Bangladesh’s Prime Minister refuses to introduce a new blasphemy law which would legally allow those who insult Islam to be killed.

Sheikh Hasina has been leading a secular government since 2009 and stated that it is not necessary to introduce a new death penalty for those who are deemed to insult the religion.

Leading Islamic group in the country, Hefajat-e-Islam, recently staged a protest by forcing the closure of schools and businesses and by blocking inter-city motorways as well as railways.

The group have been protesting for stronger blasphemy laws for several years now but the debate reached its highest point when a blogger was killed in February for being anti-Islam in his comments online.

Ahmed Rajib Haider was hacked to death outside of his home on February 15^th after comments he posted online about religious fundamentalism in the country were deemed offensive, although police are yet to officially give a motive for the killing.

On April 6^th hundreds of thousands of people formed a demonstration in the capital Dhaka which included the members of Hefajat-e-Islam, to demand that the government introduce a new blasphemy law; they chanted “God is great – hang the atheist bloggers”, according to Aljazeera.

Despite all this pressure the Prime Minister has said that the current blasphemy law is enough and there is no need for a stricter law. The current law states that an anti-Islamic blogger can be imprisoned for up to ten years, however this is too strict as it is. Sheikh Hasina told the BBC: “They should know that existing laws are enough,” and that “this country is a secular democracy”.

It is hard to understand how it is justifiable to put those accused of blasphemy to death just for expressing their opinion, although of course there is a line that can be crossed. There is a line between free speech and hate speech. If a blogger is intelligently expressing their opinion and that includes not being in favour of certain religious codes of conduct and so on, then that is perfectly fine; not everyone appreciates religion and nobody has to.

However there are those who cross the line and spout hateful words towards Muslims and could be accused of hate crimes, because although no-one has to be religious there is no need to disrespect others who rely on it for hope in life; but their words do not justify the death penalty.

There are other issues involved here though, seeing Muslims react to violent words with physical violence merely shows them to be just as bad as the people they want to put to death. If these protesting Muslims in Bangladesh were peacefully doing so and were calling for those who have published hateful comments towards their religion to be investigated, then that is acceptable and that is human.

However what is inhumane is to call for bloggers to be killed, whether they are being deliberately hateful or not, it should not bother Muslims if someone is offending Islam because it is their business that they believe in it; no one is forcing them not to do so and they should keep to themselves.

By reacting with such violence it also justifies to some extent the anti-Islamic comments that some bloggers publish. They are showing themselves to be hateful and violent which is exactly what some bloggers were commenting on in the first place.

It is good that the Prime Minister refuses to intensify the law but if anything she should relax it because to put someone in prison for ten years for their opinion is disgusting. Muslims should not read the comments in the first place and they should focus more on their own love for Islam rather than what other people think.

For Muslims to be focussing on other people’s opinions shows that they are insecure within their religion and this is the main problem; the Muslims calling for this new law in Bangladesh are the biggest problem in the world, not the bloggers.

I respect religion but some Muslims need to re-think what the true message of Islam is if they want to be respected by the world; the message of love, compassion and hope.

Spring has finally arrived! No more hibernation in bed or avoiding your workload, party season has (unfortunately) come to an end. Summer is approaching; bringing with it a whole host of opportunities.

Now is the time to act, spruce up your CV and get ahead of the game for Summer 2013; when you get that internship, work experience placement or full time job, you will thank yourself for it!

In the competitive job-market today, it is crucial to understand the purpose of a CV and how to apply yours to your chosen role or sector. In order to do this, you’ll need to partake in the long, tiresome and frustrating activity called research. Yes, I know. Who cares what anyone else thinks? Well when that person is about to provide you with the key to your future; be it a reference, placement or a much needed injection of cash, you probably need to know what they want. You can do it. You’ve spent the majority of your degree so far learning research skills, so use them! Make it your mission to find out everything you can about the position and company you are applying for and how you can improve your chance of winning it.

After you have found out everything possible, it is time to turn your attention to the hardest part; self-analysis. What are your skills (outside of the pub)? Do you have any interesting qualities? Hopefully. What experiences are worth mentioning? Definitely think this through. In all seriousness, evaluate yourself.

