Wintermagazine'13

Page 1

1


Cont Contents College 3

3

Principal Interview

6

‘Adapting to College Life’

24

10

14 2

Find out what Peter Corrigan thinks of the new college site

A short story by a new student based on her own experience

Upcoming Events Get up to date with all the latest events and clubs at college!

Featured Reviews 10 Iron Man 3

Robert Downey Jr. returns to our screens to give his finest performance yet

12

Thor 2: The Dark World

13

Catching Fire

14

Top of the Charts

Liked ‘The Avengers’? This may be the film for you!

The second film to the The Hunger Games trilogy finally hits the scene

Catch up on all the latest music as welll as hidden artists!


ents Trending 16 Autumn/Winter Fashion Check the latest fashion trends of the season - what’s your style?

17

Top 5 Blogs/Websites Useful sites to help you achieve success

Etcetera 18 F for Facebook

Are we using social networking too much?

19

Strange News Stories

21

Christmas Puzzles

Unbelievable real-life news stories that you would never imagine

Bring on the Christmas Spirit!

23 Answers Are you the new Professor Layton?

6

C o n t e n t s

3


Editor’s Note Well here we are, almost a term into the new college. I hope everyone has settled in alright and to end our first term at the new site we have a new college magazine. Within these pages you will find music and film reviews and our input into fashion and much more. I hope you all have an amazing Christmas and are excited to see what we as a college magazine team can come up with next time. But for now I hope you enjoy our first issue this year. Azaria Messingham

Worthing College Magazine Team

4

Lilia Pavin-Franks, Kitty Smith, Azaria Messingham, Laura Pemberton, Amy Parsons Laura Caperon, Karen Suen, Sophie Holmes, Olivia Herring


Worthing College Past, Present and Future Principal Interview: Peter Corrigan The Warren. We know it as the new home of Worthing College but not many people know that it was once an all-girls school. So the site has come full circle back to a building of education. Before this building was built there was a mansion nearer the big tree at the front of the college. The all-girls school moved to this site in 1929 and since then additional buildings have been added and the original building was knocked down after this

building was built behind the original. We interviewed Peter Corrigan, the Principal of Worthing College. We wanted to talk to him about his experiences in obtaining the new site and how he dealt with knowing that he had to live up to people’s expectations and make the site suitable for over a thousand students to learn in.

Q. What were your experiences in getting the Warren to be the new site for the college? What did you have to do to achieve it and what were your feelings as it was happening? It has taken four years to achieve this, we first saw this site in October 2009 so it’s taken a long time to get here. The most difficult thing was that we had to apply for planning permission, so we had to persuade Worthing Borough Council that this was a good idea for the town and for the college and that it would be beneficial. That took the best part of two and a half years to achieve that. The other big challenge was negotiating the purchase of the site because the site was up for sale for around £12 million and we had to try and negotiate that price to reduce it which we managed to do which was a good thing, but then we had to find the money to not only buy the site but we had to find the money to develop the building because this building was completely empty, no walls, no structures, no classrooms. Everything that you see now we had to create. We did that in a variety of ways. We started negotiating to sell our site at Bolsover Road and got a company Barratts who are the

biggest building company in the UK who were interested in buying it, but that didn’t give us enough money, we then had to sell 3 acres of land at this site and that’s the houses that are being built near the college. We had to borrow £4 million and we’ve also had to apply to the government for a variety of grants and we were successful in bringing all that together because the total cost of the college is £28 million so we had to find a way to do all that and that was quite a job. Those have been the main challenges and then once that was in place it was then managing everything to make sure all the building work happened on time. A lot of planning had to happen to plan out all the different rooms, facilities. We had to work with both staff and students a lot on what they wanted in the new college e.g. the learning zones and then last summer we moved and got the new site ready in the space of 6 weeks.

