Forge Press Summer Issue 2021

Forge Press ISSUE 152 | FRIDAY 26 MARCH 2021

THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Pandemic causes surge in young adults smoking Laycie Beck A new study has found that there has been a substantial increase in young adults smoking during lockdown.

The study was completed by The University of Sheffield and UCL and has found a 25% increase in smoking in adults aged 18-34.

When compared to pre-pandemic levels, 650,000 more young people are smoking, according to the study.

Researchers also found that over 4.5 million more adults would be classed as high-risk drinkers during the same period, with the percentage of people from lower socioeconomic groups increasing by 64%.

Dr Sarah Jackson, lead author of the study, said: “The first lockdown was unprecedented in the way it changes people’s day-to-day lives; We found that many smokers took this opportunity to stop smoking, which is fantastic. However, the first lockdown was also a period of great stress for many people, and we saw rates of smoking and risky drinking increase among groups hardest hit by the pandemic.”

She added:“It will be important to keep a close eye on how these increases in smoking and drinking develop over time to ensure appropriate support is made accessible for anyone who needs it.”

The researchers noted that people from lower income backgrounds,

young adults and women are among those who have been disproportionately affected.

It is possible that many tried to use smoking and drinking to relieve stress or took them up in order to help them cope with the pandemic.

Colin Angus, Senior Research Fellow at the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group, said: “This study highlights the wider impacts of the Covid pandemic on people’s behaviour and the extent to which these impacts have varied across the population.”

Smoking is the biggest preventable cuse of cancer, known to cause at least 15 types of cancer. Even drinking small amounts of alcohol can increase the risk of several types of cancer.

The research study was funded

by Cancer Research UK. Michelle Mitchell, the charity’s chief executive, said: “There’s no safe level of smoking or drinking, and stopping smoking or cutting down drinking will help reduce your risk of cancer.”

Mitchell also said that “public health campaigns and prevention services have a vital role to play in helping people to quit and also maintaining the motivation of those who have already made positive changes.”

She added: “The upcoming tobacco control plan for England is a key opportunity for the Government to reduce smoking rates, but this

can only be achieved with sufficient investment.”

FORGETODAY.COM

Sheffield SU voted best in the country once again Joey Grindrod The University of Sheffield’s Students’ Union has once again been named the best in the UK. The SU has been voted the country’s best in the 2021 Student Crowd University Awards – the only UK University Awards determined entirely by student reviews.

Student Crowd compiled 19,232 student reviews to determine the UK’s top 20 Students’ Unions. The University of Sheffield’s SU came first with an average rating of 4.71/5.

Sheffield SU has previously been rated number one by Student Hut, the Whatuni Student Choice Awards and the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey.

The vision of the SU is to provide “top quality education, life-changing opportunities and experiences that liberate and support [students] for the best possible future”. The Students’ Union also boasts over 350 clubs and societies and a £20 million SU building.

Study finds increase in smoking.

Credit: Pexels

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Forge Press

News

New Engineering Heartspace wins prestigious architecture award Joey Grindrod The University of Sheffield’s new Engineering Heartspace has been awarded the 2021 RIBA Yorkshire award as well as the Yorkshire Client of the Year award.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awards celebrate the best architecture in Britain and are regarded internationally as a mark of excellence.

The Engineering Heartspace designed by Bond Bryan Architect Ltd has been named as one of eight recipients of the RIBA Yorkshire award and is now eligible for the

RIBA national awards in September.

Don Stewart, director of main contractors Tilbury Douglas, told Forge Press: “the sustainable, multi-award winning project was delivered safely to an exceptional quality to provide an outstanding student experience and enhance the university’s global position in engineering”.

The project was completed with social values at its heart “including a £74m injection within the local economy by placing 79% of subcontracts locally”.

The engineering building took four years to complete and links

together the Grade II listed Sir Frederick Mappin Building and the 1885 Central Wing.

Meanwhile the University of Sheffield has been named as the winner of the RIBA Client of the Year award, which “recognises the key role that a good client plays in the creation of fine architecture”.

Engineering Heartspace Credit: Indie Labbe-Jones

University of Sheffield Paediatric Society to host the annual UKAPS conference.

Indie Labbe-Jones The University of Sheffield will host the annual United Kingdom Aspiring Paediatric Society (UKAPS) conference for the first time later this year.

Founded by students from Imperial and Newcastle universities in 2014, UKAPS is a society that aims to bring together paediatric societies at universities across the UK. It gained endorsement from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in 2016.

The UKAPS annual autumn conference, which aims to encourage interest in paediatrics among medical students, will be held on Saturday 13th November 2021 at Sheffield University Medical School.

Joe, the president of paedsoc says that “we think it’s an amazing opportunity to highlight Sheffield as

a great hub of paediatric research full of incredible talent”.

Joe maintains that “above all, we are excited to be able to host a conference in person, giving everyone the opportunity to network once again”.

The theme for the conference this year is inequalities within paediatrics and therefore discussions and workshops will focus on topics such as racism, gender and disability.

The president of Sheffield Paediatric Society says that focusing on inequalities in paediatrics will “engage attendees and educate them on the various issues facing both children and paediatricians”.

The conference will feature keynote speeches focusing on racism, homophobia and transphobia as well as both gender and disability.

Joe comments that he “hopes to get Sheffield Paediatric Society on the map, as in previous years we have fallen behind in terms of conferences and events”.

As always, the conference will asso focus on career opportunities for young medics and is a great opportunity to learn more about a career in paediatrics.

Tickets will be available for students and doctors alike on Thursday 2nd September and will be £5 per person. All proceeds will go to an allocated children’s charity.

Credit: Sheffield Paedsoc twitter

Friday 26 March 2021

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News

New and former students share why they chose Laycie Beck New and former students share why they chose to study at The University of Sheffield.

The academic year has now begun and thousands of new students from across not just the UK but the world will be joining the university to continue their studies into higher education.

Starting university can be an exciting time, almost as exciting as graduating, so we have spoken to a new student and recent graduate to see how their expectations compare and why they chose Sheffield.

First year student Ellie Hickman is set to begin studying English Literature and Language at the university this month following her successful A-level results.

She said: “I chose Sheffield because the course has so much variety to it, which is what I struggled to find at other universities; particularly in the second year, the choice to really personalise your direction of study seemed so exciting to me.”

“It’s also closer to my home which makes me feel more comfortable and able to explore such a big, social and lively city without feeling too threatened by the whole experience.”

Ellie added: “I’m looking forward to the first few days of meeting new people within my course and my accommodation.”

“Once I’ve met some new friends I’ll feel so much more confident and ready to pursue my course; I’m really looking forward to my seminars and having conversations and debates with my new course pupils, it’s the main thing I love about English.”

Recent graduate, Frankie Paterson, finished her degree in Business Management with Employment Experience earlier this year.

When asked why she chose to study at the university, Frankie said: “I was really impressed with the Management School building. It was really new, modern and there is a big focus on sustainability.”

She added: “I also loved how close the Peak District was to the university and went there many times across the 4 years.”

Frankie was the first person in her family to go to university, and as she is from Birmingham it wasn’t too far on the train to visit her family.

Frankie now works for PwC (pricewaterhousecoopers) after she

was offered a graduate job with them following her experience at the company during her placement year.

Credit: Ellie Hickman

“

The course has so much variety to it, which is what struggled to find at other universites.

Volunteers hooked on knitting hats for age

Credit: Laycie Beck Credit: Frankie Paterson

Indie Labbe-Jones

Laycie Beck

Students take part in The Big Knit by knitting small hats for drink bottles to raise money for Age UK. Sheffield Volunteering hosted a sunny Knit and Natter session on Tuesday 22nd June, where University of Sheffield students came to learn and develop new knitting skills.

The volunteers spent the day outside the Sheffield Students Union, creating small knitted hats to support The Big Knit by innocent drinks.

The session was run by Sheffield Volunteering’s partnerships administrator Cat Oldham and volunteer co-ordinator, Helen Giorgi.

Cat said: “Six volunteers volunteered at the Knit & Natter session. Two of the students had knitted before, so showed the others how to knit.

“There are no plans to do another session, but if students were interested we could.”

Freshers Week 2021

Each hat can take anything from 1 hour to make, depending on the knitter’s experience, and once finished they will be placed on the tops of innocent drinks.

These hats will raise money for Age UK, a leading charity for the support of older people, as for each bottle sold, innocent will give 25p to Age UK. Sheffield Volunteering organised the Knit and Natter session as part of the month of community events.

Earlier this month, Sheffield Volunteering organised a card-making session, where students made and wrote cards to be sent to older people supported by the Sheffield Council of Churches for Community Care.

Cat added: “They aim to provide older people with a helping hand when they need it most, supporting them in their own homes and if they are admitted to or discharged from hospital, and offering vital social interaction to minimise loneliness.”

Other events throughout the month have included one-time activities, such as community gardening groups and volunteering at local food banks.

Freshers week 2021 will fall on the 18th-26th September and for many will be their first ever taste of face-to-face university.

Whilst older students are looking forward to getting back to normal, including the return not only of foundry club nights but also the activities fair, for last year's freshers and new students coming in, this is their first taste of proper university life.

Jinqian Li will be going into third year in September 2021 and has only experienced one freshers week in her time at university. Jinqian thinks that the possibility of an in-person freshers week this year would be “very welcomed as people just missed it so much”.

Yet despite looking forward to face-to-face events, Jinqian feels “a bit of irresponsibility because the coronavirus is still widespread and the delta variant is dangerous”.

She feels that “the environment at the moment doesn’t seem to allow everything to go back to normal”.

Whilst many people are relieved that the start of a new academic year comes with relaxation on most of the restrictions students have faced for the past year and a bit, some are nervous at the prospect of an in-person freshers week.

Jinqian Li says that for her “it’s a mixture. Personally I look forward to having it in-person but I do feel nervous as the virus still exists”.

These feelings of anxiety towards freshers, which will see the return of classic club nights such as poptarts and ROAR, have led many students to debate whether they’ll even participate in freshers week this year. I might go only if there are set guidelines and things like sanitizer will be provided”.

The opinion among students seems to be split, with some like Jinqian advocating for guidelines to be set around the return to club nights and others feeling less concerned about the easing of restrictions.

Friday 26 February 2021

9

Opinion

A Broad Student Movement is Needed to fight Complicity in Apartheid After months of unrest in Palestine, Keziah Spaine explores how students can have an impact.

O

ver the past few months, the destruction of Palestine and the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people has finally got some attention. People that have been fighting for a free Palestine for years may finally feel that change is coming, as horrors including the bombing in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, displacement of the community of Sheikh Jarrah, bombings of homes and tower blocks housing journalists are forcing people to pay attention.

In London, 200,000 people came out in protest against the recent attacks by Israel, and in Sheffield, students from both the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University marched against their universities’ unwavering complicity in apartheid. Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) claimed that more than 100 universities in the UK, including both Sheffield universities, have at least £454 million invested in companies that fund war crimes and Israel’s regime of apartheid.

Universities market themselves as liberal bastions of inclusivity and equality and yet invest in companies that are complicit in systematic ethnic cleansing and the longest settler colonial regime in modern human history. Our universities not only fund, but legitimise the political project of Israel, which is why British students have such a major role to play in the movement for Palestine.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign

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This means that our universities care very little about the ethics of working with these companies, which are complicit in human rights violations has shown how UK universities have a range of investments in companies that are complicit in settler colonialism and apartheid.

Sheffield Hallam University has financial partnerships with JCB, Caterpillar and Volvo, all of which fund Israel’s home demolition policy, a policy integral to the continued displacement of Palestinians.

The University of Sheffield has investments in HSBC, which in turn has investments in Caterpillar.

The University of Sheffield also has partnerships with Boeing and BAE Systems, which supply are the companies have supplied arms to Israel, according to the research from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

These partnerships are justified because of their career and work experience benefits for students, and people studying, particularly in the STEM sector, benefit

The AMRC’s Factory of the Future, where Boeing works alongside Uni of Sheffield students

from university links with large engineering firms. However, this means that our universities care very little about the ethics of working with these companies, which are complicit in human rights violations and a colonial project that has broken multiple international laws. It is ironic that the same university that teaches modules on Human Rights and Oppression and Resistance on my Politics course, is active in perpetuating human rights violations, oppression and stamping out resistance.

Whether or not the student protests will work is another question. For many years the Aparthied Off Campus, BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) and other Palestinian movements have been pushing our universities to end their complicity, and yet it seems these institutions have no interest in budging. Although the University of Sheffield Students Union supports raising awareness of the BDS movement, it does not explicitly endorse it, and has been deafeningly silent during these recent protests.

These student uprisings against our universities will only work if our student unions are prepared to explicitly endorse and take dramatic steps to force the university to change course.

This includes making it impossible for BAE Systems and Boeing to show up to our careers fairs unchallenged and depriving the university of the marketing and promotional benefits of the Students Union, until they agree to invest ethically.

Our students union is still in favour of adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which, in practice, has silenced Palestinian activism and criticism of Israel on campuses around the country. University College London found that the IHRA definition “adds barely a useful word to the Equality Act 2010 definition of harassment. What is present is contradictory and confusing” and “has no relationship with case law and legal obligations’’ But we know that anti-aparthied activism has been successful in the past, and so with widespread student support, and student unions that aren’t afraid to face a backlash,

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Students must continue to be at the forefront of anti-apartheid campaigns

we can make what our universities are doing untenable. In the 1970s the National Union of Students and the Anti-Apartheid Movement built a network of student campaigns to force their universities to divest from South Africa. Students must continue to be at the forefront of anti-apartheid campaigns, as the very institutions that we fund are partly responsible for the ongoing settler colonialism and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. This is only possible with determined and brave students unions, an NUS that actually acts as a fighting union for students and their demands, and solidarity between students and the BDS movement. So yes, it is possible, but the cowardice of groups like our students unions and the NUS is making it much harder to put pressure on our universities, who

won’t divest just because of a few protests.

