrest.

Commenting on the growing discontent Ross Lang, SU Councillor for Germanic Studies, stated that “while

Joke not taken A Leicester medical student has been removed from his course for posting a quote from the film Taken saying: “I will look for you, I will find you. And I will kill you.”

Ravindu Thilakawardhana wrote the quote on his Facebook page after a fellow student posted explicit pictures of his friend online.

The student who was the focus of Thilakawardhana’s message, posted in 2013, reported the incident to the university’s medical school.

Last year, a university disciplinary panel decided the post was “unfit to practice medicine” and removed him from the course.

Friday 4 December 2015| Forge Press

the Diamond opened its doors this year…Arts and Humanities students are seeing little benefit” adding that “the closure of the Jessop West exhibition space further proves that the University is prioritising other degrees over ours.”

Mr Lang went on to say that whilst understanding “that the equipment for STEM degrees costs a lot more than the resources required for Arts and Humanities” he felt that it is “greatly unfair” that resource allocation is not equal “as we all pay £9000 a year, but some seem to be getting more value for their money.”

Professor Jackie Labbe, ProVice-Chancellor for Arts and Humanities at the University of Sheffield, said: “The University is committed to meeting the needs of all its students, and Arts and Humanities students are not disadvantaged in the allocation of University funds in comparison to Engineering

or other students.”

Continuing that “the decision

by Blackwell’s to move their bookshop to the formerly under-utilised Jessop West exhibition space followed discussion with all departments within Arts and Humanities, and the close proximity of the bookshop is agreed to be an asset to the Faculty.”

SU Education Officer, Minesh Parekh, said “we need thriving academic communities, study resources to read, critique, and analyse; and to be treated as researchers and producers of knowledge in our own right.”

“If we look to our National Student Survey results the faculty with the best sense of an academic community was the Arts & Humanities.”

Reducing resources and space provision and merging departments, such as Archaeology and History, without student consultation has fostered a growing resentment amongst students

of the faculty.

Humanities students increasingly feel that they are being abandoned by their university in favour of other faculties.

Ellicia Chester – A & H rep on academic rep committee: Professor Jackie Labbe, ProVice-Chancellor for Arts and Humanities at the University of Sheffield, said: “The University is committed to meeting the needs of all its students, and Arts and Humanities students are not disadvantaged in the allocation of University funds in comparison to Engineering or other students.”

Continuing that “the decision

by Blackwell’s to move their bookshop to the formerly under-utilised Jessop West exhibition space followed discussion with all departments within Arts and Humanities, and the close proximity of the bookshop is agreed to be an asset to the Faculty.”

Humanities failed by masterplan?

Nathaniel Robinson Inconvenient birth interrupts exam An expectant mother who was rushed into hospital five days before her due date, however she still needed to finish her exams!

Tommitrise Collins, endured contractions three minutes apart and still worked on her online psychology test during the pain.

The new mother, who was only able to take the exam on that day, finished the two hour test in just one and a half hours.

A picture of Collins on the hospital bed taking her online exam has been shared over 15,000 times.

Analysis of the universities masterplan for future expansion shows a distinct lack of mention of the Arts and Humanities.

The phrase “Arts and Humanities” appears twice within the universities masterplan compared to “Engineering” which appears eighteen times.

Despite mentioning the need to “meet faculty growth” in the Arts and Humanities, there are “no significant changes planned” to the amount of space given to the faculty making it the only faculty to not be expanded.

Instead the plan suggests to “consolidate performance spaces” in a faculty which is already significantly smaller in terms of space provision than any other.

This consolidation can be seen with the recent decision

to move Blackwells Bookshop from its site on Mappin Street into the Exhibition Space in Jessop West.

In a statement Professor Phil Withington, Head of the History Department, commented that “while the Exhibition Space was obviously a useful space to have, it was also quite problematic in terms of surrounding noise, shape, and acoustics” making the Exhibition Space not “fit for purpose.”

Furthermore, “there are other spaces, including the Diamond, which provide a better experience.”

Additionally, he confirmed that “heads of department were consulted about the proposal for Blackwells to relocate back to Jessop West.” Whilst departmental consultation took place there was no consultation with students of the Faculty.

Commenting on the decision

SU Archaeology Councillor Otis Gilbert stated that the decision to close the Exhibition space was “made without student consultation” reflecting “a problem which is all too common in high level university discussions.”

Mr Gilbert went on saying that “the space provided a valuable public and interdisciplinary engagement space for all of the Arts and Humanities departments” and that the universities decision seemed to be “prioritising a commercial company over faculty space provision in their continued attempt to pool learning spaces.”

Professor Withington wished to reassure students within the faculty that “there are plans under negotiation to provide A&H with more and much better quality space in the near future.”

Dominik Kocbuch, History

3rd Year commented that “my faculty is at a strong disadvantage in comparison to others” due to “the lacklustre availability of library resources [and] learning space.”

Only time will tell if these plans come to fruition, but, with student dissatisfaction rising regarding faculty resource allocation, this additional high quality space must come sooner rather than later.

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NEWS

Victory for Fossil Free campaigns as Uni divests Polly Winn

Continued from front page...

The University said in a statement: “As politicians, policy makers, researchers and activists gather in Paris for the global climate change conference, the University of Sheffield and the Students’ Union are committed to a shared effort to tackle climate change.

“Crucial academic research on energy and food is being undertaken by many staff and students from across our faculties, including experts from the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures who are attending the conference in Paris.

“This includes a focus on scientific and engineering solutions to the great challenges of climate change, and new approaches to architecture, planning and landscape, as well as the national and international policy approaches that will be essential to meeting climate change targets.

“Staff and students have also raised concerns about our endowment investments which support scholarships, bursaries and academic posts. The issue has been debated within the university and at its Senate and Council. As a result, the University has developed a new endowment investment policy that includes several socially responsible aspects, including a commitment to eliminate

exposure to investments linked to explicit environmental damage.

“Given the overwhelming evidence of the impact of fossil fuels on climate change, this commitment will lead us to disinvest within the next academic year.”

The announcement has come just as the COP21 climate change conference in Paris begins. The sustainable innovation forum is an annual event organised by Climate Action and UNEP. This year more than 150 world leaders are in attendance. The two-week talks are aimed at ultimately signing a deal to reduce global carbon emissions.

Students’ Union President Christy McMorrow said: “We are absolutely delighted that the University has articulated its commitment to divesting from fossil fuel companies within the next academic year. Our student activists, in particular the People & Planet society, have worked incredibly hard to encourage the University to do so and Evette, our SU Development Officer, has worked with them to support this as well as promoting the Big Debate event that many of our students attended.

“Previous generations of student activists and representatives have played a big role in this campaign, and this is a victory for all of them. The impending Paris Climate summit makes this an important time for universities to be bold in their commitment

to a sustainable world. We are proud that our University has chosen to do so.”

The University of Sheffield’s People & Planet society have amassed the support of more than 2000 students, staff, and members of the community through a petition and awareness building actions around campus, which have resulted in an ongoing dialogue with University management.

Sarasin & Partners, the University’s investment manager, had offered a fossil free investment fund after campaigning from Fossil Free groups around the UK, including People & Planet Sheffield. The University will now ask Sarasin & Partners to create this fund, and move its

investments to it.

Joe Russell, third year student and campaigner at People & Planet Sheffield, said in response to the University’s decision: “The decision of the University to divest, especially just as COP21 is beginning, is a great step in the right direction.

It sends a clear and positive message to those inside the conference that we must keep fossil fuels in the ground.

“However, given the support that our campaign had generated, we felt that it was a responsibility they could not turn away from. The move to clean energy is an undisputed requirement for all of society and it is imperative that institutions like universities set a good example in terms

of what they teach, what they research, and what they invest in.”

Chris Saltmarsh, second year student and coordinator of Sheffield’s Fossil Free Campaign, said: “Although we are pleased that the University of Sheffield has chosen to divest at such a significant time, it must recognise that divestment is only a necessary start to the fight against the climate crisis.

“The University must now begin to cut all ties with the fossil fuel industry, beyond divestment. This is also a necessary step to firmly challenge the harmful power and influence that the industry yields over climate policy.”

New University Chancellor appointed Keri Trigg The University of Sheffield has appointed a new Chancellor.

Rt Hon Lady Justice Rafferty DBE was officially installed as the University’s eighth Chancellor at a ceremony on Thursday 26 November.

This follows the retirement of Sir Peter Middleton this summer after 16 years in the position.

In her new role she will carry out a number of duties, including representing the University at special occasions and conferring degrees and other academic awards.

Dame Anne graduated from the University with an Law degree in 1971.

She began her pupillage in 1974 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1990, and a Recorder of the Crown Court in 1991. She has served as Lady Justice of Appeal of England

and Wales since 2011.

“This University shaped my career by shaping me – I was well taught here,” said Dame Anne.

“I believe with every fibre in me that education is the transformer.

“The Chancellor has the opportunity to say: ‘I represent one of the best universities in the world and I’m bringing you its values - hard work, devotion to education and an awful lot of humility but an inner determination to turn what you have given me outward to the public good. You can do it too.”

Dame Anne has served in a number of senior positions including Chairmanship of the Criminal Bar Association, the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee, and Chairman of the Judicial College.

She is a trustee of the Kalisher Trust, which supports those who aspire to become

criminal barristers. In 2005, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the University.

One of her daughters is also a University of Sheffield graduate.

Chairman of the University Council Tony Pedder said: “We are delighted to welcome Dame Anne as the eighth Chancellor of the University of Sheffield.”

“A graduate of our University and a Lord Justice of Appeal, Dame Anne’s individual qualities and professional achievements fit her for this unique ambassadorial role.

“She will be an excellent role model for our students.

“We would also like to pay tribute to Sir Peter Middleton who has been a truly distinguished Chancellor since 1999.

“We are extremely grateful for all his hard work.”

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Hallam takes action in wake of student death Jess Davis

Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield have made pledges to do all they can to keep students safe on nights out, in response to the recent death of Hallam student Caroline Everest.

Caroline Everest, 18, was last seen outside Corporation nightclub on Milton Street at 2:36am on 22 November.

Her body was found in River Porter near Summerfield Street the later that day.

Both Students’ Unions have said they will now be committed to students’ safety during nights out.

Hallam University said they were “shocked and saddened” by the incident and gave their condolences to her family and close friends.

In response to Caroline’s death, some students have voiced their worries when walking at night so both universities are doing all they can to combat this.

Sheffield Hallam University are advertising precautions to help students to feel safer at night.

They have supplied free personal alarms for students on campus, so they can use them if they ever feel threatened or intimidated.

Both universities also provide a ‘safe taxi’ service, which enables students to get home for free.

Students can use their student cards as a deposit when using a City Taxi and won’t have to pay the fare until 48 hours later at SU reception.

The University of Sheffield is promoting it’s ‘Good Night Out’ campaign, a similar service to that of Hallam’s, which works with clubs, bars and pubs to help them handle and prevent harassment.

It encourages people to report any event they witness whether if it is minor or majorly serious.

A woman’s minibus also take takes students home safely from nights out at Sheffield’s Student’s Union.

If you have any information about this incident that could help call South Yorkshire Police immediately on 101, quoting incident number 998 of 22 November 2015.

Union in favour of strike referendum Keri Trigg Sheffield Students’ Union is to push the NUS to ask its members whether they want a student strike.

Union Council unanimously voted to compel the NUS to ballot all Students’ Unions in the UK on the possibility of a country-wide strike in protest of tuition fees.

If 5 per cent of Unions support the idea, the NUS will ask all SUs to put the question of whether to strike to its students. If a majority of student bodies return a ‘yes’ vote, the strike will go ahead.

The protest, advocated by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, could mean a two-day walkout in February 2016, and the potential for further action.

“I think it’s a good idea because of all the pressures coming from the government in higher education at the moment,” said Education Officer Minesh Parekh.

“The NUS has been a force which has been absent. Most students don’t know what the NUS is for or who’s in it - they think it’s an irrelevant thing.

“Having something which

tries to put pressure on the NUS to be somewhat more democratic is really good and I think a diversity of tactics in our campaigns against the current effects on higher education is a good thing.

“I am optimistic for what the student strike could be and I think it’s a good thing that we’ve managed to vote for this.”

Council dismisses slate ban proposal Nathaniel Robinson A proposal to ban the practice of slating narrowly failed at SU Council on 26th November 2015.

The proposal came after the former BME Councillor, Nazmin Jahan, resigned her position over the lack of BME representation on slates.

The proposal defined states as “a group of candidates that run in multi-seat or multiposition elections on a common platform”.

The ban would have brought Sheffield SU into line with City University London Student Union and the University of Bath Student Union which currently ban the practice.

One proposer of the ban, Archaeology Councillor Otis Gilbert commented on the decision saying “the

decision not to ban slating is disappointing” because slating “discourages individuality on council and benefits those in activist communities over those less engaged with politics in the union prior to elections.”

Supporters of the motion claimed that slates reduced voters’ choice and discriminated against independently minded candidates leading Chair of Council’ Adam Hanrahan, to describe them as “cliquey and disgusting.”

This claim was countered by opponents of the ban who claimed that slates encouraged candidates to run for office and that the Single Transferable Vote system used in university elections made it unlikely for whole slates to become elected.

Students move in to first coop home Rhys Handley Students have moved into the first landlord-free student house in Sheffield.

Four students have moved into the house in Crookes and pay rent to the Sheffield Student Housing Co-op (SSHC), who lease it from the Phone Co-op.

SSHC treasurer Clara Jordan, one of the house’s residents, said: “We provide democratic, not-for-profit housing as an alternative to exploitative private landlords and overpriced student halls.

Our rent pays for the lease and house maintenance.”

Application is now open for a fifth student resident in the Crookes house and the Co-op aims to pay off its lease to the Phone Co-op and acquire more houses to rent to students.

Clara said: “We started organising in 2012, owned and run by students, for students.

“We have the freedom to turn the space into a real home, control management and foster positive links within the community.”

Crime against students drops Chloe Coleman Incidents of violent crime against students has dropped by 35 per cent in the past year.

South Yorkshire Police’s Chief Inspector Jayne Forrest released a statement regarding their ‘Bad Night Out’ safety campaign, which has supposedly been a success.

“The force’s student safety campaign in partnership with Best Bar None has proved to be successful, with a reduction in violent crime against students recorded,” she said.

“Our campaign’s message to students is a simple one around knowing your limits and not letting one extra drink result in what can be lifealtering consequences.

“I’ve seen the results of alcohol-fueled violence too many times and a drunken scuffle can result in lifedefining consequences for both those involved.”

Statistics have shown that students in Sheffield are more likely to be impacted by violent crime than any other group in the city.

Forge Press | Friday 4 December 2015

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Sheffield - a city of lead Public Enemy speaks to Forge Press on local gang crime Will Morgan 30 people have been maimed or killed by guns in Sheffield in the last five years, South Yorkshire Police have revealed.

The figures were released on the same day as Jama Ahmed, 26, of Broomhall Place, was handed a minimum of 36 years in jail for the murder of 22-year-old Jordan Thomas last year and the attempted murder of another man.

When sentenced Ahmed shouted “talk is cheap” and “Allahu Akbar.”

Four other men wanted in connection with the murder have fled to Somalia.

Jordan Thomas was killed in a drive-by shooting on Derek Dooley Way in December 2014.

It was believed to be linked to the 2011 murder of Mubarak Ali. In the last month there have been multiple cases of gun discharge in Sheffield suburbs, gun related robberies and three men were jailed for a variety of firearm related offences including the manufacturing of ammo.

High court judge Sir Nicholas Green, in his comments on the Jordan Thomas trial, described “marauding” rival gangs roaming the streets of

Sheffield “wielding guns and knives.”

When asked by Forge Press before their 28 November Sheffield Arena gig about gang crime, hip hop icon Chuck D of Public Enemy said: “You hope that the gang crime doesn’t come out of boredom.

“Communities sometimes have to replace areas of discontent with some other

kind of activity.

“Once people start communicating with their gadgets within their own circle of comfort, rather than their families, we’re all going to deal with the effects.”

In March 2015, The Star revealed that there had been 103 gun related incidents in Burngreave and 72 in the city centre alone, stating that there

is “one victim of gun crime every week” on their front page.

This is in the same five year period as the 30 serious injuries and deaths reported

by South Yorkshire Police.

According to SYP figures, gun-related maiming and killing has halved since the period 2005 to 2010.

Cancer research Uni misses out on project progress spot in rankings Jess Davis The University of Sheffield has broken through with cancer research and will be progressing to clinical trials within the city as part of a new project.

The ‘Translational Oncology Initiative’ helps a number of junior cancer doctors progress at the University to clinical trials.

The research hopefully will transform the treatment of cancer due to the success of

the clinical trials.

2.5 million people currently suffer with cancer in the UK today and over 150,000 lose their life to the disease.

David Reynolds, Director at Sheffield Hospitals Charity, told the Sheffield Telegraph: “Sadly, so many people are battling cancer on a daily basis and we want to contribute to paving the way for new treatments to be introduced that will give these people more chance of survival.”

Will Morgan The University of Sheffield missed out in this year’s Times Higher Education Awards.

In the 2015 awards, Coventry University, ranked 1,063rd in the world, won University of Year.

The University of Sheffield was almost entirely ignored by the Times Higher Education Awards Scheme this year, being nominated for Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development, but did not winning.

Despite the Students’ Union winning 1st place for satisfaction in the Times Higher Education Survey for the 4th year in the row, they were still not considered for University of

the Year.

Entry into the awards requires a 500 word submission regarding information as to why your university should win the award. Although the University boasts of the AMRC, one of the largest manufacturing centres linked to higher education in the world, they were seemingly overlooked when considering the International Collaboration Award. Back in 2011, the University of Sheffield won University of the Year, and since then had several nominations every year.

Universities in the non-Russel Group wilderness have to fight harder for these awards, as their prestige has to be based on something outside of academic rigour.

NEWS NATIONAL NEWS School blinded by Health & Safety regs Hambrook Primary School in North Bristol has banned a blind seven-year-old from using her fibreglass cane to help her get around for fear it could “trip someone up.”

Lily-Grace Hooper suffered a stroke at birth, which left her virtually blind and in need of a cane which is slightly longer than average due to her age and disability.

Gary Learmouth from the Sensory Support Service carried out a risk assessment on behalf of Hambrook and found that the walking aid is “high risk” to other people.

The assessment said LilyGrace should use the hand rails to get about and “walk carefully over all surfaces” without the use of her cane.

Headteacher Jo Dent said: “The pupil has not been banned from bringing in their cane, we have simply asked them to not use it around school as a temporary measure until we have the chance to meet with the parent and discuss the situation.”

Pork attempts to reduce Tory majority A Conservative MP was nearly killed by a small sausage.

Croydon South MP Chris Philp was in a Tesco superstore in Purley when he nearly “choked to death” on the meat snack.

Mr Philp was at the branch to press the Purley BID (Business Improvement District) when the “near fatal” incident occurred.

Mr Philp reached for the refreshments provided at which point a mini sausage of unspecified brand became stuck in his throat.

After some difficulty Mr Philp managed to come out alive.

BID chairman Simon Cripps was with Mr Philp to try to persuade Tesco to back BID and described the meeting as “rather tense” following the sausage incident.

In a statement the MP said: “Following difficult negotiations, during which I nearly choked on a mini sausage, Tesco confirmed they will vote for the Purley BID.” Mr Philp’s office added: “This was a high-stakes negotiation and the atmosphere was tense.”

Mr Philp can rest assured that he’s not the first Tory to have problems with pork this year.

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Friday 4 December 2015 | Forge Press

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Woman beats up attacker after sexual assault attempt Rhys Handley A Sheffield man was left battered and bruised when a woman he attempted to sexually assault fought back last month.

Johnathon Holmes’ face appeared swollen and red in a photo released by South Yorkshire Police as a result of his intended victim’s retaliation.

The 21-year-old woman, who cannot be named, fought back by hitting him in the face with her keys and biting down on his tongue when he tried to force it into her mouth.

Holmes, of Valentine Road, Sheffield Lane Top, was jailed for four years and six months at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday December 1.

The young woman told the court: “I believed without a doubt this man was going to rape me.

“My life would have been over – he might as well have killed me right there.”

The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday

November 1 when Holmes started following the woman on her way home from work.

After spending the evening drinking, he followed her for over a mile.

When the woman noticed Holmes following her, she crossed Cemetery Road three times to avoid him.

She got her phone out to call her partner and put her keys in her hand for protection when he ran at her and tackled her on to her back in some bushes near the Nuffield gym.

She punched him twice in the stomach and screamed as he attacked her.

As he continued his attack, she punched him in the face and bit his tongue.

Holmes fled when the woman’s screams were heard by passers-by, injuring himself as he jumped over a fence.

He was seen on CCTV scouting women to follow earlier that night and was later found by police at 1.30am.

He told officers in interview he couldn’t remember the events of the night because he was

drunk.

Giving evidence, Holmes’ intended victim told Sheffield Crown Court that the recent discovery of 18-year-old Caroline Everest’s body in Porter Brook river on November 24 brought back unwelcome memories of her own attack.

She said: “A few days ago I read about the body of a missing girl being found not far from where I was attacked.

“It made me sick to my stomach and brought everything back. I just want this all over so I can go on with my life.”

Broomhill Fire-y Chloe Coleman Residents in Broomhill were evacuated from homes on Whitham Road on Wednesday night after a fire broke out in the basements of one of the student houses.

Emergency services were called to the scene and the road was closed at about 10:30pm. The road was closed between Yorkshire Bank and

the Nottingham House pub.

Three fire engines arrived at Whitham Road. No one was hurt, however residents of nearby houses were also evacuated.

David Hall, 3rd year Politics student at the University of Sheffield, spoke to Forge Press about what he saw at the scene: “When one of my housemates told us what was

happening we went outside to see what was going on, there was smoke in the air and when we got onto Whitham Road there were several fire engines and ambulances, they obstructed our view but could see there was a cordon across the road from just before the Nottingham House Pub. We must have arrived fairly late on the scene as they had it

under control by the time we got there.”