Write a list of your work-related pro’s and con’s. It’s easy to think of the negatives, but make sure you include what you’re ace at. Remove your primary school right now. Nobody is impressed that you can read and write anymore (harsh reality). Consider your self-analysis combined with your research, and organize the information under these headings: Education, Skills, Experience, Hobbies/Interests (optional) and Referees (there is a clever way out of this for those of us who are less impressionable).

EducationBegin with your most recent, which I’m guessing is our beautiful university, and continue back to your secondary school.

Skills The self-analysis I mentioned. Use essay feedback, personal statements or any comments made by tutors or employers to help assist you in this.

ExperienceIt is worth dividing this into two sub-sections depending on the role you are applying for; “Relevant Experience” and “Other Experience”. “Other Experience” for part-time jobs/full time jobs to support studying, and “Relevant Experience” for internships or work experience placements.

Hobbies/InterestsOptional, but if these relate to the job role, or pass you off as a “well-rounded individual”; then they are worth a note.

Referees – put down any employer who likes you, preferably the most recent. If you prefer, simply write “References available upon request”, but prepare for having to fulfill this request (worst case scenario).

Now for the the artsy bit. “Presentation is key”. I sound like I have just begun a very dry lecture however in this case, presentation is essential. I have watched several of my own previous employers discard CV’S that are not easy on the eye, and webcam pictures do not go down well.

To begin with, pop your name and contact details at the top (no need for marital status or date of birth).

Create a professional layout, and if you are lacking inspiration as I often do, Google search “CV template” and you will be confronted with lots of amazing websites made by people who care about this sort of stuff. Absolutely no word art, pictures or jazzy fonts which prevent actual reading. Think like a middle-aged employer who is bored of looking through CVs, may have eyestrain and wants to go home early. Make it clear, professional and make it your own.

You’ve made it to the last part, congratulations. This is the really fun bit: checking. Check everything for errors. Although tiresome, one tiny error could cost you a massive opportunity. You also don’t want to misrepresent yourself, embarrass yourself or die a bit inside when you realise you spelt a company name wrong. Get somebody else to check your CV, however much nagging that involves.

If you have followed this advice, you should now have the perfect CV for you (and I won’t be held responsible if not). There are plenty of websites that you can check for extra information, and to make sure that I haven’t lied to you. Get applying for those internships and jobs, and think big!

Here are some useful links within our own university:

www.uwe.ac.uk/careers (shows you examples)

http://myfuture.uwe.ac.uk
(this puts the CV together for you)

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cvs. htm
(hints and tips from outsiders)

https://infohub.uwe.ac.uk/ Appointments.chpx
(the UWE Careers team are available to support you with CV feedback)

Photo: Luke Carter

By Sean Vickers

Winter is a pretty glum time of the year, especially if you are a student. Exams, essay deadlines, and freezing cold weather can be quite discouraging, not to mention the student loan debts that are piling up.It’s therefore no wonder that UWE have named the second month of the year, ‘Feel Good February’, in an effort to get us to be more active and to cheer us all up.

The third Monday of January has now even been named Blue Monday, “the most depressing day of the year”, a term coined by student Cliff Arnall. And whether people like to admit it or not, Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is thought to affect around two million people in the UK every year.

But for many of us myself included mental health problems are an ongoing battle, all year round. In fact, one in four people in the UK will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year, a figure that is perhaps surprising for some, and possibly a comfort for others.

So, for this reason, and also as a part of the ‘Feel Good February’ event at UWE, I decided to write an article on a book that I read some while back, called Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, by Dr David Burns. The book was the first to describe ‘cognitive therapy’ in familiar terms for the general public.

Tracing its origins to the innovative work of American psychiatrist Dr Aaron T. Beck in the 1960’s, cognitive therapy is a major development in modern psychiatric research and practice, and although Feeling Good is a self help book, it stands apart from the genre in that its methods are scientifically tried and tested, and approved by Academic Institutions.

In the book, Dr Burns describes a cognition, or a thought, as “the way you are thinking about things at any moment, including this very moment.”

So, for example, right now you are probably having some thoughts and feelings about this article. If you are feeling a little down at the moment about yourself, you may be reading it whilst thinking in a negative, self critical way. Or, if you are feeling good, you may read it in a positive, reaffirming way.In either case, your thoughts create your feelings.