5


Q. I know it took a while for the college to get the planning permission and the move kept being postponed? The planning was so complicated partly because of where this new college is, we had to do a lot of negotiating about what the road works had to be and that’s not something that’s quick. We had to deal with the Highways agency and they had to look at crossing points and make sure they are safe and then they have to design how the road is going to be changed also we had to pay for that. All the road works associated with the college, all the bike lanes that have been put in around the site. The college has to pay for which was around £1 million. This is because the college is seen as the developer, we are moving into this area, we are creating a situation where students will have to come to the site so therefore what the government think is, well if you’re doing that then you will have to pay the cost of things like road changes and things like the shuttle bus. The college has to subsidise the cost of the bus because the bus doesn’t pay for itself from the fare. We have to pay the bus company to run the service.

Brand New Li

brary

-

6

rand b r u in o g o j ym Take a ng new g ki span

Q. After you had achieved gaining the site to be the new Worthing college you knew there was still a long way to go to make the grounds and the building suitable for the students to learn in. What were your feelings knowing that you still had a long way to go? I think that was quite frustrating because I think I knew it would always be great in the end but it’s hard to persuade other people that eventually this is going to be a really fantastic place to learn. The difficulty with new students is that you are trying to tell them that it’s going to be great and marvellous but you can’t see it and that was really difficult. It’s like someone selling you a holiday but not being able to show you so that was really difficult, but we are really happy that we managed to enrol many students, we hit our enrolment target and we got 70 more students than we had last year. So thankfully students really did want to see what happened. There was a lot of pressure and a lot of people saying will it be ready and we always said yes it will. Sometimes there were doubts but I think it did come together in the end and it is a massive thing to move college and to get everything ready. I’m just really pleased that we did move in the summer because at one point we were thinking of moving during the year but in the end I think it worked out right moving in the summer. The building programme was always 6 months and it pretty much got done there were a few bits that were not quite ready, but they were fairly minor things. The builders were always very confident. We now have 100 more new computers. At the old site the IT system was very shaky and that’s because it was never designed from start to finish as one IT system so there were a lot of additions to it. In the end it didn’t always work. When we came here one thing we changed was the IT system and designed it from start to finish. The whole buildings has been rewired, a whole new server system. We are trying to encourage students to bring their own laptops into college as the demand has been huge. So we are saying to the students if you bring your own laptop in then there are the safes in the learning zones that you can put your laptops in if you don’t want to carry them around all day.


Q. What is the future for Worthing college, where do you plan for the college to be in 5-10 years and what are you going to do to help the college grow within that space of time?

es!

c caf i f i r r e t Two

Corner shop

I think it’s best to focus on why we did what we did. But we couldn’t do that at the old site. So what we want to do is invest our time and effort in making our teaching as good as it possibly can be and making students work a lot harder and trying to get more students to achieve at the highest level. All students have a minimum target grade but we want more students to have that as a minimum and to actually do better than those grades. So now it’s about really focussing on our teaching, our learning and trying to get the best out of our students. That’s the big priority and now instead of the buildings being a hindrance to that, they are now a real asset. We are doing more with the teachers in terms of training and helping them make lessons better and how to get students to be more motivated and do more work outside of lessons. In the next two years we are aiming at getting the college to be outstanding in the way Ofsted judges us. That’s our big goal. This year we are trying to get to a position at the end of the year where we can say more of our courses are really outstanding and then the year after we really want to be an outstanding college. Then in 5 years it will be maintaining that and making sure that more students are being successful, more students are going to university and getting jobs after college if that’s what they want to do, but also we do want to grow and see more students who actually say Worthing College is the college to go to and not even think about other colleges. Also we have more developments happening to the building because we recently got a government grant for more money to do some more work and further developments that will be really good for the students. We are going to create some sports changing rooms on site near the drama studios. One of the things that we will be doing is refurbishing every toilet so we are going to have new flooring, new sinks, new everything. We are going to change the main entrance because the railings are old fashioned so we are going to replace them so they look smart and professional. The other thing we need to get on site is a proper sports hall, so that’s what Worthing College wants to achieve within the next 3-4 years.

“We want to give students the best possible experience.”