Sam Kendall, another student at the university who is in 3rd year studying History and English, also witnessed the fire: “I live a couple of houses away from where it happened, so our house was stuck in the middle of the cornered off section of the road.

“My housemate who lives on the bottom floor and has a window looking onto Whitham Road rushed into my room saying there was a fire nearby and we all went to the second floor window to look out.

“We saw lots of smoke coming from the building and there were three fire engines.

Later, police were controlling traffic and paramedics arrived and were tending to a man wrapped in an emergency foil blanket.

“He seemed okay, just quite shaken up. We weren’t evacuated, so we were left to watch it for a while, they got a fan to clear the smoke and got hoses ready but didn’t end up using them.”

Camels on campus Polly Winn The Union got into the Christmas spirit with camels on the concourse.

Two camels were brought to the University as part of the Department for Animal & Plant Sciences Christmas lecture and outreach programme. The lecture was taking place in the Octagon building.

The camels were situated on the amphitheatre outside of the Students’ Union in small metal enclosures with some hay bales.

Third year Journalism student Ellen Offredy said: “To be honest appalled by the decision to bring camels onto the concourse for the sake of a Christmas lecture. Keeping an animal locked in a small confinement for the entertainment of others is far from okay.

“Not only was it in a small enclosure with just one hay bail but it was standing on the cold floor in the rain surrounded by students. I’m no animal expert but this is far from a camels natural habitat and surely this must be distressing to say the least?”

Miss Offredy intends to complain to the University about this.

Blomfield votes against bombing Polly Winn Sheffield Central MP Paul Blomfield voted against air strikes in Syria.

On Wednesday 2 December, a ten hour debate went on at the House of Commons in Westminster to debate whether there should be British intervention in Syria.

After the heated debate, MPs voted in favour of military action against Islamic State militants in Syria with 397 voting in favour, and 223 voting again.

Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn announced he would give Labour MPs a free vote.

Paul Blomfield, who has served as Sheffield Central MP since 2010, voted against intervention.

Paul Blomfield said: “Yesterday MPs voted to extend airstrikes against Daesh from Iraq into Syria. I voted against the airstrikes, but completely respect those who came to a different view.

“I thought very long and hard before making my mind up on the issue, as did those who came to the opposite conclusion.”

Forge Press | Friday 4 December 2015

@ForgePress /ForgePress

NEWS

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Sheffielders to get on the sauce in renowned sauce factory

Will Morgan

The iconic former Henderson’s Relish building on Leavygreave Road is to be converted into a pub.

The site was bought by the University of Sheffield in the Summer of 2015.

“Hendos”, Sheffield’s signature sauce for more than 100 years between the late 19th century and 2013, is flavoured with tamarind, cayenne pepper and garlic oil.

These spices form the basis for its difference in flavour from Worcestershire sauce.

The spicy sheffield sauce goes well with tomato-based dishes.

Transforming the Sheffield landmark, without changing its exterior, into a drinking establishment is to be the subject of a competition for Sheffield architects, the University has announced.

The pub’s interior is to display the building’s proud

history of manufacturing the spicy Sheffield sauce.

Concerns have been raised that this is a move towards demolishing the University Arms, a plan previously proposed by the University in their 2014 109 page campus masterplan that was opposed by the Sheffield Liberal Democrat.

Adam Hanrahan, Chair of SU Council, Vice-President of GeogSoc, Geography SU Councillor and chair of the Liberal Democrat’s at Sheffield University, said: “Generally I think the conversion of hendos into a pub is a good idea.

I’d be very interested to hear what the University intends to do with the Uni Arms now.

Whatever their final resolution, I’m keen that students are involved in the decision making process.”

The Liberal Democrats campaigned to save the University Arms in 2014.

Forge Press: blast from the past

News Editor Will Morgan takes a look at threats of violence against the media, taking inspiration from an incident in our murky past...

Will Morgan As Comment Editor Chris Saltmarsh and I can attest, from the student

protests covered in Forge Press issue 89, sometimes life and liberty have to be put on the line for the lofty pursuit of journalism.

However, in the 7 November, 1968, edition of Forge Press’ predecessor DARTS, there is a story entitled “EDITOR

ASSAULTED”.

The tale goes that the Editor of DARTS, Geoff Bath, was asked to step outside of the newspaper offices, to “discuss an article” where he was physically assaulted.

Threats of violence against those in the media seems to be a permanent issue, as few people seem capable of rationalising their own disagreement in a loquacious manner, and instead resort to threatening to rape, maim, or kill those who disagree with them.

Not too dissimilar to the Daesh mindset.

After writing an investigative undercover article critical of the fascist political group Britain First, I received requests similar to Mr Bath.

Mr Mike Cooper, speaking on, and missing, the point of undercover journalism stated on Facebook: “This is weirdest thing ive ever read, is this guy really sad enough to pretend to be some one

hes not then write about it and put it on the internet [sic]” Mr Cooper finished his thesis with: “if your [sic] such a big man come meet me and we can have a chat xxx”.

Whilst I appreciate the affection and clear idolisation that he holds for me, I am going to have to decline Mr Cooper’s offer to meet in light of the lessons learnt from DARTS’.

Mr Cooper’s desire for my company was echoed

by Nick Hall, whose only identifier online was the St. George’s Cross, saying: “Nice one Mike he would not have the balls to meet any of us face to face.”

Finishing with the sort of dulce et decorum est flourish that would have Wilfred Owen spinning in his grave: “English and proud.”

Friday 4 December 2015 | Forge Press

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What d empire do fo

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens hitting sc time to reassess one of film’s greatest villains of scum and villainy the original trilogy wou perspective just an attack on the Sith? R

Rhys Handley

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he Star Wars universe thrives on binaries - the Jedi Knights and their evil opposites the Sith Lords, Rebel star pilots and Imperial Stormtroopers, Han Solo and Boba Fett. Everything has an equal counterpart on the other side of the moral spectrum. It’s good versus evil with no shades of grey between.

It’s a simplistic way for George Lucas to build his densely populated galaxy far far away, but it’s effective, cathartic even, to invest yourself in the struggles of the pure, wide-eyed Rebellion as they push against the insurmountable, inhuman, evil Galactic Empire.

We don’t live in a world like Star Wars. We live in a world of grey, where your definition of heroes, villains and anything else is completely relative, unlikely to match up with anyone else’s.

It’s a scary, complicated world - filled with threat, uncertainty and paranoia.

That’s why we need Lucas’ world. It’s a world where we know the heroes. We don’t need question their methods or their justification because we know that they’re fighting the good fight - and, more importantly, we know what that good fight is.

Equally, it’s reassuring to know that

the evil they’re fighting against is so clearly, unequivocally evil.

The Empire is a reprehensible organisation that thrives on subjugation.

It uses brute force and horrific retribution to further its aims and tighten its grip on the galaxy.

Its leader, Emperor Palpatine, is a cackling warlock who shoots lightning from his fingers. His servant, Darth Vader, is a terror-inducing cyborg who suffocates his subordinates for failure and speaks with the booming snarl of James Earl Jones.

Imperial officers torture and execute Bothan spies for stealing the plans to their Death Star - a moon-sized battle station with the capacity to destroy whole planets, a capability which they fully utilise against the peaceful Alderaan.

“we need the Rebel Alliance to be scrappy do-gooders we can aspire to emulate” There are hundreds of dead Ewoks the teeny, cuddly denizens of the forest moon of Endor - because of an Imperial onslaught of AT-ST chicken walkers.

The Empire is bare-faced, unabashed, tyrannical evil. There are no two ways about it, and that’s good - even healthy.

We’re now in an age where terrorist

fundamentalists take to the Paris streets to slaughter innocent people.

Isis subjugates 10 million people and counting to its oppressive ideological rule in the Middle East with arms and fear. The USA and UK governments draw up legislation to enable them to look into people’s personal correspondence. A revolution sparked in the Ukraine last year in opposition to Russian meddling, with atrocities committed on both sides and passenger planes falling from the sky.

There are obvious, surprising parallels between these realworld occurrences and the methods of the Galactic Empire, though never quite so clear-cut.

When we don’t know who’s good and who’s evil, we need to look to those jackbooted I m p e r i a l bastards so clearly and clunkily based off the Nazi regime - to know what’s what.

Regularly, we see them doing these horrible things - torturing for information, oppressing alien populations, invading privacy -

and notice them everywhere.

That’s how we identify everyday evil and it’s how we know when and how to fight it in all its forms.

If you see the Empire in the behaviour of authorities and institutions that you trust, you know it’s wrong. Absolute, defined, fictional evil is the perfect lens through which to assess those watching over us.

We need the Empire to be almighty evil and we need the Rebel Alliance to be a scrappy band of do-gooders that we can aspire to emulate.

In a world that makes no sense at all, the battle of good against evil - the Rebels against the Empire, the Jedi against the Sith, Ewoks against Stormtroopers - is a comfort blanket.

And the fact that, in this battle, good will ultimately triumph, is a testament to the human spirit when we work together for a common good.

There’s evil in this world, even if it’s not quite as easy to spot or as plainly presented as Palpatine and his malicious cronies.

But if it weren’t for the binaries of Star Wars - the total, certain evil of the Empire - we might not spot them at all.

The Galactic Em

Founded: 19BBY (Before Battle Leaders: Emperor Palpatine, Da 12 Grand Admirals, Grand Gen Military Strength: Imperial Navy: 378 millio 306 million non-hyperdriv Death Star II. Imperial Army: Trillions from Republic Army clone humans on Imperial-cont AT and AT-ST combat wal Stormtrooper Corps: At l troops, deployed alongsid forces and VIP security.

Galactic Influence: 120 billion s History: Founded after the col following the Clone Wars, and order under the command of S fought the Galactic Civil War a the Republic.

Forge Press | Friday 4 December 2015

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did the e ever or us?

creens in two weeks’ time, we thought it was s. Was the Galactic Empire the wretched hive uld have us believe, or was Luke and Leia’s Rhys Handley and Ben Chandler discuss.

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ben Chandler

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fter ten years of eager anticipation we are two weeks from the latest instalment of Star Wars hitting the big screen. But as we impatiently queue outside local cinemas for the midnight premiere, wielding toy lightsabers and clad in Jedi robes crafted from old dressing gowns, it is worth remembering the old adage that history is told by the victors.

The galactic struggle between good and evil, for which so many of us were so invested in throughout our childhoods is perhaps not as black and white as it might seem. Upon closer analysis it is clear that the Star Wars saga is told through the distorted lens of the Rebel Alliance, feeding us anti-Empire propaganda that in the naivety of youth we were so ready to gobble up.

But this is the year 2015 and we must let childhood naivety plague us no longer. It is time we saw through the ominous overtones of the ‘Imperial March’ to reveal the truth behind the galactic conflict. The Rebel Alliance nostalgically cling to a perceived golden era that never was. They view the past through rose tinted glasses and their attempts to restore it resulted in

galactic instability. The Empire, for all it’s failings, was significantly better for the Galaxy than the idealistic fantasies of the Old Republic. One need only look at the catastrophic results of the Republic’s failure to provide the galaxy with a Death Star deterrent.

The Rebel Alliance would have you believe that the Death Star was a battle station, fully prepped for war and destruction, when in reality it was a tool for peace and stability in a politically volatile galaxy. During the Empire years, overall conflict was relatively low, as the consequences of engaging in militarily aggressive behaviour was your planet being vaporised out of existence. The Old Republic failed to provide a Death Star deterrent and the result was a string of high-profile conflicts between starsystems that eventually resulted in fullscale war. If anything, the Empire should have provided more Death Stars, one for each of the major star systems, to ensure the long-term prevalence of diplomacy over conflict.

Some viewers might question the validity of the claim that the Death Star is a tool for peace by citing the destruction of Alderaan in A New Hope.

But if the Death Star was to function as an effective deterrent, inhabitants of the rebel-sympathetic worlds needed to witness its full destructive potential.

The planet of Alderaan was selected for its political hierarchy’s well known affiliation with the Rebel Alliance - a state sponsor of rebellion if you will. The galaxy was better off without it. The

most heartless act was that committed

by Princess Leia Organa, who was willing to throw the innocent inhabitants of Dantooine, who had no part in the rebellion, into harm’s way just to protect the rebel base on Yavin IV. The Old Republic’s failings extend well beyond the failure to provide a Death Star. For over a thousand generations the Republic relied on undemocratic, unaccountable Jedi Knights as a force for stability. The glorification of the Jedi by the Rebel Alliance glosses over their failings and moral shortcomings. The Jedi Order was an organization straight out of Plato’s Republic; selecting children with unique abilities, torn from their families at young ages to serve the interests of the state. Removed from the family unit they became brainwashed, devoid of the emotion or personal attachment so natural to all sentient beings. When Jedi employed their emotions and used the force to help those they loved, they were considered to be indulging in the ‘dark side’.

The Jedi indulged in the same self-denial that turned public opinion on our planet against communist r e g i m e s towards the end of the last century.

The Jedi weren’t the only force

of questionable ethics with which the Rebel Alliance had dealings. See their willingness to work with pirates and smugglers, and the limb-rending savagery of their Wookiee allies.

Not that they were always so friendly with non-human races. Faced with a floundering attack on a shield generator on the forest moon of Endor, the rebels recruited help from a tribe of hunter-gatherers they tricked into believing in a protocol droid was their god. Armed with rocks and sticks versus the elite troops of the Galactic Empire, these exploited creatures died in their hundreds. The rest would be wiped out when the flaming remains of the second Death Star came screaming down out of the sky. How the rebels would justify this when they could simply have committed extra ground troops of their own to risk their necks is beyond us.

When you finally take your seat to watch The Force Awakens, remember to consider the underlying Rebel narrative. Is the ‘dark’ side really that ‘dark’? Or is it just a term coined by Jedi to stigmatise alternative uses of the Force? Were the Jedi really guardians of ‘peace and justice’, or a state-funded cult? Was Luke Skywalker really the hero the galaxy needed Or is he part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor? The answer may not be as clear is as we are made to believe.

Friday 4 December 2015 | Forge Press

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COMMENT

@ForgePress /ForgePress

Getting Acclimatised to Paris

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“Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man’s pockets.”

Melissa Matos

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t’s the most wonderful time of the year, as I hear Andy Williams croon in early November at my part-time job in Meadowhall. Indeed, Christmas day is 25 December, yet our decorations have been up since the middle of October and the sale of baubles and wrapping paper followed very soon afterwards.

I even had one customer at the end of October tell me he was going home to put his tree up. It seems the run up to this apparent climax of the year begins as soon summer fades, which for us Brits could well be the end of July. It is impossible to argue against the obvious commercialisation of Christmas; it is a time when companies and retailers across the spectrum can capitalise on society’s stubborn, unrelenting will to conform to tradition by spending and indulging.

Even as an atheist I can easily dismiss any possible notion that Christmas retains its religious meaning. Children singing ‘Away in a Manger’ at your doorstep has slowly morphed into cold callers offering Avon’s Christmas catalogue. Society has come to the consensus that Christmas is instead a time for family and generosity, a time to reflect on the year that has passed and to be grateful for what you have.

In recent years this sentiment has been emphasised through flagship adverts, namely that of John Lewis. For me, this is where the problem begins.

It is a deep seated belief in our western conscience that anybody who shows any scepticism towards Christmas is a miserable Scrooge.

Christmas is untouchable and if you are disillusioned by this utopian event you are immediately met with eye-rolls and told to lighten up. To a certain extent I agree - there is nothing wrong with treating yourself to a glass of Bailey’s while watching Elf in your pyjamas.

Who cares how many millions some fat, balding CEO is making every minute if you’re happy enough watching the Doctor Who Christmas special with a selection box?

What nauseates me is the ignorance we allow ourselves and the ease with which we accept what we are told by retailers when they tell us they are doing something for the good of humanity. Ultimately, the concept of generosity at Christmas is often nothing but a pretentious façade, and given the current political and social climate, perhaps this year more so than ever.

I take John Lewis as my main example. They have been tugging at our heartstrings for years with cute penguins and selfless children. This year they have teamed up with Age UK, because of course if you put your product or idea under the blanket of charity you can get away with just about anything. There are those that argue the advert raises money and awareness for Age UK, and they are right. After the advert launched the charity saw a surge in fundraising as well as a spike in Twitter mentions. This awareness however is short-lived, and raises the question: are you still thinking about loneliness and the elderly now that the initial hype has died down? It has not changed society’s attitude towards the old, but instead has strengthened the brand image of John Lewis. It has subconsciously reminded you that you should do your shopping at John Lewis, not only this Christmas but also in 2016 and beyond.

Perhaps an even more repulsive advert was Sainsbury’s effort last year which reconstructed the Christmas truce in World War I, again in the name of charity. The advert massaged the British ego by reminding us what

sharing, caring souls we are and that even in the throes of war Christmas can remind us of our common humanity. I wonder whether we stopped selling arms to Saudi Arabia on Christmas Day last year? Arms which go on to kill thousands of innocent Yemeni civilians.

Did our American best friends halt their drone strikes on that day too?

2015 lists numerous examples which showcase how heartless we can be. If the Syrian civil war seems too far away, how about the economic bullying and suffocation of Greece by European banks during the summer? If this is still too abstract to relate to we can look to our own government and consider George Osborne’s own special Santa sack, dishing out austerity cuts and weakening still the poorest in society as well as our public services.

By all means have a merry Christmas.

Eat too much chocolate and drink too much wine, all while blaring Mariah Carey and Slade. But as we enjoy our Christmas privilege, let’s not pretend the suffering we blindly inflict on others isn’t happening; that it isn’t anything to do with us and that there isn’t anything we can do about it.

Look beyond ‘charity’ Christmas cards which actually only donate 15 per cent of the profits to charity and don’t be fooled by the apparent goodwill of retailers and politicians alike. They only seek to cash in by making a mockery of Christmas and a mockery of you.

Merry Christmas (and a Happy New Year) from the Comment Section!

Chris Saltmarsh

he 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) is the biggest and most important international convention on climate change ever. It started on 30 November, and will run until 12 December. It is the 21st annual ‘Conference of the Parties’ (hence the abbreviation) where delegates from governments around the world come together with the supposed goal of reaching a legally binding agreement on carbon emission reductions.

In the past, environmentalists have placed a lot of faith in the COP process to provide a solution to the climate crisis.

Unfortunately though, this faith has more often than not been misplaced.

COP15, in Copenhagen in 2009, was the last major COP, and was widely seen as a failure as no agreement was reached. Now, six years on, we are experiencing the effects of climate change more harshly and frequently than ever, and we seem no closer to solving the climate crisis. If the COP process is going to work, then it has to work at COP21.

But after two decades of flogging the same rotting horse, a consensus is growing in the environmental movement that the COP process has already failed, and we should move beyond it in our quest for solutions to the climate crisis.

COP21 has asked each state to submit “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDCs). If you think that sounds like inaccessible jargon, you’d be absolutely right. INDCs are basically carbon emission reductions targets set by the states themselves. So a country will come to COP21 saying, “This is the amount of emissions we think we can realistically reduce over this timescale, so that’s the target we’re setting ourselves.”

This approach is indicative of why COP21 is bound to fail - if not by their own metrics, certainly by the climate’s.

We need a carbon-zero economy as quickly as possible. We don’t have time to wait until 2050, and we can’t afford to let global average temperatures rise by 2°C - this is just an arbitrarily set, politically convenient target. Climate change is already happening, and it’s already devastating the world’s most vulnerable people and communities.

If we let states choose their own inevitably inadequate emissions reductions targets, we can’t even begin to hope for a proper climate deal.

This state-focused approach is also outdated considering the makeup of our current economy. Private corporations which don’t fit within the borders of one country, or can easily move between them, are among the biggest carbon emitters. States have limited control over massive corporations that make billions from fossil fuel-dependent business. If there is no structure to force these emitters to change, then we can have little hope of a successful COP agreement.

Compound this limited idea of how to cut emissions with the influence over COP21 that many big corporations will

have, and the conference’s prospects of success begin to look even more grim.

Many corporations which profit from the climate crisis, including fossil fuel, vehicle, and aviation companies, all have tickets to the conference, where there is no place for climate justice activists or people on the front line of the climate crisis. The fossil fuel industry already has so much power over politicians and climate change policy. That’s why they still receive huge subsidies, and renewable subsidies are widely being cut. As long as they have a ticket to the most important emissions negotiations ever, they will inevitably have an influence over what is discussed and agreed - if indeed anything is agreed. This is such a problem because if we want true climate justice, the fossil fuel industry is going to have to take a serious hit. Obviously it’s not in their economic interests for that to happen, so they will resist it as much as possible.

This is why Sheffield People & Planet is taking around 25 students to COP21.

Of course, we won’t have a ticket to get inside, but we’ll join thousands of other climate justice activists from around the world to oppose the power that fossil fuel companies will have over the negotiations, whether they’re inside or not. There will be hundreds of events, opportunities to network and share ideas, and demonstrations against the direction politicians are taking the climate. We won’t be asking politely for the politicians to agree a climate deal for us. We will be sending the message that they have failed civil society and the world’s most vulnerable, who did the least to cause the climate crisis. We will be using COP21 as a springboard for an already rejuvenated climate justice movement.

The global divestment movement, which has made a big impact in Sheffield, is stripping the fossil fuel industry of its power and influence in politics and society. We have embraced the reality that states and corporations aren’t interested in creating meaningful solutions to the crisis. We will have to make them ourselves, and COP21 will be the start of that. As the politicians inside the conference will fail to reach an agreement, civil society, on the outside, will be organising to challenge the fossil fuel industry, to democratise energy and make it renewable, and to provide support and solidarity for those who will be displaced and harmed by the effects of climate change: flooding, drought, and natural disasters.

COP21 will be a historic moment in the climate justice movement, and it’s incredibly exciting that Sheffield People & Planet will be able to be there to learn from, influence and be inspired by a growing movement for justice.