This example illustrates the principle of cognitive therapy – that your feelings result from the messages that you give yourself. In fact, your thoughts often have much more influence over the way you feel than the things that are actually happening in your life.

This isn’t a new idea. Nearly two thousand years ago the Greek Philosopher, Epictetus, said that people are disturbed, “not by things, but by the views we take of them.” Although the idea has been around for a while, most people will not comprehend it. If you feel down, you may think it is because of bad things that have happened to you. You may think that you are inferior and destined to be miserable because you failed an exam or were rejected by someone that you liked. You may think your negative feelings are the result of an unloving childhood, or bad genes that you inherited.

Certainly all these things do have an effect on people – bad things do happen, and people can be pretty obnoxious to one another. Many people do experience tragic losses and confront devastating personal problems. Our genes, hormones, and childhood experiences probably do have an impact on how we think and feel. But all of these theories about the causes of our bad moods have the tendency to make us victims, because we think they are caused by something beyond our control.

Dr Burns’ book sets out to demonstrate that you can be in control, and that you can learn to change the way you think about things, and therefore change the way you feel. That, in sum, is what cognitive therapy is all about.

In easily applicable terms, Dr Burns shows that in order to change your negative thought patterns which he calls ‘automatic thoughts’ because they run through your mind automatically without the slightest effort on your part – you must first identify them.

After years of research at the University of Pennsylvania, working closely with Dr Aaron Beck, Dr Burns has determined ten cognitive distortions that form the basis of all anxiety and depression. The idea is to familiarize yourself with the ten distorted thinking patterns, and then to recognize which of them apply to your own thinking. They include ideas such as, overgeneralization, jumping to conclusions, and ‘mind reading’.

Once you have realised these distortions in your thinking patterns, you are able to look at the situation more realistically. When this happens you should be able to build a more accurate description of the situation. Most of the time, you will find that the initial feelings you had about the event were caused by at least one of the above cognitive distortions.

This brief description of cognitive therapy by no means does it much justice, and I recommend that you read the book if the contents of this article resonate with you in any way.

Although self help books often get a bad rap and perhaps this is not always a completely unjustified sentiment – Feeling Good outlines techniques that can have the immediate effect of lifting your mood and helping you to develop a more positive outlook on life. It is also a great introduction to cognitive therapy, which, as demonstrated in the book, can help with a wide range of issues, such as procrastination, eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders, among many others.

It’s also extremely therapeutic to talk to someone if you are suffering from mental health issues. I would strongly recommend that you contact the UWE Wellbeing service if these issues are getting in the way of your personal life and studies.

Photo: GoofImages

By Huw Armstrong

University applications have risen by 2.8% since last year according to the UCAS admissions office. This is the first sign of steady improvements since the rise in tuition fees was introduced in 2011. Whilst the statistics should not be taken at face value, the increase does indicate a level of success for the current government.

Last year saw a sharp drop in the number of students applying to university amid the introduction of the tuition fee hike; those starting degree causes last autumn were the first to pay fees of up to £9,000. This drop was to be expected, the increase is not only daunting for a student but the media made it sound worse than it was.

Does this rise indicate that students are no longer intimidated by the amount of debt looming over their head?

A first year Politics student, who wished to remain anonymous, said “Everyone is in the same boat. If I didn’t come to university for a degree, my employment opportunities might be minimal.”

The idea of levelling the playing field when job hunting is interesting, and the fundamental reason applications are increasing. Whilst they still haven’t recovered to the levels before the education cuts, does this small improvement signify the beginning of a return to the popularity of university courses, despite the costs?

In short; no it doesn’t. There has to be a certain amount of scepticism when reviewing these statistics. For example, there has been a marked fall-off in applications to study languages and the arts. This could also potentially be the explanation behind the decision by UWE to discontinue the Politics department at the university. With the ever-increasing applications in business-based degrees, what use is there for one of the oldest arts?

It is clear that popularity for certain courses is decreasing, despite how important they may be. If it’s not a respected degree, why choose it?

Students are worried about employability after university. This will affect the initial choice of first going to university, then what course you pick. Many young people are now seeing the benefits of opting against university, and instead have the opportunity to get onto the employability and property ladder with no debt.

