Forge Press #159

Forge Press ISSUE 159 | MONDAY 7 MARCH 2022

THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

FORGEPRESS.ORG

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Forge Press

Letter from the Editor FORGE PRESS EDITORIAL TEAM Editor-in-Chief Harry Harrison

Deputy Editor Kate Procter

Deputy Editor John Gilding Managing Editor Michael Scarborough Head of Design George Tuli Head of Photography Flo Kilby Website Manager Vacant Head of Socials and Advertising Charlotte Crompton Inclusions & Welfare Officer Molly Powell Events Coordinator Jiaxu Luo Secretary Charlotte Langford Head of News Indie Labbe-Jones News Editor Joey Grindrod News Editor Laycie Beck News Editor Kane O’Regan Features Editor Gina Marie Kalsi Features Editor Wiktoria Wrzyszcz Opinion Editor Pia Cooper Opinion Editor Leticia Chen Science & Tech Editor Louise Elliott Science & Tech Editor Tevy Kuch Lifestyle Editor Claire Gelhaus Lifestyle Editor Ella Brooker Break Editor Aidan Smith Break Editor Chloe Louise O’Connor Arts & Theatre Editor Mary Crawshaw Arts & Theatre Editor Lucy Riddell Music Editor Callum Martin Music Editor Rory O’Shea Screen Editor Miette D’Souza Screen Editor Chloe Aslett Games Editor Reiss Mason Games Editor Tom Butt Head of Sport Jemma Snowdon Sport Editor Rahul Warrier Sport Editor Miriam Kuepper Multimedia Editor Jinqian Li Multimedia Editor Larissa Hurt Multimedia Editor Tong Liu News Reporter Charlotte Stokes News Reporter Stephanie Lam News Reporter Nathan Barcio News Reporter Connor Ost News Reporter Jade Bullen Deputy Head of Socials and Advertising Joel Hooke Social Media Assistant Ellie Storey Social Media Assistant Amy Mullen-Brown

A serious note...

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ello all, I hope you’re all doing well and are enjoying yourselves as the second semester ramps up.

Myself and everyone at Forge Press have been working hard this last month to bring you this issue and we hope you enjoy it. However, I am afraid my letter this issue will not be as positive as previous.

Last week, during production, a member of University staff, sporting a UCU picket-line armband, came into our offices in the SU. They were aggressive and hostile towards me and was very upset with my letter in our last issue. He felt I was making a mockery of the strikes, something I apologised for and assured him was not the intention.

I would like to apologise to any members of staff who were upset by the letter, however, it is absolutely unacceptable for this to happen. This member of staff, demanded that Forge Press publicly support the UCU, saying I must announce this in my next letter. He questioned my ability as a journalist and my ethics in what we do. He also made comparisons between our reporting and that of the BBC during the miner’s strike. He later referred to the BBC in this time as “like Nazis.”

Independent journalism, and student journalism is incredibly important. We pride ourselves on being a

neutral party on all student news with our reporting and we are thankful for the Sheffield SU for giving us the distance to be able to be critical of them also. This member of staff’s attempt to influence us to support them is wrong. As a committee, Forge Press voted to cover the strikes from a neutral perspective, because just like the broader student body, there are different opinions on these strikes. We will continue to do this.

Furthermore, if we remove the angles of Forge Press, this is a member of University staff, entering SU facilities and being aggressive towards a student.

It is simply unacceptable.

The UCU have been made aware of this incident.

Incidents like this, from anyone, must not happen again.

Harry Harrison Editor-in-Chief

Monday 7 March 2022

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NEWS Student loans to see significant changes An icy Hope Valley seen from Stanage Edge, Peak District. Photo and words: George Tuli

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NEWS Universities UK launch new guidance to tackle staffstudent relationships Page 7 ▶

FEATURES “Don’t kill your gran” - The Conservative Party and their lockdown parties Page 10 ▶

OPINION Student striking helpful or distruptive to the greater cause Page 12 ▶

SCIENCE & TECH A bad case of the prehistoric sniffles

The big picture Head of Design, George Tuli, reflects on the last 28 days

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hree storms descended on the UK in February, bringing heavy rain and flooding, powerful winds, and chilly air. While the relative warmth of the city centre didn’t allow snow to settle – the most we saw was hail – parts of the adjacent Peak District were blanketed

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with a thin layer of powdery snow. Here’s the view from the popular Stanage Edge, looking towards an icy Hope Valley with the Hope Cement Works peering through the haze.

LIFESTYLE Everything you’ve ever wondered about handpoked tattos Page 19 ▶

GAMES Elden Ring: First Impressions Page 22 ▶

Forge Press

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News

Cost of living crisis to deepen following Russian sanctions Kane O'Regan (he/him) Sanctions placed on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine are set to worsen the UK’s cost of living crisis.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says Britain must prepare to take an “economic hit”, but insists it would be “far worse” to allow Vladimir Putin to succeed in his military offensive in Ukraine.

With pressure mounting for further sanctions, Ms Truss claims the UK government

is drawing up a “hit list” of Russian oligarchs whose property and assets would be targeted.

At present, No 10 has imposed asset freezes on several Russian banks, airlines, and billionaires associated with the Kremlin, and stated that sanctions would be targeted personally at the Russian president.

The US, the UK and the EU also agreed to ban “selected” Russian banks from the global payments system Swift,

which connects thousands of financial institutions around the world.

“We are taking apart every bit of the Russian system,” Ms Truss told the BBC’s Sunday

“

The pain we will face in the UK is nothing like the pain the people in Ukraine are currently facing

pain people in Ukraine are currently facing.”

Morning programme.

But when questioned whether the cost of living would further increase, the cabinet minister replied: “That is correct. But the pain that we will face in the United Kingdom is nothing like the pain people in Ukraine are currently facing.”

She added: “They are having to take up arms in the face of an appalling dictator using untold weapons on their

country, and that is what we have to remember.

“We aren’t just fighting for the people of Ukraine and the sovereignty of Ukraine, we’re fighting for freedom and democracy, and that has a very high cost for us.

Her comments are likely to be met with frustration from opposition parties and backbench Conservative MPs, who have for months been urging the government to drop a manifesto-busting tax increase.

University of Sheffield facility awarded £7.9m for cutting edge medical research Laycie Beck (she/her) A clinical research facility run by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has received £7.9m in funding.

The funding was announced for the Sheffield NIHR Clinical Research Facility on Monday, February 28, by the National Institute for Health Research.

The £7.9m is more than twice the £3.1m awarded in the previous round of funding in 2017, and will be used by the facility to support the development and testing of new treatments for diseases.

This will enable researchers, clinicians and scientists from The University of Sheffield and the NHS to support early patient testing of a wide range of new treatments, such as for Motor Neurone Disease and Parkinson’s Disease.

Sheffield NIHR Clinical Research Facility will also support studies involving highly innovative treatments which are pioneered at the new Sheffield Gene Therapy Innovation and Manufacturing Centre, which is set to open at the University

later this year.

Professor Chris Newman is the director of NHIR Sheffield and the interim Vice President and head of the faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health at the University of Sheffield.

Newman said: “We are delighted to have been awarded £7.9m to enable us to continue world leading clinical research throughout NIHR Sheffield Clinical Research Facility.”

Sheffield was one of almost 30 clinical research facilities across the country to receive funding, which will expand the delivery of early phase clinical research in hospitals.

These facilities also support early translational and experimental medicine research, which can include studies to test new treatments in patients through human trials.

Newman added: “This success is testament to the hugely successful partnership between Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the University of Sheffield, which has already led to an increase in clinical research bringing important benefits for patients here

in Sheffield and across the wider NHS.” The clinical research facilities were also a crucial part of the nation’s response to the Coronavirus, as the supported the delivery of early phase experimental medicine studies and urgent public health studies.

More than 3000 people in Sheffield were recruited for Covid-19 research trials, and the facility in Sheffield had a leading role in more than 40 Coronavirus studies.

This work resulted in medicines being repurposed and adopted into NHS care to help patients within the UK by understanding the longer effects.

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This success is testament to the hugely successful partnership between Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the University of Sheffield

Monday 7 March 2022

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News

Student loans to see significant changes as students could be repaying into 60s Connor Ost (he/him) A drop in the student loan repayment threshold could hit swathes of prospective students in England, among other significant changes to the system.

For students starting in September 2023, the repayment threshold will drop from £27,295 to £25,000, costing them thousands of pounds more across their lifetime as they make repayments over 40 years rather than the current 30 years.

An equality analysis by the Department of Education states that younger graduates will be those more likely to see negative impact under these changes, as well as female graduates, and those ‘from disadvantaged backgrounds, or reside in the North, Midlands, SouthWest, or Yorkshire and the Humber.’

Repayment will stay at nine percent, and as such middle and lowest earners will be hit the hardest, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Meanwhile, the highest earners could save money, as large monthly repayments could see them repay their loans in full sooner, leaving less time for interest to be added.

On top of this, interest rates will be cut to just the Retail Price Index, when it has normally been calculated as RPI plus an additional 3 percent. This will mean less interest added on, but as such will further allow the highest earners to pay faster.

Interest will instead rise with inflation for loans

taken out by those starting university in 2023/24 and after, and tuition fees will be capped at £9,250 until then.

Those earning high incomes after graduation could save up to £20,000 in loan repayments over their lifetime, while the majority of graduates will repay up to or over £10,000 more than they

would have done under the current system.

The change has come during the publication of a review by the Department of Education that suggests limiting numbers on courses and setting a minimum grade requirement for school leavers to be eligible for a loan.

Image Credit: PEXELS The consultation would require students to have at least a GCSE in Maths and English, or two grade E A-levels. The University and Colleges Admission Service says disadvantaged students will be the worst affected if the change comes in.

Sheffield researchers awarded £1.4m for organ research Nathan Barcio (he/him) A team of scientists at the University of Sheffield have been awarded £1.4m for their study on organ development.

The study, drawn up by researchers from the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Science, aims to reveal how organs control their shape and form as the human body grows.

In a statement, a spokesperson from the University of Sheffield said: “These findings will generate

valuable new knowledge that can inform new treatments and interventions.”

The new project titled ‘Understanding Selforganised Tissue Patterning Across Scales’, will be led by Dr Alexander Fletcher and Professor David Strutt from the University of Sheffield after receiving this funding grant from UK Research and Innovation and Wellcome.

Researchers will be using modelling and experimental techniques to determine how cells become, and stay,

orientated correctly in fruit fly wings.

Dr Alexander Fletcher said: “Understanding how organs develop is crucial because we know that when organ development does not happen correctly, we can get developmental diseases or cancer. If we can understand the ways of controlling shape and form, then perhaps we will be able to intervene to correct these diseases.”

“We want to understand how the molecules that make up the cells interact with

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Understanding how organs develop is crucial because we know that when organ development does not happen correctly, we can get developmental diseases or cancer

each other to ensure each cell has the correct form and how so many cells interact together to form an organ, successfully, that is millions of times larger than each single molecule.”

The University project is one of nine projects that has been funded by a £18 million investment from UKRI and Wellcome via the Physics of Life Strategic Priorities Fund, which aims to harness physics to tackle the challenges that come through life sciences.

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Forge Press

News

Residents’ fears after Storm Franklin brings flooding and damages Charlotte Stokes (she/her) Residents have raised safety concerns in the Gleadless Valley after a brook located behind Blackstock Recycling Centre, flooded to heights they have never seen before.

Meers Brook, which is a popular spot where children play, was flooded at the weekend leaving debris covering the public footpath. The water levels were so high they covered a footbridge connecting the path to the tip.

James Hindle, 41, a local photographer who captured the floods on Sunday morning said the water levels in the brook rose to around 8ft.

He added: “When we were kids, we used to play in it and it would only go over our shoes and never higher than that.

“Half of us used to go through one end of the tunnel and the other half the other end, and play tig. It’s pitch black inside, but big enough to stand up to give you an idea of how deep it is as now you can’t see the tunnel at all.”

The photographer also took a video of the area of the floods, before posting it on the community page for Gleadless Valley. It now has over 5,700 views.

He said at the weekend residents were worried the tip would be flooded.

The high water levels in the vicinity of the tip on Blackstock Road were caught on video.

Mr Hindle said: “There isn’t much pavement on the walkway and it’s quite narrow so it is easily flooded.”

Resident Pat Merrick

said: “The old paths allowed water to seep through to the ground, never seen it like this before in 35 years.”

Trees in the area were damaged and some were felled by the gale force

winds.

Sheffield City Council has been dealing with flood damage all over the city, including on: Meadowhall Road, Worrall Road, Weedon Street, and Bradfield Road.

The council has apologised for delays in responding to incidents over twitter and have used the #flooding to maintain updated communication on the progress of their work.

Endcliffe students forced to move out of accomodation after warnings of fire risk Jade Bullen (she/her) Over 300 residents at the University of Sheffield’s Derwent accommodation were left with less than four hours notice to collect their belongings and move out due to a fire risk.

The major incident started after a fire occurred in the boiler room on Sunday 20th February, which shorted the electricity. Residents were evacuated to The Edge, and were only allowed to move back on Thursday 3rd March..

Hundreds of students were left to sleep on friend’s floors or were given emergency accommodation.

On Tuesday 22nd February, students were told they had until 5pm to collect all their

belongings but weren’t told where to go.

An International Relations and Politics student, who wishes to remain

anonymous, said: “The emergency accommodation we were sent to was disgusting.”

“It was an old abandoned

accommodation that hasn’t been lived in for years. The toilet was disgusting and the water didn’t seem clean to me.”

The electrical short was caused by the heavy rain, causing floods in the boiler room and leaving Derwent accommodation without

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The emergency accommodation we were sent to was disgusting. It was an old abandoned accommodation that hasn’t been lived in for years

any power, running water or working fire alarms.

Most students have now been moved into city accommodation, where they have been told that repairs can take at least a week to complete.

Alice Haldane, 18, a Journalism student said: “There are lots of people walking around with pillows.

Derwent is in the mud.”

The University of Sheffield said: "We understand how disruptive the last couple of days have been and would like to thank our students for their patience and cooperation. We are doing everything we can to make the transition to temporary alternative accommodation as smooth as possible.”

Monday 7 March 2022

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News

University UK launch new guidance to tackle staff-to-student misconduct Jade Bullen (she/her) University UK (UUK) have launched a report outlining new guidance on staff-tostudent sexual relationships.

The study was conducted

by Professor Cara Aitchison, Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff Metropolitan University and focuses on outlining methods that create an inclusive and positive culture in higher education.