So COP21 might fail - let’s be honest, it probably will - but that shouldn’t be a reason for depression. Unlike COP15 in Copenhagen, the climate justice understands the corruption of states and corporations, and recognises that if something is to be done about the climate crisis, it has to be done by us, and we’ve already started.

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COMMENT

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

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

Female Kurdish Peshmerga fighters on the front lines against Daesh/ISIS, November 2015.

The Rifle, the sword and the missile: Why Syria is such a hard decision

Robin Wilde

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he United Nations was created not to take humanity to heaven, but to save it from hell. I paraphrase Dag Hammerskjöld, who hasn’t headed the organisation for 50 years - but his words ring as true now as they did then.

The UN celebrated its 70th birthday recently, and one of its most recent resolutions - passed almost unanimously - was to take all possible action against the group calling itself Islamic State.

Headquartered in the occupied cities of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq, IS (or Daesh as their Arabic opponents derisively call them) run in effect a fascist state behind a stretched-out façade of Islamic teaching. Far from good Muslims, they are murderous brutes grasping for any excuse.

So why was I so conflicted over the question of military action? Surely, as a half-British, half-American, socially liberal social democrat agnostic, I represent everything these people hate. They would surely put me to the sword as soon as look at me, so it would seem only natural to wish to see their rag-tag army scatter under a rain of hellfire from RAF Tornadoes.

Part of it is personal. I remember marching through London against the Iraq invasion aged eight, holding my dad’s hand, following a red bus blaring ‘Give Peace a Chance’ from a speaker on the roof. That I now can’t stand that song might be allegorical, but I still feel the pull towards pacifism that such an experience sows in the mind.

But then my mind flicks back to the images of journalists, decapitated by sneering brutes for their own slick broadcasts. I compare it in my mind with Lee Rigby, a lad from Middleton torn apart off-duty for the uniform he wore, and think that the uniform of the camera and notepad makes people just as much an enemy out there.

I think of treasures of humanity,

artefacts of civilisation thousands of years old, dynamited in an instant.

I think of gay men and women, and atheists, and secularists, shot, dragged behind jeeps or pushed from buildings for the contents of their minds. And again the refrain comes back - “we have to do something”.

But what? The people of Syria have suffered four long years of war.

After their hereditary dictatorship in Damascus answered calls for democracy with machine gun fire, the horrors of repression led thousands of soldiers to defect en masse.

Photos brought out of Syria by a former regime diplomat going only by “Caesar” show the extend of Assad’s brutality. Skeletal bodies lie on the floor of an auto garage adjacent to a military hospital, their bodies bearing clear signs of torture. But now, the regime has held its ground for some time, and now has the full backing of the Russian military. If Daesh fall, there is still the matter of a heavily armed and well-entrenched regime ready to fight to the death - and this time they aren’t scavengers with jeeps and rifles, but have the support of one of the world’s most fearsome armed forces.

In terms of what is on offer - that is, the bombing of Daesh positions in eastern Syria by the RAF in co-operation with the US Air Force and French Air Force - the principle opposition seems to be that drone strikes causing civilian casualties stir up resentment among locals and drives them towards antiWestern forces.

While I certainly wouldn’t advocate the blanket bombing of all their positions - and in particular, the major cities where population density is high I am sceptical of this claim. The people on the ground in Raqqa and Mosul, under the thumb of the Islamists, must surely be the people with the most firsthand knowledge of what they are like and the repression they bring.

More to the point, Britain is already a target for Daesh. We are already unsafe, and whether we support France and the USA rhetorically or militarily will have little effect.

Bombing must be precise, and only target the direct machinery of war - Daesh fighters, vehicles, bases and supply lines - but that is no impossible

task.

Western air support for the Kurds fighting in the battle for Kobane helped a volunteer force of 3,000 - fielding women on the front line, a particular risk in this conflict - repel a Daesh army three times its size, with tank support.

Civilian casualties were in the low dozens.

But then we get back to another problem - bombing alone cannot usually win wars. Even in cases where sustained or spectacular bombing (think Dresden or Nagasaki) has broken the back of an enemy, it has been one on the verge of destruction anyway, after sustained defeats in ground offensives.

We do not yet have that luxury with Daesh. They are on the back foot hence their shock and awe attacks on Paris - but are not yet done. To really beat them back, ground forces need to get involved.

There is not the appetite in most western countries to risk troops in a conflict which, however unfairly, would be compared to the Iraq debacle.

Democracies are, for obvious reasons, always the most jumpy countries when it comes to casualties. Additionally, there is a real fear of the diplomatic incident which would come out of a British soldier or US Marine being blown to bits by a Russian jet thanks to a lack of communication.

The YPJ and YPG - Kurdish Peshmerga - forces have fought valiantly, but it is difficult, and in their view not very worthwhile - to extend their role outside Kurdistan. The Free Syrian Army, while relatively strong, is tied down doing battle with Assad’s army on the western front, and in no state to expand eastwards into Daesh territory.

The Iraqi Army is in disarray, and has its own problems to deal with before it goes about solving ours.

This leaves three unpleasant options for the situation as it stands. The international community could come to an agreement letting the Assad regime remain in power while they join forces to defeat Daesh - meaning more torture, more barrel bombs used on civilian areas, more chemical weapons.

The western powers could bite the bullet - literally - and commit ground troops, at huge cost and risk to life and popularity.

Or we could simply withdraw, and hope the situation resolves itself.

Diplomacy is not an option when dealing with a force which views your two eventual fates as subjugation or annihilation, so we would be doing little more than crossing our collective fingers and hoping. Who knows - it might work.

After considering all available courses of action, it seems that the only way forward is the technique which has cost Daesh 30 per cent of its territory already - advancement of ground forces supported by overwhelming western air power targeting nonurban supply routes and combat units.

This gets results, while ensuring that gains can be consolidated and civilian casualties minimised. The ground forces concerned are a little more difficult, but if the Peshmerga can take full control of Kurdistan and the FSA and Iraqi Army be sufficiently strengthened by advanced technology and training courtesy of NATO, the three of them combined could just about make it.

We then face the question of when we turn the tanks around and march on Damascus, but that’s a question we won’t be able to answer until the current one is out of the way.

Whether that course of action plays out will depend on the actions of politicians worldwide over the next few weeks.

It feels almost like a betrayal as a left of centre student to support military action of a sort, which should bring home just how serious the situation is.

Sometimes, the brave course of action is to support a bad option in the absence of anything better. Time and lives are running out.

We’re always looking for more contributors. If you have an opinion on anything you want to share, email us at press.comment@forgetoday.com Go to www.forgetoday.com for more.

“My mum sent me loads of non-vegan snacks for Diwali… What do I do?” Eshmin Kharep

I

empathise with your problem. It’s difficult to deal with parents who don’t know how to provide for your lifestyle choice. Sure, they’ve been understanding enough to not disown you, but the least they could do is send you copious amounts of expensive vegan confectionary to celebrate this ancient festival. Right?

As well as this clear parental neglect, the large problem to deal with is what to do with all of the non-vegan snacks? Do you eat the non-vegan food which has already been produced and bought for you? The more militant among us would crush the culinary abominations and return them to your dreadful parents with a harsh letter, expressing your disdain at their consumption habits.

Though I’d be inclined towards such a course of action, I do recognise value in parental relationships. I’m sure they’ve fed you and stuff in the past.

Yours, Chris

“People won’t stop making fun of my Town Planning degree” - Albert Speer

W

e’ll be honest, Albert, the last time anyone heard of a famous planner it was sold

by Paperchase.

When you think of degrees, you’ve got a few different categories. There are the highly necessary and recognised ones - medicine, law, journalism. There are the well-respected intellectual subjects - maths, the natural sciences, history. And then there’s the bottom rung, in which you find yourself.

In some ways, it’s unfair. People do need planning, otherwise we’d live in a world designed by MC Escher with collapsing buildings and brothels next to primary schools. It’s just that, to most of us, your degree consists of going into the ugliest building on Bolsover Street and playing SimCity for four years.

Sorry.

Yours, Robin

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Friday 4 December 2015 | Forge Press

FEATURES

Original Artwork by Emily Cuthbert

Stuck for ideas as to how to celebrate Christmas as a student? Harriet Stevens shares her secrets on how to make your Christmas at university the best yet.

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Forge Press | Friday 4 December 2015

FEATURES

Deck Your Halls to a nearby pub for regular temperature wine… still, the thought was there.

Once the decorations are all bought, you’re ready to get decorating. Do not take this job lightly.

If you want your flat/house to really get festive, you need all hands on deck, a bottle of wine, and a cracking playlist of the best Christmas tunes. If you can’t be bothered to make one yourself, Spotify and YouTube have plenty of ready-made ones that’ll keep you going for hours.

After you’ve decorated the house, you’re set for a day of Secret Santa, Christmas films, and of course a Christmas dinner. During first year we wrote a list of all the food needed for a successful Christmas dinner and split it up so everyone was paying roughly the same, but we made a rookie error – we shopped in Sainsbury’s.

Don’t get me wrong, the food was delicious, but we spent about £15 each – an absolutely extortionate price for a student Christmas meal.

One word, folks: Aldi. Yes, it’s slightly further afield, and if you don’t have a housemate who drives then you’re in for a long, cold walk, but it’s so, so worth it.

We really went all out for second year Christmas dinner, kicking things off with baguettes, paté, and chutney for entrées, moving onto roast chicken with all of the trimmings. Think roast potatoes, new potatoes, broccoli, carrots, pigs in blankets, two types of stuffing, and Yorkshire puddings – oh my god, my mouth is watering thinking about it!

After a mammoth main course, coupled with several bottles of wine (all still from Aldi), we finished with Black Forest Gâteau, followed by crackers and a cheese board. I know, it seems excessive for a student Christmas dinner, but I think we paid about six pounds each for everything! It was so great.

After the world’s best Christmas dinner, and after dumping the plates in the sink with collective murmurs of “we’ll clean up later” (we didn’t), the house settled down to watch Elf and exchange

“

presents.

I massively lucked out with Secret Santa – MAC mascara, Love Actually on DVD, and a chocolate Santa sculpture. I can’t remember what I bought for my Secret Santa, but I do remember that we had banned bath sets as a present option.

Boys, if you’re buying for a female housemate/ friend, I know a generic bath set may seem tempting ,but please resist – they’re so rubbish and no one ever really uses them.

While we’re on the topic of Secret Santa, if you’re struggling with what to buy, because there’s always one housemate who is impossible to buy for, the answer is socks.

Before writing this article, I thought I’d do a bit of market research, so I asked a few of my housemates what they’d suggest to buy as a generic Secret Santa present for all ages and genders, and every person I spoke to said socks. “Can you imagine life without socks?” one housemate asked, to which another housemate replied, “I don’t want to imagine that – it’d be awful”.

Another housemate also said, “socks... or pants. I always struggle to find myself some nice boxers”.

But maybe don’t buy your housemates pants (unless they’re novelty pants), it could get a bit weird.

If you’ve done all this and you’re not quite feeling in the festive spirit, look towards the Union for Christmas-themed events. All societies will be hosting a range of different wintery events, from trips to the Manchester Christmas markets, to iceskating at IceSheffield, and even Christmas parties or balls.

There are events on every day throughout December, eventually culminating with the legendary Christmas Pop Tarts, which of course is not to be missed. Remember, however you spend your university Christmas, make sure you enjoy it before the cold, harsh January nights approach and the pain and misery of exam season commences...

Merry Christmas everybody!

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h, Christmas – the most wonderful time of the year. From the first of December, it’s a month of brightly coloured lights, glistening tinsel, shining baubles, and the familiar melodies of Kirsty MacColl and the Pogues, Slade, and Mariah Carey following you wherever you go.

18 odd years of the same warm and fuzzy Christmas traditions with your family in a well insulated, clean house have suddenly come to an end, now you find yourself in a new place with new people.

You’re stuck with a measly student budget, absolutely zero Christmas decorations, not even half the cooking skills of your mum, and you’ve probably never even made gravy without using granules.

Admittedly it all seems pretty bleak, but fear not – Christmas as a student, while slightly colder, is just as great as Christmas at home – it can even be better.

First and foremost, you need to get into the Christmas spirit, meaning decorations and a Christmas tree. Surprisingly, you can deck the halls pretty easily on a student budget. For the past two years, my housemates and I have taken to Poundland and B&M Bargains for masses of sparkly decorations and fairy lights (and even cute wooden Noel bunting which actually looked pretty classy – even my mum complimented it when she picked me up at the end of term!).

If you each chip in a fiver or so, you can easily stock up on plenty of decorations, and even splash out on a small Christmas tree. Top tip: we got ours in first year from Argos – eight quid, and complete with fairy lights and silver baubles!

We even decided to turn a shopping trip into a cute Christmas event and tried to go for mulled wine at the outdoor bar in Fargate, although inevitably, it was totally packed and we ended up just going

Boys, if you’re buying for a female housemate/friend, I know a generic bath set may seem tempting but please resist

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Friday 4 December 2015 Forge Press

FEATURES

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

The European Union

With a referendum scheduled next year to decide whether or not Britain should leave or remain in the European Union, many people are left confused as to what the EU actually is and does. In this issue’s edition of our ‘Features Guide’, Euan Conley explains what you should know.

In one way, the European Union is like the internet; it’s there, we’re all aware of it, but few people understand how it really works. I worked in the Scottish government’s European office in Brussels for two years and I confess that all the acronyms, ‘emergency summits’, and institutions with ridiculously similar names can still leave me a bit confused.

With a British referendum on whether to stay in the EU likely to happen in the next two years, I’ve set out a mini-guide to the EU, explaining why it exists, and some common misconceptions.

History The history of the Union is simple enough. The EU was founded back in the 1950s in response to the tragedies of the Second World War. The basic idea was for six countries - Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg - to put their coal and steel industries under common management so none of them would be able to make weapons of war to use against the others.

The UK joined in 1973 and today there are 28 European countries, called ‘Member States’, in the European Union, with Croatia being the most recent to join in 2013.

Since then, the Union has gradually established shared economic policies in everything from agriculture to employment. Now, there’s a passport-free travel zone (‘Schengen area’), a central bank, and a European currency shared between 18 members. The Union even has its own dull European anthem.

European institutions These days, almost all EU laws and policies are made in Brussels, the Belgian capital city. Around one-third of its population are migrants, with many of these people working in one of the four institutions that influence decisions taken at a European level.

European Council Complex issues are dealt with by the European Council, made up of EU leaders. It’s where David Cameron and other heads of government meet to discuss sensitive issues like the migrant crisis or the Greek bailout.

Council of the EU Here’s where it gets confusing. There’s also the Council of the EU, where government ministers from each country meet to discuss, change, and pass laws according to the issue at hand. These laws surround issues like the

environment, foreign affairs, etc.

European Commission The European Council can ask the European Commission to put forward a proposal to address an issue. The Commission’s main responsibility is proposing laws and setting the Union’s budget.

On the face of it, it’s the independent civil service of the EU. In reality, countries compete for their own nationals to get top jobs and influence it from within.

European Parliament Laws are also passed by the European Parliament, whose 751 members are directly elected every five years from all 28 countries. In last year’s elections, anti-Europe and austerity parties like UKIP and Syriza racked up their best results to date.

As a result, the traditional parties of the left and right have been forced to work together to shut out the more extreme populist members.

Transparency Formal council meetings are only part of the story of how things get done. On the surface, they are where leaders resolve their differences, but most of the true negotiating takes place in private meetings with only a handful of key people involved.

This has the advantage of making sure that everyone involved can air their views openly and honestly, and without criticism.

It also leaves the EU open to complaints over transparency about how it makes decisions and passes laws. A 2014 study by Transparency International, an anti-corruption body, showed that 70 percent of EU citizens believe that there’s corruption in the institutions.

Only one institution has a whistle-blowing procedure in place.

While a majority think that European institutions should work better for them, people are less likely to vote in European parliamentary elections than in previous decades. The average turnout in last year’s parliamentary elections was just 42 percent, while in Britain it was even worse, at 35 percent.

UK’s EU renegotiations Against a backdrop of public distrust, David Cameron is trying to reform the EU so the British public will vote to stay in it when he calls a referendum on UK membership.

One problem he faces is timing. After years of recession and a painfully slow economic recovery, most European leaders have no appetite to help Cameron change the rules for his own benefit.

They see his demands for reform as more evidence of British grumbling over a Union they barely bother to engage with.

Another problem for Cameron is his list of demands, which he needs to get all EU leaders to agree to. Two of his demands, increased competitiveness and an exemption from ‘ever closer union’, are pretty easy to achieve.

Nobody’s going to argue that the EU should become uncompetitive, and ‘ever closer union’ is a phrase found in some European treaties, but most leaders see it as symbolic at best.

The other two are trickier. The prime minister has called for extra safeguards to make sure the 19 countries who share the euro single currency can’t outvote the nine who don’t.

Tougher still is his demand for a change to the rules on freedom of movement, so that migrants can’t claim certain benefits for the first four years they live in the UK. The leaders of eastern European countries are unlikely to agree to rule changes which will hit their own citizens, many of whom make up the EU migrants living and working in the UK.

LIVE: MUMFORD AND SONS // CAROL // FALLOUT 4 // LEGALLY BLONDE

FREE ISSUE 91

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INSIDE

ARTS

Legally Blonde: a cheerful musical adaptation (p.11)

GAMES

The long awaited Sim City sequel Cities: Skylines (p.10)

SHORT FUSE 3

SCREEN FEATURE 8-9 Examinig the inspirations behind Star Wars

MUSIC FEATURE 4-5 The wonderful history of music and fashion

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REVIEWS AND LISTINGS 10-16

EDITORIAL I’ve always admired the way John Hughes portrays the genuineness of human emotions, whether it be shame, happiness, or frustration; or in the case of this film, enthusiasm and enchantment. What therefore makes Miracle on 34th Street really special to me is that it’s the one film that sincerely makes me want to live with hopefulness and belief much like a child does in believing Santa. The world, I think, is full of good things as long as you believe in it, and Christmas is the perfect occasion to remind us of it.

On that optimistic note, this issue as usual is packed with great contents that will keep you company in your spare time – lots of which you should have over the break!

Music have put together a beautiful feature on the relationship between music and fashion with Emily Cuthbert, who did a great job with Arts in the previous issue doing her magic here again.

Games is taking full advantage of the Fallout 4 release, back with a review of the latest installment following the excellent feature they

SCREEN

An epic end to the iconic Hunger Games series (p.14)

ARTS FEATURE 7 A review of the best arts events this year

GAMES FEATURE 6 Coverage of the first Retro Gaming Night

s 2015 is rounding to an end, along with the decreasing hours of daylight I find myself spending more and more time at home scouring the internet for good entertainment – books, songs, films, game commentaries, etc. I’m not sure if this unhealthy lifestyle applies to anyone else out there, but the lack of sunlight in this city therefore seems to make Fuse a much more relevant Forge section.

So, if you really want to make the most of your read, you’ll continue on to the rest of the paper and skip this editorial by an antisocial nerd.

Otherwise, if I still have your attention, I want to talk about Christmas. Since none of the sections opted for a Christmas themed feature this year, I decided to take the initiative and have Madeleina Kay draw a charmingly silly Star Wars-meets-Christmas cartoon for the front cover. It’s cute isn’t it?

I also want to talk about my favourite Christmas film: Miracle on 34th Street (1994). Although I wasn’t alive for much of his career,

MUSIC

Mumford and Sons play Sheffield Arena (p.12)

produced last issue. Their feature on the Retro Gaming Night is also definitely worth a look as it puts an interestingly socially relevant spin on games.

Arts is doing great just as ever, and have decided to end the year with an overview of contents from 2015. In a surprisingly end-ofthe- year-ishness lacking issue in December, I like that they put closure into their strong run this year.

Finally, Screen is proud to present an amazing feature on Star Wars and the various works that inspired it – just in time for the release of the next film. Even with the many hardcore Star Wars fans out there to judge it, I think it holds up quite impressively so it is definitely a must-read in this issue.

And that’s about it from us this year! Please keep checking our online outlets because we still have lots of contents scheduled to upload after this issue, and enjoy your winter break. Happy holidays everyone!

KAZUMA OSAKI

FUSE EDITOR Kazuma Osaki ARTS EDITORS Jo Gallacher Joshua Hackett GAMES EDITORS Ash Emritte Moya O’Rourke MUSIC EDITORS Tara Hodgson Charlotte Pick SCREEN EDITORS Luke Baldwin Rhys Handley FRONT COVER Madeleina Kay BACK COVER Joshua Hackett

CONTRIBUTORS Alex Pinfold Emily Cuthbert Georgie Darling Harry Gold Joe Taysom Joe Elliot Joseph Mackay Julia Hodder Katherine Hardy Melissa Matos Mollie Davidson Molly Kerkham Nick Burke Sam Kelly Sian Bradley Sophie Wilson Valeria Vigalente William Elmer

Email us over at fuse@forgetoday.com or come along to one of our contributor meetings!

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SHORT FUSE

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THE WORLD NEEDS CREATIVE THINKERS

tudying the Arts has always been something of a controversy. The lack of direct job paths, the small number of contact hours and the subjects themselves all lead to raised eyebrows and subtle disapproving looks. This needs to change – Arts education is important too.

There has been so much research into the skills gained from studying an Arts subject but most has been inconclusive. New research conducted by Durham University found that just as many students gained positive attributes from studying the Arts as those who gained nothing at all. There is no

research to suggest it has a negative effect but this new research does not help convince those considering

benefits of letting you appreciate the world around you more. The Arts are equally as important

“The Arts are equally as important as traditional subjects so people have cultural knowledge” an Arts subject for university.

Personally, I think everyone can benefit from studying the Arts, whether at university or at a lower level. Studying subjects like Theatre, Architecture, Art History or Music all work to give well rounded knowledge, along with the obvious

as traditional subjects so people have cultural knowledge as well as knowing how to angle a triangle.

Studying art throughout my education was one of my weekly highlights. Compared to the stress of maths or science lessons, art was a chance to relax and express my

creativity, and was one of my best subjects. Creative lessons like these encourage students to excel in other ways, especially those who may feel they’re not up to standard with typical ‘traditional’ subjects.