That was the interview with Peter Corrigan and it really is now just a time to enjoy the new college and really get as much out of it as we can, as well as looking towards the future and watching the college develop into an outstanding college. I think the only thing left to say is watch this space.

By Azaria Messingham

7


A Short Story:

College life

8


“Hundreds of people...” Utter chaos. Hundreds of people just like you surround you, enclosing you with no room to breathe. As scary as it is, the old legend says you’ll get used to it, well that’s just a legend. Is there any way to be sure? Through the crowds, you struggle to get through, balancing on your tiptoes to locate friends, acquaintances even, anyone you know. Alone, you’re indestructible, together you feel invincible, the only chink in your armour being the dread of losing your long awaited companion. Eventually, you arrive at your final destination, a classroom filled with students, luckily enough, you know a couple so it’s not too bad. What you didn’t anticipate was the never ending streams of work. In class, in a learning zone or at home, the work load is pressuring you out of a social life. But have no fear! Within a couple of months, you’ll get used to it; your social life will slowly sneak up behind you, pulling you back into it. Just think, instead of struggling alone, why not grab a friend and rack their brains for the vital information that escaped the clutches of your mind. It’s a great idea, earning your teachers respect for suggesting it. Teachers, through your eyes, they are the devil, constantly giving you work, tipping the scales in favour of homework but eventually, you balance those scales and start handing work in on time, finished to perfection. Or as close as you can get. All this finished work sends your grades spiralling sky high, an achievement for the ages. It’s amazing really, just think, you couldn’t have done it without your teacher. So they take the sudden transformation from devil to superhero, braving their lives to rescue off track students. Eventually, you’ve survived your first week of college; you’ve only gone and done the impossible or what you thought was impossible. Either way, it doesn’t

matter, congratulate yourself with two days off, spend a Saturday shopping or a Sunday sleeping. Whatever you do, just relax. You’ve survived your first week at college; now all that’s left is the thirty-something left to come. So, finish your work, wake up on time and have fun. The world is counting on you. ***************************************************************** December is just beginning, nearly the end of the autumn term, although you’re cold, freezing in the winter temperatures, you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Not only is Christmas coming, but soon enough, you can sleep until one o’clock in the afternoon, providing you enjoy sleep, you can stay in you pyjamas all day and no one will judge you but best off all, you can eat as much chocolate and sweets as you like. Granted, it’s been a tough term and at times, you didn’t think you would get through it but you proved your inner demons wrong, you survived. That in itself is a great achievement but you haven’t just finished your first term at college, you’ve completed the next step of your life, you now know that you can finish your work on time and spend time with those long lost friends who venture out to Chichester every single day. Perhaps the greatest achievement of them all, you made a great recovery when you slipped on that ice puddle when you thought everyone was looking when they actually weren’t. Or were they? You’ll never know. No matter how little or great your achievements this term, just remember, you did it, you finished a term at college and now you have proved to everyone that you can do it. You can adapt to college life.

By Sophie Holmes

9


Star Ratings: 1 - Even your cat wouldn’t watch 2 - Your Gran would sleep through it

Iron Man 3 By Laura Caperon Robert Downey Jr., who plays Tony Stark/Iron Man, returns to our screens to give his finest performance yet. Facing his toughest enemy yet; the Mandarin, he (literally), has to save the world from extinction. (As well as save his girlfriend Pepper Potts.) As the sequel to Iron Man and Iron Man 2, there was a lot of expectation and apprehension, due to Jon Favreau; the director, having declined to do the third film; although appearing as the role of Happy Hogan. (Remaining comatose during most of the film) Shane Black however, stepped in to rewrite and direct. Fortunately, it was a success; it currently ranks as the fifth-highest–grossing film of all time and the highest-grossing film of 2013 with the Box Office producing $1,214,713,994, whereas, Avatar, being number 1 on the list brings in $2,782,275,172. Stark has to quickly face and overcome his Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, after his near-death experience that occurred during the Alien Invasion of New York in The Avengers. After facing tension with his new girlfriend, Pepper Potts; played by Gwyneth Paltrow; (who he had developed a relationship with over the four films); over building an exceeding number of suits to relieve the stress, (one of which even attacks Pepper) They

10

w e i v e R m l Fi

are suddenly separated after a precarious action scene at Starks house, leaving it decimated and them barely surviving.

