Cardiff fans protest over lost tickets

Cardiff city fans held a protest yesterday after their precious FA Cup final tickets did not arrive. Nearly 40 bluebird fans turned up outside a Royal Mail depot on Penarth Road to express their anger about the mishap.

The all important FA Cup final match is against Portsmouth on May 17 and is the first final for Cardiff City in 81 years. The tickets are all believed to have disappeared on their way to fans in Maesteg.

18 year-old supporter Phil Evans from Cardiff turned up with friends to demonstrate. Phil said “I’m a student so it was hard for me and my friends to afford the ticket in the first place.

“I’ve been a Cardiff supporter my whole life and splashed out on a £95 ticket so I can enjoy this rare occasion, so I hope we don’t lose our seats.”

The Royal Mail have launched a full investigation involving their internal security team, to establish exactly how the tickets went missing. Cardiff City Football Club will also be involved to make sure the fans can get to the game. It will be heard tomorrow whether new bar codes will be printed on tickets to prevent the missing tickets from being stolen.

It looks as if the Royal Mail should sort the problem, but it looks as though many bluebird fans won’t rest until their tickets are in their hands.

The risks of a journalist

A couple of days ago now The United Nations marked World Press Freedom Day. I was not familiar with this day and I was intrigued about the topic being a journalism student. The day has happened since 1993 and is said to pay tribute to the journalists who have lost their lives due to their work, and to highlight the fundamental principles of freedom in the press. As I tend to only write small or local stories I never really gave enough consideration to see journalism as being a dangerous or life threatening job.

It is only recently that I have noticed and taken an interest in the risks and hazards faced by reporters abroad, and so I was disgusted when recently seeing such stories as journalists in Zimbabwe being arrested for simply trying to tell the rest of the world what’s going on in another country. But I was even more horrified on finding out how common the murders of foreign journalists were.

The CPJ (Committee to Protect Jourmalists) produced a list this week of all the countries where governments had repeatedly left the deaths of journalists unsolved. This highlighted just how unfair reporting is in other countries. Most journalists that die when reporting in war zones are usually murdered by professionals to keep them quiet, and not killed during combat.

I strongly agree with freedom of speech and feel that people should definitely be able to express their views and the public have the right to learn what’s going on around the world. You wouldn’t expect to be murdered or arrested for sharing your views at work in an office, so why should a journalist abroad risk death in their daily work. I don’t believe journalists should be given different treatment, I think the whole world has a right to be informed of what goes on and not have restrictions on what they read or see on the news.

Increased drinking and arrests among women

Whilst looking at the news stories online today on Channel Four’s website, I came across an article about a rise in female’s alcohol consumption leading to arrests. Being a young female I find this topic quite interesting.

Some of the blame has been put on clubs and pubs as usual and it is now thought that they are deliberately targeting young women with free entry and offers. It is true that lowering prices would make it harder to drink to excessively but I don’t think this is the resolution to the problem.

In the news story, Mike Craik, chief constable of Northumbria police, states that “There should also be an end to discounted drinks, such as two-for-one deals, happy hours and supermarkets selling alcohol at below cost prices. There should be a ban on the sale of alcopops and no advertising of alcohol. Consideration should be given to pricing which is relevant to its strength.”

I only agree with this to some extent though. Yes, it is true that there has been an increase in special offers and ‘ladies nights’ but I don’t think it is fair to blame the companies because they are not forcing anyone to drink, just offering it. At the end of the day, females have the choice whether to enjoy a drink, or get to get drunken and disorderly.

Both police and medics have expressed concerns about the rising problems and they also feel the alcohol offers are to blame. Channel 4 News online asked all police forces in the UK for details of the number of women arrested for being drunken and disorderly in the past five years which showed a 53% increase.

The story also stated that Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: “There’s no doubt that the number of women binge-drinking has gone up – they are following the example of young men.”

It is true that male binge drinking has always been popular, so why is it such a surprise that the figures for woman have to? I don’t believe it is fair to place the blame on men though as they shouldn’ have to be seen as setting an example for women.

In my opinion the price of alcohol is not the problem. In many other countries alcohol is a lot cheaper, yet they don’t seem to face the problems that we have here in the UK. I think that females should just be educated better at a younger age to help them make a responsible decision when faced with these promotions

To watch the television news story visit-

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1184614595/bctid1531249666 

    

Show us what you Gok

Gok Wan, presenter of ‘How to Look Good Naked’ was searching Cardiff today for Britain’s most fashionable people. Cardiff’s undiscovered fashionistas turned up to see Gok Wan and have a go at strutting their stuff on his travelling catwalk.