The guidance aims to prevent issues like student harassment, personal relations between staff and students and the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDA’s), whilst treating staff and students fairly.

The guidance was written with input from the National Union of Students (NUS), survivor groups including Rape Crisis and The 1752 Group, staff unions, professional bodies and academic experts.

Professor Aitchison said: “Universities are committed

to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all students and staff – we have both an ethical and legal duty of care.

While the overwhelming majority of students enjoy a positive and safe experience on campus, sadly harassment and violence does still occur.”

Previous research findings from the NUS and the 1752 group suggested reasons why staff-student

relationships may lead to misconduct, such as staff and students not understanding what constitutes acceptable behaviour and also unequal power relations.

The same study found that women and postgraduate students are more likely to experience sexual misconduct.

The report addresses serval recommendations

Unidays launches £10,000 International Women's Day competition Connor Ost (he/him) Unidays has launched its fourth annual Student Women of the Year competition to celebrate International Women’s Day The competition, running from 2 to 27 March, will celebrate female-identifying entrepreneurs who will have a chance to win a £10,000 grant.

The competition is just one aspect of Unidays’ Student Women of the Year campaign, inspired by the International Women’s Day theme of ‘#BreakTheBias’.

Five runners-up will be awarded £1,000 each.

Unidays say they want to “redefine what it means to be an entrepreneur and empower those who are

overcoming stereotypes and discrimination by breaking boundaries and problem solving."

To apply, participants must post a 60-second video showcasing their boundarybreaking work and outlining plans for how they would use the £10,000 grant to further their impact.

Five stand-out entries will be selected and winner chosen by a panel of judges including environmental activist, CEO and author Maya Penn, vlogger Georgia Rankin, and Gal-Dem CEO Mariel Richards.

Entrants will be judged based on the content and creativity of the video, how well they explain how and what they are changing or contributing, how they will

use the prize grant, and to what extent their project will break boundaries and make the world a better place.

Pretty Munro, Global Marketing Director at Unidays says: “To date, Unidays has awarded £23,000 to female students to support their dreams and goals, however this year is our biggest prize fund yet.

“Building on last year’s International Women’s Day theme, which celebrated those who have been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic, this year’s award focuses on entrepreneurship.

“Through our competition, we want to inspire the entrepreneurs of tomorrow and help make their dreams a reality.”

which include putting clear policies in place to tackle sexual misconduct, banning the use of NDAs, strongly discouraging personal relationships between staff and students.

The report also encouraged universities to allow people to speak out and giving them the correct protection.

Universities should also establish joined-up thinking

across human resources and student services and ensure that staff and student policies and practices work together.

The guidance addresses methods to help universities prevent sexual misconduct and address it when it does occur, provide support for students to speak out and improve the recordings of complaints

Monday 7 March 2022

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Features

Feature by Tia Xiourouppas (She/Her)

Can women truly feel safe in the UK?

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02 women have been murdered since the death of Sarah Everard last March when we as a nation decided to do more for women; to not let another innocent person be murdered at the hands of a man.

Vigils across the country were held in solidarity, educational content was promoted, and people promised to do more. But beyond all the performative activism and Instagram collages that arose in protestation, a real epidemic of male violence against women is here, and clearly not shifting.

After the high-profile murders of another two women this year, we return to a period of mourning yet again. We are not only mourning the loss of another innocent woman but the loss of our safety.

Living in Sheffield as a female student has not been an easy experience. Walking home alone never gets easier, nor does leaving the house in anything remotely revealing.

One University of Sheffield student said that no matter

the precautions she might take when walking by herself, being comfortable when out alone is a feeling that she rarely experiences.

She explained: “I just don’t know how much more I can do to keep myself safe anymore. We shouldn’t have to hold keys in our hands or carry a rape alarm with us in our pockets. We shouldn’t have to avoid dimly lit areas or streets that aren’t as safe.”

Sheffield is one of the greenest cities in the world and one of its defining qualities is the abundance of wildlife here. But the safety (or lack of) of the greenery continues to leave women at risk of attack.

In 2017, a petition demanding that Sheffield City Council improve the lighting in parks was made following a sexual assault in Weston Park, receiving over 800 signatures. Four years later, a new petition was made to advocate for the exact same thing. If change was implemented from the first cry for help, tens of women could have been saved from fearing for their safety at night.

Improvements are finally being seen, with the

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I just don’t know how much more I can do to keep myself safe anymore. We shouldn’t have to hold keys in our hands or carry a rape alarm with us in our pockets. introduction of CCTV and floodlights into some of Sheffield’s many parks but despite these measures, the fear of assault remains prominent for women walking alone.

The nightlife in Sheffield is another defining feature of the city, and students travel from across the world to Sheffield because of its reputation. But when spikings and attacks on women happen so commonly in our nightclubs, the negatives begin to outweigh the positives. When University began again in September, the number of spiking victims grew week on week. In Sheffield Students’

Union, five women were allegedly spiked in just one night. It’s spine-tingling to see people you know becoming victims of assault.

You never think it’s going to be you until it is.

In response to allegations of spiking in SU club events earlier in the year, the SU said: “We are aware that there have been several drink spiking incidents in Sheffield recently. Although this is rare in our venues, we would like to reassure students of our commitment to ensuring everyone can have a safe night out.”

Going out as a woman will never be risk-free but it is reassuring to see some actual change within nightclubs. It is a shame that it took female-led activism such as ‘Girls Night In’ to promote any change, but the progress within Sheffield clubs is applaudable.

Following various campaigns, venues have introduced more anti-spiking measures and increased security, while Sheffield City Council secured £5000 to combat drink-spiking. The University of Sheffield’s women minibus is yet another commendable measure that supports

female students who walk home alone after a night out, fearing for their safety.

But despite all these measures, has anything really changed? Drink covers, CCTV, floodlights; they are all positive things that can help increase women’s safety.

But when will we introduce measures to stop men actually assaulting women?

All too often we hear the same victim-blaming: ‘she shouldn’t have walked alone’ or ‘she shouldn’t have worn that’. Microaggressions against women, rape culture, ‘boys will be boys’, locker room banter, ingrained misogyny- these are all the things that need to be blamed for the attacks against women. These are the things that need to be tackled. Gendered violence does not result from the fault of the women but from the mindset of the man.

So do women really feel safe in the UK at this current moment? The answer is no. Preventative measures are good in retrospect, but until we get to the root of the cause and change men’s mindsets on women, I do not believe we can achieve actual safety for women.

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Forge Press

Features

Feature by Orla Katz Webb-Lamb (She/Her)

“Don’t kill your gran” - The Conservative Party and their lockdown parties

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n December 7 2021, a video was leaked on ITV News of a mock press conference in which Allegra Stratton, the then press secretary, was joking about a cheese and wine business meeting that was “not socially-distanced.”

This video was not the first in the rumblings about a lockdown party at No.10, but it was the most concrete evidence that had emerged at that time, and it kicked up a storm. More than a month later we are still talking about breaches of lockdown in relation to the Tory party.

It has since been uncovered that there was a birthday party for Boris Johnson in 2020, a garden party which the Prime Minister confirms he attended, ‘wine-time Fridays’, parties in different ministerial departments, and a whole host of other allegations. We do also know that Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, was having an affair which breached lockdown rules.

So it seems fair to conclude

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It feels as though the Tories have been invincible over the past couple of years: controversies, scandals, and Bill proposals have failed to shake their bullet-proof popularity that those who made the rules were not exactly playing by them, and it has caused outrage on all sides of the House of Commons.

These parties touched the general public emotionally.

People on all sides of the political spectrum have come out with stories about what they could not do, such as attend funerals, hug parents, be with loved ones as they lay dying - whilst the government was living it up in No. 10.

In September 2020, Matt

Hancock said: “Don’t kill your gran” - a warning initially in Preston in August. This same health secretary was caught on May 6 on camera in an embrace with his aide.

This was at a time where hugging people outside your household was still banned.

As Dorothy Byrne, the former Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4 stated: “I stuck by the rules, and I didn’t catch covid, neither did my friends.

Some people unfortunately did, but as we know, the prime minister, the exhealth secretary, and other members of government were infected. Well, it’s no surprise, is it? They werepartying and having affairs.”

This is a sentiment echoed by many. It is especially frustrating for students who were in part blamed for a rise in cases towards the end of 2020.

It feels as though the Tories have been invincible over the past couple of years: controversies, scandals, and Bill proposals have failed to shake their bullet-proof popularity. But then the

parties came and everything changed. Byrne expresses that there is “one rule for them and another for the hoi polloi.”

A 22-year-old student who votes Conservative stated that “yes” there was hypocrisy here. He wanted people who had paid fines to get their money back.

However, what is interesting is the split between those who are waiting for details, and those who feel as though no matter what, we have heard enough.

The aforementioned Conservative student was frustrated with Johnson, that was true, but he wanted to hear ‘all the facts’ before he could make up his mind as to whether or not Johnson should leave. However, Lily, 20, from Sheffield, stated that “the facts are that

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He wanted people who had paid fines to get their money back

regardless of new findings, he misled Parliament by saying that he didn’t know of any parties when he has now owned up to attending at least one and being aware of others, and he misled the public by attending and knowing about parties. What more facts do we need?”.

This is where the divide lies.

For some, it is completely obvious that the Conservative Party has been tarnished. For others, they would be happy seeing Johnson gone, and the Tories remaining in power.

If the party can shake it off, they truly will be invincible.

Something that will not please an NHS worker in London who feels as though “the shocking thing is that the nation has voted for this since 2010”, and that the parties represent more than just parties.: betrayal, incompetence, and a lack of respect, something that this worker felt is reflected in all Conservative policy.

Sheffield Conservatives have yet to respond to requests for comment.

Monday 7 March 2022

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Features

Feature by Josh Thory-Rao (He/Him)

Mandatory vaccines for NHS – safety measure or an attack on freedom?

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n Monday 31 January 2022 the Health Secretary Sajid Javid, in the House of Commons, announced that the government will ‘launch a consultation on ending vaccination as a condition of employment’ regarding frontline NHS workers, and that ‘subject to…the will of this house, the government will revoke the regulations.’

This policy was pursued originally and approved by MPs in December and was set to come into force on 1st April, meaning unvaccinated frontline NHS staff would have had to have their first shot of the vaccine by February 3rd to avoid losing their jobs.

Mr Javid had argued that it was pursued with the intention of protecting patients from unvaccinated NHS staff, and still stands by the previous decision, maintaining that the mandate had been the right move but is now not, given for example differences between the current Omicron and preceding Delta variants of Covid.

Former Health Secretary

Jeremy Hunt raised concerns about patient safety as he voiced concerns about this U-turn in the commons. This U-turn seems similar to the government’s previous one in September 2021, regarding proof of vaccination being a requirement for entry into large venues like nightclubs.

The NHS vaccination mandate had faced heavy criticism, including vocal elements within the NHS itself. Dr Steve James, a consultant anaesthetist at King’s College hospital in London, confronted Mr Javid in early January during a hospital visit, challenging him on the proposed plans. Not only did Dr James think that the vaccine was unnecessary for his protection, but he queried the idea that vaccination actually reduces transmission of the virus, given protecting patients is supposedly the justification for mandating it.

This is an important point.

Amy, a final year medical student at the University of Sheffield, mentions how vaccines mainly impact an individual’s experience of Covid, rather than its

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The NHS vaccination mandate had faced heavy criticism, including vocal elements within the NHS itself. spread. This is echoed by Dr Katie Musgrave, who in the Telegraph, citing a recent Imperial College study, argued that given the limited evidence in this study of vaccination affecting transmission, PPE and testing are more appropriate ways of protecting patients than vaccination.

Another key concern, both for students and politicians alike, is the staffing issues that would have inevitably arisen from carrying through the policy. Eddie, a final year medical student at the University of Sheffield, says that for the most part, those still unvaccinated are probably not going to get it, thus stressing the ‘crisis of staff shortages’

that this policy would bring when those unwilling to get vaccinated would then lose their jobs.

By the government’s own impact assessment, around 73,000 frontline NHS staff would still refuse to be vaccinated, even at the cost of their jobs. Relating to this point, Mr Javid, when announcing his backtracking from the policy, told MPs it was important to consider the impact on NHS and social care staff, “especially at a time where we already have a shortage of workers”.

Many critics of the policy bring up this point – how exactly can we expect to ‘protect patients’ if the already underfunded and stretched NHS loses still more staff?

Also mentioned by Dr Musgrave is the idea of autonomy, key in medical ethics. Individuals should be free to accept or decline treatments. James, another final year medical student at the University of Sheffield, thinks that in this vein vaccination should remain a personal choice. Amy, too, argues that it is somewhat hypocritical for NHS staff

to be bound by the rules of medical ethics and autonomy but be denied that themselves.

Opposition to the mandate is not opposition to the vaccine itself. Both Amy and Eddie say that among NHS staff, vaccination should be encouraged. There should be an ‘educational push’ though, Amy says, rather than a forcing approach. Many who oppose the mandate have either had the vaccine or have had Covid and cite ‘natural antibody immunity’ as their reason for feeling they don’t need it, as Dr James does.

It is the attempt to force staff into taking the vaccine that critics take issue with.

And it has caused, as with previous ideas of vaccine mandates, huge controversy.

Even if the vaccination does significantly decrease transmission and so contribute to patient safety as the government argues, would this trump the potential loss of over 70,000 staff and the ethical dilemma that this seeming coercion brings up? The government, evidently, has decided that it would not.

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Forge Press

Opinion

Students striking - helpful or disruptive to the greater cause?

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Nicole Calogero (she/her) ere we go again. From social media posts to the large crowds outside university buildings, we are reminded that the university has been affected by another wave of strikes.

Throughout campus, discussions relating to the current state of events are not uncommon. Opinions seem to be divided between students welcoming the potential winds of change and students associating the strikes with unnecessary disruption towards their overall university experience as if surviving a global pandemic was not enough.

Last semester, apart from the occasional cancelled

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The most disruptive element of the strikes were not the cancelled lessons per se, but the classroom changes

lecture most of my lectures ran as planned, therefore disruption was kept to a minimum. Initially, with the current strikes I expected a similar experience however, my expectations changed radically on Monday the 14th, as a result of the occupation of Jessop West by a group of students. Jessop West was the first building to be occupied, shortly followed by the Hicks building.

Unfortunately, many lectures have been disrupted or even cancelled due to the strikes meaning that deadlines are scheduled to an alternative date, which for some students causes them to clash with other deadlines adding unnecessary stress.