Stark then has to be resourceful and get the assistance of a 10 year old boy; Harley, who lives in Tennessee, who helps him trace the Mandarin and infiltrate his headquarters; using only improvised weaponry. Finally resulting in an explosive action scene at the docks in which Stark has to face the TRUE Mandarin and save Pepper’s life. Robert Downey Jr. has to face his fiercest nemesis yet; Aldrich Killian, played by Guy Pearce; who transformed from a weak, limping nerd into an attractive business man with his own company; by using the ‘Extremis’ process (Strengthens a person’s insides like the exoskeleton of Iron Man) He even tries makes a move on Pepper, by reducing her to the treacherous experience of the Extremis process, Stark had to try to prevent it from killing her before it was too late. This 130 minute film is one of the biggest hit premieres since Avatar in 2009, produced by not only Marvel Studios, but Paramount Pictures as well. The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures purchased Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4.64 billion in 2009.

“The Macho-Metal M The prequel to Iron Man 3, the Avengers is now the third highest-grossing films with $1,511,757,910 in the Box Office of 2012, also produced by The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, as well as 5 others including Iron Man 3. In fact the six films they have produced have beaten the $1 billion mark in ticket sales worldwide: • Alice in Wonderland reached $1.02 billion in 2010; • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides reached $1.04 billion in 2011;


3 - It’s worth a good sofa 4 - Get the popcorn out 5 - Watch out for rooftop viewers

R obert D owney J r .

G ywneth P altrow

Man faces toughest tyrant yet • Toy Story 3 reached $1.06 billion in 2010; • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest $1.06 billion in 2006; • Iron Man 3 reached $1.2 billion in 2013 • Marvel’s The Avengers reached the highest of $1.5 billion in 2012 As well as producing their own range of Disney films, like Monsters University; $737,589,118 in the Box Office and Brave; $538,983,207 in the Box Office

“So it seems the best is yet to come!”

produced by Pixar Animation Studios, a subsidiary of Walt Disney. Marvel announced Robert Downey Jr. has signed a two picture deal to appear in The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avengers 3, as well as there being talk of him appearing in an Iron Man 4 and even a fifth one.

PG-13 11


Film Review

C

hris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston return to our screens as the Asgardian brothers Thor and Loki. Last seen in The Avengers they burst back onto our screens telling the tale of what happened after Thor and Loki returned to Asgard at the end of The Avengers. Loki is sentenced to imprisonment after trying to enslave Midgard. However back on earth there is trouble brewing as Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) Thor’s mortal lover finds the Aether a weapon that brings a new enemy to our shores. I’m talking about the dark elves. In an attempt to save the one he loves Thor takes Jane to Asgard to try and save her, but alas it seems it will be harder than usual. Odin (Anthony Hopkins) thinks that Jane doesn’t deserve their help as she is a mere mortal and after the dark elves attack Asgard killing his wife she is locked away. Thor being desperate to save her goes to the one person who is able to get them to the dark world. Loki. Now of course I’m not going to carry on and spoil it for those of you that haven’t seen it yet but after watching this film I felt like it was one of the best films I had seen in a long time. I even saw it twice and both times was amazing and I was still amazed by the acting. Even Malekith the leader of the dark elves played by Christopher Ecclestone was good. I wasn’t sure how his acting would be because I haven’t always liked the things he has been in but I was surprised by his acting in this film. All in all it is a fantastic film with some hilarious lines as well as some tearful moments. It is a great film to watch with your family as it has something for everyone. It has comedy, romance, superheroes, action, suspense and a lot more that there are not words to explain. All I know is that if you like those things then you should watch it.

