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CityMag would like to thank... Gareth Jones, Gary Doolan, Gary Lerwell, Yvonne Burgis, The Townhill Rugby Team, and all who contributed to this edition of the magazine!
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Hello! It has been a long time since an issue of CityMag was produced but we hope to make a huge comeback in a “take that” stylee! A lots happened since our last edition, there’s been two summers, Barack Obama has been elected supreme president of the entire solar system and the problem of climate change has been overtaken by a bigger problem, where are we all going to live when Kanye West’s ego engulfs the entire planet! In this issue we talk about a breakfast cereal that could end humanity, the Hill Youth Support Centre’s ambitions in being named in next years Oscar nominations, the fact that podcasting killed the radio star, and how computers are dangerous. Now read on...
Contents Summer Programme
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The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
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Knife Crime
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Interviews Gary Doolan (Media Student) Townhill Rugby Team
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Join the Hill Magazine (Fancy Yourself...)
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Podcasting
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Internet Safety Tips
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The Big Brother Experience
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Condom Scheme
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The ‘Credit Crunch’
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Up and Coming Films
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WE ARE MAKING A MOVIE / FILM
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Video Game Review – FIFA 10
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Good Numbers to Know
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Summer Programme This year between July 24th and August 13th the Hill Youth Support Centre held its annual summer programme. This year, young people participated in conservation projects, art projects and sports such as rugby and extreme Frisbee (which really is as extreme as it sounds), and surfing. The Monday was devoted to sports. The young people would come to the Hill Youth Support Centre and decide what to do with the day. At first it comprised mostly of request for football, but when the guys started playing extreme Frisbee everyone was hooked. The Tuesday the young people participated in activities that focussed on the environment such as litter picks. Then on the Wednesday the young people were taken down to Caswell bay, squeezed into wetsuits, and were taught how to surf by professional surfing instructors. Everyone had a great time although some people had more trouble staying on the surfboard than others. The last day was left to the young people to decide what they wanted to do. Most of them wanted to play Frisbee or finish art projects, but a lot of the young people spent the day relaxing and talking about the surfing over a game of pool. In total 165 young people attended the summer programme based in the Hill Youth Support Centre and all who were involved hailed it a success. 4
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Soon, the Hill Youth Support Centre will be providing a chance to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme is a nationally recognised qualification which rewards you for doing activities that are fun, but challenging! The award is structured around four sections: • Volunteering: Doing voluntary activities that benefit someone else or your community. • Physical: Performing a range of possible activities that hopefully also increases general fitness.
The Duke of Edinburgh Award is well worth the effort. It is recognised by most employers and may set you apart from others at a job interview.
• Skills: This section is achieved by developing existing skills or developing new ones.
If you are interested in taking part on this course then contact the Hill Youth Support Centre on 01792 470270.
• Expedition: This is the most popular aspect of the course and consists of planning, training for, and completing an adventurous journey and a residential activity with others.
In the meanwhile, why not try the website: www.dofe.org
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Knife Crime As you may have heard on the news, knife crime is a serious issue at the moment with more and more people carrying knives because they are so accessible. In the last twelve months the number of knife related crimes reported was a total 555, this is 40 over the national average, and was 64% of the total number of knife related crimes in Wales, and 28% of all violent crime in South Wales.
Here are some facts about stop and search: • the search will take place on the street. • if the officer asks you to remove more than your coat and gloves, or anything you wear for religious reasons, they must take you somewhere out of public view.
I don’t like statistics because they can be used to prove anything, however I think that these deserve reading:
• you’ll be asked to turn out your pockets and show the officers the contents of your bag.
• 9% of under 18’s who are in school have said that they have carried a flick knife.
• they can also search your vehicle, even if you aren’t present, but they must leave a notice to say what they’ve done.
• One in five 16 year old boys admitted attacking someone with the intention of seriously hurting someone with a knife.
• if you’re carrying something illegal, such as a weapon, or the police believe you’ve committed a crime, you may be arrested.
• 65% of people who carry knives have their weapons used against them. To try and stop this it is now against the law for a person under the age of 18 to be sold a knife in the UK, and police forces across the country have drastically increased the amount of stop and searches that are conducted. Some young people believe that a police officer needs a warrant to search you. This is untrue. A Police officers may stop you, and have the right to search any person or vehicle, if they suspect you of an offence - including carrying an offensive weapon. If you are stopped you’ll first be asked where you’re going and what you’ve been doing. The police may then decide to search you but only if they have a good reason, for example, that you fit the profile of a criminal seen in the area, or they think you’re acting suspiciously.