Arts education is just as important as traditional education because the world needs creative thinkers as well as logical thinkers. The Arts encourage people to see things in different ways, and quite simply, without them, the world would be a very boring place.

GEORGIE DARLING

INTRODUCTION: POLITICS IN GAMING 101

T

he current state of the gaming industry is absolutely dire. Year after year major publishers are churning out unfinished, buggy games just so they can meet their quotas. Once reputable studios have become subsidiaries of bigger, more financially secure companies in exchange for their soul.

Somehow this recurring theme has created an industry fuelled by mediocrity that people proceed to buy into. I fear that the current state of the market is only going to get worse unless the newer generation of gamers become aware of the

B

situation.

Simply look at the previous generation of gaming and how

Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed and FIFA are what this industry has to offer in terms of ‘’quality games’’.

“I fear that the current state of the market is only going to get worse unless the newer generation of gamers become aware of the situation” much artistic vision and passion was once poured into this industry compared to what you get today.

used to be the standard quality of games. Only recently has this abuse of micro payments and cookie cutter philosophy become the norm in gaming.

Join us after Christmas with a series giving a more in depth look at the politics of the game industry and how artistic vision has become suppressed in video games due to publishers favouring figures over quality.

WILLIAM ELMER

Yes, there are some glimpses of brilliance like the Arkham series or Fallout 4 but these types of games

HAVE A MURRAY CHRISTMAS

ill Murray brings rare excitement. A Christmas song.

A song for the season of joy and goodwill. What’s it called? ‘Alone on Christmas Day’.

Well, what did you expect?

This is his forthcoming collaboration with French rock band, Phoenix, out on 4 December from Glassnote records. It accompanies his Netflix Sofia Coppola directed special, A Very Murray Christmas.

There are those who could not care one bit and there are those who see the endless pleasure already and it’s not even out yet.

But a Christmas song from Scrooge? Yes, this is unexpected.

Murray is a strange and elusive guy.

Yet, we can rely on him to bring us new reflections on the human state of loneliness and it is well known

are filled with.

The album cover brings hope. It looks like something Bing Crosby would have done, and did, in his

“There is a chance of sincerity, grumpiness and madness, which are what most Christmases are filled with” that he only undertakes projects that he thinks are worthwhile. Plus, with Murray, there is a chance of sincerity, grumpiness and madness, which are what most Christmases

Christmas specials in the 1950s and 60s. Bill Crosby, as we all should call him, along with his family, Jason Schwartzman, Paul Shaffer and Buster Poindexter, could help

revive the genre like the Killers have tried; something entertaining and tongue in cheek. There is even an instrumental on the B side of the record for joyous parties at Christmas to recreate Bill.

Whatever the reception of his song, it won’t do him any harm.

His comedic talent and his roles in Wes Anderson films, Space Jam and Groundhog Day make him everpresent within our consciousness.

He wants to add being a Christmas crooner to his bow. I say let him.

What’s the worst that could happen?

MOLLIE DAVIDSON

MERCHANDISING CAN’T FORCE US TO LOVE YOUR FILM

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n extraordinary thing has happened to the British high street. Across an incredible variety of products, retailers have come together on a scale rarely seen to offer the same brand: Star Wars.

You don’t need to be paying attention to spot everything from a Star Wars Build-A-Bear to a Star Wars Subway promotion, as companies display their tie-ins with incredible confidence and pride. Beloved characters flank the sides of anything from buses to restaurants, with products from our youth clamouring for our galactic credits.

Only, many of the characters aren’t beloved and many of the products are not from our youth.

In fact, the vast majority of the

the back of characters that the public has met across just three trailers, for a total of six minutes, may even be unprecedented.

“To engineer marketing aggression on such a scale is a staggering feat. But to succeed on the back of characters that the public has barely met is unprecedented”

marketing mania possessing the nation is based upon a film that is yet to be released.

To engineer marketing aggression on such a scale is a truly staggering feat. But to succeed on

Though the popularity of this most iconic of franchises was never in doubt, it is still astonishing to see the marketable effect only a new Star Wars film can have.

As a fan, it is truly wonderful to

imagine the possibility of a new generation that dreams of a galaxy far, far away. As a cynic, this is a dangerous and disconcerting precedent: a company selling a product without knowing its worth.

One thing is for sure, though.

Star Wars will always be relevant.

It stands proud as not just one of the only great undying brands; but maybe even the greatest of them all. We can only hope, on the sales of millions of pounds of merchandise, that the film does our inner Jedi justice.

NICK BURKE

Friday 4 December 2015

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FEATURE

From E Madonna: the link b sound a Music and fashion have always been intrinsically linked.

Sian Bradley charts the two industries throughout history, and how inseparable they have proved to be.

P

op culture is created by a synchronisation of what people wear, and what they listen to as they do so. Fashion and music are platforms with which people can express themselves, and the two go hand in hand.

Ever since the Rock’n’Roll 50s and then all the way to today’s house music scene, it’s evident that a genre, sound or even a single artist can shape the way we dress.

Almost everything I know about the history of fashion comes from watching music videos and seeing the stars strut about in iconic outfits.

From 70s festivals, to Madonna in the 80s and the Spice Girls in the 90s, fashion and music have

defined each other at every turn.

History has seen a magnificent wave of fashion trends, and one doesn’t necessarily seem to follow the other, but they symbolise the mood of music and people at that time.

Take it all the way back

to the 50s Rock’n’Roll revival for instance. Hits like ‘Rock Around the Clock’ by Bill Haley and His Comets and the musical force that was Elvis Presley were beloved by many and their music still sparks foot-tapping today. The same people who loved nothing more than the warbling tones and drum beat of ‘Jailhouse Rock’ would squeeze themselves into the tightest of trousers and leather jackets, akin to the iconic Grease.

Female fashion was nothing if not completely suited to the dance floor. Skirts were full and thick, so the women could float

“It’s evident that a genre, sound or even a single artist can shape the way we dress”

floor, skirt along with infectious beat.

across the spinning the

Fast forward to the 60s and 70s, and psychedelic rock had taken centre stage. In the 60s, people were eager for something new, something fresh. Fashion was now geared towards youth culture like never before. Young people had, and used, the power to express themselves and music was heavily

influenced by this. Bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were enjoying their immense popularity. The fun-loving carefree attitude born from hits like ‘Yellow Submarine’ gave birth to Swinging London and clothes were bright, colourful and heavily patterned. Music was more liberal and so the iconic mini skirt was born, courtesy of designer M a r y Quant.

During this period of post-war optimism came the “Summer of Love” when hippy culture was born and with it, festival fashion.

People wanted to use fashion and music to celebrate peace, love and originality.

Boys started growing their hair long, girls wore tie-dye and roundframed glasses, whilst great artists like Jimi Hendrix paved the way for ethnic, boho dressing. In one performance of ‘Foxey Lady’ in 1968 he wore a ruffled shirt and red velvet trousers, something that could not stray further from the slick, sharp fashion of the 50s. Again, at a live performance at the Atlanta Pop Festival, singing away to ‘Purple Haze’, he wore a vibrant bell sleeve shirt and tied a scarf around his head. Both outfits complemented the jazzy, psychedelic tones of his infamous guitar playing.

As the 70s rolled around, recreational drugs, a hippy culture and festivals were still as popular.

This was the iconic era of freedom, and fashion and music reflected this. People who still followed

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Elvis to : Charting between and style ARTWORK: EMILY CUTHBERT psychedelic or folk rock wore bell bottom jeans and casual shirts in paisley patterns. Women dressed as laidback and airy as the genre enabled them, draped in long cotton dresses with flowers in their hair. This was the time of festival fashion, which is still so prevalent today.

Of course, no one can forget Kate Bush in that red dress, as she danced along the misty moors to the pitchy lyrics of ‘Wuthering Heights’.

The way the arms of this dress hung and how effortlessly the v-neckline was cut is evident of a laidback 70s era.

Later in the 70s, psychedelic rock started to die and progressive rock and disco took its place. This was apparent in the distinguishable styles that suited both genres, and who can forget the rise of 70s disco, and Saturday Night Fever.

Polyester suits, elevator shoes, white spandex, hotpants, jumpsuits, flares and crazy prints all became household fashion under the manic popularity of ABBA and the Bee Gees.

These artists produced bouncy tune after bouncy tune for people to dance away to in nightclubs, donning platforms and outlandish accessories.

“The music was self-aware and didn’t give a damn, and neither did the fashion sense”

The Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Clash grew to prominence towards the end of the decade and young people followed suit, donning leather and tartan clothing. The music was self-

aware and didn’t give a damn, and neither did the fashion sense. The long hippy hair became shorter as teenage angst was born under the likes of ‘Anarchy in the UK’ and ‘God Save the Queen’, within which lead singer John Lydon is unmistakable in a ripped white top, leather trousers and chains. As this genre carried on growing, people would stick paper clips and denim patches on their clothes, anything to show how dedicated they were to this music scene.

Punk r o c k exploded in popularity as the 80s began and branched out into many sub genres, like glam rock. But in essence, the 80s were all about pop, when the genre was vibrant and full of promise, a whole world away from today’s repetitive vibe. MTV was born and this meant people could replicate their favourite artist’s fashion easier than ever before. Madonna and Michael

Jackson are undisputable fashion icons of that era. Madonna’s chart toppers were as influential as what she wore. She revolutionised the ballerina pumps, the crimped hair, prom dress and fingerless gloves. In her ‘Material Girl’ video she was an image of luxury in jewels and a hot pink dress, defining the extravagant 80s style.

In her ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ video, Cyndi Lauper defined the popular punk rock style in the 80s, dressed in outfits that looked as if they came straight from a dressing up box. She embodied girls who wore fishnets pretty much everywhere and had the wackiest haircuts, but weren’t afraid to belt out a pop tune.

“Music is the medium that artists can express themselves most strongly with, but style is always changing to compliment a similar and suitable musical backdrop”

As we move away from arguably the most eccentric era in fashion and music, the 90s music scene was dominated by girl bands and grunge. The Spice Girls carved an image out for themselves with their wholly individual fashion sense.

Geri Halliwell’s Union Jack dress is still a staple fancy dress piece today and showcased how fashion and music was about having a bit of fun.

Pop was moving into the mainstream and with it fashion was evolving into something slightly more casual, seen in Britney Spears’s white tracksuit bottoms in ‘Baby One More Time’ and Baby Spice’s platform trainers.

“People wanted to use fashion and music to celebrate peace, love and originality”

The 90s were a time of moving and shaping fashion and music trends, into things we can still recognise today. Namely, vintage grunge was born under Kurt Cobain.

The front man of Nirvana was the epitome of being effortlessly cool and defined what grunge meant for the 90s. In ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ he wore a striped t-shirt over a grey long length one and blue jeans, a style so relaxed it married with his deep grunge sounds perfectly.

The journey through music and fashion is a complex one, but as pop culture morphs over the decades - from mods, to hippies, to punks - fashion follows suit. Music is the medium with which artists can express themselves most strongly, but style is always changing to compliment a similar and suitable musical backdrop.

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FEATURE

TAKE THE RETRO Georgie Darling attended the University of Sheffield’s Disabled Students Committee first Retro Gaming Night, and took the opportunity to discuss their aims, interests and the charity they’re fundraising for.

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he University of Sheffield hosted its first Retro Gaming Night, held by the Disabled Student Committee last week, on Thursday 19 November. The event aimed to raise money for Special Effects - a charity working to make gaming more fun and accessible for people with disabilities.

The night featured Playstations, Gamecubes, retro computer games and hand held consoles.

Alongside this, Dom Harris, a member of the committee who specialises in creating games, was on hand to recreate games and teach people how to code games themselves.

I spoke to Emma Rany, chair of the committee, about her thoughts on gaming and the DSC’s aims.

Emma’s long-term goal is to merge with

So what got you into the gaming world in the first place?

EMMA: When I was younger I always used to watch my dad game, but I was never allowed to join in as my parents thought it was a distraction. I loved playing educational games like Clue Finders and Jump Start, and when I was 11 I bought my first game for myself. That’s when I started to feel like part of the community – when I spent my own money on games.

What was the first game you bought?

EMMA: Animal Crossing!

Sheffield Hallam University by speaking to postgraduate students from the Game Design course, which isn’t currently offered at UoS. She aims to encourage more people to take up gaming as a hobby, aside the stereotypical demographic.

Other students at the event chatted about their first and favourite games, and those they’re hoping to buy next.

It was clear to see how much interest and skill the students dedicated to their gaming, with one student, Ryan, showing and teaching others how to solve a Rubix cube in 16 seconds.

Emma spoke of how she thinks gaming is slowly becoming more accessible: “I think mobile gaming is taking off, it used to be quite

DOM: Mine was Pokemon Crystal – I completed that and then went on to buy almost all of them.

I did try to play Pokemon Green, borrowed from my friend, but it was from Japan and all in Japanese.

What are your favourite games now?

EMMA: I love TouHou, and games I know I’ll get frustrated with, before inevitably coming straight back to them. I love dungeon crawlers too, but the older ones like Dark Chronicle and Ace Eternity. I like visual novels and I used to make them as well.

alienating for females, often being the only one of their gender, but now it’s a lot more diverse.

“I always used to watch my dad game when I was younger but even my mum is an app developer now!”

Special Effect is a UK based charity that design video software to make gaming accessible for disabled people. This is done by visiting the individual, finding out what they’re interested in and want to play, and designing or modifying the equipment.

Everything they provide is free, and Special Effect will often re visit people a few years on to update the software or create a new game to keep up with technology.

DOM: My favourite at the moment would have to be Fallout – I really enjoy being able to do what I want in a game.

What are your aims for the event tonight?

EMMA: We’re trying to raise as much money as possible for Special Effect. Their games are produced for people with mental or physical disabilities – I’ve always been touched since watching one of their adverts about a little girl with a modified Disney game, who finally said ‘I’m a gamer now!’ after Special Effect helped. They’re a great charity as they realise that

disabled people want to have fun too. Most charities helping the disabled forcus on just being able to survive – Special Effect are aware that they want more than that, they want to have fun as well!

What are your goals for the future of gaming?

EMMA: A lot of us gamers really want to spread the geekiness and enthusiasm for gaming. We want to run talks about diversity in the industry and make it more accessible.

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Widely recognised as one of the most successful theatre complexes outside London, the Crucible, Lyceum and Studio saw a healthy mix of classic productions such as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and the Mousetrap, paired with bold original works like Lucy Prebble’s antiseptic love story, The Effect, or Alan Lane’s outdoor spectacular.

Sadness and laughter filled the launch of Ann Atkinson’s collected poems, The Singing and Dancing.

Ann, former Poet Laureate of the Peak District, did not live to see the work published due to her death from an untimely brain tumour back in 2012.

Ann’s daughters Rosie and Holly, along with friends and fellow poets Sally Goldsmith, River Wolton and Jim Caruth edited this collection; using poems that ranged from Late (her first published poem), to neverpublished drafts.

Laughter filled the third floor of Channing Hall, full of people singing and dancing because of and for Ann. Music, videos and poems read

by Ann’s friends and family were all met with rapt attention.

It was a funny, raucus and heartbreaking event, the kind that only happens in the grassroots world of literature.

In the room, there must have been a hundred years’ worth of affection for Ann, a larger-than-life poet whose work exudes a love of people and place. Her magnetic verses brought everyone together.

Had Ann been there, she would have loved it.

One of the biggest things to happen in literature this year has to be the release of Go Set A Watchman, the sequel to Harper Lee’s beloved classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

So out comes the sequel, written in the 1950s, set two decades after the original novel. Needless to say, a lot of hype and controversy surrounded its publication. Firstly, the issue of whether we can legitimately call it a sequel when it is actually a first draft of what would become the Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece.

Harper Lee swore she would never publish another novel, so its no surprise after the death of her sister Alice, her long-standing protector, in November, many accused the Murdoch-owned publishing house HarperCollins of money-grabbing.

Go Set A Watchman challenges our perceptions of the good guys and bad guys from the original story, ultimately upsetting a lifelong fan base who had already made their minds up. It is a novel about race relations in the US, alongside the backdrop of horrific violence, shootings and the unnecessary deaths which have shaped 2015 in America, the book seems to have found the most pertinent time to reveal itself to the masses.

Tom Williamson

The photographic portrait can reveal the depths of the human soul in a way rarely achieved by other artistic mediums. In this exhibition at Millenium Gallery, the very best in contemporary portrait photography from around the world was showcased, taking a variety of characters, moods and locations (and even some famous faces), and collecting them all together.

It’s an apt counterpoint to a world saturated in low-value, disposable, mass-market photography, and shows us that photography still has a lot to say as an artistic medium.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Words by Joshua Hackett, Jo Gallacher and Mollie Davidson

The work of German chemist Hans Krebs isn’t the most likely subject for an arts festival, but the Engagement team at the University of Sheffield felt different, and we’re all the better for it. Rappers, dancers, sculptors and artists of all stripes gathered at Firth Court last month for a collision of arts and science that no one who attended will forget anytime soon.

Somewhere along the line, theatre became a thing that posh, rich people do. Anything which actively fights against this reputation deserves to be recognised. That’s one of the reasons that Camelot: The Shining City was such so important.

It differed from a conventional piece of theatre in several ways; most notably in that the second and third acts take place outside, following a mock evacuation of the Crucible. The brainchild of immersive theatre specialists Slung Low, the production was a nearfuture re-imagining of Arthurian legend set in Sheffield, where a rag-tag band of disaffected youths end up inspiring revolution.

With a massive cast drawn from the local area and a strong storyline, the play could stoke up a humble sense of patriotism and community spirit even in those most jaded.

Our very own SuTCo and SUPAS have had a year to remember, bringing us productions of classics like Death of a Salesman, Sweeney Todd, Macbeth and Footloose, along with a healthy dose of original drama, including Ben Price’s muchlauded Damage.

Joseph Priestley

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FEATURE

Friday 4 December 2015

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

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Friday 4 December 2015

FEATURE

The Star Wars saga is the strange, unlikely sum of its parts - an epic space opera of Jedi mystics and Imperial Stormtroopers put together by a child of the 50s from the sci-fi serials, ancient myths and American cinema classics he adored.

The result is something wholly unique, yet indebted to all that came before it.

To mark the release of The Force Awakens, Forge Screen looks through the mind of Lucas to discover the origins of Star Wars.

Old Histories, A New Trenches Run, Dams Eastern Space Hope by Joe Elliot Busted by Alex Pinfold Westerns by Sam Kelly

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he narrative of a small band of rebels fighting an all-mighty imperial power is seen throughout human history, nowhere more clearly than in Lucas’s homeland of the USA. Star Wars certainly has clear parallels with the events of the American Revolution: an Old Republic (England) turned dictatorship under the Sith (Parliament), imposing tyranny (taxes) on the people (Americans) and chasing down any rebels (Revolutionaries), leading to war (war).

The rebels in Star Wars firmly believe in freedom from dictators, an obvious feature of American history, particularly in the language of the Revolutionary generation.

Much like the Revolutionaries, the Rebels are a small group of fighters, outnumbered, out-gunned and apparently without a hope (unless a new one were to come along), who ultimately triumph.

Major inspiration for the characters also comes from the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong exemplify the type of warfare employed by the Rebels and, in particular, the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi.

For much of the 1960s, the US military was terrorised by a technologicallydeficient but incredibly resourceful people using wooden weapons, booby-traps and the landscape to overwhelm the greatest military power on Earth.

Meanwhile in Star Wars, the Ewoks use wooden weapons, booby-traps and the landscape to defeat an army of walking tanks, hover-bikes and armoured infantry.

The military response in both these situations? More weapons!

The US military dropped more bombs in Vietnam than were dropped on the whole of Europe during the Second World War. In Star Wars, after the Empire’s planet-destroying super-weapon is destroyed, what do they do? Build a bigger one of course!

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ichael Anderson’s 1955 picture, The Dam Busters, proves the key inspiration behind the attack on the Death Star by rebel ships launching from Yavin IV. The basic battle plan for both sets of pilots is to launch an explosive at a small target to set off a chain reaction.

Dialogue is similar as well with examples including pilots asking, “How many guns do you think there are?”

Both films also feature squadron leaders narrowly missing the “impossible shot” only to then be hit on the starboard side and killed, leaving the crew with the final bomb/ proton torpedo to finish the job.

However, the escape of the Millennium Falcon from the Death Star and the pursuing TIE fighters takes this beyond isolated shots and dialogue.

The entire sequence is cut frame by frame to match the action during a similar scene in The Dam Busters as close as possible. Luke even takes the line “I got him!” from one of the Lancaster gunmen.

So not only is the scenario of turret gunmen fending off fighter pilots shared, the editing is identical as well.

There happens to be an interesting explanation for these similarities beyond Lucas being inspired. The Director of Photography for both films is a former RAF serviceman named Gilbert Taylor.

His wartime job was to take photographs of Germany after bombing raids which were inspected by Winston Churchill. This skillset makes Taylor a useful asset in establishing the visual identity of these two films.

In addition, Stuart Freeborn, the mind behind the Yoda and Jabba the Hutt puppets, also worked on The Dam Busters.

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apanese samurai films, particularly the works of legendary director Akira Kurosawa in the 50’s and 60’s, have long had an influence on Western filmmaking.

Kurosawa, inspired by American Westerns, combines the mythology of the samurai with groundbreaking cinematic techniques and visual style, pioneering the genre. Films such as Rashomon, Throne of Blood and Seven Samurai are considered by critics and filmmakers as some of the greatest ever made.

Kurosawa’s samurai cinema was a huge inspiration for George Lucas and this can be seen throughout Star Wars, particularly in the 1977 original.

The lightsaber resembles a samurai’s katana blade, while ObiWan Kenobi’s robes mirror the period clothing worn in samurai films.

In fact, the Japanese word “jidaigeki” - meaning period film, and synonymous with the samurai genre - is Lucas’ inspiration for the word Jedi.

Furthermore, the screen wipes famously used by Star Wars to cut between scenes are a technique used across Kurosawa’s work.