By Azaria Messingham

12

Star Ratings: 1 - Waste of time 2 - ...zzzZZZ

3 - Your dad might watch it 4 - Where’s the tissue box? 5 - You’re missing out


fILM rEVIEW

It

seemed a long year and a half since the first ‘Hunger Games’ film hit the scene and left most of us, or certainly me at least, rather amazed and moved with a few teardrops. With the return of Jennifer Lawrence starring as Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, ‘Catching Fire’ has definitely caught us out speechless this time – storming to top of the US Box Office chart with a total of around $146.6m and $307.6m worldwide within 5 days of its release in theatres.

I think the best part of the film was the arena – the re-creating of a sci-fi fiction setting was simply gobsmacking, realistic and magnificent, it definitely adapted the book very closely to my imagination. The actors did a wonderful job and brought out all the right personalities of the fictional characters – especially Finnick Odair (played by Sam Claflin, who also starred as William in ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’, brushing off the sugar cube scene like a breeze. Jena Malone, starring as Johanna Mason, deserves a good mention too for her endless humour from the moment she walked in – Katniss’s face in the elevator was definitely something to remember.

Haymitch: “This trip doesn’t end when you get back home” – the two victors have returned home to district 12 to their short-lived peace as the Victor’s Tour approaches. However, President Snow made it clear to Katniss that a good show is expected from the “star-crossed” lovers and leaves her a rose to remind her of the stigma to her little act of rebellion to survive the 74th hunger games. Little did they know of the berry-sweet treat that President Snow had prepared for them for the 3rd Quarter Quell; the tributes would be reaped amongst the existing pool of victors.

“Full of awe, suspense, love, heart racing and tearful moments

The only critique I have would be the length of the games in the film, perhaps they were tight for time but it seemed a little too short compared to the book but nonetheless, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has been the highlight film of the year for me and definitely ignited our taste buds for the future 2-parted ‘Mockingjay’ film, which will be released annually around November time. Catching Fire was definitely worth the wait, but how will Mockingjay Part 1 fare? May the odds be ever in your favour!

By Karen Suen

13


By Kitty Smith

14


Featured

song

The Fox - Ylvis

Ellie Goulding ‘ How Long Will I Love You ’

S

“Chart Toppers”

ome of the biggest names in music; Katy Perry, Miley Cryrus, One Direction, Ellie Golding and Little Mix have produced some chart toppers definitely worthy of a mention. Others, like Lorde have burst through to the top without a glance back and taken the music world by storm. Then there’s Ylvis and that’s best saved for later.

‘Animals’ by Martin Garrix is a hit and although it’s got a great beat for parties, I have to disagree with it being number one on the MTV website more than once this month. ‘Animals’ is just the same kind of repetitive pounding techno that can be found as the baseline for most songs of the dance genre. It was originally released back in July, which was a huge month for European acts. With the likes of Swedish House Mafia and Avicii producing a lot of great music this year, I do have to admit that Garrix, who’s only 17, has done well for himself, but I think he has a long way to go until he produces some music that could be classed as a real anthem. Speaking of which, Avicii’s “Wake me up.” Is still huge, the summer hit, which gave some upbeat and happy vibes to the sun we had back in July, has also brought its tireless energy to our darkening nights. The mix of country and fea-

tured artist ‘Aloe Blacc’ bring something just a little more unique than the usual dance genre. It’s a song you can listen to as well as dance to at parties, which is probably why it’s still huge. It has a lot to offer to a variety of audiences. Ellie Goulding’s latest release ‘How long will I love you’ is a track written for the film “About Time” and is another beautifully composed sentimental love song from Ms Goulding. Her voice is stunning, and I have to admit I much prefer it to her other latest release ‘Burn’ which I deemed a little weak. One Directions’ new song ‘Story of my Life’ has finally given them the push needed to get the away from being the X-factor pop boy band they’re sometimes still labelled as. Although there is nothing wrong with that, One Direction are huge and I feel this catchy and touching song could open them up to new audiences as well as keeping their ginormous fan base. Although they have been independent from the stigma of an “irritating” boy band for a while now, I really hope this song can open up the eyes of some more people, as they are very talented. Interestingly, ‘Story of my Life’ has been described as being similar in style to the likes of popular indie-pop rock bands Mumford and Sons and One Republic.