• if they don’t find anything, your details will be recorded for monitoring purposes, and you’ll be allowed to go. If they find that you are carrying a weapon the police say is illegal then the maximum penalty for carrying an offensive weapon is 4 years imprisonment (in jail) and a £5000 fine.
Knife crime affects everyone, no matter who you are. Do not think, just because you are a girl, or you’re over 18 that you will be excused from it.
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Gary Doolan What are you studying in Llywn yr Bryn?
What is it that interests you in film and media?
I’m studying Media at National Diploma level.
It's the freedom of expression that comes from making a film or video. It gives you a chance to voice opinions or other thoughts that may have remained uncovered if it wasn't for the opportunity to make videos. I have the chance to create things like music videos and short TV dramas amongst other things like documentaries and live broadcasts.
How did you become interested in film and media? I've always been interested in the reasons behind things in films, like why did they choose that shot and what is the reasons behind montage editing and things. It's always been a hobby of mine to create videos through editing and filming but I never had the resources or the equipment to do so until I got to college. But it wasn't until I had a project in the Hill Youth Centre called the Spoof Awards where I kind of clicked that this is what I wanted to do for a living.
What have you got planned for the future? Well I’m going to apply for Bournemouth University which is the best university for media in Britain to study film making and photography. Then once the course is finished I shall take a year or so off traveling taking photo's and figure out where to go next, but ultimately my goal is for my name to be in the credits of films and TV shows that I have directed.
What do you think of the Hill Youth Support Centre? The Hill Youth Support Centre has helped in many aspects of my life so far not only just in regards to Media or my career. It presented me the opportunity to do something creative with myself such as doing graffiti projects for them rather than doing it on the streets on legal walls or anything else. It also offered me other things such as trips and a place to go when there was nothing else to do even if it was just to play pool or something. So my opinion of the Hill Youth Support Centre is very high thanks to what it has done for me and helped me achieve.
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Townhill Rugby Team As we have already told you, here at CityMag, we strive to bring you all the latest news from around the globe. So that’s why we got together with a group of lads who make up the Townhill Rugby Team. We caught up with them straight after a tough training session.
So were you all interested in rugby before you started playing for Townhill?
So why were you interested in playing rugby? There’s nothing else that we are interesting in doing on the hill. Rugby is a really good way to keep fit. We also wanted to make friends and meet new people.
Yeah but there was nowhere that we could play it, until we heard that there was a team getting together. 8
What kind of rugby do you play?
Did you have a good time in Newquay?
It depends on who we are playing, but we play touch, tag rugby and sevens.
Newquay was a great experience. We got to play rugby on an awesome beach and we all had a great time. The only problem was that some people were snorers! They were so loud that you could here them even when you went downstairs.
What is tag rugby? It sounds like touch rugby. Well basically, you have to wear a belt that has tags on it and you are tackled when a person from the opposite team tears a tag from your belt and holds it in the air!
Would you recommend rugby to others? I would definitely recommend rugby to others because it is such a laugh and you get to meet new people and have fun playing a fun game.
Is rugby difficult to play? It depend how serious you want to play it, it was hard when we first started, because there are some rules that you need to get used to, but just as long as you stick at it then you get used to them. But there will always be stuff to learn in rugby, we’ve been playing for a year now and we are still getting used to the rules.
If you want to get involved with the Townhill Rugby team then phone the Hill Youth Support Centre and ask for more details.
Have you played any games? We’ve played games against the Dunvant, and out of three games we drew one and won twice. We also played in a tournament in Newquay which was sponsored by O2 called “scrum on the beach”. We also won narrowly against Uplands recently.
Did you do well in the tournament? There was 24 teams and they were split into four groups of six, and we entered two teams. Team 1 came third in their pool and Team 2 came second, went to the semi final, won, and lost narrowly to a very good team in the final. 9
Fancy yourself as a bit of a journalist? Or do you just have a lot to say? The Hill has its own MAGAZINE and you can be involved in the running of it! If you have any ideas, suggestions or want to be on the production team let us know at the Hill Centre. Phone us on 01792 470270 or e-mail contactcitymag@yahoo.co.UK or jozef.gear@swansea.gov.UK We cover issues relating to you, have a news section, interviews with young people and best of all, if you have an idea we can probably do it! You don’t have to be able to spell or write, you can design, take the interviews or just send in your ideas, we are always looking for people who like to get involved!