Nonetheless, I understand that this is the best alternative, and is admirable the speed to which the professors are able to deal with this the current situation. It is notable that further disruption coming from the student strikes could be due to the fact that they are occurring at an early stage in the Spring semester, removing valuable time that could be used to adjust back to university life after

a long Christmas break, not to mention the exam season that was disrupted amidst the Omicron concerns.

In my opinion, the most disruptive element of the strikes were not the cancelled lessons per se, but the classroom changes. As a result, the simple action of turning up to lectures transformed into a logistic

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They highlight that there are certain aspects of the education system that need to be addressed and solved

nightmare. At the same time, some classes had no other option but to be online causing a disruption we are far too familiar with connection issues. A subtle reminder of a time when Google Meets and Blackboard were the only gateways to access lectures.

Despite the greater disruption, I am aware that compared to other students I had a more positive experience dealing with strikes. Indeed, when the Arts Tower got occupied, many Architecture students faced a crisis situation because most of their work is stored in the Arts Tower, and closure meant that they were unable to continue their time consuming and demanding assignments.

Ultimately, to conclude on a positive note, personally, I am in favour of the strikes, because they highlight that there are certain aspects of the education system that need to be addressed and solved. When the issues at hand continue to be unresolved, a strike seems to be the only method to drive for change in relation to their future, pensions and working conditions. Having the right working conditions could drive motivation, and as we are all familiar with, motivation leads to better performance and therefore leads to better teaching and resources for students.

However, the occupation of university buildings, is not representative of all the people involved in the strikes, and individuals are more likely to remember the negative impact rather than the reason why the strikes happened in the first place.

Now there is only hope that the large scale disruptions were helpful to the cause, and as a new wave of strikes is approaching in the coming weeks this is more important than ever.

Monday 7 March 2022

13

Opinion

The mobbing of Keir Starmer should alarm all political sides After the shocking mobbing of Keir Starmer, Jack Redfern explores how this should concern everybody.

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t’s a difficult position modern Britain has found itself in. With an ever-changing, inconsistent political landscape, party leaders seeming increasingly fleeting and elections that come and go, we seem to be heading into a strange ambiguity.

Not to mention the postpandemic, precarious world we’re entering, where the big cloud of tragedy and divisions over vaccines and lockdowns seems like it will loom above us for the foreseeable future. So this recent event of Opposition Leader Keir Starmer being mobbed by anti-lockdown, anti-vax protesters is, though shocking, yet another drop in an already-big ocean.

On the evening of Monday 7th February, Keir Starmer was walking from a briefing on Ukraine at the Ministry of Defence, back to Parliament.

Before reaching Parliament he was surrounded and mobbed by the group. They repeatedly shouted ‘traitor’ at him, as well as ‘protecting paedophiles’ and ‘Jimmy Savile.’ Those latter verbal abuses were the result of Boris Johnson’s comments at PMQ’s a few days prior, where he accused Starmer of failing to prosecute Savile when he was Director of

Public Prosecutions. This incident should shock and worry all of us, on all sides of the increasingly-divided political spectrum.

Though this is an example of the extreme ends of protest and political anger, it is worrying in a wider, more general sense due to it being indicative of a bigger problem. Politics in Britain has been adversarial for years now. With the grip social media has on the way we consume news and culture, the disconnect between politics and the public and a growing general distrust of politicians and government, opposing political sides are getting more and more angry. One of the most worrying outcomes of this adversity is the endangering and the abuse of elected representatives.

This categorically is something that must end and mustn’t creep its way into the political sphere.

To live in a country where our own MPs and the Leader of the Opposition can’t walk between their vital political duties without being accosted, would be no life for any citizen. To have such a growing presence of this abuse of MPs in our culture is symptomatic of the dark place Britain is headed. This

is not so much a slippery slope but a steep, dangerous drop that our country is leaning towards. As Tory MP Dominic Grieve said on ITV News, this (the mobbing) is ‘part of a downward spiral of behaviour in our politics.’

The footage of Starmer being mobbed is particularly alarming when we consider the tragedies that have already happened with our MPs. In 2016 Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right white supremacist, who shouted ‘Britain first’ as he attacked her. Just a few months ago, in October 2021 Tory MP David Amess was stabbed to death at his constituency surgery; making him the second serving MP murdered in the last five years.

The fallout of this worrying event has resulted in, well not much. Boris Johnson, who evidently inflamed this mob with his Jimmy Savile comments, simply tweeted ‘The behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition tonight is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable’, with no reference to his Savile remarks. Despite the fact that his own MPs have disavowed his comments.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said ‘I wouldn’t have said it’ at a press briefing, and Sir Roger

Gale MP on Sky News said ‘I would be saying to the PM, go to the House of Commons tomorrow… and apologise for any part that anything you have said had.’

Even Keir Starmer’s reaction to the incident somewhat downplayed its severity, saying he was soon back at his desk in the Commons and still planned on playing five-aside football later. Of course Starmer is the victim in this and he has a right to his own reaction. However this does seem slightly misguided and leans towards a let’s forget this ever happened type of outlook.

Granted, two people from the mob have been arrested.

But what if these protestors are just a handful of many angry, extreme people who see surrounding and verbally abusing our MPs as acceptable behaviour?

And so, here is where modern Britain’s difficult position reveals itself once again. We have two recurrent aspects at play: the first

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This is not so much a slippery slope but a dangerous drop that our country is leaning towards.

being when political anger and deep-routed divisions rear their ugly heads, to the point of politicians being abused, and the second being the reaction from those in charge and their tendency to ignore the severity under the guise of moving on.

With those two aspects, we’re left, yet again, in a vague political limbo. A limbo where we seem to react to these concerning events of political division and anger towards our representatives as though they happen with no following consequences.

Many MPs will of course know what may follow, but this distinct lack of reaction and concern from the general public will eventually lead to a downward spiral where politics and the public becomes a hostile pairing, with ill-informed mistrust at its centre.

We may be desensitised, we may see scenes like Starmer being mobbed and be initially shocked, only to then move on, worry about other things and scroll down to the next news piece. But these divisions are there, visibly so - this isn’t a silent, invisible problem we’re dealing with and it won’t go away. It’s become more than clear that this hostility between political sides, for Britain’s sake, mustn’t go on any longer.

Forge Press

14

Science & Tech

Down to earth – ISS to be brought out of orbit

International Space Station Credits: Pixabay

Charlie Vickers (He/Him)

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ince November 2000, there have been people living and working on the International Space Station (ISS), in Earth’s low orbit. But in 2031, the space station will be brought back down to the ground NASA announced earlier this month.

The 5-bedroom, 2-bathroom ISS was originally scheduled to last for just 15 years. After the first sections were launched in 1998, newly-added sections, known as modules, were regularly fixed in as recent as last year. However, it is becoming harder for

NASA to guarantee the safety of their residents in orbit beyond 2030. Maintenance of any residence is tricky enough, but when you are 227 nautical miles from the Earth’s surface any problems are magnified, with some starting to show already.

Space junk (debris which is caught in orbit around Earth) presents a serious threat to the ISS, with approximately 23,000 pieces of debris larger than a softball currently orbiting the Earth.

If one of these collided with the ISS it could cause serious damage and endanger its crew. In 2021, Russia tested its anti-satellite missile on an unused satellite, worsening the problem. It forced the ISS astronauts, including two

Russians, to take emergency shelter.

Safety isn’t the only reason for pulling the plug on the ISS, as it currently costs NASA around $3bn a year to run and maintain. The future of space stations now lies with the private sector, with NASA predicting it will be able to save $1.3bn by going private. These companies include SpaceX and Axiom Space, who have already been commissioned to build a space station module.

Decommissioning will be done in stages, with some current modules to be detached and left in orbit for use in future space stations.

They will retain their orbit speed and so won’t end up crashing through

the atmosphere, as the remaining parts of the ISS will. The final humans will leave the ISS in 2030 before boosters are then used to decrease the height of the orbit before it is guided to a rapid descent through the atmosphere by other space shuttles. As it comes through the atmosphere it will mostly burn up, leaving a few smaller pieces which will reach Point Nemo, the furthest point from land (the astronauts on the ISS are closer when they pass by than anyone else). It is often called a space graveyard, as many space vehicles have been brought down here – including the Russian Mir space station which was decommissioned in 2001.

Over its lifetime the ISS has been a flagship achievement for global collaboration, with Russia, Japan, Canada, the USA and 11 European countries playing their part.

Having people in space permanently has allowed extensive research to be undertaken on a range of topics, from deep space to materials and even biomedicine. Despite these advances, global politics still plays an important role and collaboration may be difficult to negotiate. Dmitry Rogozin, leader of the Russian space programme, even suggested that American sanctions may bring about an end to Russia’s involvement with the ISS.

Gene-Editing Crop Research in Full Swing Will Rowe (He/Him)

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hina’s decision to relax guidelines surrounding research into gene-edited crops will spark a flurry of research into plants that are better suited to growth in changing climates, according to scientists in Nature.

New regulations approve the use of genome editing in crop research, a remarkable series of techniques that add, remove, or alter DNA at specific locations within

the genetic code of plants.

Importantly, this technology produces plants that do not contain foreign DNA and are no different to plants that occur naturally.

This distinguishes geneedited (GE) plants from controversial genetically modified (GM) organisms, which usually feature the insertion of whole genes from another plant to confer advantageous characteristics.

The precise nature of GE technologies allows for scientists to ‘upgrade’ crop plants by targeting specific

genes. Novel traits that could be introduced using geneediting include resistance to drought, pests, and disease as well as better responses to fertiliser and even improved taste.

In China, the government giving the green-light for GE research has already seen researchers scramble to submit applications for the use of their crops. One crop likely to receive approval is a variety of wheat that has been in the pipeline since 2014, and is resistant to a fungal disease called powdery mildew. Powdery

mildew affects crop yields around the globe, so such a development could have widespread positive impacts for future food security.

Research such as this is made possible by the new laws introduced by the Chinese government that slash the time taken to receive approval for new crop varieties. Normally, GE crops must undergo lengthy and expensive field trials to prove their safety.

Now, researchers must only provide laboratory data and perform small-scale field trials to get their crop

approved, which could cut wait times to one to two years.

It is not only China that is softening its stance on gene-edited crops. The UK government, free from strict EU regulations on GM technologies, has also decided to exempt GE crops from field trials, as well as the regulatory definition of a GM organism. These changes reflect the differences between GE and GM crops outlined in this article, and the huge advances made in the field in recent years.

Monday 7 March 2022

15

Keep your tail on...

Thanucha Sooriapatham (She/Her)

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any lizard species have the ability to detach their own tails, a trick known as ‘self-amputation’. This is mostly done in self defence, enabling lizards to distract their predators and flee, leaving their tails behind.

The process where many reptile species, such as lizards, can drop their appendages and regenerate them is known as caudal autotomy. The specifics of caudal autotomy have been puzzling scientists for many years, but now, a team in Abu Dhabi has figured out what stops lizards from losing their tails on a daily basis.

Lizard tails contain plug and socket like prongs called fracture planes.

These fracture planes are arranged in rows and can be detached at varying lengths depending on the predator. Dr. Song and his team at New York University discovered that these prongs contain mushroom-like pillar structures, containing small nanopores on the surface.

These pillars are attached quite firmly to the tail and prevent it from detaching during regular movement, however, when the tail is bent they allow the tail to be released.

To test this theory, the tails of three lizards were carefully amputated and the

Darwin, sexism, and sexual

Statue of Charles Darwin Credits: Pixabay

Science & Tech Lizard Reptile Credits: Pixabay

structures of the fracture planes and nanopores on the micropillars were meticulously studied using an electron microscope.

With further experiments, the research team confirmed that the pillars contain imprints and cracks which prevent tails from staying on or being completely removed. This means that lizards can begin to detach their tails when approaching oncoming danger, but also stop the process once it is safe. A discovery like this is vital to understanding the evolutionary aspects of lizards and how their tails are only detached when necessary.

Flo Moulton (She/Her)

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ologically, sex is an investment.

To procreate requires time, energy, and resources. The reward is strong and healthy offspring with a new, better, combination of genes.

It was Darwin who first suggested that animals take care in selecting their mates. However, the scarcity of eggs compared to the abundance of sperm, coupled with the time and energy needed for an embryo to develop, creates a biological inequality.

Consequently, females tend to have agency and be the selective sex, while males compete to secure a mate for reproduction.

A new paper, published in Science, suggests that Darwin dismissed this due to his patriarchal views.

He downplayed female variation, placing emphasis on male variation, sexual ornamentation, and male dominance hierarchies.

Interestingly, he focused on male variation as a driver of sexual selection, despite this inherently meaning females have agency in choosing between the variations within potential mates.

Sexual selection, the

process by which members on one biologial sex choose who to mate with, is multifaceted. Animals consider a vast number of factors including sound, smell, and appearance while making this choice.

Females have been shown to select for traits that don’t necessarily benefit the male’s ability to survive.

This is perhaps illustrated most vividly by the male peacock, whose tail appears to offer no benefit in life beyond attraction of a mate, actively hindering them in flight and predator evasion. Importantly, for some species, sexual selection is driven by males, but it remains driven by investment of time or energy. In pipefish, where the males carry fertilised eggs until hatching, females compete for male attraction.

Research in the years since Darwin’s theories were published has revealed that the process of sexual selection is far more complex than he suggested. Arguably, this could be attributed to the lack of scientific knowledge of the time.

However, there’s evidence Darwin understood strategy and variation beyond his writing, but that perhaps he felt uncomfortable

writing about such things.

He would certainly have observed behaviours by female dogs and cats having litters with multiple males, and female birds choosing multiple males to fertilise one – or more – eggs in the reproductive tract.

What can be said is that it was unavoidable for Darwin’s work to be unaffected by the patriarchal and sexist culture he lived in. In his private letters, he referred to women as ‘inferior intellectually’, noting that female chitchat was ‘good for one’s health – but a terrible loss of time’. In a time where genetics were almost entirely misunderstood, there were gaps in Darwin’s understanding of sexual selection. Had he more knowledge of genetics, perhaps he, along with many great scientists of the time, wouldn’t have married his first cousin.

While Darwin’s private writing highlights his sexism, and his public works show his conclusions were likely influenced by misogynistic views, it’s important to note that he wrote the foundation of modern evolutionary biology. Ultimately, Darwin paved the way for scientists of our time to understand sexual selection.