Featured MV: ‘Wrecking Ball’ - Miley Cyrus Miley Cyrus’ song Wrecking Ball has been a controversial music video for a while now. Personally, I like the lyrics to the song and she’s got a great voice, but was the video necessary? Cyrus claims the reason she is naked on the wrecking ball is to symbolize her vulnerability at that time, I can understand this. It’s not the first time nudity has been featured in music, and it certainly won’t be the last, my problem, however, lies with the sledgehammer. Anyone who’s seen the music video will know what I’m talking

about, why is that a compulsory action to represent her vulnerability? It is crude, but perhaps only because we knew her as a Disney Star? Miley is not the only artist in music to create such a controversial air, but hers stands out because of how sweet and innocently she was portrayed By Kitty Smith by the media. At the end of the day, she’s still human and has done very well for herself. I think her video was a clever move on her part anyway, as she certainly got people talking about it.

Described as the new Psy, Ylvis, a pair of comedic brothers from Norwary have gone viral with their new muisc video for ‘The Fox’ (What does the Fox say?). Taking to the internet to answer an (apparently) age old question “What noise does a fox make?” The brothers have made a completely outrageously funny, and questionably insane music video to match their lyrics. Informing us otherwise oblivious viewers that, yes, the cow does go moo, the brothers dress up as foxes and dance around a forest. It is entertaining, weird and very, very catchy. In case you’re wondering, Ylvis wasn’t too far off on their attempts at making fox noises, the canines have a very wide range of vocal noises. Not too bad if I say so myself.

Personal

favourites Top Artist:

Lorde Top Band: One Republic

15


16

By Lilia Pavin-Franks


Top 5 Blogs / Websites for ents A+ Stud

Staying

obs J r o f g n i e Look seem lik

ay o.uk/’ m e, but in .c d e e .r www jobsit ‘http: // ordinary tool for those y l r i a f ul another lly usef during their a e r a ’s t e job reality i perior part tim a r o f g site is su any n b e w s looki i h T ains m college. s it cont ility and a time at e p y t s of it usab to others ich improve its well as the h s w features al functions. A all of your ge ion navigat pply and mana b a email jo o s t e u y t s i s l i i e b t a i e most ns, the s vice to create th o i t a c i l p ap ad d careers rience. alerts an job seeking expe ul successf

Fit for

ision’ c e D g i B ‘ e h t Making want

Kee

ashion F h t i W gree ping Up

ould a dents w u t s f o rity n whilst The majo ing an educatio est trends in lat that obta eep up with the n be quite ca ok trying t t difficult and tfasha h w u /st den :/ p t is some t ‘h . s Writt time fix this. o t s costly a m i o.uk’ a tudent ionblog.c ion-conscious s de; ash es inclu d r u t a e f ten by f in n , the ma as tips a bloggers counts as well a n o s dis est style t a l e reviews, h t achieve tricks to get. ing bud r t s e o h s

College

‘http: / /co fitness llegedieting.t umblr.c bl o are try og dedicated ing to to stud m’ is a j e u nts wh ggle a with th o hec ea fit and dded pressur tic lifestyle e h o periods ealthy during f staying . This b t heir stu log much n d eeded in focuses prim y arily o ing a h spiratio n ea n the repe lthy lifestyle to maintaintitious whilst av in are sur e to kn formation wh oiding ow alre i ch you ady.

you e decision if tion Making th igher educa h to in n io to transit e college ult for som c fi if d en ft ny is o e are so ma er th s a ts er before studen and consid e k a m to out choices sity. Check er iv n u to o.uk’ for applying sity.which.c er iv n u / / : g from ‘http on anythin e rc u o s le b de a relia hat to inclu w to , y d tu what to s ment. sonal state er p r u o y in

Studying for

???