Podcasting The Hill Youth Support Centre prides itself on being cutting edge. This November a brand new concept is being born in the Hill Youth Support Centre.
“Podcasting” is a essentially a broadcast the is produced to be played upon an MP3 player. In short its a radio show, not on the radio, but on your ipod, which explains the name “podcasting”.
It’s called “podcasting”! OK well its not that new, but it is the first time it is going to be made available to the young people of Swansea.
The way it would work is that a group of young people would get together and talk about the subjects they find interesting, we record it and then make it available to young people across the world through itunes. Clever! So if you have an issue you feel needs airing, want to hear your own voice on your MP3 player or just feel like chatting with new people then get in touch with the Hill Youth Support Centre.
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Internet Safety Tips The Internet is getting more and more important in our day to day lives. Because of this, it is always important to bear in mind the importance of being safe whilst using the internet. Internet safety is important because the internet is dangerous. Admittedly, not in the same way that power-tools or alligators are dangerous, but when using the internet it's always good to bear safety in mind.
• NEVER arrange to meet anyone off the internet without telling an adult. Adults are incredibly useful when it comes to this sort of things and they will generally give you good advice. That’s why it’s vitally important to never misplace your adult.
Following that, here are some tips to surfing the web safely:
• When buying things off the internet, always consult your adult before purchasing, and always try to use reputable selling websites. It’s been two and a half years and I’m still waiting for my Led Zeppelin t-shirt!
• NEVER give out you personal information over the internet, like your age or phone number, or password, EVER, not even to your best friend! Honestly, it always gets messy!
• If you are going to use a website where there is an option to have a picture of yourself, think about using a picture of a cartoon, or celebrity instead. This has the advantage of protecting you identity a bit more and also, in my case, means I don’t put a picture of my ugly mug on the screen.
• Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. The internet contains everything in the whole wide world, ever! That means there’s an incredible amount of rubbish on the internet! I once read on the internet that Sir Trevor McDonald once played for the Harlem Globetrotters. I looked very silly when I told that nugget of knowledge to my friends!
• Most importantly, have a laugh! The internet is brilliant and is here to stay, so don’t be afraid of it, get stuck in! 11
The Big Brother Experience This summer in Gorseinon Youth Support Centre, the cameras took over! Brave young people volunteered for a unique experience in Swansea, “The Big Brother Experience”. The cameras were placed in the Youth Support Centre in Gorseinon and the young people had to live in the centre for three days, two nights, with no contact with the outside world, or any youth workers in the centre.
Although loosely based on the hit channel four television show, it did have one big difference. As I’m sure you have seen in the media, every week the contestants nominate people for eviction, and the contestant with the most votes gets evicted that week.
The young people are required to perform a range of team building tasks, including creating songs. If the young people completed the challenges then they had rewards, such as the “luxury breakfast” if they didn’t they would only receive the bare minimum at meal times.
“The Big Brother Experience” worked differently and at the end of the three days, the young people would nominate the person that they wanted most to win. Obviously they couldn’t vote for themselves! Also this year was the very first year that there was a week that was dedicated entirely to welsh speaking.
There was also the world famous “Diary Room” where contestants could speak directly to Big Brother and discuss how they felt in the “Big Brother House” This was also where the young people would take delivery of their food and the equipment for their various challenges.
“The Big Brother Experience” was a great experience for everyone that CityMag has spoken to, young people and youth workers alike.
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Condom Scheme As the Hill Youth Support Centre is at the cutting edge of pretty much everything, ever, it came as quite a shock when we found out that there were in Swansea; organisations that were offering services to young people that weren’t being offered to the good people on the hill. When we discovered this, we all said in unison “That’s not on!”, this was weird to be honest, because we had all chosen to say the same thing, at the same time, in the same place, and we all stayed quiet for the rest of the day. When we all got over the weirdness, we all agreed that the Hill, needed a condom scheme. Now there’s a lot of rules and regulations when it comes to young people and sex, so there’s a few things you need to be, or take part in before to can get condoms.
So if you are thirteen or over, and you are prepared to take part in the workshop, then you are eligible to come and use the condom scheme.