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Forge Press

Science & Tech

Planet observed in the habitable zone of a dead star Kate Arsac England (She/ Her)

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n international team of researchers, including astronomers from the University of Sheffield, have discovered a planet orbiting around a dying star in our galaxy that could potentially harbour life. The star, a white dwarf named WD1054-226, is around 117 light years from Earth.

The researchers spent 18 days recording light changes in the white dwarf at the La Silla Observatory in Chile using ULTRACAM, a highspeed astrophysics camera developed at the University of Sheffield. Although the planet cannot be observed directly, the regular passage of small moons blocking out the star’s light every

23 minutes points to the presence of a gravitational influence that could only be created by a large planet.

What’s even more exciting is that this planet resides within the white dwarf’s habitable zone, making it a contender in the search for extraterrestrial life in our galaxy.

The habitable zone is a theoretical range of distances from a star where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Too close to a star and the planet’s water would simply evaporate; too far away and it would freeze.

The habitable zone around our Sun encompasses Venus, Earth and Mars. The white dwarf WD1054-226’s habitable zone is a lot nearer and narrower to the dying star, as it emits much less heat than our Sun. White dwarf is the name given to the final life stage

of a small-to-medium-sized star as it cools, eventually becoming a black dwarf. The cooling time of white dwarf is longer than the estimated age of the universe, therefore theoretically no black dwarves should yet exist.

Larger stars, sometimes called supergiants, never become white dwarfs,

instead exploding in a phenomenal and beautiful event called a supernova, the precursor to both neutron stars and black holes.

Sheffield Professor Vik Dhillon said: “Our Sun will become a red giant and then a white dwarf in a few billion years’ time, and hence our observations provide us with

an opportunity to study the possible fate of the planets in our solar system.”

The international team’s observations are the first time a planet-like object has been found in the habitable zone of a white dwarf. Will we ever be able to travel far enough to reach the planet?

Only time will tell.

Artist impression of the white dwarf. Credit: Mark

A bad case of the prehistoric sniffles Sophie Teall (She/Her)

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olds, coughs and fevers are experienced across the animal kingdom, and the dinosaurs that roamed the Earth millions of years ago were no exception.

Now, evidence of dinosaur flu has been found in the fossil record for the first time, in the bones of a juvenile dinosaur.

The skeleton of this young dino shows bone damage which was most likely

caused by a respiratory disease. The dinosaur in question belonged to the same group as the iconic large and long-necked Brachiosaurs. Close inspection of the individual revealed damage to certain vertebrae, also known as a lesion, which was sustained during the animal’s life due to disease.. By a process of elimination to rule out other possible causes, the research team working with the fossil concluded that the lesion was likely caused by an infection that spread from the

animals’ respiratory system to their bones.

As with modern birds, the only surviving line of dinosaurs, evidence suggests that extinct dinosaurs lacked diaphragms and instead used a series air sacs to push air in and out of their lungs.

Consequently, this long-necked dinosaur would have had numerous air spaces within the vertebrae along their neck. It is

via these spaces that an infection in the respiratory system could spread to the bones, leading to the lesions forming that can be observed today.

It is challenging to identify exactly what this infection was, largely because the soft-tissues used in living animals to make such a diagnosis was lost long ago when the dinosaur became fossilised. However, the team studying the fossils have given a tentative diagnosis of fungus-caused air sac disease. This is something modern birds and reptiles

suffer from and can lead to bone infections. It’s impossible to know whether the disease killed this particular dinosaur, but in poultry it can be fatal without prompt treatment.

This discovery is an exciting piece in the puzzle of understanding the history of diseases. Most understanding of symptoms in living birds are limited to the soft-tissues, but it’s hoped that with more studies, scientists will have a better understanding of how to identify disease in the fossil record.

Monday 7 March 2022

17

Lifestyle

Indoor Activities to brighten up a stormy day Rebecca Mcphillips (she/her) We’ve just recovered from storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin. We’ve been told to hunker down and prepare for storm Gladys. Some of you may be feeling worryingly similar to how you did in the (all to recent) lockdowns, staying inside and opting to complete uni work online.

We all know that getting out and being active and sociable is essential for our mental health; so we have decided to compile a list of the top ten rainy day activities to do in and around Sheffield, in the hopes that you won’t feel too cooped up.

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Getting out and being social is essential for our mental health” Ninja Warrior UK Tickets: £11+ Ninja Warrior UK is an inflatable obstacle course located just before the IKEA at Meadowhall. You can get to it by bus or tram, and you can book a slot of either one or two hours (I would recommend two, as this is best value for money, and you won’t feel like you have to cram in a sickening amount of cardio to make the most of your visit).

Regardless of if you’re bringing a date or a group of friends, this is an activity which gives you the rare opportunity of unleashing your inner child. It’s a work out you won’t forget.

Lane 7 Tickets: £3+ for drinks, £7+ for games.

If you’re after a slightly competitive and less active day out, lane 7 is the perfect fit. Located just off The Moor in town, you can book in for bowling, ping pong, pool, darts, or beer pong. If that doesn’t sound to your

liking, there are various sports games being played on a projector at all times, drinks flowing at the bar, and a variety of old school arcade games,such as dance mats and table hockey to be played.

IceSheffield Tickets: £7+ Ever wanted to try your hand at ice skating? On an actual rink, and not one of those shoddy plastic pop up rinks you find yourself awkwardly hobbling around at the Christmas market every other year?

Look no further.

IceSheffield is just a short bus ride away, and there is even an ice skating society as part of the Students Union who can provide you not only with a lift, but also with company. Live out your swan lake fantasy.

boot owners. There’s the Foundry climbing centre, The Climbing Works andAwesome Walls as well as Sport Sheffield. There are loads of indoor climbing centres to cling on to for fun and exercise.

Rock up Sheffield (located in Meadowhall shopping centre) is a more novelty climbing centre which might appeal to less hardcore peak district fans.

Escape room

you win tickets with almost every game you play and you can redeem a prize if you save up enough. This is an ideal rainy activity as you can get the tram directly in, have a mooch around, grab some food and play games all within the confines of a sheltered building. Vue Cinema is conveniently located right next to this arcade, if you wanted to lengthen your day even more.

Laser Quest Tickets: £6.95+ (cheaper if you can snap up a good groupon deal) Sheffield actually has an abundance of laser quest venues dotted around town to be made the most of. We all know what laser quest is. I don’t need to say much here.

If you can assemble a group of friends or bring along your bestie to shoot lasers at for half an hour, you’ll have so much fun that you’ll forget all about storm Gladys.

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shop located inside.

The Alfred Denny Museum is on campus, if you’re not using it as part of your course it might be worth paying a visit.

Located a couple of roads down from the Crucible Theatre there is an art gallery,called the Millenium Gallery, full of pretty things to look at.

GloryHoles Sheffield Tickets: £10 Sheffield’s latest attraction: an indoor novelty minigolf centre full of 18+ courses.

It’s located just opposite McDonalds on High Streetand has a groovy looking bar at the end of the course, with a few arcade games dotted about.

Though the centre is a work in progress with more courses to be opened in the near future, you could spend a good couple of hours chatting and enjoying being out of the house here.

Planet Pot Tickets: Vary If you’re more of an artsy type, head down to Planet pot for a coffee and an afternoon of pottery. This is a really cosy afternoon out, and a wholesome opportunity for you to unleash your creativity over some friendly chat.

There is an abundance of escpae rooms around Sheffield to choose from”

Tickets: £13+ Again, there is an abundance of escape rooms around Sheffield to choose from.

This is more an exercise for the brain and relationship dynamics between you and your mates. It’s a stellar rainy day activity nonetheless.

Indoor Climbing Tickets: Varied prices.

Roughly £7+ Bet you thought this would be higher up on the list seeing as Sheffield is riddled with climbers and mountain

Meadowhall FunStation Tickets: Choose what you pay.

At the top of the food court in Meadowhall is an arcade which includes various VR games. It’s giving Stranger Things vibes. Much the same as in any old arcade,

Museums and Art Galleries Tickets: Mostly donation only Although a lot of museums take some walking to, Sheffield is home to a number of museums which can make for a cute casual day trip. Western Park Museum is my personal favourite, and it has a coffee

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Forge Press

Lifestyle

How to use incremental mindfullness to find more time in your day

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Oliver Bould (he/him) s we depart from the never-ending lockdowns and the end of social distancing, the pace of life seems to be getting constantly faster.

Our agendas are busier than ever, and we are persistently trying to strike a balance between work and social life and as a result, the twenty-four hours we have in a day feel like they have been significantly squeezed.

Incremental mindfulness can be adopted by merging tasks and actively looking for ways to introduce small practices in our day-to-day life. Below are some examples of how to incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine.

Listening when travelling There are thousands of great self-help books and podcasts that illuminate how to live a more present and meaningful life. Using the time on your way to university or work is a great opportunity to start your day by immersing yourself in discussions that will encourage a state of inner peace. Jay Shetty’s podcasts

on YouTube feature a range of experts and celebrities that discuss the wisdom they have obtained through overcoming adversity and hardships. Whether it’s the calming reassurance from neuroscientist Dr Joe Dispenza, explaining how you can reprogramme your mind to manage negative habitual thinking, or the empowering words of ultramarathon runner David Goggins on how to maintain discipline, listening to podcasts whilst commuting is a great way to effortlessly unlock a deeper state of mindfulness.

‘Single-tasking’ As boring as it may seem, completely zoning in and immersing yourself in tedious chores is a surprising way of improving your ability to remain conscious in the moment. By simply focusing on the task at hand, you can practice anchoring yourself in the present, which trains your mind to avoid distractions and the habit of trying to process too many thoughts at once. Take cooking for example. By singletasking and eliminating

Vegan food spots perfect for As we begin to approach the warmer months, there are so many cafes and restaurants in Sheffield which will provide you with a fresh bite to eat. Whether you’re looking for a quick stop off between lectures or alternatively a sit-down place for dinner- here are my favourite places for fresh plant-based summer foods.

Amy Mullen-Brown (she/her)

all distractions you can completely immerse yourself in the experience. Focus on the colours of the food.

The smells. The texture of the ingredients. Anchoring yourself in the present stops your mind from being able to dedicate unnecessary attention to negative and anxious thoughts, therefore helping you maintain concentration in all areas of your life.

Daily breathing exercises Oprah said it best in her quote ‘Breath. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.’ In a world where our phones provide us with the endless entertainment and stimulation we crave, we very rarely spend any time doing absolutely nothing.

The next time you are standing in a queue, washing your hands or waiting for an appointment, seize the moment as an opportunity to completely shut off from outside interference. Focus on your breath and see if you can adopt a pattern of inhaling and exhaling for the same number of seconds. In 2018, researchers at Trinity

South Street Kitchen (V & VG) With a lunch & dinner menu alongside themed food nights, SSK is the perfect dine-in spot just behind the Sheffield train station.

Their lunch menu offers a range of vegan options perfect for the summer months. The falafel and hummus wrap is a personal favourite of mine which comes with a tasty sun-dried tomato sauce and salad with tahini dressing.

Other vegan options include: Homemade Granola, Mushrooms on toast, Hummus Plate, Mezze Plate, Soup of the Day with za’atar flatbread and many more.

College Dublin concluded that controlled and focused breathing is directly related to the production of noradrenaline in the brain, an organic chemical that aids our ability to focus and logically cope with stressful

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Incremental mindfullness consists of using our idle time more efficiently to increase mental wellbeing, without giving up free time.”

situations. Therefore, by habitually practising mindful breathing, we can embrace a clearer state of mind and be more resilient when facing the challenges life presents us with.

Time doesn’t go by any quicker when we are busy.

However, it appears to

Past themed nights have included: Veganuary Burger Night, Egyptian Mezze Night, Dumpling Evenings, Syrian Evening, to name a few. Lots of these nights appear several times a year so it’s good to keep an eye on their socials!

The themed nights allow chefs to take over and serve up small plate menus that reflect their creativity and passion for fresh produce.

Because of it’s location, SSK offers great views over Sheffield and is perfect for a sunset dinner or a sunny lunch outside.

Pom Kitchen (V) Although this Aussie inspired cafe is known for their extravagant desserts- they also offer great seasonal options, and summer is no exception!

move faster because we are rushing, and therefore often resort to an ‘autopilot’ mentality to cope with our daily challenges. Therefore, embracing incremental mindfulness practices can be beneficial for several reasons. It trains our mind to be more resilient and conscious during busy working days. Furthermore, by simply embracing these practices within our existing routine, we do not need to schedule out any extra time in our day, meaning we have more to dedicate to socialising, leisure activities and doing the things we enjoy. It’s a win-win!

Incremental mindfulness ultimately consists of using our working and idle time more efficiently to increase our state of mental wellbeing, without sacrificing the free time we have. If we use the opportunities already present in our day-today life to improve our headspace, we will find that we do not need more time in a day, we can simply make the most of what we already have.

Their cafe is takeaway only so perfect for on the go.

Last summer, some items on their menu included: Pom Noodz with fresh veggies, Açai Bowls and Nachos with Guacamole. Their unique summer drinks including a Dragon Fruit Refresher topped with fruit, and Blue Matcha drinks are also ones to try.

The whole place is pictureperfect and so are their products. Their special release items from last spring/ summer were a BBQ Box and Picnic Box. I’m hoping they make a comeback this year- they’ll be great for a sunny day with your friends.

Gaard Coffee (V) Located in the city centre, Gaard is so convenient for those one hour breaks

Monday 7 March 2022

19

Lifestyle

Everything you’ve ever wondered about handpoked tattoos

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Esme Cawley (she/her) booked my first ever tattoo in 2017 without much thought apart from being certain that it had to be ‘stick and poke’ or ‘handpushed’ as some artists coin it. Five years later and I now have six professional stick and poke tattoos and a handful of awful homemade ones that litter less obvious parts of my body.

Handpoke tattoos are just as permanent and skillful as others just used without a machine. It often takes artists a little longer to manually push the ink into the skin and create finer lines and more intricate designs.

The last few years have seen a huge emergence of this form of tattooing; for my first tattoo there was one studio in my home city that offered them and it was by one artist in a tiny backroom.

Now there are entire studios hosting only stick and poke artists and a huge online movement.

My primary reason for only getting these types of tattoos was to concede to

between lessons. My personal favourite item would be their sandwiches.

They are so fresh and always offer great fillings. Some include: No-Meatball with ‘mozzarella’ peppers and mixed-leaf, ‘Tuna’ with spring onion and cucumber, Coronation ‘Chicken’ with mixed-leaf and more.