For those who have never seen Gok’s show, the idea is quite simple. A very camp Gok Wan is on a mission to get the nation’s women to stop loathing themselves when they catch and image of themselves in the mirror, and to make them feel ‘fabulous’.

The presenter and icon to all women, was on Churchill Way searching this time for the best fully clothed dressers. Gok began his search in Cardiff but will be travelling all around Britain’s cities for his new series ‘Gok’s Clothes Show’ due to be aired this summer.

I spoke to Media student Sean Jones, 20, of Adamsdown, Cardiff, who took part in the catwalk: “I’m a huge fan of Gok’s last show and It was so exciting to see him! I was quite nervous because there was a large crowd but I thought I‘d go for it anyway. I’ve never been on a catwalk before and I loved it! I Can’t wait for the show to start.”

Gok’s enthusiasm about the female body in all shapes and sizes has made him extremely popular. Hundreds of people turned up throughout the day to watch the catwalk and meet the popular style guru. Kayleigh Hawkins, a music tech student in Cardiff, got to speak with Gok himself “He was really friendly to everyone there and so camp, he’s brilliant and makes you feel so good about yourself .”

Each week, the most stylish of the entrants will win a place in the grand final with a chance to be crowned the most best dressed person in Britain and win a huge shopping trip to New York. So with entrants from Cardiff getting through to the next round we hope that they can go far and prove to Gok that Cardiff has style like no other city!

Who is to blame for size-0 trend?

With the rising obesity levels in the UK, have we concentrated too much on promoting healthy eating and forgotten to promote the dangers of anorexia? The topic of ‘size zero’ celebrities and models has been all over the media recently as people have began to notice the dangers.

There are thousands of articles pointing the finger at who is to blame for today’s eating disorders amongst young people. The Daily Telegraph has even published a story about recent research by the University of Loughborough, which has warned that in their eagerness to promote healthy eating in schools, teachers are now be to blame for driving girls to illnesses such as bulimia and anorexia.

However, most articles are agreeing that skinny celebrities in the media are to blame for the eating disorders. Professor Janet Treasure of the Eating Disorders Research Unit at Kings College London, believes the constant images of stick-thin models and actresses in the media is fuelling the rise in eating disorders. Constant exposure to images of thin celebrities is bound to reduce self-esteem, especially among young people.

With the increasing trend of the size-zero celebrity increasing, are the dangers of losing too much weight being highlighted enough? Being underweight has serious repercussions such as growth and brain development problems, bone disease, infertility and even death.

In my opinion the obsession with being ultra-thin, fuelled by celebrities such as Nicole Richie, is having a dangerous influence on the public and seeing their images constantly in magazines is leading to reduced self esteem, especially among girls. Magazines especially are seen by many females as a source providing examples of what looks good, if all young people see are these idealised body shapes then they will often feel they have to try and look like this.

I have only seen very recently that the media and fashion world is catching on and realising it has to take action about the images it promotes. Recent events such as madrid fashion week banning models with a Body Mass Index of below 18 has started to publicise the health problems and I hope that this continues in the media.

 

Student’s Drink Away Their Loans

Student loans are provided to cover essential living costs, but with today’s students spending excess amounts on luxuries like alcohol, many are falling into serious debt. A survey carried out by Unite student accommodation revealed that student debt had risen by 9% last year. Unite interviewed 1,600 students from 20 different universities around the country to investigate the problem. It is believed the average student will find themselves in at least £3500 worth of debt each academic year. So what are they spending it all on?

Students at Glamorgan University conducted a small survey which found that alcohol was the main luxury spent their loans on. Students admitted to spending between £20 – £50 per week in pubs and clubs. So why are today’s students getting into so much trouble at University? Unite’s report defended students by raising the point that students aren’t informed enough about the financial difficulties “With student debt increasing, Unite believes that students should be given far more financial planning guidance”.

But the stereotypical binge drinking that students take part in at university is not just burning a hole in their pocket. Research carried out by Virginia Tech University found that alcohol can have a damaging effect on academic performance. A national study found that students with higher grades consumed far less alcohol than those with poorer results. The study also showed a large amount of students admitted to having done poorly on a test or project or having missed class because of their drinking.

So why is binge drinking is considered a normal part of the University experience?The National Union of Students (NUS) has criticised companies that organise nights out in cities all over Britain as an attempt to reduce the amount students are drinking but alot more will have to be done to stop the tradition of binge drinking at university.

One of the most common answers as to why students drink so much is the freedom they gain when moving away from home and their parent’s supervision. Alcohol is believed by students to help them relax and socialize. But with the worrying debts and the reflection on their studies, action needs to be taken to inform students of the effects.

For useful information on the problem of student debt visit -

http://www.moneyextra.com/guides/managing-student-debt-033823.html