This is not just an issue of universities’ investments in complicit companies, but about the fact that universities are not educational institutions anymore, they are companies with corporate interests and with business partners that do not cater for the needs of students. In the same way that our universities abandoned and isolated students in a pandemic, used students as cash cows and profited from students by lying to them about what university would be like this year, universities are now companies that do not have students’ interests at heart. To challenge this, we must challenge and topple what universities currently are, profit-greedy companies that put their students last. Until this is our goal, and we have the backing of the NUS and our students unions, we don’t stand a chance of getting apartheid off campus.

Credit clockwise from top left: Free Palestine protest credited to Alisdare Hickson via Flickr, shared under CC 2.0 license; AMRC credited to User: Chemical Engineer via Wikimedia Commons, shared under CC 4.0 License

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Forge Press

Opinion

Simone Biles should be praised for prioritising her mental health

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Liana Faye imone Biles has accomplished more international success in 24 years than most of us ever will in our lifetime. Her domination of the elite gymnastics’ world began at 16 years old when she won the United States National title and the all-around title at the World Championships.

Ever since then, no other gymnast has come close to matching her talent.

Despite her fame in the gymnastics world since 2013, it took her stellar performance at the Rio Olympics to become a household name. Four gold medals and a bronze in 2016 resulted in her net worth skyrocketing to approximately $6 Million, thanks to brand deals and sponsorships.

From the outside, her life appears to be picture-perfect, which is why it came as a complete surprise to most

when her mental health caused her to pull out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. How could a prodigy with such wealth, crumble under the pressure of her second Olympic games?

Behind the scenes, however, Simone Biles’ life has been consumed by tragedy. In the Facebook Watch series Simone vs herself, Simone details her life as a young child. Her biological mother, Shanon Biles, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and often left Simone and her siblings hungry.

Biles noted how her mother “always fed [the cat] but she never fed us”.

After concerns from social workers, Biles and her siblings were put into foster care and eventually her grandparents adopted her and her sister. Biles claims to not remember much about her time in foster care, which is unsurprising considering amnesia is seen in some victims of childhood trauma.

Then in 2017, the USA Gymnastics

sex abuse scandal came to light.

Michigan State University and USA team doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 175 years in prison for assaulting more than 150 young gymnasts. One of whom was Simone Biles.

Internationally, the scandal gained traction after the 2020 Netflix documentary Athlete A exposed the emotional and physical suffering of young female gymnasts caused by the USA gymnastics staff. The

documentary shocked audiences around the world with how the staff manipulated and bribed the impressionable girls to keep them quiet, whilst pushing them tirelessly to stand on the podium.

The trolling that Simone Biles experienced after making the decision to prioritise her mental health was a far cry from the public outpour of support for Larry Nassar’s victims. Piers Morgan branded the gymnast as “selfish” for

“letting down her teammates, her fans and country”.

Do the internet trolls behind the insults hurled at Biles genuinely not think that dropping out of an Olympic games is an extremely difficult decision? The world has seen how ruthless and pressurizing the USA gymnastics staff can be.

Whatever Simone Biles is struggling with mentally is clearly having a severe and possibly dangerous impact on her athletic performance.

Just four years ago, people praised Larry Nassar’s victims for speaking out, but as soon as their trauma affects Team USA’s gold medal streak, many are quick to berate them. These comments are cemented in hypocrisy and a classic example of our society not taking mental health as seriously as physical health.

So thank you Simone Biles, for speaking out about your struggles and doing your part in breaking the taboo surrounding mental health.

Should travel inside the UK have been the only option for this summer?

W Jake Dannatt

ith the vaccination programme accelerating at a rate we can all praise, the risk of travel abroad is something we cannot take for the time being. While millions have now had their jabs, this does not mean the virus has been eradicated.

For people in other countries across the world, vaccines have not yet been sufficiently distributed.

Despite the UK having one of the best programmes, with 111.2 doses per 100 people, countries such as Jamaica and Egypt have less than 7 doses per 100. These popular tourist locations will unfortunately have to endure longer economic

hits due to this. The virus can still be passed on by those who have had the vaccine, therefore unvaccinated citizens in other countries may be at risk.

Travel within the UK should continue to bring back a sense of normality. There are many destinations which offer an equally enjoyable experience across the country and holidaying at home will also help the recovery of the economy.

New variants have posed a significant threat to the possibility of travel. For those who have refused the vaccine, they should carefully consider travelling abroad in the future, as this not only risks their own health and that of others, but may lead to further mutations of the virus occurring. The vaccine

has proven to weaken the virus and thus make it less likely that a particular strain mutates. It would be wise for the government to aid foreign countries in their vaccination programmes by sending surplus doses abroad. This may be one of the only ways to prevent COVID having a further impact on our summer holidays and weekend getaways.

T

Forge Press Opinion he government continues to advise against all but ‘essential’ travel however the definition of ‘essential’ is not clearly established. As clubs and borders open, I believe we should continue to adhere to the government’s advice, but we can afford ourselves a slightly looser definition of ‘essential’. For example, whilst previously my definition of ‘essential’ would have only included travel to visit family or friends in need, I now believe those of us who have spent over a year away from our families should have the opportunity to visit them. For some, a trip to Spain is not just a frivolous holiday but an opportunity to touch base with our nearest and dearest.

Similarly, whilst I previously would have thought only those who already have jobs abroad should continue to work abroad, I would now fully endorse those who are looking for work abroad.

As a languages student, I am all too aware of how work placements abroad can be both a vital part of a student’s studies and one of the first steps towards a career in teaching, translation, or business.

However, I think that it’s important to choose where we travel wisely. Of course, unless it is unavoidable, we should all avoid travelling to red list countries. If possible, one should only travel to green list countries. However, as more and more green list countries move to the green watchlist or the amber list, it appears that we cannot be sure that any country will remain on the green list throughout our stay.

We should also think carefully about when we choose to travel.

SAGE scientists have warned that

September and October ‘will be a particularly risky point in the trajectory of the pandemic’. So if you are keen to travel before the end of the summer it may be worth trying to do it before the end of the month.

Of course, I understand that the pandemic is far from over and I think we all need to continue to take precautions in all aspects of our lives, including travel. For that reason, I wouldn’t support anyone who seems to be travelling just for the sake of it, for example a cheeky trip to Magaluf with the lads or a fun solo tour of Europe. However, I think a considered decision to work abroad or visit relatives does not suggest a disregard for the continuing dangers of the pandemic but rather an act of selfpreservation.

Credit clockwise from top left: Simone Biles credited to Fernando Frazão via Wikimedia Commons, shared under CC 3.0 Brazil license; Plane wing credited to Ross Parmly via Unsplash; Brighton beach credited to User: Wilhei via Pixabay

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Forge Press

Features

Feature by Wiktoria Wrzyszcz

“This is not the end, this will not stop us”: Campaign speaks out after monument destruction

I

t was a warm July evening in Sheffield. Dusk was slowly falling in the Ponderosa, one of many unlit parks in Sheffield. At 9.30pm yellow light illuminated one of the edges of the park. Members of Our Bodies Our Streets (OBOS), a Sheffield-wide organisation campaigning for safer spaces free from public sexual harassment, gathered to unveil their temporary light installation.

Soon, moving words of a poem about street harassment read out

by Katie Sea filled the park. People around the monument gathered in small groups to talk and celebrate. It was the first time that the new light installation started an important conversation.

Megan James, a community network officer for OBOS and a 3rd year history and politics student at the University of Sheffield, explained the idea behind the monument.

She said: “Our monument was in the area which is poorly lit. We wanted to have a sculpture there to

show that even without the lights, it is our space too.”

“We wanted to create something that would be a talking point.

Something that people would pass by and it would start a conversation about street harassment. It was supposed to be a reminder of the issues that women and marginalised genders in Sheffield face in their daily lives.”

The wooden monument was lit up and had a map with points in Sheffield where women were sexually harassed. It also featured poetry related to the issue. Captions included “No, not all men but all women” and “we are told to carry our keys”. The sculpture was made from scratch by previous OBOS committee members Kai, Emma and Alison.

Alison said: “The sculpture was laser cut - we could use uni facilities to save money. We did painting and varnishing in our uni house gardens.

Constructing it on site was great as people would come up to us and ask questions - this was a great

opportunity to tell them about the campaign.”

The installation was supposed to stay in the Ponderosa until September. However on 23 August, OBOS members woke up to heartbreaking news. A local person walked past the monument, saw remains of burnt down installation and reported it to the organisation.

Megan said: “It was absolutely horrific. I was very disappointed for the people who spent so long making the monument and also since it is not there anymore it will not have the effect that it would have if it was in the park for longer.”

Alison added: “When it was burnt down, having only been up for 4 weeks, it was crushing when so much work had gone into it”.

However, OBOS did not allow the incident to silence them. In the place where the installation used to stand, they put up signs saying: “this won’t stop us” and “this is not the end”. Next to the notes, they printed out a QR code which people can scan in order to share their

thoughts about the sculpture.

Megan said: “Our Instagram DMs are absolutely full of people showing solidarity, offering their support or ideas for future sculptures. The conversations that we had with people on our social media after the monument was destroyed showed the huge impact the installation had.”

Alison added: “It shows how pertinent the issue is and that there are brilliant people in Sheffield supporting social change - the sculpture was installed to spark this

conversation and this can continue in the community despite its physical destruction.”

Even though the burning down of the monument damaged the hard work put into it, OBOS members do not want to think about it too much.

They prefer to remember how beautiful it was when it was unveiled and use the current momentum to talk about issues concerning women and marginalised genders.

Megan said: “The destruction of our beautiful sculpture got discussions starting up again about street harassment in Sheffield and this is one good thing to come from it.

It is really important to use this moment to bring further change in the city.”

An investigation into the incident has been launched to find those responsible. OBOS is encouraging anyone who knows anything about the incident to come forward.

Feature by Miriam Kuepper

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Restrictions lifted: Entering the UK without the strain of quarantine

ince 2 August, double jabbed students from the EU and US arriving in England do not have to quarantine anymore if they were vaccinated with one of the four approved vaccines. By cutting the ten days students would have had to spend in isolation, they not only gain valuable time to explore their new surroundings, but also more financial freedom.

Among those that can now travel freely to study in the UK is Claire Schrago, a 24-year-old exchange student from Switzerland. For her, the lifting of the quarantine rule is a huge relief: “I was worried my mental health would suffer.”

As she will be new to Sheffield, the days leading up to intro week are indispensable. She said:“After arriving in a completely new environment to study there for a

whole semester, I would be glad to be able to explore my surroundings instead of having to isolate for ten long days.”

When booking her flight, she made sure to account for potential quarantine time.

Nevertheless, her flight is “only” on the 5th of September, meaning she would have been out of quarantine in the middle of September.

“I would have missed half of orientation week, where I can get to know Sheffield”, Miss Schrago said. She did not want to fly to the UK any earlier than that though, because it would have meant that she could not go on vacation with

her partner, who had exams until late August.

Apart from the loss of vacation time, quarantine could have also meant financial strain, as she would not have been able to move into her accomondation earlier. Hence, she would have to pay for a hotel to quarantine.

Quarantine plans postponed While Miss Schrago didn’t look forward to quarantine, she already had things in mind to keep herself busy.

“I was planning on watching a lot of Netflix series I would not watch otherwise, read a lot, try to do some workouts in my room and listen to

self-help audiobooks to avoid going crazy.” She said, half-jokingly.

The Swiss student remembers the joyful moment of receiving an e-mail from the government website about the rule change: “When I saw the news, my first reaction was a big smile and a huge relief. Next, I informed my friend who is also coming to Sheffield and then texted my family and friends the good news.

Covid-worries gone Compared to her home country, Switzerland, where a mask mandate is still in place in public transport, shops and other places where social distancing cannot be upheld, the UK seems a different reality in the Covid-age.

In order to travel freely and face no potential restrictions when going to lectures or nightclubs,

Miss Schrago got the vaccine. Due to being jabbed, she is also more confident going to a place with no restrictions.

She is not too concerned about the rising infection rates in England: “I am fully vaccinated and even if I caught Covid I do not think that it would affect me greatly. Also, I will not necessarily have contact with elderly people when I‘m studying abroad so I do not have to worry about infecting vulnerable people as much.”

Should a fourth wave come which Schrago, as many others, worries about - lectures and seminars might be held online again.

Nevertheless, she is staying positive: “I will just enjoy the beginning which was announced to be in-person.

In case everything will go back to online classes, at least I got to know people in the beginning.”

Wednesday 10 February 2021

13

Features

Feature by Gina Kalsi

Back to Uni: What do students think about sharing lectures with unvaccinated people?

O

ver 17 months ago, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the chilling announcement that people must ‘stay at home’, ‘protect the NHS’ and ‘save lives’ for the very first time. Many of us wondered when this pandemic would end. Covid has taken almost 4.5 million lives worldwide, and continues to cause universal heartbreak and pain for individuals everywhere; even with the vaccine in place.

When the vaccine was finalised and given the green light, it was our saving grace. Whilst cases rose as the country re-opened, deaths dropped; proving the vaccine to be successful. However, some people are choosing not to take the jab; including some university students.

Students have had a tough year.

With the outbreak of covid, the ‘university experience’ was halted, and social isolation was introduced. They have felt ignored by the government for the past year-and-a-half. Paying for accommodation they are legally not allowed to travel to, paying full tuition fees for remote learning, and no leeway with grades are just a few of the reasons many students have felt cheated.