Money talks. Who wants to go to university with the possibility of having a minimum of £27,000 of debt looming over their head?

Alternatively, the rise of applications to university may be accredited to the lifestyle. Tell anyone that you go to university, and more often than not, the first question will be: ‘What’s the nightlife like?’ This isn’t a shocking question to be asked.

The portrayal of university students in the media has historically been overwhelmingly negative. We are often described as lazy, rowdy, and binge drinkers. This might be true, but we don’t like to be told it. This lifestyle appeals to adolescents. Aside from third years, who doesn’t want a loan from the government to coast through university and go out every night?

Along with this, there are areas that need to be examined in more depth. Firstly, there has been a decrease in applications by Men. Women, it seems, are more likely to apply to university if they are from disadvantaged backgrounds than young men are. This shouldn’t be surprising. If a man can get an apprenticeship, or another vocational course, university seems irrelevant and a waste of time. Young women, on the other hand, historically don’t become plumbers, or electricians.

Due to the increasing gap, the Universities Minister, David Willet, claims that universities should be targeting ‘white working class males’. The problem is they shouldn’t have to be ‘targeted’. It makes it seem as though there is a bounty on their head just because they are no longer enticed by the possibility of debt.

Ultimately, it is hard to accept these statistics at face value. Until there has been more research into the state of applications it is hard to evaluate how much students have been put off by the increase.

Photo: Prachatai

By Jordan Short

Back in December the 23-yearold physiotherapy student, from Delhi, now known as ‘India’s daughter’, was attacked, gang raped by six men and violated with an iron bar after she boarded a bus with a friend as they returned from the cinema. She was beaten so badly that 95 per cent of her intestines had to be removed in a series of operations and she died 13 days later in a Singapore hospital where doctors said she had suffered from severe internal and brain injuries, a heart attack and abdominal infections.

Whilst in hospital she gave a statement that will be used for the prosecution: “The conductor closed the doors of the bus. He closed the lights of the bus and came towards my friend and started abusing and beating him. They held his hands and held me and took me to the back of the bus. They tore my clothes and raped me in turns. They hit me with an iron rod and bit me on my entire body with their teeth. They took all belongings, my mobile phone, purse, credit card, debit card, watches etc. Six people raped me in turns for nearly one hour in a moving bus. The driver of the bus kept changing so that he could also rape me.”

Her brutal murder has sparked uproar throughout India, with mass demonstrations for women’s rights and calls for tougher rape laws.A lawyer for three of the accused has claimed his clients have been tortured and coerced into admitting the crime by the police and the three of them are to plead not guilty. The case is still being tried and the verdict and sentencing will come out later this month.

In light of this case it seems an appropriate and necessary time to talk about rape and the reality of rape in our own country. Rape in England and Wales has a very low attrition rate which basically means the rate of reporting is much higher than the conviction rate. Last year there could have been up to 85,000 rape victims, of this only 15,670 were recorded by the police, 2,910 went to court and 1,070 were convicted.

There are numerous reasons as to why the conviction rate is low and jurors’ perceptions of what rape is can have an effect on this. Many people in society are susceptible to rape myths and that the victims who are raped “Deserve it” either by drinking too much alcohol, acting in a promiscuous way or wearing provocative clothing. These are a few of the many myths that are present surrounding rape.

For a large majority of people, when they think of rape they are thinking of stranger rapes, which you hear in the media, of the man waiting in the bushes with a weapon for the lonely girl to walk home, or something similar. However, in reality this is not the case. That type of scenario makes up a small minority of rape cases, whilst the majority actually occur within the home and many of the rapes are committed by an attacker that the victim already knows, sometimes referred to as “acquaintance rape” or “date rape”.

In some areas the attitude is one of ignorance, more affluent areas may deem themselves “rape free” and believe that rape does not happen there because it is a nice area. Furthermore, there is a perception among victims that what happened to them was not rape. 43% of women who had been raped were more likely to describe the event as rape if they sustained a physical injury but most rapes do not involve a weapon and statistics suggest that in over 90% of 5,100 rapes reported to the Metropolitan police in 2001-2 and 2002-3 no weapon was used or implied.