The biggest single influence on Star Wars comes from Kurosawa’s 1958 jidaigeki classic The Hidden Fortress. The film’s plot follows two lowly peasants who assist a beautiful princess and a wise samurai general in travelling across enemy lines and escaping from the clutches of Imperial forces. Sound familiar?

Lucas himself says that the two peasants were the inspiration for R2D2 and C-3PO: “The one thing I was really intrigued by was the fact that the story was told by the two lowest characters. I decided that would be a nice way to tell the Star Wars story.”

Remember, next time you watch the famous “I find your lack of faith disturbing” scene, watch out for Imperial Admiral Motti’s line “Don’t try to frighten us with your sorcerer’s ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebel’s hidden fortress”.

My Kingdom for a Tauntaun! by Harry Gold

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s the most famous writer in English Literature, William Shakespeare’s influence stretches out even to a galaxy far far away as Star Wars draws on many of the same ideas present in the Bard’s finest works.

This may seem unlikely as any attempt to tie Jar Jar Binks to the works of Shakespeare may be more than a little bit pointless, but the underlying themes of Star Wars, are universal if you look below the surface.

Indeed, George Lucas refuses to acknowledge Star Wars as a space opera as it is commonly described as by fans and critics alike, instead placing emphasis between the characters and describing the films as a “family soap opera”.

In this way, the similarities with Shakespeare start to become clearer.

Luke and Leia are initially unaware of their relationship not only with each other, but also with their father, Darth Vader, in a classic example of mistaken identity - a Shakespearian trope present in a countless number of his comedies like As You Like It, Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice.

R2-D2 and C-3PO are more than reminiscent of the clown characters present in Shakespeare’s tragedies, existing to fulfill the purpose of light relief in between scenes of escalating tension, notably in Hamlet and King Lear.

Han Solo’s persistent courting of Princess Leia through witty remarks and questionable actions recall The Taming of the Shrew.

Granted, George Lucas’ goal may not have been to create a space age Shakespearian soap opera, but the plays of William Shakespeare have become so ingrained in public consciousness that they inevitably influence almost any literary or cinematic work in one way or another, Star Wars included.

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REVIEWS

FALLOUT 4

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he question on everyone’s mind is can it surpass Fallout 3?

The short answer is no.

Fallout 4 doesn’t quite have that special factor which made Fallout 3 so awe inspiring and can even come across as somewhat lacklustre initially. The differences between the two games are small.

But why is this considered a bad thing? Fallout 3 had great game

CULT CORNER

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DINO CRISIS 2

he state of being hungry forces decent men to turn to lowly things: food metaphors.

Dino Crisis 2 is a three tiered Oreo cake of pure unadulterated joy and happiness, wrapped in tortilla of dinosaurs, that satisfied a nine year old Ash to the point of no return. Dino Crisis 2 is a game that has been etched into the very fabric of my being.

So when Sony announced earlier last week that it was looking for gamers’ opinions on which games to make backwards compatible for the PS4, there was only one game on my mind.

Dino Crisis 2 is by no means a ‘high end’ game. It is all about having fun. It is, at its heart, an arcade game disguised as something more. It successfully manages to be a sequel so utterly different to its predecessor, yet no less great. Dropping the suspense

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mechanics, so why attempt to fix what’s not broken? Bethesda have made the bold decision to focus on changes in tone and art direction rather than ground breaking gameplay, and the end result is brilliant.

Technically, Fallout 4’s graphics are decent but nothing to write home about. Yet the game still manages to look oddly beautiful and the reason for this a completely overhauled colour palette. Gone are the saturated greens of Washington D.C. and the over the top oranges of the Mojave Desert; welcome to Boston, apparently

the most bright and colourful postapocalyptic nuclear wasteland ever.

This reflects Fallout 4’s lighter tone; ideas of hope and survival are apparent throughout and the wasteland generally feels less bleak and drab. Rather than taking away from the franchise’s retro futuristic satire, this ironically cheery yet hellish future perfectly captures the series’ dark charm.

Fallout 4’s ethos in terms of gameplay certainly seems to be “Fallout 3 but with a bit more polish”. The shooting mechanics feel much tighter and more robust.

Whereas games like The Witcher 3 force the player to conform to an indepth role playing system in order to conquer their foes, Fallout 4 offers a huge open world which anyone can explore however they please.

This grand scope, like any Bethesda game, is Fallout 4’s greatest accomplishment. Every building and room has a story to tell, and it’s the player’s decision which they want to learn.

Like the game’s best points, its main flaws are synonymous with what to expect from any Bethesda title - a few glitches and a main

quest line which pales in comparison to the side quests. But with a large game that focuses on massive exploration and going off the beaten track, this is to be expected.

It’s this predictability that makes Fallout 4, on the surface, seem boring. It’s a Bethesda game, we all know what we’re getting. But let’s be honest, they do make damn good games, and Fallout 4 is almost certainly their most polished and well thought out.

and the atmosphere of sheer dread and terror created in the first game, Dino Crisis 2 propels the franchise into something outrageously entertaining.

If you decided to go and kill all of the bloodthirsty carnivorous raptors, or pteranodons, or the surprisingly aggressive and surprisingly meat eating therizinosaurus (a herbivore in real life!) in the first game, you would probably end up with a kill count of around 30.

In this game, you gun down twice that amount within the opening 15 minutes. I am not going to lie, this severely exposes great big holes in my conscience, but unfortunately, I’m too busy running around shooting dinosaurs to give a damn.

This is precisely why I think Dino Crisis 2 needs to be considered for backwards compatibility. You will never have so much fun in your life.

CITIES SKYLINES

what avid city builder fans signed up to? The details keep us going and make no mistake, this game is incredibly detailed. It is somewhat disappointing then that the building designs feel so cartoonish.

community friendly nature. The sheer amount of mods available is an amazing sight to behold, and an exciting thing in creating a game that is re-playable to a greater extent than previous city builders.

Never have we had such a vibrant community of modders since the days of Sim City 4.

With all that being said, Skylines is not a huge step forward in the city building genre. Curvy roads: seen it. Enacting policies: been there, done that. Zoning: Same old, same old. But it is certainly the right step forward. It offers something more polished and complete and definitely more enjoyable. It is where the city building genre should have been years ago.

Skylines is an exciting step forward in encouraging better city builders in the future. The bar has been set high.

ASH EMRITTE

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ities Skylines is the sequel Sim City fans dreamed of getting.

Whilst not exactly putting forward a whole host of innovative ideas, it takes everything that previous games such as Cities XL and the most recent Sim City failed at implementing in a successful way. It has improved on them to such a degree that Skylines has shot up to number two on the list of greatest city builders of all time.

Sim City 4 still defends its position aggressively, to this day retaining a strong community of mod builders and city planners.

Its inter-connectedness is one thing developer Colossal Order should be particularly proud of. The cities you build feel so alive, real, and bustling. Some may see this as the antithesis to oversimplification and making the whole game inaccessible and ridiculously demanding. Yet surely this is exactly

“Never have we had such a vibrant community of modders since the days of Sim City 4” Built with a better interface than XL, and containing the ability to build much larger cities than the latest Sim City, Skylines already triumphs. Yet this is not its greatest strength.

Its greatest strength lies with its

LUKE BALDWIN

ASH EMRITTE

Friday 4 December 2015 /ForgePressFuse

FESTIVAL OF THE SPOKEN NERD

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re you a nerd? Most people in the audience at Festival of the Spoken Nerd – Just for Graphs are selfconfessed nerds.

However, you don’t have to be a maths geek or a science egghead to enjoy the show, there’s room for the sci-curious too – as shown by the first Venn diagram of the evening.

Matt Parker, Steve Mould

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and Helen Arney are back with another raucous and nerdy tour.

Just for Graphs is, as it sounds, a celebration of all things graph like and hilarious. It does not fail to make you embrace your inner geek and coo over how cool science can be with some spectacular demonstrations that your science teacher would have dreamed of being able to show your class.

Parker is an Aussie maths whizz.

Maths gets a bad rep and Parker is here to put it right through the wonders of a flaming tennis ball to demonstrate a parabola.

For obvious reasons, this wasn’t

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live, The Leadmill would have gone up in flames thanks to the amount of alcohol on the sticky floor, but that doesn’t stop Mould using Reuben’s tube to demonstrate standing waves (more fire, can’t really go wrong there).

You couldn’t have predicted what would happen next. Arney uses her musical talent on the ukelele to lure us into fits of laughter whilst singing a love song to the poor Philae lander.

It’s not just new technology and fancy experiments at Just for Graphs. During the interval many of the audience are encouraged

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to download a faxing app so they can fax their own graphs to the trio, showing off what they have learned about Venn and Euler diagrams with a bit of a comedic turn.

“Using the wonders of a flaming tennis ball to demonstrate a parabola”

REVIEWS

There is no end to the demonstrations and facts, Mould rounds the evening off by showing us an app that he used to record his wife’s contractions (which, obviously, you can convert the data into excel and make a scatter graph out of it) and then predict when his child would be born. The audience soon forgives him for being a minute out and start to think what can’t you do with a bit of science?

With a rambunctious mix of wit and science, Festival of the Spoken Nerd is a must see for the nerdy to the novice.

KATHERINE HARDY

BOOK CORNER POST OFFICE

T LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL

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his amateur production combines the classic features of the 2001 film, with the rhythm and energy of the Broadway show.

Legally Blonde: The Musical succeeds in being fresh and funny by slightly changing some details in the plot, making the show interesting and loveable to even the strictest fan of the franchise.

Elle (Abi Weigold) goes to Harvard Law School with the single goal of winning back the love of her life Warren Huntingdon III (Nick Plummer-Walsh). Considered the classic dumb blonde, Elle fights to

show that there is something under her perfect hairstyle with the help of Emmett (Richard Granger) and the clumsy Paulette (Gina Towned).

The show never loses its frantic joyful rhythm, and captures your attention from the curtains opening until the final bows.

“Never loses its frantic joyful rhythm.”

Act One sets out to present the characters and develop most of the story in a successful string of musical acts. ‘Ireland’, Paulette’s solo about her dream of an Irish wedding, is a particular highlight which is revisited in the following act in an

even funnier way.

Act Two is somehow even better.

It captures two cult scenes from the movie in two outstanding performances; ‘Band and Snap’ makes you laugh from your heart, soon followed by “Gay or European?”, an extraordinary ensemble number.

Despite her young age, Weigold is a perfect Elle and combines the right amount of ‘blondness’ and intelligence without falling into the easy mistake of merely copying Witherspoon. Besides she has a real dog on stage: Dora and Lola as Elle’s Bruiser.

As Emmett, Granger is adorable and nerdy at the same time, yet his voice never fails to capture attention.

It’s Helen Kempton, playing Judy the over-clumsy maid at Delta Nu

sorority, who steals the most hearts and causes the most laughs.

Without saying a word during the entire show, she manages to perform small comic sketches between the scene changes. It’s enjoyable even from the furthest-back seats.

Overall, the entire cast gives an outstanding performance. Although they struggle to keep up with the volume of the orchestra at certain times, they harmonize their voices perfectly and they coordinate dance moves well.

Funny and light, Legally Blonde: The Musical makes you laugh from your heart. Because of its high quality, it’s hard to tell the production isn’t professional, once again confirming that Sheffield is one of the best places for theatre outside London.

VALERIA VIGALENTE

By CHARLES BUKOWSKI

he first novel written by Charles Bukowski at the age of 50, Post Office chronicles his years working for the U.S. Postal Service via his alter ego, Henry Chinaski. Chinaski is a selfprofessed bottom-feeder, a man whose life consists of menial work, alcoholism, women, and gambling.

But what makes Post Office different is its lack of moralising about such a lifestyle, the author simply revels in it. That isn’t to say that it’s overly glamorised, it’s just accepted as the norm. Bukowski’s writing presents a largely-neutral perspective on the lifestyle of those at the bottom of the social ladder.

And certainly, there are times when it’s downright repellent. The most shocking incident concerns Chinaski’s spontaneous rape of a woman who tries to steal his mail, all told in matter-of-fact terms so plain that it’s possible to overlook the significance entirely at first.

Chinaski is not a pleasant man and he doesn’t care: he moves from woman to woman without thought of consequence, he’s never far from a bottle, he’s rude and gruff with almost everyone he meets, and he’s frequently very funny.

To moralise is to miss the point, Bukowski wrote the lifestyle he lived and reading Post Office it’s hard to imagine he’d care what you thought and that’s what makes it so gruesomely compelling.

JOE ELLIOT

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REVIEWS

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“As the biggest band on the planet, they can still make these arena gigs seem intimate”

MUMFORD AND SONS @ SHEFFIELD ARENA

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ith credentials like those that Mumford and Sons possess, it would be no understatement to say that expectations for their show at Sheffield’s Arena are sky high.

Three platinum selling albums, a sold out arena tour and a new sound debuted on their latest

album, Mumford and Sons’ Wilder Mind tour was always going to have a few tricks up its sleeve.

The set is equally weighted between old and new, yet the new songs fail to gain the same audience reaction as those that made this band famous. ‘Little Lion Man’, one of the band’s best loved songs, is reeled out as the third song in the setlist – a mistake, as the jubilant atmosphere created dies for a good few songs played in its wake.

This lull is rescued by set highlight, ‘Lover of the Light’, which sees Marcus Mumford swap his guitar in favour of a drum kit, and the rolling

beat and climatic track soon restore the show to its former glory.

The chat is kept to a minimum, yet what interaction the band do indulge in is natural and endearing.

At one point, Marcus tries to gauge where members of his audience hail from by asking them to cheer when their local football team is named, making for a lot of subsequent booing and cheering.

This interaction isn’t rehearsed and perfected like so many arena show chats can be, and the only criticism is that there should be more.

However, it is through their quieter moments that Mumford really shine.

During ‘Believe’, keyboardist Ben Lovett encourages the audience to put their lighters/phones in the air, creating a sea of sparkling lights that is reprised for any subsequent softer moments in the set.

After an electrifying ‘Dust Bowl Dance’, the band relocate to a smaller stage in the middle of the crowd for a mini two-song set. The single spotlight around a circled Mumford, makes for an atmosphere similar to a séance, heightened by the audience’s silence as the band play two delicate and deathly quiet tracks – ‘Timshel’ and ‘Cold Arms’. The latter receives a rousing

JAWS @ PLUG

T KAGOULE @ ABBEYDALE PICTURE HOUSE

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bbeydale Picture House’s dilapidated exterior gives way to the yuppyish class of its entrance bar, which gives way to a pizza-selling, ping pong-tabled common room, which in turn gives way to a grim school gym of a stage area.

Behind layer after layer, Nottingham noiseniks Kagoule are holed away like a smutty secret, drawing dust from the ceiling with their stomping, snarling, Pixiesindebted neo-grunge.

Bassist Lucy Hatter frets back and forth, possessed by feral vivacity her neon pink bob shimmers in the burning light as her Doc Martened feet jackboot the floor in time.

The nervous energy of singer Kai Burns and drummer Lawrence English presents a twitchy paranoia and social nervousness that would have been equally at home in 90s

Seattle as it is in a dingy Sheffield backroom on a sweaty November evening.

Cuts from their endearingly throwback debut LP, Urth, are regurgitated in somehow equal parts, tightly refined and anarchically deranged ways - their performative game has certainly moved to the next level over the past year.

The swooping nonchalance of ‘Gush’ has a newfound drive, surging outwards from the stage into a sparse gathering of wintercoated twentysomethings, while album highlight ‘Adjust the Way’ has a gravelly grind that thrummed along the floor like a demon waiting underground.

There is a magnetism to their casual-yet-intense approach to chat between songs - their banter coming off the cuff with a dark, resounding wit.

Their signing to Notts-based metalheads Earache Records makes no sense on paper, but the ferocity and fiddly nature of their heavier sound at this show would put them

comfortably alongside Black Sabbath or Metallica.

A new track from their apparently complete second album is carried with unabashed confidence, solidifying the strength and recognisability of their sound.

While the technicality of their set remains high throughout, some more obscure album tracks have an inherently sludge-like quality to them which is not rectified in their live renditions, leading to a slight mid-set lull which is rescued by the trio’s charisma and verve.

But, in their scrappy DIY fashion, Kagoule refuse to surrender their audience to boredom, injecting their set with last-minute joy on the exultant vocalising of the jubilant ‘Glue’.

Kagoule have the country’s ears and balls in a vice-grip, and this headlining set in a dingy Sheffield backroom shows no signs of them letting go.

RHYS HANDLEY

hough JAWS’ dreamy indiepop is relatively mellow, their upbeat mood creates a really lively reaction from the crowd at their Sheffield date at the city’s Plug. It is energetic and loud.

The gig is opened by Trash, whose lively, dynamic and friendly set warms up the crowd and builds up their excitement for JAWS. However, Chartreuse, the second support, slows things down again, with a set comprising of notably softer songs.

JAWS’ lively gig would have been better built up to if Trash’s upbeat set had directly preceded JAWS’, as the tempos were better suited.

“A show of honesty and lack of pretension”

JAWS’ confidence as a band shine throughout, and their joy at watching their audience enjoying their music is clearly observable.

Their set is comprised predominantly of songs from their 2014 debut album Be Slowly, with a couple of tracks from their 2013 EP Milkshake, interspersed within these.

As a live act they are brilliant, as their ability to replicate the songs from their album perfectly whilst making their contemplative songs, about summer breezes and crushes, faster and more animated so that everyone has a good time, is admirable.

rendition by the Sheffield crowd, with the audience becoming the band’s choir.

It is a credit to Mumford and Sons that as one of the biggest bands on the planet, they can still make these arena gigs seem intimate. Closing the show with their anthemic, gritty and emotionally-wrought ‘The Wolf’, Mumford show just what this band can do when plugged-in.

Gone are the tweed waistcoats – the leather is here to stay.

TARA HODGSON

JAWS are incredibly talented musicians - each of the songs they play live is technically flawless.

JAWS are clearly having a great time onstage and this makes the performance special. During ‘Friend like You’, frontman Connor

“Their breezy, beachy tunes turn Plug into a warm, happy refuge from the cold outside”

Schofield instructs each member of the crowd to put their arms around the shoulders of their friends - a positive, sociable moment that epitomises the warm, friendly atmosphere of the gig.

A show of honesty and lack of pretension is demonstrated when frontman Connor announces how ‘fake’ he believes encores to be, letting the crowd know that they would stay there and play their last two songs and wouldn’t wait to be cheered back on to play them. They finish with ‘Gold’, which wraps up the gig perfectly.

Overall, JAWS’ performance is highly enjoyable and their breezy, beachy tunes turn Plug into a warm, happy refuge from the cold outside.

SOPHIE WILSON

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REVIEWS

“With her sober, elegant style of black gowns, paired with her incredibly fierce voice, Adele is an icon”

ADELE: 25

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ast month, the long wait ended as the new Adele album, 25, was released featuring 11 brand new songs written and sung by the Grammy Award winning artist.

Fans have been anticipating this since the immense success of her previous album, 21, which had left them in suspense and demanding more.

The themes around this album are mostly about love, sadness and a reminiscence of the past.

“An authentic story that we can relate to across her songs” As Adele said in one of her most recent interviews about the album on BBC Radio 1 in October, “This

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/ Treat me soft but touch me cruel […] I miss you when the lights go out / It illuminates all of my doubts”.

With her sober, elegant style of black gowns, paired with her fierce voice, Adele is an icon. She can almost be identified as a modern opera artist when she takes your breath away in ‘Hello’.

Although some songs like ‘Send My Love’ or ‘Water Under the Bridge’ have a more bouncy and jazzy rhythm, most of this record’s songs are of a slower, more meditative pace, and the recurrent themes across her three albums sometimes seem quite repetitive.

Adele is not an artist that can be listened to constantly without feeling a little melancholy.

This album, while excellent, does not quite reach the dizzying heights of her career defining 21. If the listener can put their understandably high expectations aside, it is easy to recognise 25 as another milestone in the indomitable rise of Adele.

Minister’s wartime speech, referring to the Royal Air Force’s wartime efforts against the Luftwaffe.

Rather than reading as a testament to this, the introduction instead switches around the odd word of the Churchill’s speech, seeming like a smug attempt to prompt an ‘I see what you did there’ moment, but unfortunately to no avail.

‘Nemesis’’ haphazard piano feels like a deliberate attempt at creating an ‘arty’ pop record, as does the presence of grief-stricken violins throughout the album.

However, Clementine’s vocal delivery, particularly on ‘Cornerstone’, the album’s centerpiece, is its redeeming feature. Switching seamlessly between softer, more prosaic delivery and lung-bursting odes to solitude, Clementine expertly demonstrates his unquestionable talent. Virtuosic singing ability does

not, however, make for a great album.

For an award that compares itself to “the Booker Prize for literature and the Turner Prize for art”, the Mercury Prize has always been about championing musicians who push the boundaries of their respective genres. Instead, Clementine’s mournful piano-led minimalism seems like a misstep.

At Least For Now feels not like an experimental pop record, but one that instead consciously tries to tick all the boxes in order to award itself that title. At Least For Now may well be a half-decent pop record, but it certainly shouldn’t be a Mercury Prize winning one.

JULIA HODDER

SINGLES THE SSS: ‘EIGHTEEN’

THE LIBERTINES: UP THE BRACKET

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he SSS are an up-and-coming Sheffield band - the energetic younger brothers of early noughties indie rock bands, like the Kooks and Franz Ferdinand.

‘Eighteen’ can’t be faulted for its rock ‘n’ roll energy, with driving guitars and a bouncing pulse. Singer Josh Coddington’s nasal voice gives the vocals an unusual edge to the sing-along chorus. The band’s other singles may seem fresher and more distinctive, but ‘Eighteen’ is more immediately catchy and anthemic the sort of thing that gets everyone dancing at an indie disco.

The main flaw of this song is its subject matter. It describes an attraction to a girl who is “eighteen, barely legal”. This line is close to okay-ish, as the band members themselves are aged between 19 and 21. However, it still has uncomfortable echoes of grown men creepily singing about teenage girls - like when a 22-year-old John Lennon sung “She was just 17, if you know what I mean”. In an age more sensitive to issues of consent, it should be clear that songs like this are better left way back in the ‘60s.