Ministers debated on making the double vaccination compulsory for university students to go on campus and live in halls of residence. However, they received backlash from the University and College Union’s general secretary, Jo Grady, who said it would be ‘hugely discriminatory against those who are unable to be vaccinated, and international students.’ The National Union of Students (NUS), who have fought for students to have their voices heard throughout the pandemic, called the proposal ‘appalling’.

The government have recently backtracked on their previous plan, and now advise that higher education institutions ‘encourage students to take up the offer of both doses of the vaccine, as soon as they become eligible.’

Whilst some students were pleased to hear about the government’s U-turn, others fear mixing with unvaccinated students in lecture theatres.

According to our survey on Twitter, 26% think that students should attend

whether they are vaccinated or not, 15% said that it did not bother them, and 59% answered that unvaccinated individuals should not be attending lectures; displaying a real sense of conflict in the student community.

should be allowed to access the same level of education as everyone else, otherwise it is a simple violation of the human right to education.

“Those who don’t take the vaccine have a duty to ensure the safety of

“

others around them when attending lectures by continuing to test regularly and wearing a mask.”

Chelsea, an incoming postgraduate student at The University of Sheffield said: “I believe it is down to each individual to keep themselves safe by having the vaccine, testing if they have symptoms, and wearing a mask in an enclosed space-especially with people they don’t interact with regularly.

“I would prefer for those who are unvaccinated to test regularly (just to be sure) and wear a mask, however since I cannot expect everyone who is unvaccinated to do this, I will make sure that I feel safe by taking these precautions myself.”

Since the 19th of July, the government has made social distancing and mask-wearing a

Whilst some students were pleased to hear about the government’s U-turn, others fear mixing with unvaccinated students in lecture theatres.

Joshua, a University of Sheffield student said: “Many people can’t / won’t take the vaccine because of religious, medical or moral reasons. These people should not be discriminated against and

personal choice. From the 16th of August, fully-vaccinated individuals do not need to isolate if they are a close contact of a positive-case. Those who are not double jabbed will still need to isolate.

However, the main concern is surrounding the new variations of covid, which occurs when it is released to a mass amount of people. The UK is an ideal breeding ground for the virus as there are limited restrictions of human contact in place.

This a concern for Miriam, an incoming postgraduate student at The University of Sheffield who said: “At the moment I’m kind of okay going to lectures with people who have been unvaccinated, but the longer Covid breeds in people, the more new strains and variants come out.

“

“There could be a variant where my vaccine isn’t as effective and I could catch another variant and be really sick.”

The UK is planning to offer a third ‘booster’ vaccine this autumn to those who are clinically vulnerable, and therefore at risk of dying from covid complications. This decision came after studies suggested that the level of immunity from the vaccine declines over time. The Zoe Covid Study app found that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine immunity dropped by 10% in four to five months, and the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine by 14%.

As the vaccine immunity has decreased and we are at risk of new strains emerging, there are some worries around whether university will be taught predominantly face-to-face or online this academic year.

happen.

“I just hope it won’t be as bad and there won’t be as many people hospitalised. But if people don’t get the vaccine, then it will happen again. It will all go back to last year I think, and I’m really worried about that.”

There is a mixed opinion amongst university students as the new academic year arrives. However, one thing remains clear; students will no longer be the scapegoat for the failures of the government.

Those who don’t take the vaccine have a duty to ensure the safety of others around them when attending lectures When asked how she would feel if university had to be remote this year, Miriam said: “I’d be really angry because I did everything I could to prevent this going into a really bad fourth wave again but I already expect this to

Credit clockwise from top left: Before and After images of sculpture provided by OBOS; Octagon Vaccine Centre credited to Sheffield SU; Packed lecture theatre credited to Miguel Henriques via Unsplash; Hotel room via Pixabay

18

Forge Press

Science & Tech

Neurotech could change the health industry - but is it for the idea of having sensors in our brains which can relay and pick up better? The neural signals is feared as a step along the path to a dystopian future of mind reading and thought crime, writes Josh-Thory Rao

Strides are being made in the field of Neurotech, and we are now able to use these technologies to do immense good for those who need it. We are able to harness neural communications to allow a paralysed person to control prosthetic limbs.

Perhaps the most recent development is the ability to enable a paralysed person to type on a screen simply by imagining writing the characters they wish to use, provided they are hooked up to the required equipment. This is a development that has come out of cutting edge current academic research which allows writing at a far faster rate than previous technologies, and so could revolutionise communication for the people who need it.

The major issue for many seems to be privacy. The idea of having sensors in our brains which can relay and pick up neural signals is feared as a step along the path to a dystopian future of mind reading and thought crime. Our mind and our thoughts are perhaps our most private and protected sanctuary of internal opinion and deliberation.

What we are thinking is something we do not want others to know, and surely

what others have no right to know.

These technologies, people worry, may have the potential to change that.

At present, the tech is not quite this developed; pre-motor neural signals can be identified and harnessed, but other ‘thoughts’ are still out of reach.

However, brain scanners are already being considered which could have a deeper, broader ‘scan’ of one’s brain activities than the neuron sensors we have now. We are not yet at the stage of complete or non-consensual mindreading, which is the primary cause of concern. But it is not as though these technologies are not going to undergo advancement.

On top of the potential of brain scanners, Elon Musk, through his company Neuralink, has plans to make these implants which read neural signals more mainstream, to aid the completion of mundane tasks. He is making progress with small, wireless chips, having tested them on monkeys.

We can argue that there is not an issue with the current limited use of these implants, but we must consider the implication of the widespread distribution and use of them, both in the possibility of accessing people’s

thoughts and that of artificial impulses.

There is the risk of possibilities, like the placing of artificial cravings in our brains, which could threaten our autonomy and rational decisionmaking abilities.

Both things pose serious ethical issues. They are not directly a risk as of now, but may be in the near future, and so any proposal of a more widespread use of these neural sensors must be deliberated with these possibilities in mind. When the capabilities of these technologies reach levels which can then pose a risk to our privacy or autonomy.

At present, we lack the capacities for these machines to be dangerous; one has to be a willing participant in order to utilise the neuron sensing technologies, for example. They can be greatly useful for the communication of paralysed persons, and it would be a mistake to put a hold on their use when they have the potential to do so much good in this form, just because of a potential future risk. The conditions for this future risk to arise must be monitored, however, so as to mitigate its potential.

Lilliputian Hallucinations: When literature meets real life Dominic Fairbrass Far adrift from the subcontinent in the remote waters of the Indian Ocean exists two islands named Lilliput and Blefuscu. These otherwise unremarkable islands are inhabited by a race of homunculi of approximately 15cm in height; at least this is what Jonathon Swift in his novel Gulliver’s travels would have us believe.

It is the first of these islands which is the namesake of a psychiatric phenomenon known as lilliputian hallucinations which were first described in 1909 from the personal experiences of French Psychiatrist Raoul Leroy.

Described as from 1mm to 1m tall in populations as large as several million at a time these hallucinations can overwhelm those afflicted by them. Dirk Blom estimates a prevalence of lilliputian

hallucinations of 30-80 per 10,000 psychiatric patients, making them far less common than other forms of visual hallucination. They also show remarkable variation in both attire and personality with dancers, soldiers, clowns and gnomes amongst common character presentations.

Historically these hallucinations were believed to be relatively benign in their interactions with the patient but new research suggests that this is not so with 46% of patients attributing negative characteristics

“

Causes of lilliputian hallucinations are varied, including Lewy-body dementia

towards them such as “frightening” or “menacing”.

Causes of lilliputian hallucinations are varied, including Lewy-body dementia (approx. 5% of dementia cases), schizophrenia and alcohol induced psychosis. It is the last of these which has led to some rather tongue-in-cheek suggestions that the hallucinations represent a potential origin story of the Irish Leprechaun.

Due to the range of potential causes for these hallucinations’ treatment is also varied dependent on the underlying pathology.

Unfortunately, for many patients the underlying pathology may be progressive in nature and without significant treatment. One can only hope that with the continued advance of medical science we will be better equipped to tackle the challenges we face, no matter how small.

Apple Retracts The company faced a slew of backlash over privacy concerns and doubts over the feasibility of scanning devices to tackle child exploitation content Dominic Fairbrass In a month of headlines dominated by questionable foreign and domestic policy decisions a key debate has been raging alongside. Notably the question of how society should balance the individual right to privacy with the protection of children from sexual exploitation.

On August 6, Apple Inc. announced - and then renounced following public outcry - their intention to begin scanning user devices for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). This announcement came without prior indication and was quick to attract both supporters and critics.

The American National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) holds a database of known CSAM imagery. Each NCMEC database image is translated into “hashes”, a form of digital fingerprint, which Apple intends to compare and match to images on customers’ devices.

When an Apple user uploads an image or video to iCloud their device will automatically generate a safety certificate featuring the match result, resulting in either a positive or negative.

Once a threshold of positive CSAM match results has been crossed, a manual review will take place and if deemed to be suspicious, it is referred to the NCMEC which can then report users to the authorities to consider prosecution.

Amongst supporters of this move are UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid and the UK anti-child exploitation charity, Internet Watch Foundation who stated that it puts ‘child safety at the forefront of new technology’.

In addition to this photo matching Apple intends to use machine learning to identify and blur sexually explicit content sent through iMessage.

Parental safety settings will allow parents to be notified when their child’s device sends or receives suspected explicit content, even if it is not necessarily CSAM.

“

More than 90 policy groups have signed an open letter calling on Apple to reverse this decision amid privacy and safety concerns

This feature has raised concerns amongst LGBTQ+ advocacy groups that LGBTQ+ children on family accounts could be “outed” by this software to their parents, presenting a threat to the child’s wellbeing and safety. This is particularly concerning in jurisdictions where LGBTQ+ rights and identity are threatened.

It has also attracted opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Privacy International.

Currently more than 90 policy groups have signed an open letter calling on Apple to reverse this decision amid privacy and safety concerns.

Pragmatic difficulties also surround the effectiveness of this policy. Notably this system will only be able to flag CSAM which is already kept in the NCMEC database. CSAM which has been produced by the user (be it by a child or an adult) and uploaded to iCloud will not be recognised by matching and as such will not be flagged as suspicious content. Furthermore, CSAM which is distributed via third party apps such as Snapchat or WhatsApp without being uploaded to iCloud will also not be detected. Whilst this system will have some limited ability to detect known CSAM already in existence, it will be powerless to detect current or novel child exploitation through third party apps.

In order to address this flaw, Apple would have to both force data sharing with third party companies, which is unlikely and legally dubious, as well as introduce machine learning for the identification of new CSAM which would likely suffer from a high rate of false positives.

Approaching the topic more broadly requires that such software may be applied outside the scope of CSAM identification. For example, the same software could be used to identify and report the possession of images which governments may find objectionable. Apple itself has sought to reassure the public that it will not comply with government demands to expand photo-scanning but given the company’s previous controversies involving censorship and data collection some critics remain unconvinced. Can we trust Apple to place privacy over profits?

Apple’s proposal is not without merit and efforts to protect child exploitation are admirable. However, the intrinsic limitations of this proposal combined with invasion of privacy and the potential safety risks it poses is undesirable and ill-conceived.

Wednesday 2 September 2020

19

Science & Tech

Unveiling the Tesla Bot... and the dilemma between technical innovation and regulation Tevy Kuch Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his company is developing a humanoid robot, releasing a prototype “sometime next year” with the intended goal of the 56kg machine that isn’t “super expensive”.

Musk described the Tesla Bot, standing at about 5’8” tall, approximately 125lb, is “intended to be friendly”. Having repeatedly confessed his fears of artificial intelligence in the past, the company is constructing it at a “mechanical level”, allowing anyone to “run away from it and most likely overpower it.”

Given the codename “Optimus” inside the company, the robots will be programmed to perform “tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring,” according to the company’s website.

“I think essentially in the future, physical work will be a choice, if you want to do it you can,” Musk said.

The company revealed that “Tesla

Bot” will bear a face superimposed by a screen that projects “useful information”, and be able to carry 45 pounds while moving at a speed of up to 5 miles per hour.

The humanoid robot will be built with Tesla’s automated machines and computer chip, augmented with hardwares and software parts used by the company’s Autopilot driver assistance software.

Human-like robots have long piqued people’s interest but building one capable of fulfilling human tasks has shown to be extremely challenging. Artificial intelligence has progressed immensely, yet it still lags far behind even a toddler’s abilities. Robotics applications have previously been limited to simple activities in basic environments, such as moving products in a factory or vacuuming a home autonomously.

Tesla is no stranger to ostentatious ideas that never came to fruition, such as a solarpowered Supercharger network,

Quieting the buzz: Agrochemicals are having a worse effect on bee numbers than expected Image Credit: Andreas Trepte

Louise Elliott A group of scientists, jointly led by Dr. Emily Bailes of the University of Sheffield, have conducted a metaanalysis of previous studies, finding that the impacts of agricultural chemicals on bee mortality have been largely underestimated.

Often, the impacts of agrochemicals, such as pesticides and herbicides, on bee morality are tested on an individual basis.

However, the recent analysis of 90 such studies shows that interactions between these chemicals can have a much deadlier impact on bees than first expected.

This raises important questions as to whether current agrochemical regulatory processes are doing enough to support bee populations.

If the current risk assessment schemes on which these regulations are based fail to account for the cumulative effect of multiple chemicals on bee mortality, they may be insufficient to protect bee

populations for the future.

On the findings of this study, Dr. Emily Bailes said: “We found that when bees were exposed to multiple agrochemicals, like pesticides or herbicides, they generally acted in a way which caused more damage than would be expected from assessing each pesticide individually.