Today the law stands under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which identifies that penile penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth of another person without their consent is rape. This recognizes that oral penetration is also rape and that men too can be victims of rape. However, for obvious reasons men that are raped are even less likely to report it because of the embarrassment they feel and the stereotypical view that the man should be strong and able to resist anything unwanted.

Consent to sex is vital and it is imperative that both men and women should understand that no means no and if there is no consent the attacked could become a victim of rape and the attacker a criminal.

Photo: Ian Fuller

By John Moloney

The Royal British Legion was formed in 1921 after World War I. The purpose of the Legion at that time was to help servicemen returning from the Great War to settle back into normal life again, and assist in any way it could, jobs and homes being the main concern at the time.

The Legion has developed over the last 90 years and these days we spend £1.7m per week on welfare cases for our Armed Forces and their dependents, this includes all who have served for seven days or more.

To obtain that £1.7m (potentially more as, due to today’s climate this figure is ever rising) we need to raise as much funds as possible. In order to achieve this we use volunteers and this is where UWE students came to the forefront. They volunteered their

time to man our Poppy selling stands in the local shops and Parkway Station during the Poppy appeal fortnight in November.

UWE’s wonderful students gave up 3 hours of their time to help out on several occasions alongside other volunteers over that 2 week period. We manned the stands around our patch which includes UWE, Filton , Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Bradley Stoke and is quite a large area for such a small Branch in the RBL .

We are only 51 members strong and most of those are of retirement age, so UWE’s students brought home to a lot of the public that the youth of today do care and want to help, and the public repaid that time and effort by donating the sum today in our patch to £32k .

Our Branch has 5 welfare workers all volunteers working throughout the year visiting people who have come to our attention through one way or another, if you or any student or instructor reading this article knows of an ex serviceman or woman who is need of help please let us know by ringing Terry Webber our Welfare Coordinator on 07905905388.

If anyone would like to help with collecting (we are always looking for help) they can contact me John Moloney on 07802 535591.

The type of help we give covers a large area but includes White goods, Brown goods, gardening, decorating and Poppy breaks (a small holiday for them and partner/ carer).

Photo: Matt Buck

By Danielle Scregg

As each month passes by, Bristol North West Tory MP Charlotte Leslie appears closer to achieving the Henbury Loop railway line. The most recent ‘step forward’ consists of a £1.8 million funding that has been approved by George Ferguson for work to begin on the reopening lines and stations.

Back in November 2012, Ms Leslie led a cross-party delegation of city and regional MPs to meet transport minister Simon Burns to discuss the idea of the Henbury Loop. At the meeting Mr Burns pledged that The Department for Transport would carry out a feasibility study into the benefits and costs of having a full Henbury Loop line in place in order to improve the local Bristol Metro network.

Ms Leslie also launched a petition on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter which has received many supporting signatures in favour of a Henbury Loop line. She considers the Henbury Loop railway line a once-in-a-generation opportunity that will be a game changer for transport in Bristol. The old plans, presented by the West of England Partnership, were to reopen ‘spur’ to Henbury station which would mean that passenger trains could only stop there and return the way they came.

This would mean that anyone traveling by train from Shirehampton to Henbury or passengers looking for a connection from Redland or Clifton Downs to Cribbs Causeway, would need to go all the way into Bristol and out via Filton to reach their destination.

It was reported in the Bristol Post that Ms Leslie said: “Plans for mass housing development risk unacceptable congestion on north Bristol’s roads, unless a loop line is in place. The loop would also mean people in north Bristol would have easy access to workplaces in and around Avonmouth, which has recently been designated an enterprise area.”

Students at UWE think that this will be a beneficial aspect to studying, working and partying in Bristol.

UWE student Safia Yallaoui said: “I think this is a great idea because it will hopefully encourage more people to use public transport which will eliminate the thousands of cars that cause congestion on the roads. The current traffic situation is horrendous in Bristol and something like this needs to be done to sort that out. I think it will benefit many students trying to travel in and around the Bristol area. It just makes sense to create a loop rather than making the train go back the way it came.”

A track already exists as it used to be in operation up until 1964. It is currently being used to transport goods, which means that acceptance for the passenger services along with a reopened Henbury station just needs to be given permission to go ahead.