‘Eighteen’ is nothing groundbreaking, but it’s a fun tune for dancing to with your mates - a JOE TAYSOM sign of this band’s future potential.

his album inspired the next wave of indie from the mid 2000s; it is an embodiment of underground music. Produced

by Mick Jones of the Clash, the result was sensational.

Up the Bracket is 37 minutes of uninterrupted ecstasy which kicks off with the abrupt ‘Vertigo’, setting the tone for the next half an hour or so. The next hat-trick of tracks are pacey, loud, and lyrically sublime.

This is exemplified in ‘Time for Heroes’ famous line, “we will die in the class we were born” which stuck in the hearts of a generation.

‘Tell the King’ perfectly illustrates both sides of the band with sincere lyrics and Barat and Doherty share the vocal duties gloriously. It was my highlight from their euphoric 2014 reunion gig at Hyde Park, where a 63,000 chorus chanted every word.

“If you’ve lost faith in love and music, oh the end won’t be long”, summarises the London based band’s spirit from penultimate track ‘The Good Old Days’.

After one listen, it is clear to understand how Up the Bracket inspired the next generation of indie stalwarts including Arctic Monkeys.

This album makes you want to pick up a six string and start a band.

album is about what I have learnt from the past and the things about it that I miss because life changes, I miss my friends and the people that have taken a part in my life and allowed me to become who I am, I declare my love to them”.

Adele uses her powerful voice and talent to tell us an authentic story that we can relate to across her songs. For example in her latest song ‘I Miss You’, she choses picturesque lyrics to describe various feelings and senses, such as touch, light, darkness, rain that anyone can experience: “I want your heaven and your oceans too

MOLLY KERKHAM

BENJAMIN CLEMENTINE: AT LEAST FOR NOW At first, the choice of Benjamin Clementine’s At Least For Now for the Mercury Prize may seem a little confusing, if not uncharacteristic for the typically leftfield award ceremony. However, all becomes clear when the extraordinary story of Clementine’s X-Factor-esque background is revealed.

Born in London, the singer and pianist left home at the age of 16, devoting himself to busking on the streets of Paris, before being discovered by a producer.

Undoubtedly then, there is meaning behind Clementine’s musical meanderings. But is it actually any good? ‘Winston Churchill’s Boy’ begins the record with a reworking of the famed Prime

HARRY GOLD

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REVIEWS

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brutal, if somewhat predictable.

The extravagant way in which the blocks of the Capitol are converted into a field of spectacular traps strains suspension of disbelief at points – taking the viewer’s attention away from the peril at hand, forcing them to imagine exactly what kind of cost-benefit analysis led to such intricate, overwrought traps being constructed.

The film gives its secondary characters a fair amount to do, but it’s hard to emotionally invest in certain members of Katniss’ squad - so obvious is their redshirt status.

The dearly deceased Philip

Seymour Hoffman’s scenes, a mixture of existing footage and digital superimposition, are seamless, but there’s at least two key scenes which scream out for the presence of his character. This, of course, could not be otherwise.

Mockingjay: Part 2 is a heady, delightfully adult exploration of delicate themes like the realities of war and finding one’s own way in the world. It wraps up the story with due attention and flair.

Can we ask anything more?

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FLATLAND (2007)

JESSICA JONES

falling”, as Jones corrects).

The supporting cast is equally unpleasant. All act with the same needlessly hostile aggression, often creating weak drama with poorlyexplained motives.

Some blame must go to the formulaic and clichéd script. None are afforded time to develop, time that is instead used to deliver uninspired wisecracks that often feel forced and emotionless.

Much is redeemed, however, by the truly magnificent David Tennant as antagonist Kilgrave. It is no surprise that the series’ best moments by a considerable margin are commanded by Tennant and his character’s unique powers.

Unfortunately, his appearances are intermittent at best, greatly harming a show that fails to build suitable tension in his absence.

Jessica Jones will undoubtedly be seen by many as breaking new ground. There is a prevalence of uniquely dark moments, that while sometimes feeling tacked on to achieve a mature rating, nevertheless add an extra dimension to the plot.

But these are simply not enough to hide bland camerawork, repetitive character design, and a soundtrack that, though paying worthy homage to iconic detective shows, often feels completely out of place and mistimed.

The result is not terrible, but by no means great. It lies in the realm of disappointment, simply serving as a reminder of what could have been achieved with the excellent talent and ideas on display.

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY: PART 2

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o here we are, at the end of an era.

As the final instalment of the Hunger Games franchise hits cinemas, it’s difficult to see the story ever continuing. The appeal of the series is so intimately linked to Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) as a character that it’s hard to imagine the universe will ever continue now her personal journey is at an end.

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hough Flatland may seem like a children’s film with its colourful computer animated scenes and silly-looking characters, the film is relevant both philosophically and politically, satirising society as a whole with a charmingly witty story.

It is about a two-dimensional world, where beings live along a flat plane. They have different shapes and can “colour” their edges, leading to familiar conversations about religion, sexism, racism, and political extremism.

The plot concerns A Square, who is a square, on his journey of discovery and enlightenment after A Sphere, who is a sphere, teaches him about the third dimension, to the anger of Flatland’s President Circle.

The original novel, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by mathematician Edwin Abbott was a literary response to the oppressive nature of Victorian society, but Flatland is still relevant today as war is waged unjustly and hatred and narrow-mindedness consume the hearts of many.

Director Ladd Ehlinger Jr. conveys this strong political message through great computer animations and a playful narrative. By tackling controversial social issues in unconventional ways, Flatland becomes the quintessence of independent filmmaking.

KAZUMA OSAKI

Arguably, it’s a welcome end.

The Hunger Games is, in some ways, meeting a natural conclusion.

The series appeared in the heat of the 2008 financial crisis, when the Occupy movement was in the headlines. It struck a chord with disaffected youth. Now, at the end of 2015, inequality is still on the agenda, but it’s no longer the blockbuster issue it was.

These things run in cycles, but the trend for dystopic, fantastical young adult fiction appears to be on the wane everywhere. Bearing that in mind, even with high expectations, Mockingjay: Part 2 delivers.

By this point in the story, President Snow’s reign of terror is in deep trouble, and the rebellion is at the

“A heady, delightfully adult exploration of delicate themes” gates of the Capitol.

The deadly “pods” which hamper Katniss & Co’s inexorable trudge through the Capitol’s hostile streets are savagely imagined and the sacrifices made along the way are

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“Boasting a sensational cast and excellent pedigree, it is regrettable that Jessica Jones fails to provide engaging television.”

he superhero genre has, until recently, struggled to make an impact on TV. Without the mind-boggling budgets or grand scope offered by cinema, original content was rare and often sub-par.

In recent times however, fans have enjoyed a new wave of darker, more mature small screen ventures. Last year’s Daredevil, a Netflix original, offered outstanding production values and gritty realism, brilliantly rebooting a much-loved franchise.

The streaming giant now returns with Jessica Jones, the second in a group of heroes soon to be known as The Defenders. Boasting a sensational cast and excellent pedigree, it is therefore regrettable that it fails to build upon its predecessor and provide engaging television.

No time is wasted in introducing Krysten Ritter’s Jones as a troubled, brooding P.I. with superhuman strength and a penchant for whiskey.

While a fascinating character on paper, the exploration of her life as an investigator more or less ends there, as the plot refocuses entirely upon the show’s villain.

There is also negligible deviation from her grumpy, angstridden performance, portraying a character that is eminently unlikeable and entirely devoid of a backstory until midway through the season.

Her superpower more often than not underwhelms as a propensity to break locks, and an unintentionally hilarious ability to fly (“guided

JOSHUA HACKETT

NICK BURKE

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don’t become extinct and begin colonising and cultivating a world very different to our own.

The film follows the eponymous ‘Good Dinosaur’ Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) trying to find his way home after being caught in a storm and the adventures he has along the way.

The Good Dinosaur showcases some of Pixar’s finest animation work to date, with an awe inspiring display of scenery. The characters themselves maintain a goofy cartoonish charm, looking almost out of place against the lucious, richly detailed and varied backdrops.

You can’t help but feel physically anxious when Arlo accidentally slips in.

Set against Mychael and Jeff Danna’s folk-inspired soundtrack, the film is stylistically beautiful; entirely different from the fantastical settings of other Pixar movies, but still perfectly imagined and believable.

It lays its influences on the table – and there are a lot. The setting recalls Dreamworks’ Ice Age, especially when you throw Arlo’s feral human companion/pet ‘Spot’ (Jack Bright) into the mix, and elements of the plot are distinctly

reminiscent of The Lion King.

While this means the film is not necessarily the most original, it doesn’t detract from how enjoyable it is.

Arlo himself is a particularly likeable and vulnerable character whom the audience root for throughout, and Spot is one of the most interesting portrayals of a child on-screen, running and gnawing through a world he doesn’t understand – a show of true human vulnerability.

Pixar’s unique brand of humour means children and adults alike will be kept entertained throughout,

helped by Mara’s rather childlike portrayal of Therese. Her character has no personality so it seems a mystery why she would be so appealing to the fascinating Carol.

and falls into denial.

Carol’s situation is much more dangerous and destructive. Her bullying ex-husband refuses to let her go, leading to a custody battle for their daughter which highlights how bigotry and a lack of understanding of sexuality in the 1950s affected American law.

Haynes perfects the exquisite, luxurious beauty of classic New York and his attention to detail brings out a melancholic tone.

The two leads may not be right for each other, but the film remains significant at a time when female homosexuality, continues to be largely ignored and subject to joke in film and television.

The collective mindset today may be more understanding of sexuality but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still prejudices where gaps in understanding exist. More films exploring homosexual experiences, particularly those of females, are needed in order to address the preconceptions that remain.

BRIDGE OF SPIES

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“While The Good Dinosaur is not necessarily the most original Pixar movie, that doesn’t detract from how enjoyable it is.”

THE GOOD DINOSAUR

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fter the absence of any release in 2014, Pixar have, for the first time, spoiled audiences with not one, but two feature lengths this year: summer’s Inside Out, and The Good Dinosaur – two films literally worlds apart.

The Good Dinosaur has an oddly dystopian premise on paper. The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs misses, thus they

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odd Haynes’ romantic drama tells the story of two women who can’t help but fall in love despite the consequences in 1950s New York.

Cate Blanchett dazzles with grace and elegance as Carol, the personification of New York’s rich and sophisticated upper class. When she meets younger woman Therese (Rooney Mara), they two decide to embark on a trip together which will have devastating consequences thanks to society’s attitude towards lesbian relationships.

The age difference between the two characters proves difficult to overcome as their relationship seems closer to that of mother and daughter.

All too often Carol is seen to provide comfort and encouragement for Therese, leading the relationship. This is not

“Cate Blanchett dazzles with grace and elegance” Separately however, their stories make strong statements about female mutual attraction and how society reacts to it. Therese begins the film in a relationship with a man, but it becomes clear that her feelings for him are not so strong and she becomes uninterested in him when she meets Carol.

In a particularly poignant scene in which she discusses same sex attraction with her boyfriend Richard (Jake Lacy), they discuss the suggestion that falling in love is not a question of falling for a particular gender. Richard is quick to dismiss and ridicule the idea,

MELISSA MATOS

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ew formulas remain that unerringly produce top quality cinema, but one is the pairing of Steven Spielberg’s fanatical attention to detail and Tom Hanks’s renowned devotion to his roles.

Set during the Cold War, Bridge of Spies offers gripping, immensely enjoyable drama, telling the story of Hanks’ unassuming lawyer James Donovan as he reluctantly represents known Russian spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance).

What ensues is a high-stakes game of political machinations.

Hanks is superb, injecting the role with easy charm, relatable humanity and impeccable comic timing.

His belief in the value of human life is ultimately the driving force behind the film’s most engrossing moments.

Rylance is immensely likeable as Abel, and the film benefits greatly from the pair’s companionable

and there are more than a few tear-jerking moments.

Despite signs that Pixar may be starting to struggle for ideas, The Good Dinosaur is a clear example that they are yet to lose their touch when it comes to world-sculpting, character-building, or storytelling finesse.

JOSEPH MACKAY

chemistry.

Spielberg’s direction is reliably assured, whipping the film along at a pace that maintains an impressive degree of tension.

As always though, Spielberg is the storyteller upon who the film relies.

His ability to present a snapshot of history with such unflinching, visceral accuracy has never been in question, and the seasoned director does not disappoint with his portrayal of a world upon the brink of war, although the intense American patriotism feels outdated.

But this is a truly great film, historically precise and beautifully acted, measured and maturely presented.

Above all else, it’s a classic Spielberg film. He is a man that no longer seeks to push the boundaries of cinema with controversy or bold takes on storytelling, content simply to set the bar above which the rest must jump.

NICK BURKE

LISTINGS ARTS

GAMES

MUSIC

SPIN: 360° EXHIBITION

CHRISTMAS SHOPPER SIMULATOR 2: BLACK FRIDAY

12 December, 7:00 PM Corporation

14 December Curzon

So how did you fair on Black Friday this year? If things didn’t go quite as planned for you and you need to up your game for Christmas shopping, well here’s just the game for it. Christmas Shopper Simulator is all about shopping ability and utterly realistic.

Hey! Hello! are a noise-pop band from New York, comprised of established musicians from various bands that are absolutely amazing at making catchy, addictive songs. After the success of their first album, the band are on tour showcasing their soon to be released second album. It’ll be the perfect fun event before going home for holidays.

Having recevied lots of critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival 2014, Red Army is a compelling story about the most dominating ice hockey team in history: the Red Army that was formed by the Soviet Union in the mid-1950s.

Featuring footage from both sides of the Iron Curtain, Gabe Polsky’s brilliantly directed masterpiece honestly tells the raw story behind the Soviet Union’s use of sports for propaganda.

7 October - 19 December Made North

Spin will be hosting an exhibition that features their outputs, inspirations, processes, and self-initiated work, as well as a museum-standard collection of historical graphic design poster and ephemera. It will be the perfect opportunity to experience innovation and legacy in art.

SHOW BOAT

10 December – 23 January Crucible Based on the novel by Edna Ferber, Show Boat is a musical from 1927 about performers, stagehands, and dock workers on a Mississippi show boat called the Cotton Blossom. With catchy, enjoyable tunes throughout and an enthralling story of the drama between its characters, the musical is just the right production for the holiday season.

20 November Windows, Mac

MARIO & LUIGI PAPER JAM BROS 4 December Nintendo 3DS

Paper Mario is now jumping out of the two dimentional world and entering the normal Mario world, resulting in a bunch of hilarious and exciting gaming moments.

Of course, classic Paper Mario characters will be making an appearance as well as characters from the usual Mario and Luigi franchise.

HEY! HELLO!

THE SHERLOCKS

19 December, 7:00 PM Plug The Sherlocks are an indie rock band from Sheffield that uphold the brilliance of our local music scene. Having performed at renowned festivals including Leeds and Reading, and with plans to tour with The Libertines next year, they are a band you definitely can not miss if you are living in Sheffield.

HOZIER

LIVE LATE: CHRISTMAS WITH THE FOLK FOREST

THE SIMS 4 GET TOGETHER

11 January, 7:00 PM O2 Academy

Museums Sheffield is collaborating with The Folk Forest this winter to host a festive night of jolly holiday tunes featuring the finest of UK folk. Take a look at the event for a musical delight in keeping with the Christmas season!

Who doesn’t love the Sims?

Nonetheless, it does tend to get a bit boring and generic when you only have yourself to share your masterpiece with. In the Get Together extension pack, you’ll get to create communities and explore the wider world of Sims with your friends and essentially party anywhere!

If you don’t know Hozier yet you’re missing out big time. Rising to prominence in just a few short months since the release of his first album last year, Hozier is an Irish singer-songwriter with a genius songwriting ability and a beautiful voice that singlehandedly dominates any crowd.

Any lover of indie rock, blues, or soul music should definitely be there to witness his brilliance.

11 December Weston Park Mueseum

THE SNOW QUEEN

19 December The Montgomery Theatre What’s Christmas without a winter wonderland on stage? The Snow Queen is a classic story about a girl called Gerda who goes on an adventure to save her friend, Kai, who’s been kidnapped by the Snow Queen. Although it is a production targeted at kids, it may be the perfect way to explore the inner child in you that wants to witness a Christmas miracle!

WORK IN FOCUS: GODFREY SYKES

10 December Windows

THIS WAR OF MINE: THE LITTLE ONES

27 January, 7:30 PM The Leadmill

The multiple award-winning survival game inspired by the 1992-96 Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War revolutionized the genre by focusing more on the realistic experience of civilians rather than on the played-out soldier side.

This new installment will feature new installations and characters.

Formed in 2001 by members coming from experienced backgrounds, the seemingly novelty band have proved themselves to be a group of qualified entertainers capable of producing catchy melodies with creative and innovative sounds. Experienced with playing on stages all around the world, Minus the Bear is poised to take The Leadmill by storm

LEGO MARVEL’S AVENGERS

21 January - 3 February Graves Gallery

29 January Nintendo 3DS, WiiU, Windows, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Godfrey Sykes studied at the Sheffield School of Art, and went on to become a renowned artist.

2016 marks 150 years since his death, and so Graves Gallery will be exhibiting his works from the city collection, ranging from paintings and watercolors to designs and metalworks.

There’s nothing more excrutiating than the wait between each Marvel film - well, here’s a way to alleviate the pain. Not only will all of the Avengers in the films be present in this game, but characters from the comics are also a part of the awesome action phenomenon.

IN THE MAKING: RUSKIN, CREATIVITY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP 23 January - 5 June Millennium Gallery

In this installation of In The Making, the Millennium Gallery will be housing the works of artists and craftspeople who do their work by hand: stitching, sewing, weaving, and dying.

This time, the focus will be textile ranging from 17th century linen to contemporary works by Tracey Emin.

MINUS THE BEAR

29 January PS4, Xbox One

SEBASTIEN LOEB RALLY EVO DAY ONE EDITION 29 January Windows, PS4, Xbox One

Rally car racing games don’t get any better than this one!

Choose from a variety of the best rally cars from the past and the present and race them in the best rallies and off-course events in the world. Experience the adrelanine of rallying with the best of the best!

ALBUM RELEASES

SCREEN RED ARMY

DIE HARD

15 December Odeon The ultimate Christmas film is back at the Odeon for a onetime screening. John McClane’s innocent visit to his wife’s office for a Christmas party is not so merry anymore when it is taken over by a group of terrorists. If you want to enjoy Christmas but with a hint of excitement rather than a humpty dumpty Santa, it doesn’t get any better than Die Hard on the big screen.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS 17 December Cineworld

There’s really no excuse you can give to not watching Star Wars.

Whether or not you’ve seen the past films in the iconic sci-fi saga you should start immediately once winter break starts, and go watch it as soon as it’s out. This is very well an early Christmas treat to all film fans out there.

FILM UNIT

Nelson Mandela Auditorium As ever, Sheffield’s volunteer-run student cinema is showing films for just £2.50 each. For more info and a look at their full schedule for the autumn semester, go to: filmunit. org.uk 6/12 - The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 11/12 - Chappie 12/12 - The Tribe 13/12 - Song of the Sea

8 January

NETFLIX RELEASES

David Bowie - Blackstar

3 December

HINDS - Leave Me Alone

How I Met Your Mother - Season 1-8

15 January

10 December

Panic! at the Disco - Death of a Bachelor

Aloha

Daughter - Not to Disappear 22 January Mystery Jets - Curve of the Earth Coasts - Coasts 29 January Bloc Party - HYMNS Sia - This is Acting Harriet - American Appetite

15 December Burnistoun - Season 1 Californication - Season 6-7 X+Y 16 December Big Fish Happy Endings - Season 1-3 Santa Claws 31 December Manhattan Romance Dear White People

Forge Press Friday 4 December 2015

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FEATURES What the EU isn’t With so many organisations having the word ‘Europe’ in their title, it’s easy to get confused between them.

Here are a couple of the most common mix-ups.

Council of Europe This is an organisation that aims to promote democracy and human rights, with 47 members, including the EU members. It can’t pass laws and is completely separate from the EU. European Court of Human Rights Often referred to by the tabloid press as, ‘the highest court in the EU’, in reality it isn’t: that’s the European Court of Justice.

The European Court of Human Rights listens to cases where human rights may have been violated under the European Convention of Human Rights, which the UK is signed up to.

Who matters in the EU right now Donald Tusk He’s the former Polish prime minister, who is now the president of the European Council. His role mainly involves mediation between European leaders and he was credited with keeping France and Germany at the negotiating table during the recent Greek financial crisis.

President Erdogan The Turkish president has proven himself indispensable to EU leaders in recent months as they grappled with the migration crisis in European countries.

He has promised to work with European leaders to keep migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa on Turkey’s shores in exchange for €3billion in financial aid.

He has also used the crisis to restart his country’s stalled bid to join the EU, despite opposition from some EU leaders.

Study abroad in other countries The EU’s exchange programme, Erasmus, allows students from EU countries the chance to study abroad to learn a new language or experience a different culture. Students on Erasmus exchange also receive a generous grant to help fund the costs of being abroad.

This year, 420 students from the University of Sheffield have taken up places on the programme.

Who doesn’t matter Federica Mogherini Endless crises have kept the EU’s foreign policy chief busy since she took office a year ago. Although she speaks passionately on human rights and attended all key meetings on crises in Syria and Ukraine, her main stumbling block remains.

With no European army and decisions over foreign policy mostly being left to EU countries themselves, it’s still unclear what concrete action she can actually take.

Martin Schulz The hot-tempered president of the European Parliament has been trying to give his role new purpose since last year’s European elections.

With more extreme politicians than ever before sitting in the European Parliament, he has been forced to compromise with his rivals far more than he intended.

His term as president is expected to end next year.