Bees, and other pollinator species, have been declining in number for decades leading to increased risk to global food security. Many individual stressors, such as parasites and nutritional factors as well as agrochemicals, all contribute to this decline. However, until now studies examining the combined effects of these individual stressors have produced inconclusive results.

battery swapping, or robotic snakestyle chargers, so walking among working Tesla Bots on a day to day basis is still far-fetched. However, Musk’s net valuation at over $180 billion means that any conceptual ideas he’s committed have a robust financial repository.

With billionaires Richard

Branson and Jeff Bezos entering the rocket-space arena, it is pertinent to address the bonafide transformational influence of unelected billionaires over our communities and lives.

The addition of Tesla Bots paints a clear picture of billionaires cruising their way without much accountability, that the ramifications of these disruptive projects are seemingly an afterthought without a solid safety-net for the rest of us to fall back on.

With jobs like grocery collection expected to replace generations of human-skills, Musk proposed a universal basic income to circumvent the danger that technology poses in displacing job roles, handing responsibility over to governments instead.

The impact the “Tesla Bot” was marketed as a way to compensate for labour shortages, will be another turning point for society that is likely to be felt by millions of people and for much longer than

the implications of the current pandemic.

Ironically enough, it is also a commercial appeal to its potential employer market. Labor shortages means bargaining power is relinquished over to workers who demand fair pay and better working conditions, or to leave their current positions that offer better wages.

Necessary democratic regulation must be fortified to demarcate the spheres between entrepreneurship and incomplete self-serving blueprints that potentially affect the lives of many.

“

Tesla is no stranger to ostentatious ideas that never came to fruition, such as a solarpowered supercharger network

The Rise of Fake Meat Industry - a sustainable promise for the future?

Josh-Thory Rao The plant-based ‘meat’ and ‘dairy’ industries, which provide vegetarian and vegan substitutes , are on the rise. This perhaps has something to do with the traction that veganism has been gaining, and also due to people cutting down on meat products and trying out plantbased alternatives but haven’t fully switched. An important motivation for some is environmentalism.

The benefits in terms of sustainability of plant ‘meats’ could be first outlined by the ways in which animal agriculture is bad for the environment, and moving towards phasing it out could help reduce these issues.

Greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation (for land use) are two key issues relating to agriculture.

It is estimated that about 14.5% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock agriculture, a significant percentage considering it one we have relative influence over as consumers.

Deforestation of the Amazon and other rainforests in Brazil has been caused through (among other factors) animal agriculture, both in

cattle grazing and soya production.

The vast majority, up to 90% perhaps, of soya is used to feed livestock, and such the demand for it is tied into the animal agricultural industry.

Still, it is livestock grazing that primarily occupies land. In addition, the land used for livestock grazing is twice that of land to grow crops.

Eating soya-based proteins instead of feeding them to livestock for later consumption would be a more direct and less environmentally harmful approach to feeding the world.

However, we should perhaps consider looking at alternatives to both meat/dairy and soya-based replacements. An example here is pea protein - which the Beyond Meat burger uses. Its source, yellow split peas, can actually be grown domestically which would reduce the ‘food miles’ in production that are inherent in soya bean transportation from the Americas.

Additionally, it would also help start regenerating South American rainforests, key to regulating CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

Alternatively, oats are generally more environmentally friendly

than soya and almonds, in terms of emissions, water use, and foodmiles, and so we would do well to consider oat milk over its plantbased competitors.

Overall, we should be looking toward alternatives to meat and dairy in the future; particularly those alternatives based on (more) environmentally friendly ingredients like pea-protein and oats.

We should also be looking to cease the carelessness and overproduction which causes 40% of our produced food to be wasted.

But plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy are surely a key addition to reducing our contribution to destroying our planet, if we can pick the right alternatives and produce them in a sustainable way.

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However, we should perhaps consider looking at alternatives to both meat/dairy and soya-based replacements

Wednesday 8 August 2021

19

Lifestyle

Creating a capsule makeup bag with your student budget

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Ella Brooker s a student who enjoys wearing makeup, it is something I must equate with my budget. From the frequent need to repurchase my daily products, to the more fun products I use on nights out- makeup can be costly.

Here is some advice on drugstore products for a capsule makeup bag that will cover all the bases, from day to night, without breaking the bank.

Storage: Get yourself some good makeup storage. My personal favourite is ‘The Flat Lay Co’ drawstring makeup bags. You can purchase them on ‘Asos’ in a wide variety of patterns and colours for around £16. They will last you a long time, and are very efficient, as you can undo the drawstring and create a flat lay of all your products when you are ready to use them. Then, you simply tighten the drawstring, and it becomes a secure makeup bag.

Brushes: In my opinion, the best budget makeup brushes are by Real Techniques. They have a huge range of collections, with some cheaper than others, and a brush for every need possible. You can

T

buy one of their kits, such as the ‘core collection’ which has a brush for each basic need. If you take care of them and regularly clean them, they can last you years- I’ve had some of mine for over six!

Face: When it comes to foundation, this is something which will be personal to you. Different skin types require different foundations, for example, someone with an oilier complexion may want something more matte.

They also vary in coverage.

Luckily, the drugstore has so many to offer at mostly under £10, so whatever your preference you will be sure to find one. The one I use is the Bourjois ‘Healthy Mix’ serum. As a student, I can almost guarantee you will also become reliant on a good concealer to brighten those fatigued under eyes. My favourite is the Maybelline ‘Eraser Eye’.

There are many good dupes for popular high-end products available in shops like Boots and Superdrug. One of the best, is the Soap and Glory ‘shimmer blush’, which is similar to the popular Benefit ‘Rockateur’ blusher. At more than half the price, it is a great buy. For me, blush is essential for a healthy-looking glow, and paired with a good bronzer or contour, it can really enhance your

look. You can find many bronzers and contours at affordable pricesmy advice would be to buy a palette with both contours and highlights in it, to make sure you are covered for every occasion. For an extra glow when it comes to a night out

or special occasion, I love a creambased highlight. Barry M does some amazing ones in multiple shades for £6.99.

Eyes: Often, I keep the base of my makeup the same, and simply add

some bold eyeshadow or eyeliner to dress it up for the evening. Invest in one large eyeshadow palette with a big variety of shades and colours, and this will be all you ever need.

The best, in my opinion, are from Morphe, and can be bought online

from about £20. Once you have one of these, it will last you for a long time, and won’t be something you need to frequently repurchase. You can also use the darker shades in the palette to create eyeliner looks using a fine brush, meaning you don’t have to buy separate eyeliner pencils.

Another essential is mascara.

There are so many great ones in the drugstore, some of the best being from brands such as Rimmel and Maybelline. I use either Maybelline ‘lash sensational’ or ‘sky high’. With

any mascara, you can do just a light coat for a more natural look, or layer it up to create bolder, more voluminous lashes for a heavier look.

Brows: Eyebrow trends are forever changing. Back in the 2010’s, it was all about a sculpted strong brow, but now, people seem to favour a fluffier, more natural look. There are so many types of brow products available. Most brands will stock some form of brow pencil, gel, powder and pomade to choose from. You can purchase these from under £6 at most drugstore counters.

Lips: I highly recommend the NYX ‘butter gloss’. They have so many different colours and at only £5.50 in Boots, you can’t go wrong! I like a nude shade for most occasions, but they also have plenty of bolder colour choices available. If lipstick is what you’re after, Rimmel is the place to look.

By buying dupes and drugstore products which will last you a long time, you can still enjoy makeup on a student budget.

Credit: Flat Lay CO. makeup bag, and a Morphe eyeshadow pallette.

Photos by Ella Brooker

Emma Smith on why keeping a tidy workspace at University is essential he unpredictable nature of the past couple of years has propelled students collectively into

learning a key lesson we recognise now all too well: how to study at home. The home can be a place of inevitable distractions, and can be a hard location to translate into the optimal study scene. Unwanted distractions whilst trying to work often leads to the dreaded issue of procrastination. Therefore, it almost feels essential to regain some control and order to our study habits and routines, which having a clutterfree study space can only assist in. Adopting a more minimalistic desktop allows less chances for your thoughts to wander; allowing the mind to remain focused on work that needs to be completed.

An ideal workstation for many would be described by an

organised, distraction-free desk.

Too many items can mean too many opportunities to become sidetracked from your studies, finding yourself scrolling endlessly through

motivation to want to study is highly dependent upon the environment of your workspace itself. I have found apps like Pinterest and Tumblr are great places to find

can help you to memorise your notes.

Introducing a structure to your desk can keep it tidy and distraction free. If you dedicate an area of the

essential items are kept visible. This helps to organise the chaos that naturally accompanies a university student’s study session.

A less busy workspace is key in

social media, unaware of the amount of time that has passed. Finding this appropriate balance is key to suitable desk organisation in order for optimal productivity when studying.

However, despite the clear rationale of why keeping a tidy desk will be of value to your university study, it is self-admittedly easier said than done to actually sustain an organised workspace. Nevertheless, there are a selection of tried and tested methods I have found useful to keep my desk considerably tidy, allowing me to study more effectively at university.

Arguably the most important aspect dictating the quality of your study session is your motivation to study in the first place. Acquiring the

desk layout ideas. Searching terms like “desk organisation” brings up endless inspiration pictures that are certain to enhance motivation to keep an organised desk that suits your personal style. The ‘Academia’ aesthetic is a current trend in itself, and I have found by making your study space its own aesthetic, you can stay motivated and productive when it comes to utilising your space. However, a tidy desk doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Placing a few decorative items to make your desk personal and appealing is key.

Having a dedicated study candle is a strong recommendation of mine, it helps to keep a relaxed environment and also studies have suggested that the associations of consistent scents

desk, such as a small basket or container for rubbish and another for documents you want to keep safe, papers won’t build up or get lost. At the end of the day, you can then throw away the rubbish and store the important files, without them accumulating across your desk, increasing your stress at the end of the day.

Additionally, using a process to decide what items you should keep on your desk can be beneficial in keeping your study space organised and neat. Be conscious of the items or stationery you use daily, and any items you notice you aren’t using every day could be placed out of sight and in a drawer. This way your desk remains tidy and only the

keeping stress levels low. The idea of studying can carry stress and anxiety for many students, creating consequential feelings of dread and avoiding facing your workload. I have found, in a consensus with many university students, that maintaining a neat and orderly study space can significantly help with this. Less unnecessary clutter and mess leads to less worrying about where all your notes are and how much work you have to do. Instead, your tidy desk will provide a comforting and relaxed environment where you can really be productive and engage in quality studying. This leads to an overall more productive and focused academic year.

20

Forge Press

Lifestyle

Coastal walks and fish and chips: a Whitby staycation Lewis Dagnall The port town on the northeast coast of Yorkshire is a beautiful get away. A mix of traditional Victorian seaside, the early medieval abbey, quirky shopping streets and gorgeous coastal walks and beaches, this part of the coast is often considered some of the most striking in the UK, making Whitby a great base for a holiday.

too.

2. Coastal walks- there are a huge array of walks around Whitby but the coast walks are particularly lovely.

3. Fish and chips- some of the best in the world. Magpie’s is universally considered the best by many Yorkshire folk, but to be honest I’ve never had bad fish and chips

4. Kippers – if you’re a fan of smoked fish then this is a must. Stop off at Fortunes Whitby Kippers, a traditional smokery. Try preparing them in the traditional way by putting them whole in a jug of hot water for 3-5 mins. Delicious for breakfast with scrambled eggs or on toast.

5. Visit other nearby towns: Robin

When to go?

It would be most traditional to go in the high summer. But if you were to wrap up warm, most activities here could be enjoyed throughout the year with better availability.

There’s seasonal events too, from the Christmas tree competition in St Mary’s church from December to early January, to the steampunk weekend festival. There’s also a steam and traction engine festival in the summer.

Whitby has a strong relationship with Dracula as it is thought to be the inspiration for the novel.

There’s the Dracula experience (£4 and spectacularly tacky!) and ghost walks making Whitby a rather spooky and Gothic visit around Halloween.

Where to stay?

There are a huge number of holiday lets in Whitby itself, from cheap rooms (starting at £40 a night) to affordable houses (£100+).

Another option would be to stay in a youth hostel. Camping would be cheapest, if you have the gear and it’s warm enough.

How to get there?

It’s a little over two hours’ drive from Sheffield. You can also get the train, which takes 4 hours, changing at York.

What to do?

Whether you’re going for a weekend or a week there’s lots to do.

1. Whitby Jet museum and shops.

Jetis a very distinctive black stone used in jewellery making. It has a long history and there are still many shops selling Whitby Jet Jewellery

Whitby on the North York Moors Railway, which would make another grand day out in its own right.

Whitby holds a special place in many people’s hearts and I have to agree – there’s no place I’d rather be, than looking out over the sea, from the abbey at Whitby.

For our Edinburgh staycation guide, head to our website: forgepress.org

in Whitby. There are lots of deals including mushy peas, bread and butter, and a ‘cuppa’ tea. Fish fresh from the harbour.

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To be honest I’ve never had bad fish and chips in Whitby.

There are lots of deals including mushy peas, bread and butter, and a ‘cuppa’ tea.

Hoods Bay – another favourite town of mine Parking is a bit of a nightmare so I’d suggest a full day out walking there and back (or there then back on the bus!) Runswick Bay has a great swimming beach and is a bit quieter. Staithes has a lovely pub

that serves fish and chips right by the bay. It’s a wonderful little spot.

6. Walking in the moors: You’re close enough for walks in the North York Moors with lots of amazing walks out into the moorlands. There’s even steam train options available from

Credit: (Top) Lewis at Whitby.

(Middle) Beach view from Whitby Abbey.