Other items perfect for the warmer months include: Hoisin ‘Duck’ Buddha Bowl and Beetroot Falafel Wrap.

They have two sites in Sheffield- one at West One and the other at Kelham Island. Both sites offer different items and are perfect lunch spots.

Birdhouse Tea Company (vegan options available) Although this tea bar & kitchen is not completely vegan, they offer some great

my pitiful level of pain tolerance. I can confidently (and thankfully) say that the majority of my tattoos did not hurt.

Instead it was often a relaxing experience.

The studios I have been to have always felt slightly more gentle, and with a slower pace to some of the traditional tattoo studios that often have a heavy masculine presence.

I have one medium size tattoo on my torso near the ribs and only towards the end of the two hour session did it sting a little.

This is one thing to note - they take a lot longer to do. On a positive this means you can really develop a relationship with the artist.

I have found great music recommendations from one after a long chat, another sent me a list of places to explore in a city we had been talking about, with another we ranked our favourite veggie sausages for at least twenty minutes. As a result the experience feels so

Credit: A few of Esme’s handpoked tattoos. Photos courtesy of Esme Cawley

much more personal and intimate. Unfortunately, time often equals cost. In general handpoked tattoos are more expensive but again this matches the labour you are paying for, often supporting one-off artwork and an emerging community of new talent.

Handpoked tattoos are not a new concept. They are the traditional way to mark your body and exist in many cultures. In this way they often feel very authentic and the community surrounding

vegan options. Some include: Super Berry Smoothie Bowl, Blueberry and Maple Pancakes, Raspberry and Pistachio Pancakes and other main menu/ counter items.

They also have the most beautiful courtyard perfect to eat in during warmer months. The clean boho vibe makes it an elegant and relaxing place to eat.

It’s a perfect sit-in kitchen and bar and especially nice for brunch.

Tigs (V) This coffee and bagel house is a lovely quick stop off for delicious plant based foods.

The cafe has a real cosy and intimate feel.

One stand out item from the menu is their toasted banana bread with vanilla yogurt, granola

them is generally a nice thing to be a part of. In the UK however there is a misconception that they do not match up to the artistry of a machine tattoo. This is simply not true. There are a host of very talented artists and the competition is only driving the skill forward.

People have questioned if I am worried about the longevity of them and how they will look in years to come. So far they seem to be ageing exactly the same.

My most faded is one I

have on my ankle that was done by someone with little experience. The foot / ankle is a place even machine tattoos are likely to fade fast and as with anything the experience and skill of the artist counts for a lot more than the technique.

It can often feel difficult to find a stick and poke artist that isnt your friend in their living room after a few too many at the pub.

Annoyingly, geographical location plays a huge part but Instagram is always the best place to start. All good artists won’t copy someone else’s design so be prepared to look through their own flash or enquire about a custom design (which they will often only accept if it is in their own style). Once you have found an artist it is so much easier to find others.

Word of mouth is so useful and artists will often freely recommend other studios and Instagram accounts to have a look at. And, even if your city seems to have a lack of artists, follow some local studios (even if they only use machines) as a lot of artists from different cities do guest spots for a few days.

and blueberries. The presentation of the food is always lovely too.

Other menu items great for summer are: Tigs Salad Bowl, Ava Bagel with Facon, Mushroom on Toast and many more!

Sheffield Vegan Food Market (V) Alongside the establishments mentioned, the vegan markets come to Sheffield four Sundays every year.

They offer an amazing selection of foods from loads of independent businesses.

They are returning to Sheffield on April 17 just next to The Moor, town centre.

Credit: Amy Mullen-Brown

20

Forge Press

Break

February's moments of the month

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The free lateral flow test for COVID are no long free from the 1st April after the government argued the success of the vaccinationand booster programme was so good, they can now move towards the end goal of ‘living with virus’. A small number of people are eligible for free tests if they have symptoms, this includes NHS and social care workers and people in ‘at risk’ groups. Those who will be considered ‘at risk’ has not yet been defined, but there are estimated to be 3.7 million clinically extremely vulnerable people in England.

@Wikimedia Commons

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Sheffield students and lecturers began another wave of strikes. Over 50, 000 members of the University and College Union (UCU) started their first strike action on Monday, 14 February. They are demanding employers reverse cuts to staff pensions as well as asking for a £2,500 pay rise for all staff and employers. There are over 68 universities participating in the strike action, these include the University of Dundee, the University of Brighton and the University of Essex.

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over social media due to its unforeseen riotousness.

Who knew these meetings could be so fun… it was like a soap. Chef Nigella Lawson taught us an interesting way to say microwave. A clip taken from her BBC

show Cook, Eat, Repeat led to her pronunciation becoming a necessity in our vocabulary for a couple of weeks. “Microwahrvé!” And most importantly, Clap for Carers at 8 PM on Thursdays, Captain Tom Moore’s

Many couples ventured out for the week surrounding Valentines day to share their love and relationship with the whole city. Sheffield has a vibrant food and drink culture with a number of intimate and elegant restaurants. The Steel City delivered for the love bugs of Yorkshire after many bistros and eateries offered delicious dishes without having to break your heart when paying the bill.

Barnsley Youth Association and Barnsley Youth Council launched a new campaign, Us Girls. It targeted young women across the region to empower them and provide them with support to enter the world of sport.

The campaign is advocating issues raised by 12, 19-yearold girls from Barnsley. On Wednesday 2nd March they have launched their first free sports taster session which will include yoga, boxercise and self-defence classes.

So long Covid … hopefully!

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Charlie Fenton (he/him) ith Covid’s tight grasp on our lives coming to an end as Boris Johnson removes most restrictions, here are some amusing moments that made us smile during the pandemic: Matt Hancock became a national treasure as he was beamed, memed and shamed across all social media platforms for his rather odd behaviour. From crying on national TV after the first person received their Covid vaccination, to the shocking but hilarious footage of his affair with

Gina Coladangelo, there was never a dull moment with Matty. In and amongst the pandemic, the rise of video-call platforms, like Zoom, grew tremendously with schools using them for children to take part in online learning. However, what nobody expected was for it to capture a Parish Council meeting gone wrong. Social media enjoyed a special moment within the meeting when a heated argument over ‘authority’ (and whether certain people did or did not have it) led the clerk to kick the chairman from the call. It was shared hundreds of thousands of times all

@Wikimedia Commons

@Wikimedia Commons

5

The world has been shook this month after Russia devastatingly invaded Ukraine.

So far there is an estimated 50,000 casualties in Ukraine with 1.5 million internally displaced people with a devastating front line of 280 miles. After promising not to invade it neighbouring country of 44 million people, Russia launched a full military attack with the aim of “demilitarising and de-Nazifying” Ukraine.

This left President Zelensky questioning President Putin “How could I be a Nazi?” unprecedented achievement of raising 33 million pounds for the NHS, and Marcus Rashford’s successful school meals campaign are the common memories from our brief (LONG!) foray into lockdown life.

Monday 7 March 2022

21

Break

Opinion Strikes: How is it affecting our learning?

wo weeks ago, it was a normal Sheffield day when I woke up.

It was cloudy and raining as usual. There was nothing to indicate that I would be getting news about classes getting cancelled over strikes and building occupation.

We all live in a democratic society, so we learn to listen and voice others’ dissent.

As a citizen, I am proud of this. But as a student who is losing a vital part of her education, it isn’t as easy to be pleased by this part of democracy.

It is ironic that the class which got shifted online was Public Affairs, where

the main discussion was about protesting policies and staying within our constitutional rights and responsibilities.

Honestly, when I think about why the staff and students were protesting, I can understand their point of view. The only issue was that the people who have nothing to do with it were being inconvenienced because of the building occupations. When the class was first shifted online that Thursday, I felt a bit outraged. It is probably not politically correct and might be construed as selfish, but I did feel outraged. Here I am, working hard to pay for my education worth thousands of pounds, yet classes had to go online for certain buildings because

students’ security couldn’t be guaranteed. We already suffered through online classes during the pandemic, we deserve the chance to enjoy education in person without being targeted.

That whole weekend, news kept coming in about teachers and students getting kicked out of different buildings. Jessop West, The Diamond, Hicks, Firth Court and the Arts Tower were completely occupied. Not only was Uni of Sheffield occupied, but later on Sheffield Hallam was also taken over. How far did the management push the staff and students that they got to this point? Why did it take so long to deal with the issues? Why was our education targeted in the process?

6. Mates 7. Semester 8. Cold 9. New Year 10. Diet

Fun Fact of the month @Wikimedia Commons

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Romesa Razzaq (she/her)

1. Resolution 2. Winter 3. Gym 4. Dry January 5. Leaves

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ou can’t change time right? Time is surely just the constant schedule of life, the parameters of which we simply deal with.

Well, in fact, the old Roman calendar had just 10 months and began in March, ending in December. This was indeed borrowed in part

from the Greeks. This meant 61 days of today’s calendar were merely ignored; brushed aside.

Today, these days come in winter, but the Romans knew only 304 days’ worth of life each year. Perhaps we’ve missed a trick!

Wouldn’t we all love for summer to come around quicker!

On this day, did you know?

I

n 1965, civil rights protesters began their marches, which would turn out to be 14 days long, from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. This was a result of African Americans

being denied the chance to vote. The marches were very significant in the civil rights movement, as they paved the way for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

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Forge Press

Music

Bored Faces All Wishing They Weren’t Here?

The issues affecting Sheffield’s bands and artists, and what they think can be done

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Charlie Sweeney (He/Him) espite being the Steel City, I’d argue that if you were to ask anyone the first thing they think of when asked about Sheffield, most of the time they’d say Arctic Monkeys. Or Pulp. Or just Jarvis Cocker. Music is as important to the cultural identity of Sheffield these days as the steel industry was previously. The Leadmill is consistently ranked as one of the best music venues in the country, where playing is a ‘rite of passage for any band worth their salt’, as Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand fame told the members of Arcade Fire.

Tramlines is one of the most popular festivals in the UK. I assumed that such a rich music culture would produce a music scene to rival that of Manchester and other major cities.

However, after interviewing various bands and performers from around the city, I realised my assumption was wrong.

Despite producing some of the most talented British acts of the last 40 years, Sheffield itself seems apathetic to most musicians. An overbearing and unsympathetic council, a festival which shirks its ties to the city and a lack of proper, different sized venues has generated a creative diaspora, where any talent from Sheffield is moving away to better prospects elsewhere.

I spoke to four local artists to get their assessment on Sheffield as a city, and what

“

Apart from a few venues, most just want the same sort of music on- there isn’t a lot of trust in bands

specifically I think we have a lot of optimism for.

is going wrong with its music scene.

Has the city of Sheffield had much of an influence on you, either musically or just in general? Is it good here for a musician?

Femur: Sheffield is a weird one. Not in a bad way, there’s definitely such a good environment here for music, but it’s just not us. Our style of music definitely lacks an audience in Sheffield. The people here are still very supportive, but it feels like sometimes people come not because they’re fans of us in particular but more because we’re a local band.

Oh Papa: We’re a classic Sheffield band, like we all have weird connections with each other, from school and stuff, and we were very centred in Sheffield when starting out. But we don’t like pigeon-holing ourselves, or other bands, by location.

We’re proud of being from Sheffield but it’s not the only thing that makes us as a band.

Before Breakfast: The music scene here is very different to other big cities.

I love the supportive nature of many of the musicians, but I hate that Sheffield can often be missed off of tours as Leeds and Nottingham are so close. I think that there’s a lot to be said for delving into Sheffield’s scene and taking your time. You find the most interesting stuff that way.

“

A lack of proper venues will just mean bands lack the tools to create their music, and it’s important to remember that

Anya Lace: I love Sheffield and I’m proud of being from here but the music scene here isn’t as good as it used to be, especially for open mics and stuff.

What would you think about the venues in Sheffield? Are there any in particular that you love?

Femur: We’ve definitely outgrown the venues in the city. Sheffield lacks a proper mid-sized venue- there are multiple small ones, but after that there’s not a lot of choice. We feel, with our sort of music especially, apart from a few venues, most just want the same sort of music on- there isn’t a lot of trust in bands. However, there are some gems; The Washington has been consistently good for us, we love it there. The crowd is always great, and we like playing those small, sweatbox gigs. As a band, we think it’s important to break down that barrier between us and the audience. Record Junkee also put on really good shows, that’s one venue

Oh Papa: I think Sheffield has really struggled for venues since the Boardwalk closed. It was such a historically important place, with Arctic Monkeys playing there loads and stuff. There are still some really great venues around, like The Washington is always great, it has a good community feel; Yellow Arch Studios and Picture House Social are doing amazing. Against all odds they’re getting quite big touring acts to play there, and they’re also absolutely lovely inside.

But there is still a real lack of venues, especially midsized venues like Leeds has with the Brudenell. Crookes Social Club seems to be doing quite well recently, so hopefully that attitude of reutilising old buildings like working men’s clubs spreads. But bands need different options in order to succeed, as at the moment bands in Sheffield are stuck at a limited number, some of which employ quite exploitative tactics like pay-to-play. A lack of proper venues will just mean bands lack the tools to create their music, and it’s important to remember that venues aren’t just for music; they’re creative spaces, and the fact so many places are shutting down in Sheffield is just resulting in a real creative diaspora.

Before Breakfast: We adore venues like Yellow Arch, Sidney and Matilda and Picture House but there’s a lack of venues. It’s great to see Crookes Social Club coming up with shows similar to Leeds Brudenell.

Sidney and Matilda are doing absolutely amazing things in supporting new talent and Picture House is a gorgeous venue to play but isn’t your typical gig space as it’s fully seated. We have our album launch at Yellow Arch and that’s a great space too. But, apart from Crookes Social Club they are all 200 cap and after that the jump is big. I think the council must draw upon the historic music scene and grow it/shout about it.

Anya Lace: Like everyone else said, there’s a real lack of venues and stuff. I tend to do a lot of open-mic nights, but hardly any venues offer them anymore. You get the odd few; the Red Deer and the Green Room have really good open-mics, as well as the Closed Shop in Crookes.

The best gig I ever did was probably at the Red Deer, it’s such a nice pub and works really well as a small venue. But I am having to do loads of private gigs at the moment, at weddings and such, due to the lack of venues in Sheffield who seem to want live music.

(Images: Top- Femur, Credit: Benji Wilson; Bottom -Oh Papa, Credit: Lucy Revis)

Monday 7 March 2022

23

Music King Florence + The Machine THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER! FLORENCE WELCH IS BACK!!!!