Most importantly you need to be 13 or older. No exceptions! If we are unsure of your age we will ask for proof that you are older than thirteen, so come prepared with your validate card.
There is one more important factor to think about. Are you ready? Only you can answer this question, no one else can tell you when you are ready, absolutely nobody. It is a decision that you will have to take seriously, because it’s your body and nobody else’s.
To access the service you must also take part in a quick, confidential workshop. This workshop will last at most twenty minutes, and will inform you how to check whether a condom is safe to use and how to use a condom effectively. For those of you who have heard rumours about these workshops from other people, but the workshops will not include... A) Practical demonstrations, B) Any vegetable product, C) Nudity of any kind. Sorry to disappoint you!
Have a good old ponder? So essentially, that’s it. Between 3pm and 6pm on Thursday afternoons The Hill Youth Support Centre has it’s own condom scheme and your more than welcome to come along if your over thirteen and can sit through a workshop, but most importantly, that you feel you need condoms. Ciao. 13
The ‘Credit Crunch’ – What is it? You may have heard recently in the news about something called ‘The Credit Crunch’. You might have thought “What is it?” and also perhaps “What has it got to do with me?” Don’t worry a lot of people are struggling to work out what it is and how it might affect them, so here at CityMag we’ll have a go at explaining it hopefully without boring you too much!
How do I buy things? When people want to buy something, for example a car, DVD player, box of chocolates for their girlfriend because they forgot their birthday (oops that’s just me!), etc; there’s probably two main ‘legal’ ways you can get hold of the money you need. Firstly, you can save up the money over a period of time and then buy it; or secondly, you can borrow the money, buy the thing you want and then pay the money back.
Strange as it may seem, the Credit Crunch is not a new tasty, but hard to swallow, breakfast cereal! It is though to do with the difficulty in borrowing money.
Who do you pay the money back too? That depends on who you borrowed it from! A lot of people borrow the money from the banks for example. They lend money to you because they charge you interest. That is, money on top of the amount of money you borrow, as their ‘profit’. With me so far? The Credit Crunch problem is mostly about banks and others lending money to people, who then find they can’t pay the money back, and that leaves less money to lend to other people who want to borrow money. Banks don’t only lend out the money that their customers put into their bank accounts, they also borrow money from other banks and companies on the stock market etc to lend it to you and me, and that could be for cars, houses or whatever.
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When the people that lend money are frightened that more of the people they lend to can’t pay it back, then they stop lending it. Still with me? This means at the moment it can be more difficult to borrow money for things which were easy to borrow money for before! So less people borrow, and so less people buy! People for example who want to sell their houses might find it more difficult because people who want to buy their house can’t get a loan off the bank or building society to buy it! So there is less money around to borrow! (I am going to stop now as I am losing the will to live!) This type of Credit Crunch has happened before. Ask someone older about the 1980’s and how house prices went up and the cost of borrowing money was cheap, before all of sudden house prices came down because banks and others stopped lending money so easily! Don’t get me started on the price of oil either! It won’t last forever but the people who own the oil try want to make sure the price is high so they get more money per gallon. Oil is important for everyone! Not just for your cars, but for people who are delivering or making stuff for the shops etc. It also could be used for your heating. So again if the price of oil and petrol is high then the price of everything else might be too!
READ THE NEXT ARTICLE IT WILL BE MUCH MORE FUN! 15
Up and Coming Films Christmas is nearly upon us and apart from presents, dinners and Santa, another really exciting thing about Christmas time is the Christmas films. So here are a selection of films to watch whilst waiting for the fat man in the red suit. Standing three meters tall (around 10ft), with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora's forests in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi unleashes their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence. Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. The Avatars are living, breathing bodies that are controlled by a human “driver” through a technology that links the driver's mind to their Avatar body.
Avatar December 18th 2009 Avatar is the latest 3D film from director Ron Howard (Titanic). It is his first film in twelve years and has a budget of $237m making it the fourth most expensive film of all time.
On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake can be whole once again. Sent deep into Pandora's jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora's beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Na’vi female, Neytiri. Over time, Jake integrates himself into Na'vi's clan, and begins to fall in love with Neytiri. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the forces of Earth, and the Na’vi, forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of an entire world.