(Last) Beach at Whitby. Photos

by Lewis Dagnall

26

Forge Press

Arts & Theatre

Interview Jade Burnett catches up with Artistic Director Ben Newman, and Company Manager Mia Young, to talk about their new theatre company, Belly Up Theatre, and their first show Recipe For a Baby.

Can you start by introducing yourselves?

Ben: I’m the artistic director for Belly Up Theatre and I’m directing Recipe for a Baby, which is the show that we’re doing at the moment. I am also the chair of SUTCo this year, which is the Sheffield University Theatre Company.

Mia: I’m the company director for Belly Up, and also I am producing Recipe for a Baby at the moment.

Why have you decided to start a theatre company? Do you see yourselves as filling a gap in the current market?

Ben: It sort of stemmed from doing a show with SUTCo literally the February before lockdown happened, called The Pillow Man, which Mia produced, I co-directed with James, who’s in the cast, and Stella, who’s doing the production managing for Recipe For A Baby, also did the tech for The Pillow Man. I’ve always had the aspiration of forming a theatre company at uni to see where it goes, and to use it as a platform for people’s careers in theatre. So I spoke to them all after we did that show because I enjoyed it and working with them so much, and we all sort of banded together to form a company. It took us awhile to actually get that off the ground obviously but

“

I’ve always had the aspiration of forming a theatre company at uni to see where it goes

the fifth member of the company, Will, actually approached us after we’d already sort of discussed it and he was like “I’m in the process of writing this play, and I’d really like you guys to put it on”, so he ended up joining us and that’s how Recipe For A Baby was born. Do we fill a gap in the market, do you think?

Mia: I don’t know if we fill a gap, I think it’s quite hard at the moment to enter the industry, it’s hard anyway but especially with Coronavirus so it’s nice for us, we kind of fill our own space, we’re trying to make art, make a space for ourselves, which is quite difficult to do but quite fun!

Is there any particular inspiration

Image Credit: Belly Up behind your name?

Ben: Not massively.

Mia: I actually don’t remember how we came up with it.

Ben: Basically, we were looking for a name for ages, and because our mission statement, our idea, is to create surreal theatre, I ended up flicking through a book of Radiohead lyrics and finding phrases that might work and one of them was Belly Up. We just liked it because it’s also a bit of tongue and cheek with the idea that we’re just doing it until we go belly up. I think it just sort of stuck, I wasn’t really that sure about it at first, and we said we’d keep it just as provisional for now, but then by the time we announced it I was fully on board with the name and really liked it. I can’t remember what other options we had though. I think one of them was like Ministry of Demons or something.

Mia: We went through some odd ones.

What was the impact of Covid on opening up? Have you been able to get together to rehearse?

Mia: In some ways obviously it’s been really challenging, because ideally we’d have loved to put on theatre a bit earlier than we did. We would’ve loved to have gone to Fringe but we weren’t sure if that was going ahead, but in a weird way having a theatre company during Covid sort of helped, because it meant that we had a time each week when we met over Zoom, it gave us something to do, we also started a podcast to try and keep engaging with theatre, so it

just gave us something to do which was nice.

Ben: Yeah definitely, I think it let us plan it all out more than anything, and I think also with the people we got involved with like the actors and technicians, it was really nice when we started putting it all together towards the end of restrictions. People had a real excitement for this show because they hadn’t done one in so long. But it was hard, because we did basically get put on hold for like a year and a half.

How do you feel the response has been so far?

Ben: Yeah, I mean, I think so. We started a fundraiser for the show which has done really well, we’ve raised our entire budget essentially.

Mia: It’s still going! Find it on our Facebook and Instagram!

Ben: Yeah it is still going, we could probably do with a bit more money for our set to be fair, so not completely raised our budget but we’ve raised a lot, more than I thought we would. Throughout Covid the arts were so massively impacted, theatre probably in particular, because of the live nature of it, and it just wasn’t supported, cinemas were opening up and it was really frustrating for a lot of people, but I think from that and the backlash to it we’ve seen a lot of support from the public for theatre now coming out of lockdown. I think we’ve seen that ourselves in the GoFundMe. We’ve started selling a lot of tickets as well, so I think that’s a pretty good sign.

Is it freeing to be able to be the first

people to interpret a script?

Ben: Absolutely! It’s been really cool.

I’ve done a little bit of new writing before but only as an actor, so to take a bit of new writing and have to convert that into the very first stage version of it, it’s quite daunting really isn’t it?

Mia: I’ve just loved watching the rehearsal process and reading the script, because obviously we know Will the writer, so I just find it so interesting seeing his voice come

“

This won’t be the last time we perform Recipe For A Baby

through, and Recipe For A Baby is a really incredible play.

What are your ambitions for the future of Belly Up? Mia: This won’t be the last time we perform Recipe For A Baby. We’re hoping to tour at some point, probably in a few years when everyone has left uni. Also, we’d love to go to the Fringe as a big goal of ours. So it’s just continuing, mainly people’s own writing, we like doing that.

Ben: We want to use it as a platform for people’s careers, and sorry I’m just going to come out and say it because it’s impressive, Mia’s doing a Producing Master’s course at Central in London, which is really cool, and I want to do something similar in

directing. We’ve got actors and technicians and people in the company who are all really interested in joining that industry, so supporting new writers is a huge part of that.

Mia: We’d like it to be an opportunity for people.

What can we expect from you in the future?

Ben: We had a chat the other day about what we want to do next. I think we do want to do something a bit more silly next, because as much as I have loved doing this it’s been quite a challenge emotionally, because the characters go through quite a lot, in accessing those emotions as a director. We would like to do something more comic next time, but we will be drawn back towards those sorts of plays again, because I think finding that balance between setting up a real world and finding those surreal elements of it. I think political theatre as well, theatre that addresses those sorts of issues is the best sort of theatre that you can be doing because it fills why you do it really, because you want to challenge things and make people think.

Belly Up Theatre consists of Ben Newman, Artistic Director, Will Turner, Writer, James Gilson, Deputy Artistic Director and Publicity, Stella Mackinnon, Production Manager, and Mia Young, Company Manager. Their new show Recipe For A Baby will be playing at the Theatre Deli between Thursday the 9th of September and Saturday the 11th of September.

Friday 16 February 2021

27

Arts & Theatre

Toppled Slave Trader statue to enter museum Megan Ainsworth For weeks following its toppling, the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol was headline news. The destruction of the statue was part of the larger Black Lives Matter Movement, which saw people take to the streets in protest following the murder of George Floyd. Many statues of individuals who had links to racism and colonialism, for example, Winston Churchill and Christopher Columbus, were also targeted to challenge the individuals’ wider perception within society.

The question of what would happen to the graffitied and broken statue of Colston was on many people’s minds. And as soon as the statue was recovered from the depths of Bristol’s harbour, a team set to work on its preservation. But now that question to what will become of the Colston statue has been answered, with it being placed on display at Bristol M Shed’s Museum. You will now find Colston lying on a wooden stand, along with placards from the protests and a timeline of events.

For the statue, and many statues like it that were highlighted in the protests, a museum is where they should now belong.

Regardless of whether you agreed with the protests or not, Colston’s statue is now an important artefact within our history. The story behind these now graffitied statues is as important as the events themselves.

They express a change in societal attitudes to once celebrated individuals and have created a wider societal discussion that is too powerful to ignore.

Now, I am not saying that these museum exhibits should be a celebration of the vandalism that took place at these protests, but they should not be ignored just because they bring some uncomfortable truths into view. To ignore these statues would be to censor history, something which has become all too common within scholarship. Those wanting to restore Colston’s statue back to its former self would simply be trying to erase history, and this should not be the case. Regardless

“

Colston’s statue is now an important artefact

Image Credit: Simon Cobb, Wikimedia Commons

Show List

The Forge Press Guide to 2021/22s biggest stage shows Whether you love a suspenseful thriller, or a rom-com musical is more your thing, the Arts editors have you covered, with an essential guide to the not-to-miss shows playing in Sheffield this term.

Operation Crucible Studio Theatre, Thurs 2nd - Sat 25th September Following its 2016 sellout run, Operation Crucible has finally returned to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Sheffield Blitz, after a series of COVID related setbacks. Kieran Kowles’ play explores the story of four steel workers trapped in a hotel destroyed by a bombing on the 12th of December 1940. The play is critically acclaimed, recently finishing a 2018 run in New York City, and tells a crucial story in Sheffield’s history.

Typical Girls Crucible Theatre, Fri 24th Sep Sat 16th Oct Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s Typical

of whether you are for or against the removal of these statues, you cannot undo what has already been done.

The same goes for those who want to lock the statues up out of sight to the public. These statues provide us with the opportunity to have an important discussion that is much needed about racism. Locking them away is not going to do that.

The statues should not be forgotten about. They are as important to society’s progression as any other.

To these statues in museums where people can be made aware of their history is undeniably the most unbiased way of presenting these monuments. It is not diminishing the individuals commemorated, but at the same time is not being used to mask the oppression that these statues represent for many. It is simply educating people on the history of the statue, making those who view the exhibits aware that these statues do represent a dark past.

They should not be placed back where they once stood, in ignorance of last year’s events, but should be used as a discussion point to talk about the events that took place. To carry on like nothing has happened would be to ignore the existence of protest and dissenting historical narratives, erasing our history.

Girls tells the story of a group of women inside a prison unit forming a punk rock band. Described as ‘part-gig, part-play’, the show explores resistance and rebellion, whilst centering the voices of women. The play will take place in person, but there will be an option to stream it on Wednesday the 6th of October.

Groan Ups Lyceum Theatre, Tues 7th - Sat 11th Sep Mischief Theatre, the creators behind the hugely successful The Play That Goes Wrong, is taking their viewers on a journey through the lives of a classroom of children, from the age of six through to their teenage years and their eventual adulthood.

Exploring the question of how we develop into what we are, and the extent to which we are able to set our own path, Groan Ups promises to be a different turn from the creators’ previous projects.

Heathers: The Musical Lyceum Theatre, Tues 14th - Sat 18th Sep Based on the 1988 movie starring Winona Ryder, Heathers: The Musical follows Veronica Sawyer as she joins the Heathers, a group of popular girls, and falls into a high school murder plot. Praised for

its music and choreography, the show mixes black comedy with a discussion of bullying and school violence.

Waitress Lyceum Theatre, Tues 28th - Sat 2nd Oct Funny and heartwarming, Waitress follows Jenna as she falls in love and overcomes the challeng-

es of life to find lasting happiness.

With a score by Sara Barilles and a cast with previous roles in shows such as Les Misérables, Legally Blonde, Wicked and Hairspray, the show will be a treat for fans of romantic comedy.

Bernadine Evaristo: Manifesto Crucible Theatre, Tues 19th Oct As a part of Sheffield’s annual Off The Shelf book festival,

Bernardine Evaristo is holding an event to discuss her new book Manifesto. The book is her account of, in 2019, becoming the first Black woman to win the Booker prize, and explores the telling of untold stories and representation within the arts.

Considering race, class and feminism in Britain today, Evaristo’s discussion promises to be deeply important and timely.

Dial M For Murder Lyceum Theatre, Tues 19th - Sat 23rd Oct A man convinced his wife is having an affair turns to plotting the perfect crime to get rid of her, in a new adaptation of the script made famous by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 movie of the same name. Viewers should expect to be kept on the edge of their seats throughout this suspense thriller, featuring stars of television and stage Tom Chambers and Diana Vickers.

Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope Studio Theatre, Tues 2nd Nov Naked Hope is Mark Farelly’s solo play, celebrating the life of Quentin Crisp, a writer and actor, openly gay as early as the 1930s, who spent his life refusing to conform to societal expectations and defying the homophobia and prejudice of his era. Powerful and uplifting, Farelly’s play is a celebration of life, exploring the need to be oneself despite oppression and prejudice.

Left: The Crucible Theatre.

Credit: Shane Rounce, Flickr

30

Forge Press

Music

W

ith a multitude of festivals hanging in the balance this year, Sheffield's biggest party managed to go ahead as a government test event, and hosted one of the largest crowds the country has seen since the start of the pandemic. For those 40,000 who descended upon Hillsborough park, side by side, no distance or mask, Tramlines was a special moment: one of joyful catharsis, incredible music, and a proper good boogie.

The allure of festivals is one we’ve been without for the past couple years, but it's an allure that has not faltered. It's been a week since and I still feel the buzz of the crowds, full of the feeling of actual freedom.

Whilst getting to witness live music in large crowds again was revelatory and everyone killed it, I think this feeling is what will strike through for those there, and make it a weekend to be remembered for a lifetime.

Seeing those friends you went to gigs with again, getting pissed in a field, dancing like an idiot with the people you’re closest too, snatching a glimpse of someone you haven't seen in years and reacquainting, catching the eye of an absolute stranger and chewing each other's ear off about how much you've “missed this,” only to see them in a mosh pit a few hours later and meet with an embrace.

These little moments are ones every festival goer will tell you make a festival what it is, and these little moments are ones that haven’t happened in the socially distanced era. Tramlines made me appreciate these things so much more, these things that, when you are frantically scheduling who you want to see throughout a day, you always forget to expect.

I also cannot go without mentioning the procedures of the event. Yet, initial anxieties passed upon entry. The smooth and thorough work done by the festival in requiring NHS barcodes signifying negative

Tramlines 2021: A Triumphant Return for Festivals Thomas Hirst welcomes back Sheffield's biggest (and best) party

tests upon entry worked wonders.

It gave the weekend a reassuring foundation, upon which everyone from the food vendors, backstage staff, volunteers, musicians, comedians, and who could forget the fans, all benefited from.

However, despite all the soppy reunions and well organised fun, the real attraction was the music, and boy did it not disappoint...