And she is back to take the throne.

Fresh tracks Do you think there’s a good support system in place for bands and young artists? Is there a collective attitude towards music in the city?

Femur: It lacks a decent support system, in terms of venues and stuff like magazines who focus on smaller bands. There are a lot of small independent organisations and groups who will put people on but there’s not really many mid-to-big sized ones.

There isn’t really a way to network properly at that size. Hopefully that changes, with places like Yellow Arch and Sidney & Matilda getting bigger, but at the moment not so much. The biggest issue in Sheffield is that you can reach a certain size as a band, and then just stagnate due to the lack of progression here. Without enough mid-sized venues, bands just start playing other cities which have those sort of venues, meaning all these great acts are leaving the city. However there is a good collective atmosphere amongst the musicians in the city, we have a lot of interaction.

Oh Papa: There’s definitely help for small bands and stuff, especially from individuals like Paul Tuffs who’s done sound for probably every act in Sheffield, to Christian Carlisle over at BBC Introducing Sheffield giving exposure to small talent.

“

Even things like busking are a lot harder now; the council is unsympathetic to it

However, with the lack of venues, there’s no proper progression for bands after a certain point. The community itself is fantastic, however; we collaborated with Before Breakfast, who are just amazing, for a song ‘Magnetic’, and we are constantly interacting with other bands and stuff. There is very much a communityfeel in Sheffield.

Before Breakfast: There are lots of collaborations happening whether it’s musical or otherwise. We all love sharing contacts and giving each other the platform to meet likeminded people. I think people have their go to musicians and creators and it’s great that everyone in a roundabout way knows everyone on the scene. We loved collaborating with Oh Papa for ‘Magnetic’, and Phil from Oh Papa is all over our album; I even took their recent press photos!

Anya Lace: I think there is some support there; Christian Carlisle at BBC Introducing Sheffield has been extremely helpful with me and giving loads of support and stuff, but BBC Introducing alone isn’t enough. Even things like busking are a lot harder now; the council is unsympathetic to it, and you just get loads of abuse from people on the street. I started to come up in the music scene at the end of a real ‘golden period’ for Sheffield, when the sort of ‘creative diaspora’ started, so since then it’s been very difficult. And obviously Covid has only made that harder, as interaction is obviously so much more difficult.

spirit boy Gang of Youths A wonderfully hazy track, this combines all the nostalgia of old-school indie with a more mature outlook.

Free Bakar A rousing track from the 'Hell N Back' artist, it gives off a form of positive energy that can seem scarce at the moment.

Are you hopeful about the future of Sheffield’s music scene? What do you think can be done to improve the music scene in the city, to make things better creatively for the musicians in a city?

Femur: There can definitely still be a music scene in Sheffield despite the variation in sounds- in fact, that’s what makes Sheffield so good and unique. Sheffield will probably never have a music scene that’s so tied to one single genre, but if it leans into the variation then it could become something special. However, that won’t happen until more venues pop up. As for now the music in Sheffield, in terms of the performers, are bigger than the venues.

Oh Papa: There’s a golden time coming for Sheffield’s music scene, especially due to the variation within the sound of the city’s musicians.

However, for this to happen properly, and for the music scene to really develop, the city needs more venues, specifically venues like the Brudenell; mid-sized places which double as creative spaces and let musicians and artists naturally progress.

As mentioned, placed like Sidney & Matilda’s, Picture House and Yellow Arch are all doing this really well, but we need more of them, and venues which are even bigger. As long as bands and other musicians have

different options which give them the tools to create what they want, Sheffield’s creative scene should boom.

Before Breakfast: We like to make a big effort in the city in youth music, and I know this is very important to the future of the city.

Making spaces that smaller acts can play and being creative in ways to support them is also so important.

We of course feel strongly

“

I am actually moving to Belfast... the lack of opportunities for small artists here has had an effect on my decision

about making safe spaces for women to flourish. I would love to see a more diverse gigging scene in Sheffield and have loved working with August Charles, Franz Von and Tenn in youth projects recently as the city is bursting with talent.

Anya Lace: Sheffield definitely has the makings of having a really good music scene; it has historic venues, a good music history and there is just so much variation here that a really cool scene is guaranteed.

But that’s obviously only if it’s allowed to grow. I am actually moving to Belfast, mainly because I love it there and am very inspired by the music in Belfast, but the lack of opportunities for small artists here has definitely also had an effect on my decision. I’d be more inclined to stay in Sheffield if there was more happening for small independent artists here. But there are definitely some positives; the growth in Kelham Island, with venues like Yellow Arch, gives me a lot of hope for Sheffield.

(Images: Far Left - The Washington; Bottom Interior of Sidney & Matilda Both images credit: Florence Kilby; Top Right - Anya Lace, Credit: Mark Howe)

24

Forge Press

Music

"It's our best album, I think it's perfect”

alt-J’s Gus Unger-Hamilton on the band's lockdown-inspired upcoming fourth album, The Dream

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Charlotte Crompton (She/Her) painting for the artwork for the album, but as you hirty-two year can imagine that was really old musician hard and we hit a brick and recent wall pretty fast. father, Gus, “But by that part the discusses how name had stuck and we ‘The Dream’ reflects the felt it worked well for uncertainty of life during many reasons. I think the pandemic, and how the the pandemic period and upcoming release is a more lockdowns has a slight personalised album than quality of a dream where previous ones, while still you’re not quite sure what drawing on the much loved day it is or even sometimes features which made their I’ve found myself in the first album so special. last couple of years like Featuring soundbites opening the fridge or from their parents and something and for a split partners, the crow which second not knowing perches outside their what time of year it is or recording studio, and questioning if it’s summer the ice cream van which or winter, it’s really drives past daily, the strange. band's pianist, Gus Unger“Also, I think the way the Hamilton has described album moves seamlessly the album as “perfect”. from happy to unsettling to dark and strange and So Gus, what have the it’s constantly shifting and band been up to since twisting in that way sort of finishing your last album? makes you feel like you’re “Well we finished touring in a dream, one minute our last album at the end you’re walking around your of 2018, then we took house and then realise the year off in 2019, we it's your primary school. did personal stuff, I got I think the album has married. Then we got the something of that quality band going again in 2020 to it.” to start working on the new album.

“We found a studio in London that we could rent so we worked there The pandemic period and recorded there but because Tom, our and lockdowns has drummer, is classed a slight quality of a as ‘vulnerable’ we still dream where you’re couldn’t really work through lockdowns, but not quite sure what that was fine, we still worked on writing songs in day it is those periods so it wasn’t a waste of time and to be honest taking a longer What makes this album time on the album has stand out from your actually made it a better others? record.”

“I think there are more personal touches in this What is the inspiration album than we’ve ever had behind The Dream? on a record before. We “It’s inspired by this tried really hard to give Picasso painting called it a sense of place when ‘The Dream’ and it was just we recorded it, it was a really nice name and we all recorded in this one looked at using the Picasso particular area of London

“

has like two or three songs in one. It’s so long, it’s a real journey musically and it’s got everything from a catch chorus to a building intro with medieval instruments which look like upside down walking sticks.

“There’s also a track called ‘Losing My Mind’ which doesn’t sound like anything we’ve done before. It has a post punk sound which is a kind of music which I very much like and since we’ve been rehearsing for the tour it’s been a pleasure to play and I can’t wait to play it live.”

so we recorded our strings for the album in the local church and used the local school choir and this ice cream van that went past our studio every day at about three o’clock.

There was this crow that was always in the tree outside our studio that we recorded as a sample.

“We had a lot of our family and friends on the album as well, whether its singing or doing spoken word samples, so it does have a very personal feel and we’ve left these Easter eggs for people to discover and we hope that people will keep coming back to the album and finding more things in it the more they listen to it.”

What do you think listeners will love about it?

“I think that for this album we did talk about trying to recapture what it was that made our first album so special for people and I think that on that first album there were upbeat songs and heartfelt songs as well as darker songs and I feel that maybe we descended into the dark too much

on our last album. I still think it was a really good album but I think that for some people the tone was a bit dark and we wanted to give people this time something that had lighter moments on it too.

Have there been events in your lives which have directly influenced the new songs?

“I think that the pandemic definitely had an effect on the album for example there’s a song called ‘Get Better’ which is about a someone losing a loved one to an unspecified illness and it makes reference to front line workers and I think it is the first time we have addressed world events so literally and I think that would never have happened in other circumstances. Also, we are all growing up in the band and like two of us have kids now.”

Do you have a favourite song from the album?

“I think it’s the first track ‘Bane’ that one was certainly my favourite when we were making the album, I think because it

How does it feel to release the album so soon?

“I’m very excited. It’s always a nice feeling having a new album in the can and I think because we finished it so long ago I have to keep reminding myself that no one has really heard it and I’m really buzzing for everyone to hear it, I think it’s our best album yet, I think it’s perfect.”

Finally, what’s next for alt-J? “It will be very nice to tour the UK again. Touring the UK is how it all began for us and I think the new songs are going to sound great on stage. It will be ten years since our first album next year and it will be great to play all these old songs again and get a bit emotional.

“It would be nice to release another album quickly this time, I hope.

We seem to be in quite a fruitful period of song writing at the moment which is quite unusual for us really, so we’ll see, but I think the future is bright.”

‘The Dream’ was released on 11 February 2022 to commercial success with ‘The Dream’ tour commencing in May.

Monday 7 March 2022

25

Screen

Opinion

Spider-Man BAFTA snub continues tradition of ignorance towards superhero films

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Jake Dannatt (he/him) pider-Man and Marvel fans were disappointed to learn that the latest web-swinging adventure would not be included in this year’s BAFTA nominations. This comes after Sony failed to upload Spider-Man: No Way Home to the British Academy’s online viewing portal, for judges to watch before deciding on the respective nominees, for fears of piracy and spoilers being released.

While this could be viewed as Sony’s own paranoia preventing awards success, BAFTA failed to compromise, and thus No Way Home will not be involved in this year’s ceremony. Easily the biggest film of 2021, it recently surpassed Avatar as the highest grossing film of all time in the US, bringing in over $750 million domestically and over $1.8 billion worldwide.

The apparent success of the film from the box office and critics, as well as audience reviews makes one wonder how on earth it could be excluded. Scoring 93% for the critics and a staggering 98% for audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, the latest instalment of the SpiderMan franchise has taken the industry by storm. Despite fan service being at the forefront of this film, even for the casual viewer it is bound to keep them enthralled

from start to finish.

The fan service experienced in No Way Home is perhaps the most fun Marvel and Spider-Man fans have had in a very long time. While most reading this will no doubt be aware of the film’s plot and success, the significance of it cannot be understated. Three generations of Spider-Man uniting to fight their respective villains is something nobody

envisioned until the rumours began to circulate. The concept of a ‘multiverse’ opened up endless possibilities for the plot, and with confirmed returns of the most recognisable villains, it was surely inevitable that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would return to don their red and blue suits once more.

Though most fans were almost certain that the duo would return, Sony and

Marvel’s efforts to deny their involvement in the film kept some doubt in our minds.

Still, audiences were far from disappointed. Without going into too much detail for those yet to see it or those

living under a rock - this addition to the Spider-Man catalogue is up there with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, widely considered the best of his classic trilogy. This new film has humour, devastation, quality acting (honourable mention to Willem Dafoe

as Green Goblin), and a bitter-sweet ending.

It has become clear that the three Tom Holland films have been his origin trilogy, with the door now open to a new set of adventures for a matured, lonely, classic Peter Parker. Holland has grown into the role perfectly and can now be seen as a strong and

independent Spider-Man, breaking away from his ‘Iron-Man junior’ title which many fans found appropriate in Homecoming and Far From Home. While the ending to No Way Home is possibly the saddest of any Spider-Man story, it is equally the strongest for me. It leaves behind Peter Parker’s past, allowing him to start from fresh and

explore new opportunities.

No Way Home has received one Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects, though the Oscars, like many award bodies, have tended to snub superhero films for other awards like Best Picture.

This is highly unfair in my opinion, no other genre of film would be excluded in such a manner. A film has to meet three criteria for award nominations for me: first-class acting (which it does), a robust story (which it does), and good reviews (which it most definitely does). When it is easily in the top ten films of 2021, it is absolutely astonishing how it cannot be included in the Best Picture category of any awards ceremony and Don’t Look Up can.

There will not be another reaction in the cinemas for another film in a long time like there was for SpiderMan: No Way Home. It has broken records, gone above and beyond fans’ expectations, and cemented its place in many people’s ‘greatest films of all time’ lists. Therefore, awarding bodies excluding it from nominations reveals more about their ignorance towards the wider Marvel and superhero franchise than anything else. If No Way Home fails to gain recognition, then there is no hope for similar films being nominated in the future.

Picture Credits: TheMovieDB

26

Forge Press

Screen Screen

Film Review

Belfast

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Mary Crawshaw (she/her) hilst Kenneth Branagh’s successful acting career has seen him take on roles in films spanning from Harry Potter to Dunkirk, most recently he has turned away from being

an actor, to be the writer and director of Belfast. The stunning film gives a semiautobiographical account of his childhood in the late 1960s when the violence of the Northern Irish Troubles took over the streets he was used to playing in.

The film tells the story of nine-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill), who lives in Belfast with his working-class Protestant family on a street shared with Catholics. The family sit at a crossroads, facing the agonising decision of whether to stay and live in growing danger or flee the only home they have ever

known. Amidst moments of intense drama, the film takes the time to focus joyfully on other defining aspects of childhood. The focus on school life, toys, television and fun which Buddy enjoys contrast the growing hostilities his home is becoming engulfed in.

To Buddy, sitting next to Catherine (Olive Tennant), the girl he loves at school seems just as important as dealing with threats to his life.

One of the most remarkable and eye-catching aspects of the film is the lens through which it is told.

The majority of the film is in black and white, looking back upon a turbulent childhood, whilst powerful exceptions to this filter breathe colour into the screen, as Branagh pays homage to the power of the arts.

Eleven-year-old Jude Hill gives a warm and hilarious debut performance as the lead. Buddy’s grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds) are a wonderfully familiar and loving couple, whilst his parents (Caitríona Balfe and Jamie

Dornan) struggle with the already difficult realities of parenting and married life under financial strain.

All of these actors portray a loving, familial struggle to protect their children as the conflict unfolds around them. Despite the amusing reservations of some critics, who suggested that Dornan was far too attractive to believably play the role, his performance as a gentle, desperate father and husband fits the film well.