Exams

The next we practical bsite is one of th e websites for all st most looking uden to a exams. T chieve success in ts he main their m hackmy study.co ission of ‘http: // m/’ is to dents an help stud others alike to a informa bsorb mo tion in a re sh Articles include e orter time period . ffec ranging from ma tive study skills naging correctly your tim to e which yo increasing the s peed at u read.

By Amy Parsons 17


forforFacebook Facebook By Olivia Herring

Facebook started out on a college campus, and still to this day that’s where the largest social media platform thrives, with the addition of Twitter and Instagram becoming frequently visited apps on our phones every day, it’s no surprise that the majority of students around college are sat with their BlackBerrys, iPhones and HTCs doing what all students do best - procrastinating. So how many of you can blame your Fs on Facebook? I am one of the many guilty culprits who can’t deny that if I had just tucked my phone into the depths of my bag and got on with it, the standard of my work handed in would’ve been significantly improved. This is simple maths, so why can’t we just do it? The fastapproaching deadlines, half-hearted coursework entries and minimal revision efforts are not what we initially thought would happen when launched ourselves into the new academic year, yet most of us just don’t feel up to committing ourselves into opening a new word document, or a heavy textbook until we’ve spent ‘only a few minutes’ scrolling down 140-character sentences which, believe it or not, aren’t going to have a great beneficial factor to our education. The time consumed by rapid-fire texting, tweeting back and forth with friends and celebrities alike and perusing Facebook would have amounted to hours of productivity if it was used more wisely (Learning Zone Packs, anyone?), leaving you with less stress and a much happier conscience on those Sunday evenings. So why is it so addictive? If you’re one of those who may say ‘hashtag’ aloud daily, or your friends sometimes refer to you as your Instagram/Twitter handle in real life, or the habit of checking your phone late at night gets in the way of actually closing your eyes – I won’t deny that you’re one of the very many people who endorse themselves heavily in this hub of an online community. Breaking away from social media outlets is proved harder than curbing a smoking addiction, and there are rea-

18

sons why. An experiment carried out by researchers at Harvard found that the regions of the brain associated with reward were strongly engaged when people were talking about themselves, and less engaged when they were talking about someone else. It was learnt that through the study that the act of disclosing information about oneself activates the same part of the brain that is associated with the sensation of pleasure, so in simple terms – tweeting about our daily activities gives us the same pleasure that we get from eating food, or getting money. Diana Tamir, Lead Researcher of the experiment told the LA Times, “I think the study helps to explain why people utilize social media websites so often. I think it helps explain why Twitter exists and why Facebook is so popular, because people enjoy sharing information about each other.” So as long as food and money stay pleasurable, social networking won’t be going anywhere.

2014?

Social media has become an integral part of our lives, and no group feels its impact more than students. The faltering grades, later than 8:30 starts and wasted hours could all be hugely improved if we were to focus more on the education that will lead us to our desired futures, instead of dedicating ourselves to our online presence. So why don’t we all consider this for a New Year’s resolution, and let’s see who can last the longest…


Strange News Stories By Sophie Holmes

We all know what is happening in the news at the moment, but what you may not know about are the strange stories that don’t tend to make the news. On this page, I am going to give you an idea of what those stories are and my initial reactions to them. If you want to read the whole story or read even more strange stories, just visit www. skynews.co.uk and follow the link entitled “strange news”.

“Cry baby for sale” A baby has apparently been offered for sale on a website in Brazil for £270 because the mother claims it cries too much.

Kansas City chiefs fan swaps rings for tickets A Kansas City woman has swapped her old wedding rings for tickets to see her beloved Chiefs play. If you want my honest opinion on this one….. This woman is dedicated. I mean, selling your wedding rings for a sports game? Some of you may be thinking that she is legendary whilst others may be thinking she is crazy. Whatever you think of her, just think, what extreme would you go to see your favourite sports team or celebrity?