FouR things your EU membership gets you Free emergency healthcare abroad If you break your leg skiing in Austria, or fall off your bike cycling around Copenhagen, your European Health Insurance Card means you will pay very little, or nothing, for state healthcare.

Visa-free travel EU citizens get the benefit of visiting each other’s countries at no extra cost. For Brits travelling abroad, this means the only document they need in order to travel is their passport.

For citizens in Schengen countries, they don’t even need a passport to visit other countries inside the passportfree zone.

No more roaming charges Roaming charges for sending and receiving calls or texts, and using mobile internet, have been heavily reduced in recent years, but as of summer 2017, roaming charges will be scrapped altogether.

This means when you’re on holiday, it won’t cost you any more to use your phone than it would at home.

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FEATURES

Friday 4 December 2015 Forge Press

who needs meat anyway?

Forge Press Friday 4 December 2015

I

t’s the question that vegans get sick of hearing: “So why are you a vegan?” Teamed with: “Is it not difficult cutting meat out of your diet? I mean, like, what do you even eat”. For many people, the vegan diet is clearly a strange concept.

The popularity of veganism and vegetarianism, especially amongst university students, has grown hugely over the years. There are now an estimated 150,000 vegans in the UK alone, and around four million vegetarians.

Considering that my grandmother thought that vegans were people who’d never had sex, it goes to show that the knowledge surrounding meat-free diets has grown over the past 50 or so years.

While I completely understand why people would want to become vegan or vegetarian- I run a cookery blog which has many vegan and vegetarian recipes- it isn’t a lifestyle choice I’d personally make.

I wanted to find out what makes someone decide to cut out meat, and their responses were interesting. My former maths teacher said that he’d cut meat out in order to be rebellious and as a way to be different, whereas my school friend took the moral approach and cut out meat for ethical and environmental reasons; apparently it takes around 18,000 gallons of water just to make one hamburger.

I also took to Twitter to ask some of my fellow vegan and vegetarian bloggers about why they choose to live meat-free, or ‘cruelty-free’ as it has been coined.

Blogger Dane Cobain from High Wycombe told me that he decided he cut out meat because he loves animals and doesn’t need meat to survive. Chantal Cooke doesn’t eat meat as she believes the meat production industry in the UK is far too cruel.

The more I thought about it, the more I realised that maybe it was us, the meat-eaters, who were the weird ones with the odd diet. I decided to ask some carnivores about why they would be unwilling to give up meat.

Most of them said it was because they liked the taste, which is a fair enough reason to eat something, but what about from an ethical or moral standpoint? Do they see nothing wrong with eating a fellow mammal on the planet?

“Humans didn’t fight their way to the top of the food chain to eat leaves”, was one rather controversial response. Others pointed out the valid point that animals get killed in the production of plants and vegetables by pesticides.

Thanks to Jamie Oliver and his ‘meat free Mondays’, as well as ‘meat-free week’ which happened earlier in the year, more and more people are opening up to the idea of not eating meat.

It goes without saying that high-profile celebrities such as Russell Brand, Pamela Anderson and Morrissey, have helped increase awareness of a meat-free lifestyle.

But does the rise in vegans and veggies have anything to do with social media? I posted on my Instagram account a simple picture of pasta with tomato sauce, and captioned it “#Vegan”.

Within half an hour I had 21 likes and four new followers. Is it thanks to chefs such as Madeleine Shaw and her #GetTheGlow motto that more people are ditching bacon in favour of an avocado, or swapping their helping of roast beef for a hearty serving of

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FEATURES butternut squash?

In the past, vegans were associated with long-haired, hessian-wearing hippies, but there are now people like Kerry McCarthy, Corbyn’s shadow farming minister, who, get this, looks like a normal woman, shock horror. Veganism is becoming fashionable which has undoubtedly contributed to the growth in its popularity.

It used to be borderline impossible to dine at a restaurant and be confident that they would not just have a vegan option but that it would be worth spending money on. Now, due to its rising prominence, vegan options are becoming more readily available; it is much easier to follow the diet and be able to eat out and find vegan choices in mainstream supermarkets.

Of course, anyone who cuts anything out of their diet is going to be called faddy. Even people who cut gluten out, most of whom do so as they’re allergic to it, are named ‘fussy’ by cooks like Gizzi Erskine, people who you’d hope would have a bit more knowledge, and a more open minded approach about food.

I think it’s great that there are people who are willing to sacrifice a big part of their diet on a moral basis. We should be supporting each other’s choices, even if they don’t necessarily cater to our tastes.

Contributor Marie-Elise Worswick explores the idea of vegetarianism and veganism- why some people choose to adopt it as a lifestyle and why some cannot envision a life worth living without a big juicy steak.

Friday 4 December 2015 | Forge Press

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LIFESTYLE

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Forge’s guide to Christmas shopping

By Elena Badg

A

nd so this is Christmas (around the corner)! While most of us may be looking forward to treat ourselves to a one-month continuum of family and social gatherings, delicious seasonal food, lighter workloads at school/work (hopefully), and wonderful Christmas decorations, let’s face it: all these wonders do not come without some downsides.

The largest downside of all is perhaps the burden that comes with choosing and paying for the right gifts for all our loved ones. It is that time of year again to start setting out a budget, making shopping lists and hunting for bargains. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place.

Here is a brief and effective guide to mastering the art of Christmas shopping and actually enjoing it.

Where to go

Shopping on a budget Before taking the time and effort to search for presents, keep in mind this advice to optimize your budget and avoid spending too much, or even worse, wasting your money and ending up frustrated in the process.

• Decide on a budget: Assign a well-thought and realistic amount of money you are willing to spend on presents this year do not cross it.

• Decide who, among your many acquaintances, would you like/need to give something to this year.

• Count the number of people on this list and divide your budget by the number of people on it. This will give you the approximate amount of money you should be spending on each one. Maybe you’d like to spend more than this approximate on some special people, but be conscious that in order to maintain the budget, you’ll have to compensate by spending less on somebody else.

• Schedule a journey to town to shop only for these presents and for nothing else (not even little gifts for yourself). This will make it easier to track and control your expenses and to keep your budget.

Aside from the obvious shopping malls or department stores there are many nice places to search for Christmas presents and other seasonal stuff. The best examples, perhaps, are the amazing Christmas markets full of festive stalls, food, ornaments, handmade crafts and gifts, and various annual events. Some renowned options are: • Sheffield Christmas Markets: Most famous for its food and sweets stalls, the Farrars Funfairs and the Peace Gardens.

• Manchester Christmas Markets: Worldfamous for its impressive international food and drink stalls and for its beautiful festive decorations.

• St Nicholas Market, York: A wonderful Victorian market full of all types of seasonal crafts and products.

• Medieval Market at Barley Hall, York: As its name obviates, a beautiful and original medieval-style market, famous for its ale and mulled wine bars.

Some original ideas Very important: try to make each gift personal.

Think about someone’s hobbies, interests and taste when shopping for them. A little thought goes a long way, and they will really appreciate any personal touches.

• For the music nerds: We’re in the middle of a strong resurgence of the vinyl industry, with more and more music lovers turning to this type of music experience. Buy this person a vinyl record from an artist they like.

• For dog-lovers: Few things make a dog-lover happier than making his pet happy. So you’ll be more than welcome for buying the dog a small Christmas gift. A toy, a dog-hoodie or some funny accessory you could find at a nice pet store would do.

• For workaholics: A coupon for a relaxing massage session at their closest spa, of course.

• For colleagues: An awesome (and relatively cheap) gift idea for the guys at the office is to bake some Christmas goodies yourself and take them to the office for everyone to enjoy.

• For almost anyone: Personalized decorated cups (cheap and lovely).

Forge Press | Friday 4 December

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LIFESTYLE

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The most wonderful time of the year...

Jess Davis talks about Christmas traditions and how every family celebrates the holidays in their own unique way, from opening presents to Christmas dinner.

C

hristmas, it is just one word but holds a thousand different meanings to a thousand different people. Although the idea of Christmas is pretty straight forward, we all have our own traditional Christmases. Basically the whole day involves presents, chocolate and a meal that could serve an army, plus all the trimmings. How is it possible to have so many variations of just one day of the year?

First things first, what you wear on

Christmas day varies from person to person. Some people like to get all dressed up and put on that terrible, tacky Christmas jumper that only leaves the wardrobe one day each year ,or perhaps you get out that glittery dress that makes a mess everywhere.

Or, perhaps you’re at the other end of the scale and love nothing else than to chill in your pyjamas for the whole day, whether they were unwrapped and were a gift that morning or are just your favourite pair.

Whatever it is, be comfy and allow turkey belly room after eating your bodyweight in Christmas dinner.

Another thing that varies with different families is the order of the day. For example on Christmas day in my house, we wake up, have breakfast and then take it in turns to open one present each. However, I have a friend who doesn’t open their presents until around 7 at night, when Christmas day is practically over and you feel too lethargic to even think about moving, let alone to open presents and have the energy to thank people for them.

It’s madness! I don’t know how you could wait till later when all those gifts are unopened and lurking under the tree. If you haven’t guess already, I am one of those people who is terrible with surprises.

The whole present opening ceremony that takes place on Christmas day seems to vary when I talk about Christmas day with different people. As mentioned

before, in my house we take it in turns to open one present each and keep on going until there is nothing left at the bottom of the tree other than the odd decoration that has escaped or the annoying needles dropped from the tree. My friend from home and her family all attack the tree at the same time and rip open all of their presents at once, so Christmas is basically over in roughly 10 minutes, as everything that took weeks of deciding and buying was opened, appreciated and put away all too quickly.

Christmas dinner doesn’t vary too much, but one thing that does is everyone’s favourite part. For me crunchy parsnips and veg will always be up there in the best element of Christmas dinner, but ultimately it’s the pigs in blankets that I look forward to the most, possibly more than the turkey itself. My friend and I, who I spend most Christmases with, get more excited about making the ultimate Christmas sandwich with all

the leftovers and loads of cranberry sauce than the dinner- but each to their own I guess.

Do you have any weird Christmas traditions that wouldn’t make sense to anyone else? Or do you want to just let us know your favourite thing you look forward to on the special day? Tweet in and let us know at @ ForgeLifestyle !

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

Josh Johnson First year Biomed student, Coat: Zara Couture, jeans: Asos, shoes: Vans

Katie Sturmon Third year Psychology student Coat: New Look, jumper: Charity shop - Oxfam, leggings: Asda, shoes: Converse

Tomoki Chikano Second year Linguistics student Coat: Dior, jumper: DoClass, jeans: Levis, shoes: Dr Martens

Holly Khan Second year Chemistry student Coat: Thrifty Store, scarf: H&M, jeans: Urban Outfitters, boots: Palladium

Friday 4 December 2015 | Forge Press

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LIFESTYLE

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On a Shoestring: Camp America

A great way to meet new people and learn valauable skills while also having the opportunity to travel, Julia Hodder tells us about her time at Camp America. discovered Camp America while searching the internet for work experience and volunteering programmes.

There are many different companies advertising camp counsellor schemes; obviously I am biased telling you that the organisation I went through was the best. My only advice to you would be to choose a helpful, friendly organisation that offers a transparent deal so that you know for sure that your money is going towards your travel expenses. Most organisations propose a package deal with flights included, which is something less to worry about. After all, we are still students on a budget.

It’s December and half way through the semester.

Deadlines are peeping out, the weather is wet and cold and everyone is feeling a bit depressed. To escape this gloomy atmosphere, I can’t help but keep looking back at my summer holiday pictures and thinking about how much I miss my summer camp experience in the United States. Call it therapeutic writing or a piece of advice, but I am here to give you a quick snapshot of my travelling experience, and to tell you why this is an experience that I would recommend to anyone.

Discovering university had been amazing enough, but what was even better was finding out that we get to have a whole 3 months break and holiday in the summer, even longer than school summer holidays.

It’s the perfect amount of time to travel, do something original and interesting, explore the world, and be free. I

camping and hiking trips, got covered in mud, did paint wars, organised a play and dressed up as the queen of England, taught dancingclasses and ate countless marshmallows and smores.

It was hard work but extremely rewarding as children are keen to interact and respond to all the activities.

They will simply love to get to know you and appreciate the time you spend with them. You also get to meet your future best friends, work with them, and experience their culture and way of life.

Once you have decided which programme suits you best, you will most certainly have to go through a written application process. Their aim is to get to know you better and give you the opportunity to sell yourself and demonstrate why you would be a great camp counsellor.

After this process, your application details are sent to the company’s office in America, ready to be reviewed and looked at by potential employers who may hire you after a quick read, or decide to Skype you for further details.

The final step before the adventure of a lifetime is packing. When I got to this stage, I remember being so excited and a little overwhelmed, as it’s not easy packing for three months in a limited-spaced suitcase.

My only advice to you would be three words: shorts, t-shirts and trainers, and of course your positive energy.

Summarising the intense, experience of life at camp is quite difficult because I have so many stories and enjoyed every minute of it! So, in short, camp is just one big, happy family, a bundle of love where you get to be crazy, creative and do things you never thought you would do.

I was head of a programme at camp called ‘tipis’, meaning that I lived in a tent on a gorgeous hill, cooked on a fire three times a day, organised

So if you don’t want to sit for three months curled up in ball on your sofa watching TV, go and apply now for an experience that brings confidence, and also it looks great on your CV as you learn transferable skills.

Working at a summer camp also allows you to travel around the USA for a bit. I, for example, backpacked all around the east coast, Texas and Nashville. It truly is an unforgettable experience and I would recommend it to anyone.

Recipe Corner: Chocolate Cake Giorgia Guantario explains how to make a chocolate cake without butter and eggs; a healthier and easier option.

Ingredients: -200g plain flour -250g sugar -80g cocoa -350ml milk (or soy milk, vegan option) -30ml sunflower oil Method: -Preheat oven to 170C. -In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, sugar and baking powder).

-Add sunflower oil.

-Slowly add milk and stir until well combined.

-Place the mixture in a greased baking tin.

-Cook for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

-Serve and enjoy!

Forge Press | Friday 4 December 2015

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LIFESTYLE

Moor Than You Bargained For

A less visited shopping area of Sheffield, Madeleina Kay explains why everyone should go and discover the Moor.

Sheffield is a wonderfully diverse city with so many different areas to discover and explore. Most students have been to Meadowhall, the commercial shopping centre just a quick tram trip out of the city centre, where you can find all your branded, high street stores.

Less well visited, however, is Sheffield’s Moor; the slightly more “student-budget” friendly shopping area in the city centre, just a 20 minute stroll away from the Students’ Union. For the lazier student, or those who intend to pick up several bags worth of bargains, there are also several bus stops in the nearby area.

The Moor is a pedestrianised boulevard, punctuated by granite benches, mood lighting and trees, that runs from the Peace Gardens to the ring-road where Ecclesall and London Road meet.

Shops include chains such as Poundland, Iceland, Select, Fultons Foods, Greggs, and Bodycare, as well as local outlets, including the wittily named Moor Bargains and Crawshaws Butchers (who employ a worker to stand outside perpetually shouting at passers-by about their amazing deals).

The Moor is also home to the Theatre Delicatessen, a little known arts space and café that hosts events and workshops throughout the year. However, the Moor Market, located directly opposite Sainsbury’s, is the central gem.

In 1996, a multimillion pound development converted the historic Castle Market into the new Moor Market, which is now home to a huge diverse range of traders.

You’ll find everything from clothes, to kitchenware and pet supplies. There are haberdashery, shoe and bag shops, hair and nail salons and a cobblers.

You can also buy all your fresh produce from local suppliers instead of paying supermarket premium prices, saving money and supporting local companies at the same time.

The Moor boasts four fish-mongers, eight butchers, three bakeries, four green-grocers and a Nut Bar. You’ll also find confectioners and specialist food stores selling continental and East Asian supplies for your adventurous cooking. And if you get peckish mid-shop, you can pick up lunch from one of the eating outlets selling traditional English, Carribean, Indian and Chinese food.

So if you haven’t yet made the arduous trek, then a trip to the Moor is highly recommended to pick up your essential supplies, and to make a head start on your Christmas shopping!

Where to eat: Fear X Loathing

Jessica Nelson gives her views on a burger restaurant that has recently opened on West Street.

The long-awaited opening of the new burger restaurant on West Street, Fear X Loathing, has definitely exceeded my expectations. With their large advertising campaign on Facebook and huge signs in the windows, it was hard not to notice when walking or driving past. I was looking forward to trying out their menu and seeing how it compared with the other restaurants in the local area. The position of the restaurant on a major high street in Sheffield is perfect, as

a large amount of people pass on a daily basis, which attracts more custom.

As the restaurant has only recently opened, they are currently trying out a tester, or ‘Beta Phase’, menu, which includes a small choice of beef or chicken burgers with no starters or desserts yet on offer. The sweet chilli chicken burger with fries that I opted for was delicious, and filling enough without the other courses.

The restaurant also offers a wide range of cocktails, making it the perfect place if you are looking for food and a few drinks before a Friday night out. At the moment, it is quite expensive, ranging between £10-£12 for one meal without drinks. It could turn out to be quite a costly meal if you are purchasing alcohol on top. With local competition such as Bungalows and Bears or Vodka Revolution selling very similar meals at lower prices, they could find it difficult to attract students who don’t want to spend a lot of money.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is still developing, with a few customers popping in and out while we were there. All of the staff working there were friendly to everybody that came in, making a lasting impact and proving how keen they were to make you feel welcome. It was

a relaxed environment, with a lot of the staff casually chatting to us about the new company.

While we were there, they also got us to try some of the new sauces that they were considering putting on their final menu. Not only was the sauce very nice, but it was also pleasing to know that they valued our feedback as customers.

I would definitely return to Fear X Loathing when it is slightly more developed and the new menu is released, but for now I cannot deny that the burgers are certainly delicious.

Friday 4 December 2015 | Forge Press

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COFFEE BREAK

Christmas and chill.

Photograph of the fortnight

Its the most wonderful time of the year and what better way to celebrate than to play a game?

Christmas Carol Pictionary Relay The classic game of Pictionary where teams race to draw popular Christmas carols and movies.

Christmas Charades Acting out a word or phrase without speaking.

You can do it with any word for example “mistle toe” can be broken down into “mistle” and “toe”.

Christmas Scavenger Hunt Provide a clue for any item that you want your guests to find. You could base the hunt on a famous Christmas movie.

Snowball Throw Grab some marshmallows and let a “snowball” fight begin (note: you can play this with children or just equally see how many Marshmallows you can fit into your mouth). & Christmas Movie Drinking Game - pretty self-explanatory

Dingbats PEEP

xmascara

GOGOGO GO GO GO GO

Quote of the fortnight: “The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live” George Carlin

Caption: Students waiting for the end term...

New Years in Style

Not sure what to do this New Years?

Here are few ideas...

Manchester Piccadilly Gardens - its free!

Edinburgh - celebrate with a Scottish celebration and take to the streets with Ceilidh dancing.

Northumberland - celebrate the New Year a night filled with a colourful procession through the town.

St Ives, Newquay - Dress up and be part of the one large party with food, market stalls and live music.

Forge Press | Friday 4 December 2015

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Sudoku Easy

COFFEE BREAK

Medium

Hard

Star Wars Crossword Across

1 Celebrity (4) 3 Fights (4) 8 Evergreen shrub - rub at us (anagram) (7) 10 Power (the ___ in 1 Across 3?) (5) 11 Binge (5) 12 Dictionary (7) 13 Bird (a Millennium ___ in 1 Across 3) (6) 15 Parchment (6) 19 Mandible - a new job (anagram) (7) 21/1D Weapon used by a 19 Down in 1 Across

3 (10) 23 Loss (a ___ 1 Across in 1 Across 3) (5) 24 Put back (7) 25 Unlit (a ___ Side in 1 Across 3) (4) 26 In 1 Across 3, the Grand Master of the 19 Down Order (4)

Down

1 See 21 Across 2 Popular 20thC style of design - redcoat (ana-

Answers

Credits for the crossword: Matthew Sapsed

gram) (3,4) 4 Stick on (5) 5 Hot African wind - Sir Coco (anagram) (7) 6 Central mountain mass (6) 7 Eager (4) 9 Unaccompanied (Han ___ in 1 Across 3) (4) 14 All down (anagram) - depressed country?

(7) 16 West Indian dance music (7) 17 Rubbish (6) 18 Close (4) 19 User of the 10 in 1 Across 3? (4) 20 Different (5) 22 African country, capital Accra (5)

. Across: 1 Star, 3 Wars, 8 Arbutus, 10 Force, 11 Spree, 12 Lexicon, 13 Falcon, 15 Scroll, 19 Jawbone, 21/1D Lightsaber, 23 Death, 24 Replace, 25 Dark, 26 Yoda.

Down: 2 Art deco, 4 Affix, 5 Sirocco, 6 Massif, 7 Keen, 9 Solo, 14 Lowland, 16 Calypso, 17 Litter, 18 Near, 19 Jedi, 20 Other, 22 Ghana.

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Forge Press | Friday 4 December 2015

SPORT

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SportsThoughts

The Odds-busters: Forge Sport contributor Luke Lonergan looks at Premier League teams and players who upset the odds Image: Tumblr If someone had come up to me this time last year and said, “Mark my words Luke, Leicester City will be top of the Premier League come December 2015” I would have called them a lunatic, or something far worse, and most likely unfit for print.

But the phenomenon that is Leicester City has, in truth, been a breath of fresh air in this current Premier League campaign.

Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes have proved to be the main, and rather exciting protagonists in what has been a very unorthodox Premier League season. But Leicester aren’t the first team to defy the odds.

Norwich City 1992- 1993 The inaugural Premier League season brought with it the surprising emergence of a Norwich side that finished the campaign in third place, not far behind champions elect Manchester United, and a rather scintillating Aston Villa side.

Unbeaten throughout August and September, and losing just four games before Christmas, a young Mark Robins was the goal scoring hero at Carrow Road and Norwich took an eight point advantage at the top of the table into the New Year.

However, Robins’ shooting boots soon went missing and so did Norwich’s form. The Norwich side lost 7-1 to Blackburn but managed to hold out to finish third in the league with 72 points.