Phase one, which consists of re-opening the Portishead line to passenger services and half-hourly trains on the Severn Beach line, is expected to be completed in 2017/18.

Phase two of the Metro is not likely to be completed until 2018/21, and this is set to include a half-hourly service to Yate, the reopening of Henbury station and additional stations built at Horfield and Ashley Down.

The £1.8 million funding will contribute to the project and the rest will be funded by central government. The funding is broken down into an estimated £559,000 from rolling revenue budgets and £1.24 million part funded by the Investing in Bristol fund and local transport capital funds. It is estimated to take until 2023 for completion.

Photo: Nospa

By Danielle Scregg

A recent deal between George Ferguson and First bus company allowed an increase in spending to £60,000 which will help pay for night buses to run six days a week, instead of two, until 3am.

The buses will begin operating on 24th March 2013 on services 40, 43, 44, 48, 54, 75 and 90.

Service 75, which runs between Hengrove and Cribbs Causeway, will operate 24 hours a day on an hourly basis in both directions.

Mr Ferguson had proposed cutting £40,000 of subsidies in order to make budget savings, but provisions made by an energy-saving street lighting scheme allowed the cuts to be withdrawn. Fears from critics claiming that the cuts would damage the city’s night-time economy and could even increase crime in the city centre had also prevented the cuts going ahead.

Talking about the new service, Marc Reddy, Regional Commercial and Business Growth Director for First in the South West and Wales, said

At the end of last year we began operating late night journeys on Service 73 (Bristol City Centre Bristol Parkway Station via Gloucester Road and Filton Avenue) on a commercial basis and these have proved popular.”

As a result of this and knowing that the Council was considering its night bus commitments, we put forward a proposal which suggested that we could run the journeys for them, if they were willing to help support them initially while they get off the ground. They have agreed and plans are now in place to roll this out from the end of March.

This is good news for Bristol. It means the city will have a much more comprehensive Night Bus service. Our plans to move Service 75 to be a truly 24 hour operation will, we expect, also be welcomed, especially by those who need to travel either for work or leisure in the small hours of the morning.

Mayor George Ferguson said: “First’s proposal points the Night Bus firmly in the direction it should be traveling, and I’m happy to support its route towards commercial viability. “A major city with a late-night culture as vibrant as Bristol’s must have a night bus service. And it easily has the potential to run as a self-funding private business. It just needs to be bigger, bolder and braver.” However, due to the reputation of the old night buses not arriving on time and being less economical than a shared taxi, some students at UWE do not feel they would use the services that much.

Student Josh Bates has had poor experiences, he said: “Last time I checked, Wessex ran the night service which was a bad service in my experience. They never turned up at specific times or at all.

“If people are relying on a bus service as opposed to getting a taxi at night they need to guarantee it’s going to turn up on time.

“Hopefully, now that First are running the service they will do a better job than Wessex did. Unless I wasn’t in a big group I wouldn’t use the bus as I imagine the costs would be similar to a taxi.”

Emily Muddeman, another student studying at UWE said “I think it’s a really good idea. It does depend on prices though, as for £5.50/£6 each we can get a return in a taxi which will pick us up and drop us home from our house. It does not involve any waiting around at a cold bus stop at the beginning or end of a night out. If a return bus was say £4 anyway, I would rather just pay the extra couple of pounds, but if it was a lot cheaper I would definitely use it.”

With increased late night bus routes, Mr Ferguson thinks that Bristol’s night life will adapt and flourish, saying: “Better late night connections make the city a more attractive place for more late night activity which brings more users to the night buses.”

Chris Read, a Senior Stylist at Hobbs hairdressers in Clifton, aims to set up his own charity targeted specifically at young people called The Beat It Foundation. Chris intends to raise awareness and support for teenage cancer patients through The Beat It Foundation which started out as a fundraiser and hopes to raise enough money and support for the organisation to become established as a registered charity.

In 2011, after various visits to three different doctors during an eight month period, Chris was diagnosed with stage 3 Lymphoma; “I never expected it, and even when they told me, I still didn’t believe it,” he stated.