Friday The festival kicked off with a commotion on the Sarah Nulty Main Stage, a stage aptly renamed in memory of the late great Tramlines director who died in 2018, with a typically riotous set from The Blinders. The Doncaster boys turned it up for the main stage, and oh what a wonderful sight it was to see. The

weekend couldn't have started with a better live band, and the crowd were up for it from the get go, crashing into each other with grins ear to ear.

The main stage was the place to be for the entire day as it hosted three back to back indie fan favourites: landfill indie legends The Pigeon Detectives, the ever impressive Circa Waves (from which we took a break from the never ending mosh), and a slightly underwhelming but nevertheless hit-filled set from The Kooks.

But, it was Mike Skinner and The Streets headline set that was the highlight of the day. Whether he was soaking the front rows in Dom Pérignon, initiating a girls only crowd surfing competition, or giving ratings to the crowd energy after each tune, Skinner was a hilarious entertainer, rivalling some of those actually booked for their comedy.

The tunes were impeccable as well, with the set ending in a half hour filled with all the bangers from old and new, from the groovy jungle of ‘Weak Become Heroes’ to the bassy skank of ‘Who’s Got The Bag?’ and ‘Take Me As I Am’. The set was a laughter and dance filled party from the get go, and one of the highlights of the whole weekend.

Credit clockwise from top left: Tramlines Main Stage and Saturday The Kooks credited to Carolina Faruolo, Fanatic Live; Happy couple credited to Ben Bentley, Saturday's start was much more Fanatic Live chilled than Friday. This was down

to the amazing efforts from the Tramlines organisers in turning the newly established Open Arms stage into a dedicated space for inclusive spoken word music and poetry for the early afternoon. This culminated in a set from former Sheffield Poet Laureate Otis Mensah, whose unique brand of social justice rap provided a thoughtful and soulful start to a (hungover) morning that would progress into more chaos as the sun set.

Another incredible standout performance on the day was Little Simz.

Wow, can she hold a stage! Her presence was electrifying and everyone in the tent was treated to a woman on top of her game. As well as this, the cluster of new tracks she dropped all banged.

It seems like since Grey Area Simbi just keeps on getting better, and if tracks like ‘Woman’ and ‘I Love You, I Hate You’ are anything to go off this next album could outdo the Mercury prize nominated record. Simbi is on her way to a headline slot and I can't wait to be there when it happens.

Now… I don't even know how to start on what happened when the sun went down. Leaving battered and bruised in the best possible way, Royal Blood was organised chaos at its very best. The entirety of the crowd was a battleground, with the end of one moshpit resulting in the formation of two more. It was nice to see the two of them joined by a few more band members on stage to flesh out old tracks and do the new ones justice, the drop of ‘Typhoons’ being an especially riotous moment.

“

was a breath of fresh air and the jangly lounge indie pop of his band provided a great start to the last day.

What followed however was less swaying to the beat and more light a flare on your mate's shoulders and scream. Sheffield up and coming boisterous boy band The Reytons brought with them one of the biggest crowds of the weekend, despite being on at quarter to four. In spite of not being able to see the lads on stage thanks to the ungodly amount of smoke (a lot of it red), they provided a set full of northern attitude and bouncing tunes.

The sky's the limit for these fellas.

Next up was Dizzee Rascal, and he didn't half bring it.

After starting off quite tame, with lots of tracks from his new record E3 AF, the set came to an abrupt stop with Dizzee walking off, and telling the crowd that he can't do this.

What followed is a moment shared far and wide on social media and was a hilarious skit from the London rapper. He got into a faux argument with one of the tramlines staff onstage telling him he needed more bass, before turning around and hitting straight into ‘Bassline Junkie’ and the party ensued. It was classic after classic for the rest of the set, and Dizzee is just one of those artists where you forget just how many songs they actually have.

The weekend was rounded off terrifically by one of my favourite bands, Everything Everything.

Always on form and musically exceptional, the band, now on their 5th album, are clear veterans and the set reflected that, blending all the hits off each album into a set that built and built until the effervescent ‘No Reptiles’ finished off the festival, and there are few songs I’d prefer to have done so.

Leaving battered and bruised in the best possible way, Royal Blood was organised chaos at its very best

Sunday It was an early afternoon of indie old and new with The Fratellis and late replacements Spinn, back to back on the main stage, both of whom had really stellar sets. But only one had the better moves, and that man was scouse legend that is Spinns lead singer Johnny Quinn. His carefree energy on stage

Tramlines, you were incredible.

Friday 13 November 2020

31

Music Eternal Love JLS The boys are back with new music for the first time in eight years, picking things up right where they left off.

Fresh tracks

Tru Love James Vincent McMorrow An ethereal tune from the Irish folk artist, perfect accompaniment to a lazy Sunday with the rain pattering on the window.

Love (Sweet Love) Little Mix The trio pilot their upcoming album release with a throwback anthem packed with noughties nostalgia.

Album Reviews

“

in which Bugg, accompanied by a soulful choir, makes a compelling case for impulsive originality – “I don’t think twice because I know my mind”. It’s a song which feels like it should accompany the satisfying ending to your favourite feel-good film, where everything is falling perfectly into place.

The upbeat anthemic theme is continued with ‘Rabbit Hole’ and ‘Screaming’. The former sees a hypnotic guitar riff and driving drumbeat accompany us down Bugg’s thrilling rabbit hole of drink, drugs, and emotional turmoil. While on ‘Screaming’, he demonstrates his rock star potential, as a menacing guitar riff skulks underneath introspective lyrics - “Save me from the void I’ll never fill” before exploding into a chorus, which is destined to bring flying beer to his upcoming live dates.

Amidst these raucous moments Bugg considerately allows for pauses to catch your breath. ‘Downtown’ is a meandering piano ballad exhibiting his often-overlooked vocal flair, while kindly reminding an unknown person that they will never be alone. Despite the potential displayed by this track, the somewhat generic lyrics and anticlimactic chorus leave his search for a get-on-your-mates-shoulders piano ballad slightly unfulfilled.

‘Maybe It’s Today’ is another case of an attempted sing-a-long anthem falling victim to mediocrity as Bugg monotonously approaches the most original of pop topics; unrequited love.

Bugg also revives his successful foray into dance-music sparked by his 2019 collaboration with Camelphat. In ‘Lost’, his vocals drift seamlessly along an eerie house beat emboldened by tense harmonies before being shattered by a thumping bass-driven chorus.

However, his captivating flair for the acoustic guitar is still evident in the rollicking Folk/Blues throwback ‘Kiss Like the Sun’, where Bugg navigates his way through the emotional trepidation of one-night stands. It’s a refreshing twist on a familiar sound.

As the title aptly suggests this album provides a thrilling soundtrack for Saturday night’s mistakes as well as sympathetic comfort for Sunday’s headache.

While there are some weaker moments on the album where Bugg’s attempts at stripped back pop anthems prove uninspiring, there is enough on this most recent project to suggest that the plucky kid from Clifton is here to stay.

Jake Bugg

“

Nas

Jake Bugg’s lacklustre flirtation with American country on his Nashvillerecorded 2017 release Hearts That Strain hinted at an artist who had lost his way. However, on Saturday Night, Sunday Morning a revitalised Bugg holds two fingers up to yesterday with an inventive return to form.

The album bursts into life with the inspiring opener ‘All I Need’

In contrast however, the achingly beautiful ‘Scene’ is one of the album’s crowning moments. The delicate vocals exhibit Bugg’s frustrations at a failing relationship and are accompanied by weeping, melodic guitar lines that surely would have gained George Harrison’s seal of approval.

An album at its most rewarding when appreciating this single-less project’s bleakness

The Killers

Pressure Machine

The beginning of lockdown saw lots of us return to where we grew up.

Brandon Flowers similarly had his heart turned towards his hometown of Nephi, Utah, generating anecdotes that make up the delicate songs on The Killers’ most intimate album yet. Less than a year after releasing Imploding the Mirage and the promise of a global stadium tour, the American group experiments with lighter tones and ruthless working-class stories not designed for grand stages. It is a concept album that wouldn’t exist without lockdown and is a welcomed addition to their discography.

What makes it so welcoming is the alluringly specific sense of place, with each song commencing after often dark interview fragments with Nephi locals. Accompanied with Flowers’ prolific storytelling abilities, Pressure Machine’s strongest moments arise during these emotionally charged narratives, ditching the arena rock for plucky country and cutting acoustics. As Springsteen inspired as always, The Killers lean towards impersonating Nebraska rather than Born To Run. Opener ‘West Hills’ is a standout moment, producing vivid images and unsettling tales of Nephi and its residents through a throbbing R.E.M-esque melody and gorgeously sensitive vocals. The track certainly establishes the haunting but euphoric mood that drives this LP, submerging listeners into this different sonic direction.

The following Nephi interviewee’s words that “every two or three years the train kills somebody” are equally as chilling at the start of ‘Quiet Town.’ Yet for a song brimming with glittery synths, harmonica and chiming keys like a campfire jolly, the themes are contrastingly honest and bloody. This continues with

a peculiarly placed early acoustic number about male suicide, where the narrative focusses on a young man “on the verge of a terrible thing” and ‘Desperate Things’ is a piercingly detailed, stretched out stormy tale of a police-officer murdering the husband of a domestic abuse victim who he’s fallen for. Flowers doesn’t shy away from the brutal.

Pressure Machine may lack the killer-edge of its predecessors and a couple of ideas are recycled but other elements of this fresh outlook are up there with the most powerful The Killers have ever crafted.

An album at its most rewarding when appreciating this single-less project’s bleakness, The Killers’ unexpected new endeavour to tackle small-town America confirms their perseverance to stay at the top.

Ben Cole

Satuday Night, Sunday Morning

A revitalised Bugg holds two fingers up to yesterday with an inventive return to form

Patrick Sloan

King's Disease II

Having won a surprising first ever Grammy for the solid, but unspectacular, King’s Disease, Nas returns with a sequel that takes everything his 2020 record did well and does it ten times better.

The lyricism and delivery from the Queensbridge rapper are immaculate throughout, as is the production from Hit-Boy, who manages to combine a nostalgic “boom-bap” 90s sound with modern trap beats, which currently dominate hip-hop. The versatility of the producer is matched by that of Nas himself, best demonstrated

on the 5th track, and only single of the album, ‘Rare’, which is split into three parts and shows his impressive range of rapping styles, which have helped keep him in the game for so long.

Throughout the album, Nas reflects on his place in the world of music. On the track ‘Store Run’, he demands respect from the new generation of rappers but on ‘Moments’ accepts that he is no longer at the height of popularity and is willing to be a guide to younger artists: “My whole career I steered away from features / But I figured it’s perfect timing to embrace new leaders / Accepted my position as the master teacher.”

This theme continues on the penultimate song ‘My Bible’ where Nas lays down some life lessons, warning young rappers to be responsible with the influence they have: “Too many mamas layin’ flowers at they graves / Don’t rap about death, it’s power in what you say.”

Nas also uses this album to explore the reasons for his failed romantic relationships. ‘No Phony Love’ sees him rap over a soulful melody about his struggles with trust issues and how he “might be married to music” as his career always comes first.

The record contains a number of excellent features, including impressive verses from Eminem and EMPD. The most notable, however, comes on the standout track of the project, ‘Nobody’. A fantastically haunting beat acts as the backdrop for Nas’ first collaboration with Ms. Lauryn Hill since the 1996 classic ‘If I Ruled the World’. The ex-Fugees star steals the limelight and shows the world that she’s still one of the best wordsmiths around, despite her effective retirement in 1998.

Nas has long since cemented himself in the pantheon of greats, but King’s Disease II dispels any fears that his best days could be behind him. Of course, it’s not as good as his debut album Illmatic, but nothing ever will be. Nonetheless, it is his best project for nearly 20 years and demonstrates his never-ending ability to evolve with the changing sound of hip-hop, while also staying true to his roots.

Konrad Ostrowski

36

Forge Press

Screen

Opinion

Gossip Girl: 2007 vs 2021 Lucy Eaton

I

Credits: TheMovieDB and Classic Loki

Credits: TheMovieDB

Fresh Movies

t has been almost ten years since Gossip Girl ended; the teen drama, depicting the lives of privileged New York teenagers, has been a hit ever since its first episode in 2007. The show was a beacon of fashion trends and became a pinnacle of teenage media. With this cultural impact in mind, a reboot was bound to emerge.

However, did Gossip Girl really need this reboot?

Creators of the new show have denied all accusations of being a remake — there are similarities in characters, but that is all. Characters like Max Wolfe (Thomas Doherty) and Audrey Hope (Emily Alyn Lind) are reminiscent of Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf (Audrey’s name itself paying homage to Blair’s idol, Audrey Hepburn), but they are not identical. The new ‘queen bee’ is Julien Calloway (Jordan Alexander),an Instagram superstar, whose minions Monet De Haan (Savannah Smith) and Luna La (Zion Moreno) act as her social media managers. There are other additions to the group like Julien’s boyfriend and member of the ‘guilty rich’, Obie Bergmann IV (Eli Brown), Audrey’s boyfriend Aki Menzies (Evan Mock), and finally, Julien’s half-sister Zoya Lott (Whitney Peak). The old rivalry between frenemies Blair Waldorf and Serena Van Der Woodsen is replaced in the new addition by a Gossip Girl-induced feud between halfsisters Julien Calloway and Zoya Lott.

If it sounds like a lot of characters, that’s because it is — the original Gossip Girl began with a handful of main characters, and as the show progressed, developed further.

Personally, the sheer number of characters in the reboot feels like a shame- although all the

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

new characters have interesting storylines, there are too many to focus on for it to be effective.