Colin Morgan on the other hand plays a convincing, yet slightly one-dimensional, villainous gang member, who pushes the family into facing the dangerous reality of

staying in the city.

Belfast does not shy away from the shocking moments of violence breaking out in the terraced streets, which snap the viewer out of the warm sixties family life. Yet, Branagh’s film is still able to pay a touching, and powerful tribute to the city he loves; the intense drama is defined by the comical and loving story of the ordinary families and communities of this small city, Belfast. The film is a masterpiece, a refreshing cinematic experience that does not involve millions of pounds worth of CGI or graphics, and yet is profoundly gripping, funny and tear-jerking all at once.

Drake.

Uncharted follows Nathan Drake as he goes from street-smart pickpocket to globe-trotting treasure hunter with the help of his newfound mentor, Victor “Sully” Sullivan. The pair begin their hunt with a heist in New York that soon spills over into the lost underworld of Barcelona. Here, their every move is tracked by a secret militia employed by Santiago Moncada, a man who believes the fortune is his birth-right, and winner of the least-threatening-villain award, 30 years running.

Can the pair uncover the 500-year-old treasures of Ferdinand Magellan before Moncada’s crew get their greedy fingers on it? How

will Nathan and Sully survive the dangers that come with grave robbing? Will the pair ever learn to trust one another? You probably know the answers to these questions before sitting down to watch.

Yes, while the set-pieces are fun to gawk at and the dialogue is sporadically entertaining, the movie does naught to surprise and, depending on how you criticise the film, that can be frustrating or fine. The games, for instance, do little to truly subvert expectations.

Their goal is to mimic the feel of a blockbuster action movie within the interactable space of a video game, which means some crappy plot elements can be overlooked with ease. In movie form, however, these predictable tropes manifest in their ugliest and most derivative form as there’s only plot and spectacle to rely on.

That is not to say there are no good moments. The auction heist at the start

is particularly fun as it allows us to get used to the characters working together, even though it is the first of many scenes in which the Holland-Wahlberg chemistry wanes. It is a shame the scene is completely unoriginal, too, being lifted from Uncharted 4 (the video game, that is).

There are other scenes lifted from the games – the plane fight from Uncharted 3 and the finding-the-treasure

Picture Credits: TheMovieDB

Picture Credits: TheMovieDB

Film Review

Uncharted

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Reiss Mason (he/him)

s far as video game adaptations go, Uncharted is by no means an awful film. It sticks to the source material well and does the best it can to make watching the movie feel as similar as possible to playing the game. However, it is ultimately let down by the poor casting of Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg as Sully.

Quite simply, Wahlberg isn’t gruff or wise enough to fit the role of Sully, and though Holland is really trying (with his natural charisma doing much of the heavy lifting), our friendly neighbourhood action hero doesn’t suit the curious and chaotic persona of Nathan

“

The film was let down by the waning Holland-Wahlberg chemistry

scene from Uncharted 4 – which overall gives the film an air of unoriginality, and explains why Sony took this approach of mass appeal.

It is a shame because Uncharted very obviously could have been so much more. Generally, it is all just disappointingly safe, which is ironic considering the dangerous white-knuckle ride the film claims to contain.

Monday 7 March 2022

27

Screen

Opinion

The Godfather turns 50 - The Pulp Fiction prodigy that changed Hollywood Picture Credits: TheMovieDB

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Miette Dsouza (she/her) t has been fifty years since the Corleone family graced the silver screen in a gripping epic of the ages. Yet the film still retains its mafia themed prowess and reigns over a sea of Italian gangster films just like Don Vito Corleone did - with an iron fist. Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a stellar film adaptation of the book written by pulp magazine editor Mario Puzo, which tells the tale of an elderly Don who bequeaths his clandestine empire to his golden child.

Besides its double-digit Oscar nominations and three Academy Award wins including best picture, this film-noir changed the landscape of cinema forever by making the audience an offer they couldn’t refuse.

Apart from the film’s carefully constructed plot laced with deceit, grotesque violence and revenge, and the grainy, warmtoned cinematography, the 70s crime-drama also strengthened the ‘Hollywood Renaissance’, commonly known as the ‘American New Wave’. According to Michalis Kokonis’ paper on ‘Hollywood’s Major Crisis and the American Film “Renaissance”’, the ‘New Wave’ lasted from the 60s

to the 80s and pioneered a new generation of talented, independent filmmakers who subsequently spearheaded a new breed of movies, sporting a “radical and fresh outlook”. These films ripped apart the fallacy of the ‘American dream’, during a time when the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War were at their peak. They showed people the ills of the country through a camera lens.

Similarly, The Godfather, which made its debut in 1972, reflected the same. It gave the audience a panoramic view of the tough life of an immigrant through Don Vito Corleone’s pursuits (Marlon Brando), in what was thought to be an idyllic America. In the first movie the audience is greeted with Bonasera (Salvatore Corsitto), a lawabiding citizen who had no ties to the mob. He visits Vito in the hopes that he will correct the failings of the police department which let the men that assaulted his daughter walk free. This is symbolic of law-abiding immigrants that are pushed into a life of crime or are forced to seek out alternative measures due to racism in institutions and pervasive unequal treatment during the 70s. This is a fatal hit to the image of the ‘American dream’, which according to Oxford Languages, is “the

ethos by which equality of opportunity is available to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved.” The film calls out the fact that equal opportunities are in fact not available to all. It also posed the question: is the dream that so many immigrants come to America for, really available to everyone?

Additionally, in the first two movies, you see the young patriarch, Vito’s descent into crime solely to help his neighbours and himself escape extortion.

This could almost make his crimes justifiable as he does so for the “greater good” another American ideal that has time and again been held in high stead and dramatised by cinema. It can be argued that Vito too toed the line of the ‘American Dream’ because of this and his ability to excel at balancing both family and business.

But this is not viewed as the typical white-picket-fence fantasy seen as pure and good even though principally it aligns with the ‘American dream’. We even see this very dream being shattered further by the neverending cycle of crime, when Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) becomes the godfather and takes over the family business.

Other than questioning the rhetoric of the dream,

the film also popularised this trope - that of the ageing heir, who must hand over their dynasty to a reluctant child. Michael, an army man, renounces his father’s business when speaking with his demure girlfriend Kay Adams (Diane Keaton), but as the film progresses, circumstances arise where Michael must step up and take over his father’s business. In a scene where father and son discuss the impending threat of a tussle for power, Vito tells Michael he never envisaged the gangster life for his favourite son but rather wanted him to be “Senator Corleone”.

This trope of hesitant heir being forced to wield power they never intended to have is still used in cinema today. It is evident in films like The King, where Henry V of England is forced to bear the crown, despite his lack of interest, after the death of his brother and ailing father. In Aquaman, Arthur Curry initially has zero interest in being King of Atlantis with his mother presumed dead but has to rise above his self interest.

It can even be seen in TV series like The Crown where Queen Elizabeth succeeds to the throne after her father’s death and the Abdication by her uncle, Edward VIII. The Godfather also ushered in a new age of Italian gangster films in which leading mafioso roles were given to those of Italian descent, like Al Pacino in Donnie Brasco and Robert De Niro in Once Upon a Time in America. Since it was also

“

It also posed the question: is the dream that so many people come to America for, really available to everyone?

one of the few films directed by an Italian, about Italians, and even based on a book written by an Italian, the movie did not include the stereotypical exaggerated funny accents and avoided portraying the kingpins as loud and obnoxious individuals. This was another stereotype propagated by films in the 60s like The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) and What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? (1966). The Godfather reinvented the typical gangster by reflecting a softer side to the Sicilian mafia, where family was prized above all and omertà was a way of life. This better side to the underworld was also highlighted in Vito, when he refused to enter the drug business, and Michael with his many attempts to legitimise the business.

The film gave the audience three things: it opened their eyes to the fact that the ‘American Dream’ was not inherently equal, it revealed in a riveting tale that there was more to Italians than the stereotypes, and finally, it gave them Al Pacino.

As I mentioned before, it made audiences an offer they just couldn’t refuse.

For a movie with lesserknown names in leading roles at the time, The Godfather achieved an incredible feat, as can be seen by it’s accolades. It also killed it at the box office and is still doing so fifty years later, on the verge of it’s golden jubilee by scoring the ‘Top Weekend Box Office Average’ in February, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Coppola’s creation paved the way for future mobster themed films which took a page out of The Godfather’s book, some of them being A Bronx Tale and Goodfellas. The film has lived up to its title, by becoming the godfather of every Italian mobster film, and the yardstick which they are measured against but have never measured up to.

28

Forge Press

Games

ShefJam: The game-making competition on your doorstep Last month saw the Computer Science Society’s annual game jam which Nicole Calogero (she/her) attended as a guest. Here she tells us exactly what went down at the eighth ever ShefJam.

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longside studying a subject I am passionate about and the life experience gained from living away from home for the first time, another notable aspect of the student experience at the University of Sheffield is getting involved with societies. Sheffield societies tend to offer the compelling combination of vibrant communities, the opportunity to actively engage in your areas of interest, and even the chance to discover new passions. Recently, one remarkable society event was Shefjam.

Shefjam is the annual game development competition hosted by the Computer Science Society (CompSoc). The criteria for participating in ShefJam is straightforward.

Essentially, anyone who has a CompSoc membership can participate, even if

coding is not your area of expertise, you would still be able to contribute towards the storylines, sounds, and game art.

For anyone interested in ShefJam, CompSoc recommend looking at the Unity game engine beforehand, but during the competition the committee does provide help and support.

This year marked CompSoc’s eighth Shefjam which ran from February 11-13 and the competition’s theme was “infinity”. Prizes for the winning games include games that best interpret the theme and the funniest interpretation of infinity itself.

ShefJam, due to its nature, was quite challenging to organise, a job held by a voluntary subcommittee taken from the CompSoc committee.

This subcommittee, over the months, met regularly in order to discuss the most suitable locations,

food ideas, and prizes, and ensured that everything was organised safely.

ShefJam is particularly time-consuming and expensive to organise, but the hard work put in by the subcommittee allows it to continue being accessible and free each year.

CompSoc would like to give praise to Felix and the rest of the ShefJam committee who ensured that SheffJam ran smoothly from the planning stages to the end.

Because of this, it is no surprise that one of the committee members ended up featuring as a retexture in one game’s background.

That game ended up winning the funniest game category.

However, ShefJam is more than just a coding and video game design competition. In fact, throughout the weekend, the subcommittee organised a variety of social activities spanning from retro gaming sessions

to virtual reality activities, giving a well-deserved break to the teams and opportunity to socialise.

Safety remained

paramount throughout. CompSoc guaranteed that, despite the Covid restrictions, the event ran as safely as possible, posing an extra challenge in organising ShefJam. Asking for proof of a negative test upon entry was part of that safeguarding strategy.

I took part in ShefJam only as a guest and came away with a positive impression from the time I was there. My interactions were limited to observing and occasionally talking with participants but

overall I had a pleasant experience. I found the dedication that each team put into the games insightful, and I would say that the most enjoyable aspect was seeing the different interpretations of the infinity theme and how every interpretation created game variety. All the games were very entertaining and CompSoc currently plans to publish the games created in ShefJam on the society’s website.

I would recommend taking part in ShefJam if you have an interest in coding and video games development. It is such a worthy experience to put knowledge into practice in a challenging environment, because ShefJam is demanding - if you decide to take part, be willing to spend sleepless nights working. I am really looking forward to hearing from CompSoc about the next edition of ShefJam, or any other similar event, because - seriously - what they organised this year was absolutely stunning.

Images: Computer Science Society - TUoS

Monday 7 March 2022

29

Games

Fresh Releases

Horizon Forbidden West PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 Guerrilla Games has done it again.

Another great addition to Sony’s exclusive lineup, garnering rave reviews from critics.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S Bungie’s Destiny 2: The Witch Queen could easily be mistaken for Destiny 3. A welcome release.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch (August) Techland’s Dying Light 2 is a worthy entry, in an underrated series.

Our Elden Ring first impressions Reiss Mason (He/Him)

I

nitially I’d planned to play an hour of Elden Ring, whip up a mini-review and be done with everything.

But it turns out that Elden Ring isn’t the kind of game you can stop playing after the first hour. Elden Ring is the kind of game you play for an hour and don’t put down until you start getting emails reminding you that lecture attendance is monitored.

Before we get into the recap, I just want to say this: if you like the Soulsborne games then don’t read on – you’ve already heard everyone else sing this game’s praises—just go and buy this game. You will not

regret paying full price.

Okay, so for those of you who don’t know, Elden Ring is the newest game

by FromSoftware, the developers behind Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

It takes the ultra-difficult combat-focussed gameplay of those titles and throws it into a beautiful darkfantasy open world overflowing with wonder, terror, and adventure.

If that has sparked your interest, stop reading.

The incredible thing about Elden Ring, and perhaps why it is scoring 10/10s and “masterpiece[s]” everywhere, is that its open-world feels real, it feels fresh; it feels like a place I actually want to explore. Too often is the colossal map of an open-

world game an excuse for leagues of repetitive, derivative side content, but that isn’t the case here.

Every ruin has a different story to tell and the enemies and treasures within communicate those stories with marvellous grace. There’s never a need for boring text logs or books to sift through like your Skyrims or your Witchers, it is assumed the player is intelligent enough to put together the pieces and fill in the blanks with

their own imagination.

Despite this storytelling finesse, Elden Ring never forgets that it’s a video game and maintains that everything you do is at least a little bit fun – even when that activity is dying.

The move to an open world from the previously linear format could have been disastrous but alas FromSoftware once again show off their gamemaking prowess, polishing up systems that are present in all open world games.

Picking up items is instant and satisfying, riding Torrent, your horse, is simple and majestic, and exploring the nooks and crannies of cliffsides and caves always provides a worthwhile reward. Elden Ring just gets so many things right where so many games go wrong.

My only critique is that the overworld environments have all looked fairly samey so far, though I am only 8 hours deep into this 80 hour epic.

BUT don’t let that be your lasting impression. Elden Ring is a genre-defining milestone of a game that deserves every ounce of celebration it has received and I can’t wait to stop writing this so I can get right back to it.