Chris was able to carry on working in the hair salon every two weeks throughout his chemotherapy treatment which took place every other week. This meant he could still cut students hair on a Tuesday where Hobbs offer a 50% discount with a valid NUS card. Chris felt that during his treatment, from the diagnosis through to the remission stage, there was a lack of support on offer to him and others, saying:: “There aren’t direct people to talk to, and support isn’t on offer unless you go looking for it.”

Chris has already had positive responses from patients who have contacted him via social networking. They have acknowledged that what he is doing is good and needed. He noticed the lack of support that was available specific to his age group and believes that “It just isn’t easy enough for young people to deal with, you get given a lot of information, leaflets, and medical documents, it’s a lot to take in and to be honest, you just don’t want to read it.”

From his charity, Chris plans to make “support packs” which would contain a simplified version of the leaflets that are easier to read and understand. Chris was fortunate that his friends bought him an iPad, which kept him occupied throughout his treatment. Through the charity, Chris intends to give out gifts or provide patients with some money so they can buy themselves something to keep them entertained.

“I was lucky that my friends bought me that present, but not everyone will have that,” he said.

Appealing to the younger generation, and creating a unique image for his charity, Chris has designed his own t-shirts and jumpers to sell. Featuring on the garments is the same ‘Beat It’ design he had inked on his skin.“Charities are not always seen as the coolest of things, so I think seeing the tattoo helps to give a personal connection for young people, because it’s something they can relate to,” he said..

Targeting teenagers, Chris plans to promote his fundraiser through club nights at local Bristol venues. If you attend wearing your Beat It jumper or t-shirt you will receive reduced entry and Chris will also plan to have wrist bands, jumpers and t-shirts available to buy on the night.

Setting up a charity requires much time and effort and can be a long process. Chris explained: “I have to create a business plan and raise a certain amount of money, explaining how I raised it and where it came from.”

Chris has already shown great dedication into moving the Beat It Foundation forward with all the money being put into the fundraiser coming from his own pocket. To help the Beat It Foundation gain wider support, Chris has targeted celebrities via the social networking site Twitter, he said: “It’s good to get celebrities or people who are relevant to young people, as they look up to them.”

Raising more awareness in local areas Chris plans to do talks in local schools offering his advice to young people. He has already gained much support after visiting his previous school Wellsway, where he took part in their ‘Charity Week.’

1 in 3 people will develop some form of Cancer in their life. Chris urges you to support the Beat It Foundation to help reduce this statistic.

Show support for the BeatIt Foundation here. 

To show support for the Beat It Foundation use this link: h t t p : / / w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / TheBeatItFoundation

Photo: michaeljzealot

By Safia Yallaoui

There has been a 22,000 drop in the number of males applying to full-time undergraduate courses in UK universities, according to The University College and Admission Service (UCAS).

Between 2010 and 2011 the percentage of females enrolled in fulltime undergraduate courses was 55%, leaving males with a 45% proportion.

At UWE the numbers are similar, according to The Guardian’s website, as 54.05% of those who were enrolled in full time undergraduate courses between 2010 and 2011 were female.

Natasha Russell, 21, studying Journalism & Media and Cultural Studies at UWE believes “Men have always dominated over women when it comes to jobs so it’s good that more women are in higher education because we should then see more women getting jobs.”

The degree course with the biggest gender gap is Veterinary Science which has seen a 52% increase in female applicants along with a 4% drop in the number of male applicants.

Some UK universities have a proportion of over 80% female students in full-time undergraduate courses, including the Institute of Education (85.7%), The Courtauld Institute of Art (83.3%) and Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln (80.1%).

In half of the universities in which males make up two thirds of the undergraduate student body, the only courses on offer are related to Science, Engineering, Medicine and Business, which suggests that gender gaps are a result of the provision of particular subjects.

While males mainly dominate these courses, female students outnumber males in courses including Art and Design, Education, Medicine and Veterinary courses.

It has been suggested that the cause of the gender gaps could be related to the way in which females tend to attain higher grades than males during their school years. This leads to a stronger attendance pattern for girls than for boys. Some suggest that this may result in girls going on to study at university whilst boys prefer a vocational course or go straight into the workplace.

It has also been suggested that divides in undergraduate degree courses are a result of females being encouraged to take subjects such as Art and Design. Humanities courses are seen by some as more suitable to females, whilst boys are encouraged to take Science related subjects along with vocational courses.