The biggest difference between the two shows is that in the 2021 version, we are told who Gossip Girl is from the start. Julien in the first episode proudly tells Zoya how the students run the school, frequently wreaking havoc on teachers for entertainment. So, to combat this, the teachers, in the hopes of making the students conform, revive Gossip Girl- the audacious highschool drama blog previously run by an anonymous individual. I like that we were told Gossip Girl’s identity from the start, especially considering the original show had difficulties in keeping the identity a surprise for fans, hence why the reveal in the series finale made no sense.

Tavi Gevinson as Kate Keller plays the main teacher behind Gossip Girl, which is an Easter egg within itself. Tavi was originally a fashion blogger, who rose to fame at the age of twelve. Critics have called her the closest thing to a real-life Gossip Girl, so this casting is perfect. Since we can see Gossip Girl’s perspective, the new series does a great job of portraying the teachers’ slow corruption as they become more and more invested in the role. In episode one, they reluctantly post certain pictures

“

Unlike the original, the rich kids are self-aware, as they have social media to equip them with the ability to be mindful The Kissing Booth 3

on the Instagram page, whereas by the end, they casually get another staff member fired just to protect themselves. A big issue with the original Gossip Girl’s identity was that it went against their morals, but in this version, we can see how this power slowly corrupts the individuals responsible.

The inclusion of social media is another fantastic feature.

The teachers realise Instagram is the best platform to house Gossip Girl in 2021, and in real life, the marketing reflects this.

The characters have personal Instagram accounts with details tailored to them specifically, for example Audrey even has a Goodreads account linked. I think the show truly understands the importance of social media in the modern age and uses it to its advantage.

In my eyes, the reboot is what Gossip Girl would be in 2021.

Unlike the original,the rich kids are self aware, as they have social media to equip them with the ability to be mindful. Julien’s father even mentions the change in priorities over time, and an underlying theme of the show is the facade of social media.

I think the original show’s escapism would feel out-oftouch today. Although the reboot toes the line of performative activism, at least it is aware that perspectives have shifted since the original show ended.

So, can the original show be replaced? The plain answer is no, but the new characters have just as much potential. Perhaps it is still too early to decide for certain whether or not this new show will quite live up to the original. The first season will return for its second half in autumn, but for now, “you know you love me, XOXO…”

Jungle Cruise

Date 2021

page

Screen

Film Review

Free Guy Yaroslav Matveev After a year-long Covid-19 delay, Free Guy by Shawn Levy finally hit the screens of cinemas worldwide.

The unexpectedly solid action comedy film surprised many experts, grossing almost $51 million over the first weekend worldwide.

Free Guy tells the story of an average bank clerk, Guy (Ryan Reynolds), who unexpectedly

discovers he is just a non-player character (NPC) in a computer game called Free City, which is soon to go offline. Guy decides to become the hero of the story and save the world he loves from destruction.

The whole idea could have easily turned into another soulless film about the character trying to become a better version of himself. However, the main advantage of the film is that it subverts these expectations, while maintaining the classic attributes of pursuits, destruction, and guns.

Moreover, because of events occurring inside the actual game, the aesthetics are more vivid and

appropriate for the eye.

Above all, the tone of Free Guy is fun, owing to NPC oneliners, non-vulgar humour, and the individuality of charismatic characters themselves, from Guy and Molotov Girl (Jodie Comer) to Buddy (Lil Howery) and the person who would not lower his arms, alongside sometimes confusing in-game scenes. These factors create a light atmosphere and make the film an easy watch.

However, despite everything said above, Free Guy is also a good drama, with some of Guy’s dilemmas bearing similarities to those of Truman in the classic 1998 film The Truman Show.

As with Truman, the audience here understands more and more the severity of Guy’s problems as the plot develops and more discoveries are made proving some issues to not be as trivial as once believed.

The film raises many philosophical topics like free will, the importance of self-realisation, and the butterfly effect, of just how influential even minor choices in life can be. The great thing is that these elements alternate with the fun action episodes creating a very dynamic watch.

Free Guy. Credit: TheMovieDB One criticism is that the in-game world could be made more modern.

Free Guy has the same problem as Mythic Quest by Apple TV - it talks about how great the game is, but in fact the visuals and mechanics are from a few years ago, and includes traits of many real games like Fortnite or GTA, but massively downscaled. Besides, sometimes the film goes too deep into the gaming jargon making it difficult to understand for casual viewers.

That said, the graphics look colourful and are very eye-catching, especially because of references to

other films and games. The film also has a great soundtrack with famous tracks like Make Your Own Kind of Music from Sex Education.

Overall, Free Guy is a lighter, humorous version of The Truman Show, and is no worse, it is just different. Free Guy unexpectedly turned out to be a great watch and was definitely worth the wait. It’s a must-see movie for all audiences, and has the potential to become an audience favourite and may be one of the best entertainment films of the year.

Free Guy. Credit: TheMovieDB

TV Review

Ghosts season 3 Chloe Aslett

Arguably, the shows with the quirkiest premises and plots that make you say “it’s difficult to explain, but you have to watch it”, are some of the best ones. Ghosts, a haunted house sitcom where the majority of characters are dead, is one of those.

Set in the present day, Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) are the living owners of Button House, which we have seen haunted for three seasons now by ghosts including but not limited to a disgraced conservative politician, a witch trial victim, and a caveman; all of whom died on the property,

and who only Alison can see. A certain age group would recognise much of the cast as that of Horrible Histories, which only adds to the feeling of nostalgia and relatability throughout. The stellar cast, wacky concept, and unrelenting witty one-liners, makes Ghosts a highquality comedy that lends itself to a rewatch .

In season three, the audience gains a deeper understanding of the relationships in the house.

Looking at a group of nine ghosts, forced to live together for eternity, you might not expect there to still be changing dynamics between characters, but the day-to-day troubles of Alison and Mike spark a bit of action and ensure this is not the case. For example, the couple are forced to camp outside while the house is fumigated. Here we get to see how the connection between Julian, the politician (Simon Farnaby) and Robin, the caveman (Laurence Rickard) is not limited to just chess playing, when they each support the other after a particularly comical attempt to show bravery, or perhaps even masculinity, when outside in a storm.

Mike is key to the show, because he knows about the ghosts but

Ghosts, BBC. Credit: TheMovieDB

cannot see them. This aspect of his character is important as it keeps the audience with one foot in the real world, but he gets relatively little attention in terms of both screen time and involvement in the action.

His understanding of Alison’s relationships with the ghosts, while admirable, sometimes feels unrealistic. Eventually, he tries to use black magic to force himself to see them, which could hopefully set up a future where he is no longer left quite so much on the sidelines.

Other major developments are connected to Kitty (Lolly Adefope), a spirited, over-friendly ghost of a Georgian noblewoman, who was arguably the star of this season.

Although hers is one of the few deaths that remains unexplained, we do see some more of her lived experiences. In a discussion resembling group therapy, Kitty speaks about her sister and comes to realise that perhaps she looks back at memories of her with rose-coloured glasses. Whether it is thanks to the angle of the camera placing the viewer in the group circle, or to the characters’ exceedingly relatable, human responses to vulnerability, this episode captivates the viewer in such a way that you feel like a part

“

The episode captivates the viewer in such a way that you feel part of the group.

of their group.

Kitty’s experience of sisterhood is somewhat mirrored in Alison’s, as a key plot point is the seemingly too-good-to-be true arrival of her long-lost sister, Lucy (Jessica Knappett). The jealousy from Kitty in response to this is funny, above all, but also shows the audience the extent of her affection for Alison. It sets up an emotional season finale which includes a heartfelt moment between the two women.

This representation of family highlights the main strength of this season: its ability to explore intense, sometimes upsetting experiences through a medium so wacky, that you only shed tears from laughter.

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Forge Press

Games

Desert Island (Game) Discs: and other ideas we stole from BBC Radio 4 Now that pesky pandemic is gone, it’s time to go on holiday. However, such plans have gone awry for Callum Brown and he’s stranded on a desert island with only one game for company; what will he pick...

A

Dark Souls 2 t first I went to pick one of my favourite games ever made, Bloodborne, but then I realised I’ve played that game to death already, so it would likely get boring after about 5 or 6 runs. Clearly I need something I already enjoy but haven’t played too much of to keep me interested, and then it hit me. The black sheep of the Soulsborne franchise, Dark Souls

2, would be the best game to keep me company.

Many fans of the franchise consider Dark Souls 2 their least favourite in the series; it does a lot differently from the first game which many hold as the greatest piece of interactive media ever made, so naturally veteran Dark Souls players were immediately put off. It was the last one out of all the Dark Souls games I played for this reason, and while I grew to love it

What awful luck! It seems like Yaroslav Matveev has also crash landed on a deserted island with a single video game of his choice. He’s got it sorted though.

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Football Manager 2021 n the deserted island, time will pass incredibly slowly, so the game I choose needs to be time consuming and captivating. Perhaps the game which best suits that criteria, for me, is Football Manager 2021.

Essentially, you get a chance to manage virtually any team in the world and lead it to glory. You can pick your favourite team or manage

in a country you’ve never heard of.

As a coach, you are responsible for all aspects of the club’s life – tactics, transfers, dealing with the board, and growing future generations of talents.

It is not the most visually attractive game nor is the sound design anything to write home about (not that you could) - it is basically like going through footballbased Excel spreadsheets.

However, Football Manager is available on almost all devices – PC,

Could it be - a third survivor? Was this plane crash as bad as we thought? All we truly know is that Reiss Mason had his game picked before takeoff.

P

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ainful repetition and intense crying: two things I’ll have to get used to on the deserted island, mostly due to my choice of game.

The Binding of Isaac is a roguelite about a child called Isaac who escapes his zealot mother’s murderous wrath by locking himself in the basement, fights off religious monstrosities with his tears, and eventually dies in a toy chest buried

deep within her withered womb.

Well, that’s one interpretation anyway. At its mechanical core, however, The Binding of Isaac is simply a randomly generated twinstick dungeon crawler. Just the kind of arcade-y fun I’ll need to keep me entertained while isolated at sea.

See, I’m thinking about the long game here. Either I’m going to escape the island because I wasn’t playing video games, or I’m going to die because I never got up from my laptop to make a fire.

as I played, (I think it’s better than the first game please don’t kill me) I’ve played Dark Souls 2 the least, making it the perfect deserted island game for me.

Firstly, Dark Souls 2 has an incredible world and oppressive atmosphere just like the first game which works in tandem with the same challenging but fun combat, yet what makes being stuck with it for the rest of my days truly great is that there is so much variety when it comes to weapons and magic options meaning I can replay the game endlessly with a different playstyle every time. A bonus is that this is the one in the series I have the least experience with, so I will

still be learning new stuff as I play.

Dark Souls 2 also has the most content out of all the games in the series. Three expansions add whole new areas and nine bosses, giving the game 41 bosses in total, making it the entry with the most bosses in the franchise. I still haven’t gotten round to starting even one of the expansions yet which means I still have brand new content waiting for me to discover.

Overall, while Dark Souls 2 isn’t my favourite game ever made, nor is it the best in the franchise, though it is the perfect game to be stuck with as I already love the game but still have a lot to discover.

Tablets and, starting from FM2021, it is even on Xbox. The features vary from version to version giving an opportunity to choose depending on your play style.. There is also a very boiled down version called Football Manager Mobile where dots move about on the screen rather than 3D models when simulating matches and all other features are simplified – perfect for players who are trying to conserve battery life on an island with no phone chargers…

And have I mentioned yet that Football Manager is also incredibly fun to play? Match engine bugs sometimes lead to hilarious own goals or unrealistic body movements as well as bizarre transfers which

put Fifa’s occasionally buggy hilarity to shame. It is also a great way to learn more about different countries and clubs from around the globe: Partisan Belgrade in Serbia, Lincoln Red Imps in Gibraltar, Tow Law Town in England are just a few great clubs with thrilling stories I discovered thanks to this game. And if there is one thing I’ll be needing while stranded in the middle of nowhere, it’s knowledge of random low-profile football clubs from across the globe. If you are into football and want to go slightly deeper than just playing Fifa’s Ultimate Team, then Football Manager is a perfect choice.

Luckily, The Binding of Isaac is so brutally difficult and features so many frustrating ways to die that I wouldn’t want to sit playing it for hours; I’d want to drown myself.

That said, I love The Binding of Isaac. Its thousands of unique items are endlessly interesting and each one contributes to a different style of play, synergising with one another to bombard the player with a completely different run every time you boot the game up. What I’m trying to say is that it wouldn’t get boring in the moments when I just need something comforting to snuggle up with after a long day of being hunted down by the fog monster from Lost.

Isaac’s situation wouldn’t even be so different from mine, and in such a dire scenario I want someone I can relate to. I mean, he’s perpetually stuck living out his worst nightmare by fighting for his life while attempting to escape the existential terror of false idols under religion, family tensions, and self-doubt, and I’d be trying to live off of raw crab.

Our narratives match perfectly.

Overall, The Binding of Isaac would keep me entertained enough to distract me from any oversized spiders, but not so wrapped up that I forget to bother eating.

And I can play it on the 3DS.

Dark Souls II - From Software Football Manager 2021 - Sports Interactive, SEGA The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Nicalis, Inc

38

Games

Fresh games

Psychonauts 2 Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PC Help Raz track down a villainous kidnapper in this mend-bending 3D-platformer.

A Good Snowman is Hard to Build Switch, iOS, Android, PC Building snowmen is tricky when you’re a monster, but this cute puzzler believes in you!

Bus Simulator 21 PC, PS4, Xbox One Fulfil your lifelong dream of being a bus driver in two new open worlds based on the EU and USA.

Games for the offline traveller: everything you need on the bus to class Over the summer, Reiss Mason spent a lot of time travelling around the country. These were the games keeping him company on all that public transport.