Ice hotel forced to install fire alarms My first reaction is who on earth is capable of attempting to sell their own flesh and blood? But then I look at the other side of the argument, what if this mother is mentally ill, what if she has post-natal depression? It wouldn’t be excusable but surely we’d all be more understanding? It just goes to show: don’t judge a book by its cover.

Oz checks Katy Perry album for “Bio Hazard”

Bosses at a hotel in Sweden are a little shocked to have to install fire alarms at their hotel which is made of snow and ice. Well, that’s certainly something you don’t see every day. First of all, there’s a hotel made of ice? Can you imagine winter there? You’d freeze to death and forget going to the swimming pool in summer, you could just swim in your hotel room. Secondly, the whole issues around installing fire alarms? Fair enough, it is slightly weird but if you think about it, it’s health and safety really. We all know fire is a serious issue and we would like to be warned if there was a fire in the hotel we were staying in, especially if it is an ice hotel. Think about it, the fire is going to melt the ice into water and if you can’t get out of the hotel, you’re either going to drown or be burnt alive.

The Australian government is worried that seeds offered in a promotion for her album may be dangerous for the environment. You read that one right, the Australian government fears that packets of flower seeds given away with Katy Perry’s latest album are a bio hazard. Seriously? We are talking about an internationally famous role model for young girls, as if she is going to give away seeds that could potentially destroy Australia. If you ask me, those seeds have got nothing over Miley Cyrus, just the sight of her is bad enough for the world.

The lesson of this story is: fire alarms save lives no matter where they are, this ice hotel should install their fire alarms.

19


Christmas Wordsearch

Christmas Reindeer Bells Mistletoe Elves Merry Cold

Santa Turkey Carols Giving Snow Presents Jolly

Christmas Anagrams

20

chitsrsam ruhplod mrrey snmanow prnetses niesm ipce avednt blles


Sudoku

Are you Professor Layton?

What’s the best thing to put into a Christmas cake?

Your Teeth!

What happens if you eat Christmas decorations?

You get tinsel-itus!

Maths Start with 3... x6

-2

Sqrt

+1

Sq.

x5

+19

Sqrt

÷6

Start with 7... Sq.

-1

÷4

x6

÷9

x11

+12

Sqrt

By Laura Pemberton Answers on the next page!

21


Answ Answers

Christmas Anagrams Christmas rudolph merry snowman presents mince pies advent bells

22


wers Sudoku

Maths Answers 6

10 23


@ s t n e v E g in m o UpcUpcoming Events @College

Worthing

Open Mic Session! First Wednesday of every month 1.10-2.00 West Cafe

Christmas Carols

Make your chance to shine! Anyone can take up the mic and entertain everyone with their talents. Are you the next comedian or x-factor star?

Tues 17th Dec - 7.00pm

Why not dust off that clarinet/flute/ violin etc or those vocal chords and come and join in with the traditional candlelit carols with choir and orchestra at a local church. Email L.Urquhart@worthing.ac.uk for more details

Clubs & Societies Chess Club Room (Library) Thursdays 1.15 - 2.00

Legs, Bums & Tums

Charities Week 18/12/13 Wednesday - Friday

Join in with ourvarious activites and events around college and help raise moeny for charity this Christmas!

Thursday 1.10 - 1.50

Christian Union (Room 82) Wednesdays 1.15 - 2.00

Work Store (Upgrade Centre Room 256) Tuesdays 1.15 - 2.00

Anime Club (Room 224)

Work Store Opportunities Want to dress up as Santa for St. Barnabas? Looking for an apprenticeship or voluntary work? Come along to the Upgrade Centre on Tuesday Lunchtimes.

Keep up to date with the latest opportunities on the “Worthing College Work Related Opportunities� Facebook page.

24

Every Thursday 1.15 - 2.00

Science Club (Science & Maths LZ) Thursdays 1.15 - 2.00

Radio Club (Room 266) Thursdays 1.15 - 2.00

Creative Writing Club (English LZ) Tuesdays 1.10 - 2.00


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.