Cyberpunk’s Night City goes to the Ripperdoc for patch 1.5

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Tom Butt (He/Him) emember Christmas 2020? The world had seemingly changed forever and students were making every effort to ensure they could return home, but one thing for gamers brought excitement—a game announced in 2013, finally launching after numerous delays. Cyberpunk 2077 was a Christmas hit. After hearing issues plagued the game, on Boxing Day I wearily installed it. I thought, surely it can’t be as bad as people are saying—and I had the benefit of an Xbox One X (like the PS4 Pro).

Nonetheless, it really was that bad.

After struggling through around 10 hours of gameplay, with more glitches, framerate dips,

and crashes than I care to remember, I decided I’d wait until the game was fixed. Patches came and went but the game still struggled to meet any performance expectations.

What’s worse is people who had good experiences, exclaimed that it was an amazing game. I eventually upgraded to an Xbox Series X in the summer of 2021 and still had issues.

On

February 15th, 2022, Cyberpunk 2077 received patch 1.5 on all platforms.

Effectively relaunching in spectacular fashion.

Cyberpunk now works—a far cry from launch. Patch 1.5 includes many changes, which you can see here: https://www.cyberpunk. net/en/news/41435/ patch-1-5-nextgeneration-update-list-ofchanges.

Graphically, it looks amazing now, with ray tracing and higher frame rates to toggle.

Additionally, new apartments, NPC reactions, improved combat, driving, and realistic traffic brings credibility. Improved romances, natural weather cycles, and the ability to refuse calls also add realism to the world.

The list is almost endless and CD Projekt Red indicate there are too many to note. Some highlights not included but recently discovered are the fact NPCs will now use umbrellas when it rains.

Additionally, traffic will stop for civilians using zebra crossings.

Of course, everyone will have unique experiences, but overall, the game is noticeably improved. I now feel I can look past minor glitches because underneath it all is a fantastic game. I have played a further 15 hours since the patch, with just two ‘glitches’—my aiming causing the gun to fill the whole screen with its body, and enemies teleporting across the room temporarily during combat.

Both issues were solved by reloading a save.

Now when I hear the phrase ‘Good morning Night City!’ upon booting the game I no longer feel like I am entering a disappointing mess of a game, but a living and breathing world, like the one we were promised in 2013. And whilst we’re not quite there yet, the game has come along significantly. Cyberpunk 2077 is available on all major platforms and in many cases is selling at a much-reduced price.

I cannot recommend it (from my Xbox Series X perspective) enough.

Top (in order): Horizon Forbidden West - Guerrilla Games; Destiny 2: The Witch Queen - Bungie; Dying Light 2 - Techland; Elden Ring - FromSoftware; Cyberpunk 2077 - CD Projekt Red

30

Forge Press

Sport

Thoughts: Disappointing results by Team GB and Sheffield-bred athletes at the Olympics Henry Clark (he/him) The inquest into Team GB’s disappointing performance at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, where they returned just two medals, is already underway.

Great Britain’s solitary gold and silver came in the team curling events but there had been loftier hopes for a total of three to seven medals.

Whilst Sheffield’s ski village is no more, there was plenty of local interest at the games. It wasn’t necessarily all focused on Great Britain, either.

Sheffield’s Katie Summerhayes became the first British female skier to win a World Cup event medal for 19 years in 2013 but her career has been beset by injury.

Two seventh-placed finishes in previous games don’t tell the full story – the skier had to overcome three ACL injuries to even reach the Beijing Games At just 26, Summerhayes

has shown remarkable resilience in her career and went into the Olympics relishing the underdog tag. Sadly, she could only finish 9th in the Women’s Freeski Slopestyle and 13th in the Big Air event.

Perhaps one of the most heart-breaking stories of the Games was the one of James Woods, or Woodsy, as he is affectionately known.

The former World Champion, who learnt his craft at the Sheffield’s ski village, was a genuine medal contender going into Beijing after an injury affected his performance in Sochi eight years ago.

He improved his fifthplace finish in Russia to fourth in Pyeongchang, but disaster struck during practice for his Big Air and Slopestyle runs, when some heavy landings caused Woods to be bedbound.

The Sheffield skier didn’t make it to the start line for the Freeski Slopestyle event and could only finish 30th in the Big Air event.

Spanish figure skater Olivia Smart traces her roots back to the Steel City – in fact, she first learnt to skate aged seven at IceSheffield.

Smart relocated to Canada to pursue her dreams in the sport and at the age of 24, made her Olympic debut with partner Adrián Diaz.

The three-time Spanish

national champion was cheered on by her mother and grandmother, who are both still based near Sheffield.

Smart and her partner skated a new personal best in the free dance event to finish 8th.

Finally, in one of the more remarkable stories of the Games, we have Jamaica’s Ashley Watson.

A former Sheffield Hallam student, Watson was part of the bobsleigh team which drew obvious comparisons with the

infamous film Cool Runnings.

Watson and his teammates, the first fourman crew to represent the Caribbean nation in 24 years, trained for four years and were set on making history at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre.

Despite the support of most fans, the group finished in 28th place at the foot of the leaderboard as they failed to cap off their incredible journey with Olympic success.

Thoughts: What happens when Football and climate change inadvertendly collide Nelson Walker (he/him) Football and climate change are increasingly on collision course. As Storms Dudley, Eunice, Franklin and Gladys swept into the UK in the last two weeks, bringing torrential rain and pummelling winds, football matches across the country were called off.

Sheffield Wednesday’s scheduled League One match against Accrington Stanley at Hillsborough was scrapped merely ninety minutes before kick-off in early February due to a waterlogged pitch. It was another apt illustration of how football is not immune

to the repercussions of a warming climate.

As the planet’s temperature continues to rise at an alarming rate, exacerbating the potential for unpredictable and extreme weather events, football is increasingly staring the climate emergency directly in the face.

So what can clubs do to reduce their impact on the climate and ultimately become more climateresilient?

League Two club Forest Green Rovers inevitably lead the way when it comes to how sustainability has been

woven into the entire fabric of the club. Owner and chairman Dale Vince has incorporated sustainability into almost every aspect of the club’s

“

The Rovers provide a sustainable blueprint all football clubs must strive towards. operations.

The club made the decision to become a

vegan football club in 2015 and now offers a fullyvegan menu. Players, staff and supporters all eat vegan food and in 2017 the club was recognised as the world’s first vegan club.

Beyond the green menu, the entire club is supported by 100% green energy. The club generates a proportion of this itself via solar panels on the stadium roof and a solar tracker at the ground entrance to harness the Gloucestershire sunshine.

The club advocates sustainable travel to all matches and provides electric car charging points at their stadium.

Moving forwards, the club also has plans to build a new stadium, Eco Park, with 500 trees and 1.8km of hedgerows planted to surround the stadium, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.

Rovers provide a sustainable blueprint all football clubs must strive towards.

Renewable energy, plantbased, local-sourced food, greener travel options for fans and extraction greenhouse gases from the atmosphere must be at the heart of football’s green transformation in this critical decade of climate action.

Monday 7 March 2022

31

Sport

Sharks: ​​Sheffield see off Surrey Scorchers with big run late on

Henry Clark (he/him) After a disappointing defeat last time out against title rivals Leicester Riders, Sheffield Sharks responded with a comfortable win over Surrey Scorchers in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

Rodney Glasgow Jnr was the star man on the night, scoring 19 points.

The Point Guard’s dazzling display was the highlight in a Sharks display which lacked concentration until the final quarter.

In front of a packed Ponds Forge crowd, the home side started slowly with Tayo Ogedengbe providing an early highlight with a slam dunk which saw his side take the lead.

The Sharks twice failed to capitalise from good positions at the end of the first quarter with Bennett Loch missing from the freethrow line which ensured the game was poised at 1616 at the first buzzer.

After edging in front as the game approached halftime, Scorchers head coach Creon Raftopoulos will have been bitterly disappointed to let the Sharks get back into the game. Two quick scores followed by another two points from the enigmatic Glasgow Jnr made the score 27-27.

But in a final twist, Stanley Davis Jnr netted

a sublime three-pointer on the buzzer to give the Scorchers a 35-34 lead going into the break.

Davis Jnr, who netted 19 points on the night, was a constant threat for the Sharks and he helped to stretch their lead to 34-41 just after the interval.

Falling further behind seemed to kick Atiba Lyons’ side into life with first Jordan Ratinho and then Delpeche scoring in quick succession to put the Sharks in front at 44-41.

Cheered on by a raucous home crowd, the home side seemed to re-discover their attacking mojo in the final quarter.

The Scorchers’ intensity began to drop in the final ten minutes, perhaps not helped by the fact they could only name nine players in their squad. Whilst the Sharks subs netted 30 points from the bench, their opposition failed to score a single point from the replacements bench.

Scorchers were unable to provide a response as the hosts avoided an upset to secure a 77-66 win. Next up for the Sharks is an away game in Glasgow on Sunday where they will be looking to keep the pressure on leaders Leicester.

Report: Barry Bannan sparks five-star performance for Wednesday in 5-2 victory Daniel Hunt (he/him) An exceptional performance from Barry Bannan with two goals and two assists ensured that the Owls took all three points after an early scare in a 5-2 win against a struggling Burton Albion side.

The win against the Brewers caused Wednesday to leapfrog Sunderland and move up to 5th in the league.

The home side made two changes to the side that beat Charlton 2-0 at the weekend, with Geroge Byers left out of the squad due to a minor injury and Saido Berahino dropping to the bench.

They were replaced by Sylla Sow and Lewis Gibson. For the visitors, there were wholesale changes with five players coming into the starting eleven as the Brewers looked to end their winless rut. Most notably among the incoming players were former Everton forward Oumar Niasse and former Blade Adlène Guedioura.

Sheffield Wednesday came out the blocks the better side and found the opener in the 12th minute. A delightful cross from Johnson just

missed the run of Patterson; however, it didn’t evade the run of Palmer, who arrived at the back post and steered the ball beyond the stranded keeper. Wednesday dominated after the goal, with Patterson coming close to adding a second before Barry Bannan inched into the box and struck the ball in off the post for his sixth goal of the season.

However, Wednesday’s 2-0 lead was short-lived with midfielder Guedioura seeing his effort from distance take a deflection which wrong-footed keeper Peacock-Farrell. At the break, Wednesday took in a deserved 2-1 lead.

There was a frantic start to the second half with both sides having chances, but it was Burton’s Niasse who got the first goal after the break.

He received a ball from Kokolo on the edge of the box and managed to hold off two Wednesday defenders who should’ve done better before trickling a shot past the keeper to make it 2-2.

Wednesday immediately set out to attack the Brewers with boss Darren Moore bringing on Saido Berahino for Sylla Sow in the 59th

minute. Wednesday had several chances to retake the lead with substitute Berahino blazing his half volley over the bar from the 6-yard box.

It was in the 67th minute when the Owls restored their lead after Bannan’s corner bounced through the Brewers’ six-yard box, and Patterson was there to knock the ball in.

Wednesday continued to dominate as the Brewer’s legs grew tired and were able to consolidate their lead after a Bannan corner was cleared only as far as the edge of the box where Johnson fired a half volley into the top corner.

However, the pick of the bunch was saved to the 87th minute when Bannan picked the ball up on the edge of the area and magnificently curled the ball beyond the hapless figure of Garratt to cap off his ten out of ten performance.

Wednesday continued to strengthen their grip on the playoff places being relentless in attack. However, they were prone to defensive mistakes which better sides will punish.

32

Forge Press

Sport

Sport Thoughts: A man’s game? Why we need more women in sports journalism story, Melissa explains that before recording a postmatch analysis at Wembley Stadium in 2016, an unknown man interrupted her before ‘pulling out his penis and wildly pissing’.

Unsurprisingly shaken by the incident, Melissa was unable to record the video for her manager.

Such stories of women receiving abuse while working and being dismissed within application processes discourage others from taking up roles within the industry.

As a result, fewer women are making it to the socalled ‘big-time roles’ within journalism.

But having more women within sports journalism is becoming increasingly beneficial.

During the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the German Jemma Snowdon (she/her) As a woman trying to navigate a journey into the sports journalism industry, I often sense the underlying pressures of having to prove my knowledge of the subject.

Undoubtedly journalism is a difficult career to find your place in, and female journalists covering sport seem to have an added pressure of proving their

“

Talented female journalists feel discouraged from entering the world of sports journalism due to an assumption that sports coverage is only undertaken by men.

worth against their male peers.

In an interview with Elizabeth Conway, currently a journalist for the BBC, she explained that on querying about an outcome of an application for a presenter role at Premier League club she was described as ‘high maintenance’.

Elizabeth felt that they would not have described a male applicant in that way.

Criticism is something we all have to face at some point, but it is evident that female sports journalists are more often targets of abuse than male sports journalists.

In an article from the Independent in March last year, Melissa Reddy described her experience covering football as a female journalist.

She argued that female journalists continue to have their safety compromised on the job.

In one rather shocking

“

‘their position in holding governing bodies accountable was made stronger by female journalists who shared their story and could agree on a personal level’ gymnastics teams wore leotards in protest against the sexualisation of female athletes.

As Elizabeth Conway described: Female representation opens up more conversations about issues experienced by women in sports, such as sexualization.

Breaking down the boundaries built by an imbalance of men and women caters for changes in audience and reader interests.

Within recent years there has been a notable increase in the popularity of women’s sports.

A new three-year broadcast deal sees Women’s Super League football being televised on Sky Sports and the BBC. This deal indicates that more and more viewers are tuning in to watch women’s football, and it is only fair that we should see an increase in female journalists covering matches.

We also need to see more respect given to those women who have found a way into the industry despite these issues.

A campaign named #DeixaElaTrabalhar that translates to ‘Let her do her job’ got global attention in 2018. As part of the online movement, Brazilian female sports journalists took a stand against sexual harassment within the industry.

Campaigns such as this one illustrate that lack of respect for women in sports journalism is a global issue.

According to the Sports Journalist Association, in France, in 2021, 13% of journalists involved in radio and TV sports coverage were women.

Sport provides platforms for people to fight against social justice and inequality, yet we are not seeing these same battles won within the

industry that covers it.

But allowing women to write about women’s sport does not solve the inequalities.

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The sports journalism sector needs to push towards an inclusive coverage in which men and women work alongside each other covering all aspects of sport.

Instead, it reinforces the idea that women should only write about particular areas of sport and that women’s sport is not an area that male journalists should cover.

This reinforcement is in danger of isolating women’s sport, creating a further divide between the role of men and women in the coverage of sport.

Removing assumptions influenced by gender enables sports journalism to provide an inclusive viewpoint. By doing so, sports coverage can appeal to more aspiring journalists and athletes, regardless of their gender.