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ften, I find myself on the bus or train with no phone signal and think, “Damnit, why do all of my games need an internet connection?” Such is the supreme folly of man. If you’re ever in a similar situation then worry no more, as I present you with two games that are perfect for an offline crosscountry voyage.

Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box: HD for Mobile iOS/Android, £8.99

The original Professor Layton Trilogy has been ported to mobile devices in HD (in case the name didn’t make that clear) marking a considerable upgrade from the 256x192 pixels of the original DS. When I played through the originals as a child, Pandora’s Box was my favourite as it achieved a unique blend of wacky anime bullshit and spooky intrigue that captured my fledgling imagination.

If the other entries are of interest to you, perhaps as a result of Stockholm Syndrome nostalgia, you’ll find the first instalment, Curious Village, and the third instalment, Lost

Future, on the app store ported into glorious HD too.

To synopsise: Pandora’s Box sees Professor Layton and his sidekick, Luke, exploring the phantom town of Folsense while on the hunt for the Elysian Box, an ancient artifact a friend of Layton’s was researching when he was murdered, landing the Professor in the middle of a three-way race for the box – there’s also, like, a vampire, who the townsfolk are pretty chill about but it’s also kind of possible that the town doesn’t even really exist.

Still following? Of course you are; this game is made for kids.

The core gameplay of this pseudo point-andclick adventure comes in the form of puzzles scattered throughout the game. You encounter puzzles by pushing through the story and talking to people (who seem to base their entire personality around crosswords and tea) or by tapping wildly on the game’s many hand-drawn environments until one pops out of a hedge or a chimney or an alley cat’s arsehole.

The puzzles range from simple logic gates, block sliding challenges, and actual algebra, and they never really get much better than that, but realistically how difficult would you want a game like this to be? You might look at some of these basic puzzles and completely discount the game as

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It’s not the puzzles you stick around for: it’s the charm. something to teach kids about thinking outside the box, but it’s not the puzzles you stick around for: it’s the charm.

The ‘Puzzles’ theme song is aptly haunting and mysterious, the Professor is always teaching Luke about how to be a gentleman, and whenever you discover a new location the Professor and Luke are quick to converse about how spooky or beautiful it is. Professor Layton for mobile offers a perfect bite-sized dosage of heartfelt story, wondrous locales, and engaging (enough) puzzles for someone to dip into while on the go.

There are over 150 brainteasers to work through, though only half of those will actually take any work, and if you complete them all there are still minigames to keep you entertained. In one, you are tasked with setting up an obstacle course with toys you’ve earned by completing puzzles in such a way that your obese hamster will walk far enough to lose weight.

As a child, I found this minigame slightly more taxing than I could ever be bothered to deal with but recently returning as a young adult with a handful of A-Levels and genuine accomplishments, it still proves slightly more work than I can handle.

Please, write in with the solution. I have no idea.

Mini Motorways Steam/Switch/iOS/macOS/Windows, £7.19

If you’re familiar with Mini Metro, then you’re already part of the way towards understanding Mini Motorways (this one’s about cars instead of trains). This halfsequel sees a major graphical overhaul to the original Harry Beck-inspired minimalist map as well as some thematic mechanical differences to deal with the

unique problems an overground landscape presents.

Mini Motorways is a game about creating roads and infrastructure to help red dots get to work at the red factory, blue dots to work at the blue factory, and so on.

It really is that simple – there’s a score counter which goes up every time a coloured dot gets to the correct place, and you lose when too many dots can’t get to their destination. Simple.

There are a number of maps based on real-world locations you can choose from, each presenting a different challenge to the last, subtly based on that place’s actual traffic issues. For instance, in the first level, Los Angeles, you start out with two roads - one exclusively for yellow cars and one exclusively for red cars – then two minutes pass and suddenly the map seems a lot bigger and the huge Los Angeles River keeps getting in the way and now there are four colours all fighting over

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The gentle dings and boops of a car reaching its destination beautifully bolster the feeling of a system idly noodling away to itself.

one bridge because you thought traffic lights were a better investment than roundabouts but now you’re discovering that traffic lights are only really good at one thing and that’s making sure lots of people stop driving all at once.

It’s a simple game really.

One of the best ways to play Mini Motorways is against a friend – not that it’s inherently a multiplayer game, but because it harkens back to ye olde arcade cabinet times when you could easily compete with your friends to see who had the highest score.

Of course, this may cause some tensions when your friends get a layout of random buildings that line up neatly and you get a map where your only option is to implement 12 spaghetti junctions, but that’s just the nature of the game.

Don’t have any friends?

Compete against me! My highest score is 2205 on the Tokyo map – good luck!

Even if you don’t care about score, Mini Motorways will still appeal to your aesthetic sense.

The gentle dings and boops of a car reaching its destination beautifully bolster the feeling of a system idly noodling away to itself, and the crisp snapping together of new roads to form your idyllic infrastructure superbly satisfies.

Top (in order): Double Fine, Draknek, Astragon Entertainment Professor Layton - Level-5 Mini Motorways - Dinosaur Polo Club

40

Forge Press

Sport

New Look United: The fresh faces looking to steer Blades back to the Premier League

Sheffield Tigers Women’s formed with help of recent grads

Ellie Fish Sheffield United started this Championship season as one of the favourites, but the first three games have produced all but one point and one scored goal. It seems a lack of pre-season and transfers is costing them.

In July, the Blades appointed Slaviša Jokanović as their manager.

He has had proven success in the Championship with promotions to the Premier League with Fulham and Watford. With this experience, it was expected he would also bring prospective players. But so far, he has failed to do so with more outgoings from the team than coming in.

The Blades have tried to move in for several signings. But only two have been confirmed, with Ben Davies joining on loan from Liverpool, and Conor Hourihane joining on loan from Aston Villa.

Davies has already made his debut for Sheffield United, starting against Huddersfield in the Championship.

But the Blades continued their no-win streak and lost 1-2. The centre-back wasn’t unimpressive, but a loss doesn’t seem great against a defender. But having moved to Liverpool only this year, there is clearly something good about Davies.

A glimpse of hope comes in Hourihane, who has plenty of championship experience. The midfielder will hopefully be able to help Sheffield United in their weak area, scoring goals. The Blades

Ciara Treacy have also struggled with set pieces and getting past the first man, so the squad will hope that the 5ft 11 midfielder can help the team bag some goals. In the previous season, he managed to score five goals in 19 appearances for Swansea. With so much championship experience, he will be a great asset to the Blades attack.

United still need to make some more signings in the few days they have left to do so. Ideally, the team need to find themselves a goalkeeper after letting Aaron Ramsdale leave for Premier League side Arsenal for a £24 million fee with add-ons. But the question is, who should they bring in?

Recently they have shown interest in free agent Willy Caballero. The ex-Chelsea man has a wealth of experience and would probably be rated as one of the best in the

Championship. If the Blades can swoop in for the Argentine their defence would strengthen heavily.

His age makes some fans sceptical about the signing, but there’s no reason he couldn’t help the Blades with their current form.

In addition to a goalkeeper, the Blades need to look towards who they can bring in up-front. But who do you bring in? The Blades have multiple top Championship goal scorers in their team in the form of Rhian Brewster, Billy Sharp and Oli McBurnie. These players, however, must start scoring. It doesn’t seem like there is room to replace or bring in any new strikers at the club this transfer window.

The next signings need to be key for the Blades. Time is of the essence if the Sheffield side wants to avoid relegation.

Over the last year, with a gripping Premier 15s and Six Nations, women’s rugby has drawn more attention to itself than ever before.

The creation of the Sheffield Tigers Women’s team is one of the many opportunities created to encourage girls and women to get involved in the sport Recent Sheffield Hallam graduates Charlie Mucklowe and Philipa Mills, were the key figures in creating the team.’Both of them hold extensive experience playing both university and club rugby, embracing different elements of rugby culture. Their story about the making of the team sheds a positive light onto the demand for more women’s sides and the inclusivity of the game. During the pandemic, Charlie and Philipa recognised that Sheffield Ladies RUFC were the only official women’s rugby union team in the city and were inspired to create this new team. When asked why they wanted

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The biggest thing for us was that we wanted somewhere it would feel like home for us, like proper rugby club should feel, and Sheffield Tigers said they would offer that

this expansion and new opportunity, Charlie explained that “the biggest thing for us was that we wanted somewhere where it would feel like home for us, like a proper rugby club should feel, and Sheffield Tigers said they would offer us that”.

Inclusivity for all is key for this new Sheffield side.

“Regardless of your age [or ability] we can pretty much adapt sessions to absolutely everyone, so it’s all about inclusivity and making that family feeling”.

Going beyond the university bubble, Charlie and Philipa aim to “try and get the wider spread of Sheffield and get that general population that wouldn’t necessarily try rugby and get them to come along” - calling out to women of all ages and abilities.

More than this, Charlie and Philipa look optimistic for the team’s future, already looking to organise friendly matches in order to join a league: “In five years time we hope to be in a comfortable position in a league or at least in a league that suits our ability for the level we will be at that time”.

Charlie encourages those who might be considering joining the women’s team. “Just come and give it a go... I guarantee once you’re here for five minutes, you meet all the girls and get that family home feeling and the culture that we have,and you won’t want to leave”.

The Sheffield Tigers Women have training sessions every Tuesday and Thursday, 7pm at Sheffield Tigers RUFC, Hathersage - open to all women over 18, all abilities welcome.

41

Sport

Skateboard Society enjoy Street and Park events as shredding makes Olympic debut “

With the average age of female competitors being around 14 and the average age of male skateboarders being under 23, the Olympic committee has made a commendable effort to encourage more enthusiasm from younger viewers Jemma Snowdon Skateboarding made its first appearance in the Olympics this year in Tokyo. Its inclusion in the event was a perfect opportunity for the sport to gain some welldeserved recognition among the general public.

Park and street were the two categories of the sport added to the international competition.

With the average age of female competitors being around 14 and the average age of male skateboarders being under 23, the Olympic committee has made a commendable effort to encourage more enthusiasm from younger viewers.

Skateboarding was among a number of urban sports such as surfing and karate to be added to the long list of events.

Forge Press spoke to the

University of Sheffield’s Skateboarding Society to hear their thoughts on skateboarding becoming an Olympic sport. They are ‘super hyped’ to see the TV coverage bringing more people to watch the sport.

With the sport often being male-dominated, the society found it extremely encouraging to see female role models such as Britain’s youngest ever Olympian, Sky Brown.

Sky had a tremendous run in Tokyo, winning a bronze medal in the Women’s Park final.

However, they also felt that creativity and improving as a community is more important in skateboarding, rather than points on a scoreboard and hoped that the way the sport was judged in the Olympics doesn’t discourage people from getting involved themselves.

Despite this, the publicity that comes as a result of being an

Olympic sport will help encourage more people who are interested in trying something new to get involved in skateboarding.

Skateboarding has received £1,350,000 in funding to prepare for the next Olympics in Paris.

The number of sports receiving funding for the Olympics has been stretched from 32 to 43 sports, with some sports such as Rowing and Swimming seeing a reduction.

Although karate will not be seen in the Paris Olympics in 2024, skateboarding has been provisionally approved to make its second appearance as an event.

The skateboarding community will be hoping that this funding will help maintain the momentum from the success seen in the Olympics this year. We may even see more British skateboarders on our screen join Sky Brown amongst the medalwinning athletes.

The Hundred: entertaining, fun but questions need to be answered Henry Clark It isn’t excessive to suggest this was the biggest moment in English cricket history. With many of the 18 counties already operating hand-tomouth pre-pandemic, the shift to a franchise-based tournament that cherry-picked the best talent simply had to work.

Getting cricket back on freeto-air television was enormously important and, as viewing figures would suggest, well-received. 1.6 million watched the opening game of the tournament, smashing the previous record achieved at the men’s Cricket World Cup in 2019.

The women’s game particularly benefited, not just due to increased media exposure but in the crowd sizes at stadiums too.

With the women’s and men’s games being played back-to-back

in double-headers, even on the traditionally quieter ‘work’ evenings, crowds would regularly dwarf those who attended domestic women’s matches previously. 90% of all tickets available throughout the tournament were sold. 20% of ticket holders were children, and 21% were women. These are mightily impressive figures for the first year of a competition.

You can see why it proved popular for that demographic too – lots of fast-paced action and rule changes to increase the speed of play kept the whole family engaged. Whilst it took some getting used to, the countdown scoreboard during the second innings also helped to simplify matches.

Although the mid-game concerts struggled to keep bums on seats at games I watched and attended, the atmosphere was electric. The music

between end changes brought the crowd alive, and even the garish kits won me over in the end.

The cricket itself was of a very good standard, although it was some way off the very elite level. Some teams were undoubtedly hampered by the departure of their England stars and the late withdrawal of overseas stars due to restrictions.

There were certainly a few headscratching, if not panic-inducing moments for the competition organisers. The frequency of pitch invaders was shocking, and there were complaints about the boozy, loutish behaviour in sections of the crowd. Organisers haven’t quite managed to make an evening at The Hundred, the family experience they originally marketed it as.

It is unlikely England Test captain Joe Root saw many benefits from The Hundred. With commitments to

the new competition and the County Championship sidelined for the bulk of the summer, England’s Test team had zero red-ball preparation for their series against India – and were duly outplayed in the first two games of the series.

Some would say England’s batting woes existed long before The Hundred. But with the schedule changes consistently leading to the neglect of the four-day game, how can current and future England stars build any sort of game to forge a Test career upon?

There is no questioning the competition was a huge and wellreceived success – even with five ball overs. Similarly, no one can knock the tournament if it leads to an uptick in participation rates.

But for the counties, their fans and supporters of English Test cricket, many questions remain unanswered.