An impressive finish for a side tipped by many pundits to be favourites for relegation.

The 1993/94 season saw East Anglia’s finest drop down to a meagre 12th place before they succumbed to relegation in 1994/95.

partnership with Alan Shearer.

Blackburn were arguably the first club to win the title by being ‘bankrolled’.

Walker’s millions saw the Lancashire club snatch the title from United’s grasp by a solitary point despite a final day loss to Liverpool.

Alan Shearer notched 34 goals in 42 games to top the scoring charts, but the 1994/95 triumph remains Shearer’s, and Blackburn’s only Premier League winners’ medal to date.

Just a year later normality resumed and United clinched another title while Rovers found themselves in a respectable but less-than-pretty seventh place. Their demise continued as they fell victim to relegation in 1998/99.

Ipswich Town 2000-2001 Stellar seasons’ are often punctuated by a stellar striker, and that’s exactly what George Burley’s Ipswich Town side had in Marcus Stewart, notched an impressive 19 goals, second only in the scoring charts to one Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Ipswich had only been promoted from the old First Division (now the Championship) a year before, but solid performances all year round, bar a three-match winless run in February, saw the Tractor Boys consolidate a place in the top six for most of the campaign.

They eventually finished in

fifth, just four point behind second placed Arsenal, and also attained a Uefa Cup place.

Fast forward a year and Ipswich had been relegated, having spent over £13 million on fresh blood.

One win in the first 18 games was an early indication of the second-season syndrome Ipswich would come to suffer.

Meanwhile young Marcus Stewart was never quite able to recapture his goal scoring form in the top flight again.

Since then, Ipswich have remained in the Championship, unable to return to the Premier League.

Leicester City 2015/16 How long will Leicester’s counter-attacking style of play hold out for? Will Vardy keep up his magnificent scoring run?

This is all yet to be seen, but so far they have provided fans of the Premier League with a fresh approach and an exciting, winning brand of football.

Vardy has broken Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s decade old scoring record and Riyad Mahrez has been perhaps the stand-out player in the league this season.

Could this be Leicester’s season? Surely it would be impossible?

There have been many players who were one-season wonders too, and here are but four...

Michu Everyone’s favourite longlocked Spaniard with a name that wouldn’t look out of place in a Pokemon game racked up an imperious 18 goals in his debut PL season with Swansea, including a stunning brace against Arsenal.

A solitary Spain cap and a Carling Cup victory against Bradford City were the highlights of a formidable season under the stewardship of Michael Laudrup.

Michu then went on loan to Napoli for the 2014-15 season but struggled to perform in the Italian league, playing only six competitive matches.

Michu returned to South Wales and was released, joining UP Langreo, an amateur side located in Asturias, Spain and coached by his brother Hernan Perez.

Roger Johnson Some might say an odd choice, but he formed a solid partnership with Scott Dann in the Birmingham back four during the 2009/10 season as the club went a record 12 matches unbeaten in the top flight. Two seasons later and a relegated Birmingham accepted a £7 million bid from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

It is here where Johnson’s career began to spiral out of control. The club were relegated to the Championship and the season after were relegated to League One. Johnson then went out on loan twice, to local club Sheffield

Blackburn Rovers 1994-1995 From one fairytale to another, Norwich’s relegation in 1994/95 was overshadowed by the rise of the Jack Walker-owned Blackburn Rovers.

Blackburn not only stole Norwich’s mojo, but also their 25-goal striker Chris Sutton, who formed one half of the deadly SAS

Wednesday where he made 17 loan appearances before bizzarely being loaned to Premier League side West Ham where he played only six times.

He joined Charlton at the start of this year but was released in the summer. Johnson currently plies his trade in the Indian Super League with Pune FC in the Indian Super League.

Roque Santa Cruz Paraguay’s most famous footballer and Father Christmas’ namesake swapped Bayern for Blackburn in 2007 and bagged 23 goals in 53 starts for the Lancashire club.

Manchester City came calling in 2009 with a big money offer and the striker moved across Lancashire for £17.5 million.

The striker failed to live up to his previous record and managed only three goals in 20 appearances for City. He was loaned back to Blackburn but had lost all of his previous goalscoring touch, enduring a barren run of nine games without a goal.

Loan spells at Real Betis and Malaga in La Liga followed but Santa-Cruz was unable to score more than 10 goals in a season.

He now plays for Cruz Azul in the Mexican Premier League where he has scored four goals in 10 games.

Benjani Benjani was a revelation for Porstmouth as they romped to an FA Cup triumph in 2007/08.

The Zimbabwean striker notched 15 goals in the Premier League for the southeastern club before moving to Manchester City for £3.87 million in the summer.

It was revealed that the striker had missed two successive planes to Manchester during the January transfer window due to falling asleep.

This was a bad burden and despite the fact Benjani scored the winner for City in the 2008 Manchester derby, only three goals followed in a lacklustre three season spell.

Moves to Sunderland, Blackburn, Portsmouth, Chippa United and Bidvest Wits followed and in the past five years, he has scored five goals.

Forge Press Sport Awards

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

Star Performer: Great Britain Davis Cup Team Led by Captain Leon Smith, the team of Andy Murray, Jamie Murray, Kyle Edmund, James Ward, Dan Evans and Dominic Inglot secured Britain its first Davis Cup Victory since 1936 after defeating Belgium 3-1 in the final. The victory is Britain’s 10th in the competition and means Britain are now the number one ranked team in the ITF standings.

Tyson Fury

Adam Duffy

The British boxer produced an outstanding performance to defeat Wladimir Klitschko on points after 12 rounds, securing the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts.

Fury can become the first British boxer to unify the heavyweight division since Lennox Lewis in 2002.

The Sheffield born amateur snooker player caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport in the first round of the UK Championship by beating two-time champion Ding Junhui. Seeded 121st, his 6-2 victory included the highest break of the match with a 94.

Philadelphia 76ers The 76ers began the 2015 NBA season with 18 losses, tying the record for the most consecutive losses to start a season. They set an American record for the most successive losses in any of the major sports.

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Winter Varsity Preview

Rob Milne spoke to Ski and Snowboard captains about the winter event of the year

Ski Dave Murdoch Competing in his third Winter Varsity competition, Ski Captain Dave Murdoch can’t wait to beat Hallam again.

The 21-year-old Economics student first went skiing at the age of six with his family and was taught how to ski by his parents.

Unlike most skiers, he has never had a real lesson and is almost completely selftaught.

He said: “Since then I have been going skiing once or twice a season, and last year I was lucky enough to go away three times in the season. I used to play field hockey back home, but going Coming from a small rural village in East-Anglia, Alex Kennedy hadn’t snowboarded before he came to Sheffield.

Two years since starting, he is now one of the team

to uni I quickly realised that you can only really commit yourself to one sport and I was a better skier than hockey player, so that won.”

Dave grew up near Lichfield in North Birmingham and now in his third year, following a placement year at IBM, he has been involved in the SheffSki for just less than three years now, originally just a member but now as club captain: “The club has definitely improved, and grown, the Ashes to Alps trip has grown from about 150 attendees when I joined to about 320 this year, breaking last year’s record. We have more people attending socials and more events available to members, but I still think that we have retained a community feeling within the club.

“The best thing about our club is really difficult to put into words. We have a great social atmosphere and we’re very inclusive. Despite how hard it is to compete in our sport in the UK, we still have a huge amount of committed members and its why I love being captain, I feel like I can give something back to the club and reward the commitment of the members,” said Dave.

As a skier he has his idols, particularly racing skiers.

He cites Finlay Mickle as his favourite British skier but Didier Cuche sits as his favourite ever skier: “He won the famous Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel five times during his career, and continued to win events in his retiring season at the age of 37. He

also had the coolest way of dismounting his skis at the end of the race by flicking and catching it.”

His best memory of the club and Winter Varsity was defeating the Hallam first team in the first race of the Ashes to Alps competition.

Dave hopes the club he describes as “dynamic” can be a huge success and will take victory yet again at

captains.

He got into snow sports at 13-years-old but after being told he couldn’t snowboard on the school ski trip, he turned to skiing, learning at his local dry slope in Norwich.

At University, he found snowboarding again. Alex said: “I got chatting to one of the committee at the sports fair and thought I’d take lessons and haven’t looked back since!

I’ve been on both holidays the two years I’ve been here and plan on doing the same for the next few years.

“Other than snowboarding, I mountain bike and do downhill, I do a bit of BMX freestyle, go to the gym three times a week, and do as much active things as I’ve got time for.”

The third year, studying a masters in mechanical

engineering, struggles to pick a hero in the sport but is optimistic about the future of British snowboarding: “We’ve got British guys pushing the limits of freestyle like Billy Morgan and Jamie Nicholl. If I had to pick one person it would be Sage Kotsenburg. He’s a freestyle rider and won the first ever gold medal in slopestyle in the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.

He has his own style and is constantly inventing new tricks and grab combinations and he’s just great to watch!”

He has competed in one Winter Varsity before, last year in Val Thorens, and says his best memory was a tamedog (front flip) during the Varsity freestyle.

Now, in his new role as captain, he couldn’t be more proud being part of the

Snowboard Club: “I don’t even know how to put into words what the best thing about our club is! We’re just one big happy snowboarding family, and we love fun. There’s a great atmosphere around the club, everyone’s friendly and welcoming and it’s easy for newcomers to get involved and be part of it straight away. We accept anyone and everyone.

“The reason I love snowboarding is not just because of the sport but because of SUSC as well!

In true snowboarding style Alex describes the club as “awesome” and Alex thinks it is only on the up: “I definitely think the club has improved, we’re now taking 110 people on our A2A holiday compared to 70 two years ago, and have more

Varsity: “I want the spectacle to be bigger with more attendees.

We are also trialling a new event this year so I hope that it is successful so that it can be introduced the next year.

But overall I want to be able to chant “Four Nil and a real degree” when we lift up the trophy.”

Photo: Jonathan Field

Snowboard Alex Kennedy members as well. Even with growing numbers we’re still as fun and family oriented as always, and we’ve also been doing really well in competition so far this year!”

Alex is hoping to carry that good competition form through to Winter Varsity and bring home victory for the University once again. But for Alex, involvement is even more important: “My main goal for Winter Varsity is to get as many people involved in the racing and freestyle, and the new trial event the rail jam. I want it to be even bigger and better than before and to win again.”

Photo: Jonny Copeman

Snowsports win big in Kings Ski Club Thomas Stockting

It was a triumphant afternoon for the University of Sheffield Snowboard Club 1s as they won round three of the Kings Ski Club competition.

With the first team having come third in the last two

Events

Giant Ski Slalom (Mixed, One Point)

Ski Slopestyle (Mens 1/2 pt, Womens 1/2 pt) Ski Rail Jam (Trial) Snowboard Giant Slalom Relay (Mixed, One Point) Snowboard Slopestyle (Mens 1/2 pt, Womens 1/2 pt) Snowboard Rail Jam (Trial)

rounds, Sheffield travelled up to Sunderland with reason to believe they could get a podium finish, if not more.

All their races had been close with little else but a few falls separating them from Lancaster University, Manchester University and Leeds University on the leader board.

The racers for Sheffield 1s for the third round were Jonathan Copeman, Flo Brookes, Race and Freestyle Captain James Hallas and Club Co-Captain Alex Kennedy. The day started in typical fashion - rainy, windy and cold - but Sheffield got off to a flying start with a win over winners of the first round Lancaster 1s.

The long wait between races didn’t throw off the concentration of any of the racers as they followed up their opening win with victories over Newcastle 1s and Newcastle 2s. The biggest test came on the fourth race when they faced round one runner up and round two winners Manchester University

1s.

SUSC 1s had a narrow lead as the last two racers set off.

It was impressive how Alex Kennedy remained on his feet the whole race, passing as close to the polls as possible to gain speed, his board clipped them a number of times. This was a risk that paid off, as he crossed the finish line well before his opposite number.

With confidence soaring there was no surprise on the slope when Sheffield 1s beat Lancaster 1s in the final race Ski (Above, photo: Ali Miles) to claim top spot for the day, earning them 10 points.

This puts them second in the leader board for the Northern Boarders Competition with 22 points, a narrow two points behind Manchester 1s.

Sheffield 2s managed to pick up two points, but still remain bottom of the leader board and in the Mixed Skiing League Sheffield 1s picked up nine points and Sheffield Ski 2s picked up seven as they sit seventh and 11th respectively.

Snowboard (Below)

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Darts destroy rivals to extend fine form Darts

University of Sheffield 1s Sheffield Hallam University 1s

Dan Reid The University of Sheffield Darts 1s extended their winning run at the start of the North East University Darts League season to five with crushing 10-1 and 11-0 victories over Sheffield Hallam University 1s and 2s.

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Sheffield 2s also beat Hallam 2s 8-3 to record their first ever NEUDL win at the fifth time of asking.

The Sheffield 1s side went into the tie with their local rivals full of confidence and top of the NEUDL southern section.

Ed McCosh, Rob Matthews and Max Orange raced to

victory in the opening trebles game against Hallam 2s, with Tom Hogg, Steve Organ and Danny Hall wrapping up a win with ease.

Hogg and Organ then set the standard in the doubles, working down from 701 in just 27 darts to seal the second leg of their 2-0 win. 1s captain Jonny Kirk teamed up with Hall to seal the fourth point, before Orange and Matthews made it five.

The singles matches were all simple affairs, with Hogg, Orange, Organ, Hall, McCosh and Kirk all cruising to victory to make it 11-0.

Next up, the 2s took on their Hallam equivalent, and it started in perfect style with Laurence Burford,

Oli Newall and Brad Clowery sealing an opening victory.

Hallam took the next two points, but a win for Dan Graves and Luke Cowling in the doubles levelled the scores, before Burford and Jack Lewis made it 3-2.

Sheffield then asserted their dominance, with Matt Eardley, Newall, Clowery, Cowling and Graves all winning as the 2s won 8-3, their first victory since joining the NEUDL this season.

The final tie saw Sheffield 1s and Hallam 1s go headto-head, but the tie lacked any sort of tension.

The same trebles teams of McCosh, Orange and Matthews and Hogg, Organ and Hall made it 2-0 in a

Hockey Women’s 1s in stalemate Hockey

University of Sheffield Women’s 1s University of Birmingham Women’s 2s

Anthony Phillips

Rugby 1s destroy York Rugby Union

University of Sheffield Men’s 1s University of York Men’s 1s

Arne Dumez Photo: Arne Dumez The University of Sheffield Men’s Rugby Union 1s secured a solid 21-7 victory over the University of York at Goodwin.

Sheffield were dominant immediately following the kick off. Centre Oli Lazarovich and winger Chris Hutchinson saw an opening in the York defensive line and managed to bring the ball close to the York goal line.

The powerful Sheffield forwards had no trouble driving the ball into the goal area following a scrum to score Sheffield’s first try of the game. A successful conversion by fly-half Andy Pritchard meant that Sheffield led 7-0 after five minutes.

In the 17th minute of the

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game, Sheffield scored their second try of the day. Flanker Frank Tufail-Smith scored after Ryan Dunn blocked a York kick, to give Sheffield a 14-0 lead.

York fought back strongly and began to play their way into the game. Poor handling skills by Sheffield allowed the York centre to pierce through the home side’s defensive line.

Moments later, the away side had a well-earned try, to trail by only seven points towards the end of the first half.

At the start of the second half, Pritchard fumbled the ball and put Sheffield in an awkward position.

Under severe pressure, the Sheffield backs were forced to repeatedly kick the ball out of touch under pressure.

Fortunately for the hosts, York were unable to convert any of this momentum into points and the home side

flash, before the pairs that secured three points from three against the 2s did the same once again.

Kirk and Hall provided the icing on the cake, winning their tie with a 29-dart leg to make it 5-0.

Hogg, Orange, Organ, Hall and McCosh barely broke a sweat as they built an unassailable lead, but Hallam snatched the final point to round off the score at 10-1.

1s captain Jonny Kirk told Forge Sport: “We have continued our winning start to the season, and to do it against our local rivals was certainly pleasing.

“This team can be something special if the focus is maintained.”

recomposed in an imposing scrum, led by centre Fergus Wood, driving the ball forward several yards. This was not enough to overcome an increasingly rigid York defensive line which halted Sheffield’s attacks time after time.

York had chances to tie the game and almost scored a try after a turnover, but the winger was tackled metres short of the Sheffield try line.

After this close shave, the home side found motivation.

10 minutes of relentless attack by Sheffield finally broke a spirited York defence.

Wood managed to run through several tackles to score, before Pritchard added the conversion.

Sheffield saw out the remainder of the game comfortably and actingcaptain Kieran Bunn said: “Compared to last year we’ve had a few hiccups in the league, but we got a good win in the cup last week and a good win today and we could really use that as a springboard for the rest of our season”.

Sheffield sit sixth in the BUCS Northern 1A Division, a spot above the relegation places and face Manchester Metropolitan University on 9 December.

The University of Sheffield Women’s 1s Hockey team were held to a draw at home by the University of Birmingham Women’s 2s on a cold and blustery evening at Goodwin.

Sheffield had lost the fixture earlier in the season to Birmingham 4-0 and hoped to build on their 7-1 victory over Sheffield Hallam in their last game.

The home side began the game well, pressuring the Birmingham side and not allowing them any time or space on the ball.

This hard work and determination paid off for the home side when they were awarded a penalty corner in the 10th minute.

The shot was blocked by a Birmingham defender and in the resulting goalmouth scramble, no home player was able to get their stick to the ball to poke it home.

The match was a tactical affai, with the centre of the field being bogged down by players on both sides.

The high defensive line employed by both sides meant that a number of players were not involved in play making, with their main roles being to track their opposing number across the pitch.

This meant that the first half was an extremely dull affair with neither side being able to carve out a goalscoring opportunity.

Birmingham were the closest to scoring and had two

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penalty corners but saw shots from both go wide of the Sheffield goal, to make the score 0-0 at half time.

The second half of the game was slightly more exciting but the contest continued to be one in which there were few goalscoring opportunities.

Sheffield almost opened the scoring when Sophie Ahktar sprinted past a Birmingham defender. Facing the goalkeeper, she scuffed her shot and the firing the ball onto the outside of the post before going out. This was the only real chance of the match.

Following this chance, Sheffield began to gain momentum and they took the lead on the hour mark.

Captain Mary Harvey managed to prod the ball into the right hand side of the Birmingham net after a penalty corner to make the score 1-0.

Moments later, Birmingham equalised in similar circumstances,after the home side had given away a penalty corner. The Birmingham forward hit a high shot that glanced in off the thigh of another Birmingham player stood near the goal.

The match then returned to being a tactical affair with neither side really having a clear cut opportunity to snatch a winner.

After the result, Sheffield remain third in the BUCS Premier B North division behind Birmingham. They are away face the University of Manchester away on 9 December.

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Hockey crush hapless St Andrews Hockey

Featured Game of the Week

University of Sheffield Men’s 1s St Andrews Men’s 1s Tom Holden Photos: Rob Milne The University of Sheffield Men’s Hockey 1s comfortably defeated the University of St Andrews 7-3 at Goodwin.

Both teams had failed to record a win in the BUCS Premier B North this season and both sides were hoping for victory, to ease the threat of relegation. In the previous fixture between the sides Sheffield drew 2-2.

Sheffield started the game brightly, earning a short corner within the first minute of the game. The subsequent shot was kept out by the right foot of the away keeper, who was kept busy by Sheffield throughout the entire game.

Then in the third minute, Sheffield broke down the right hand side of the pitch

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and managed to whip the ball across the face of goal for Jack Coulson to fire into the net, making it 1-0.

A good save by Sheffield keeper George Wright kept the score at 1-0 before the home side doubled their advantage after only six minutes. More good passing play allowed Joe Kopka to sweep the ball past the flailing St Andrews keeper and into the bottom left hand corner.

Sheffield kept up the strong attacking play and continued to pile on the pressure on the hapless away defence and this resulted in two goals in quick succession.

On 15 minutes, Will Galloway managed to control, turn, and tuck the ball into the goal to give Sheffield a 3-0 advantage.

The St Andrews defence was all over the place, and moments later Sheffield held a 4-0 lead.

Coulson added his second goal of the game after taking advantage of some very sloppy St Andrews defending.

Even though they had a 4-0 lead, Sheffield showed no sign of laying up and continued to press forward in search of more goals.

The St Andrews keeper produced a number of fine saves to keep the score at 4-0 but he could do nothing to stop Matthew Kettley stroking home a fifth goal just before the end of the first half.

St Andrews enjoyed a tad more possession after the fifth goal and a short corner resulted in a shot just scraping the top of the Sheffield crossbar.

Moments into the second half, Sheffield scored their sixth goal of the game when Kopka cheekily flicked the ball over the grounded away keeper to also claim his second of the game.

St Andrews scored their first goal of the game from an effective counter attack but Sheffield captain Josh Darlington had a goal disallowed due to the referee already blowing his whistle moments later.

St Andrews scored a second when their centre forward managed to slip the ball under the legs of Wright.

With victory certain,

Sheffield’s performance seemed to slip slightly and errors lead to more St Andrews shots on goal.

The hosts’ final goal of the game came when a shot rebounded off the keeper and fell rather fortunately for Marcus Hooper who fired it past the keeper from close range, to give Sheffield their seventh goal of the game.

St Andrews pressed and it took a disciplined Sheffield defence to keep attacks to a minimum in the final few minutes.

It wasn’t long before the away managed a third when a good save from Wright fell to the St Andrews forward. The striker laid the ball off to their left winger who calmly rolled the ball into an open net to

make the final score 7-3.

After the game, Sheffield captain Josh Darlington said: “We’ve been working hard in training and it shows a lot of progression which is pleasing, we won in the cup last week but the first league win always means more.”

Despite the win, Sheffield remain in the relegation places in the league with four points after six games.

They next face the University of Leeds 1s in their next BUCS fixture on 9 December, which is their last fixture before the Christmas break.

Captain Darlington and the rest of the players in the squad will be hoping to replicate this performance in future fixtures.