The goodie, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a former Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is picked to take part in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush jungle-covered moon filled with incredible life forms, some beautiful, many scary. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi, races who is considered primitive, yet are more physically capable than humans. 16
The film also stars Colin Firth (Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary) and Gary Oldman (Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix). OK so we all know the story, Ebenezer Scrooge is a bad, unlikable man who hates Christmas and who’s only focus in life is to make money and treat his underlings of which include Bob Crachit (Gary Oldman). However he is visited on Christmas Eve by three ghosts, Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas yet to Come. He spends a night reflecting on his life with the help of these three ghouls and decides to change the way he lives his life.
A Christmas Carol November 6th 2009 A Christmas Carol is the 2009 Disney film, directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) based upon the 1843 story by Charles Dickens. Following on from his 2007 epic, Beowulf, Zemeckis uses motion capture technology to capture the Dicken’s legend Ebenezer Scrooge who is portrayed by Jim Carrey.
CityMag thinks that this will be a great film that will be a must see this Christmas, although it will struggle to be better than the Disney Christmas classic “Muppet’s Christmas Carol”.
WE ARE MAKING A MOVIE / FILM We need people who can act, write scripts, hold camera’s, make costumes, design sets, pretty much everything really. So if your interested in a career in media or just want something new and fun to get involved in then ask in the The Hill Youth Support Centre for more details.
The future is here! Well the future is actually in the future but it feels like it’s here, either way its pretty exciting! The Hill Youth Support Centre is looking to make a movie, but we haven’t really planned it that well!
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Fifa 10 – “How big can football get?” This is the latest instalment of the successful, long running computer game series of “FIFA”. Here at CityMag, we are huge fans of the FIFA series so we couldn’t wait to get our hands on the demo. This new edition of the popular football simulation has been updated since the last edition. The first thing you notice as soon as you kick off is how realistic the graphics are. They are not completely different from the FIFA 2009 edition but it is the attention to detail that is most impressive, such as the names on the back of the shirts.
Another first in the new in this edition is the assistant manager. The assistant manager’s job is rotate and manage the squad rotation, so if you’re playing in an easy game, the assistant manager will rotate your squad so that player who would normally be on the bench will be starting in the first team. The transfer system will be more authentic, as money is not the important factor in acquiring a player.
As with all the other editions in the FIFA franchise, this edition has a the official FIFA licensing, so it has all the official kits and names of the player and clubs.
Whether they will sign for your club the players will think about factors such as the number of players in your squad in the same position, and the promise of higher-level competition outside the domestic league, such as the Europa League or Champions League.
The gameplay has been improved too. It is far more responsive than the 09 version and the artificial intelligence has been improved greatly in the manager mode. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will be the first version of FIFA to include friendly fixtures in manager mode.
The process also takes a longer time as the player has to think about offers from other clubs. Bids can be submitted for several different players, and if the clubs accept, the player has the choice of which of the players to ultimately sign unlike in the older versions where if you had your bids accepted then you had no choice whether to sign them or not. In CityMag’s highly rated opinion this is the best game in the series yet and a must buy for any serious gamer.
R.R.P. £49.99 18
Good Numbers to Know 0800 1111 We’ve all heard of Childline, and there is a very good reason for that, because it is needed by some young people who feel that they can’t speak to anyone about their problems. It’s available to everyone up to the age of 18.
Childline
0800 77 66 00 Talk to Frank. Frank is a telephone number that gives you all the information that you need on drugs. They’ve even got a smashing website. www.talktofrank.com
Frank
The Hill Youth Support Centre 01792 470 270 Shameless Plug. But seriously, ring us.
Singleton Hospital GUM Clinic 01792 285 015 Singleton Hospitals Department of Genitourinary Medicine (that’s why they call it GUM) deals with all the things that should be protected against by the condoms I mentioned earlier. They deal with other things too. www.condomessentialwear.co.UK
• Family Planning Association 08456 001213 • Infonation
01792 484010
• Abuse Helpline • Sex Wise
0800 282930
• Police Central
Opening Times • Monday 9:00am – 12 noon, 2:00pm – 4:30pm • Tuesday 9:00am – 12 noon, 2:00pm – 6:30pm • Wednesday 9:00am – 12 noon, 2:00pm – 6:30pm • Thursday 9:00am – 12 noon, 2:00pm – 4:30pm • Friday 9.00am – 12 noon.
08088 010800 01792 456999
• Sports Development 01792 535452 • SCVS (Volunteering) 01792 544 000 If you don’t like what you have read, then throw this away, but keep these numbers. You’ll kick yourself if you don’t. 19