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 If you know of anybody who has selflessly given their time and money to charity and believe that the public body would be inspired by them please email life@hullfire.com.

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With the regular season over, Jack Evans explains the Super League picture, both sides of the River.

Rugby League may not be one of the nation’s most popular sports but in Hull it is a way of life for thousands of Hull FC and Hull KR fans. Not only does the River Hull separate the East and West sides of the city but it separates the red and white shirts of Kingston Rovers and the black and white jerseys of their West Hull counterparts Hull FC. And as the top sides in the country prepare for the play-offs, it’s that time of year where the region casts a critical eye over two of the nation’s top sides.
 

In terms of our city’s clubs, it has been a season of relative disappointment after pre-season hopes of a challenge on the top four. Instead of a side capable of winning the Leader’s Trophy, fans have been treated with two sets of players who have limped into the play-offs after a decent run of form at the latter end of the year.

Despite a lacklustre season by the Robins and the Black & Whites, the campaign has been a significant one off the pitch for the two teams. Rovers coach Justin Morgan will leave his position as Head Coach at the end of the play-offs and is hotly tipped to take up a coaching position in the Australian NRL. He will leave the club after six years at the helm, where he has won promotion to the Super League and stabilised a side that have now featured in the last three play-off campaigns.

At the KC Stadium, Hull City Chairman Adam Pearson completed a £6 million takeover of Hull FC before revealing after the penultimate game of the season that coach Richard Agar would leave at the end of the year. Agar’s departure has been met with mixed response from fans who have grown increasingly disgruntled with the management team after failing to reach the obvious potential of the club.

Injuries to key players – Sean Long and Scott Fitzgibbon obvious absentees this year – have hindered the progress of the club in recent campaigns but supporters were becoming progressively unhappy with the predictable tactics that Agar employed and the lack of invention from players with obvious talent. In fact the Rugby on offer was never satisfying a city that revolves around the sport.

Adam Pearson brings substantial finances to the Black & Whites but the salary cap that exists in the Super League restricts his ability to turn Hull FC into the Manchester City of Rugby League. One of the ways in which Pearson can push the side onto the next level is through bringing in a top class coach and Agar’s departure seemed inevitable as soon as the Hull-based businessman took over the reins at the KC.

If we look at his record whilst in charge a win percentage of just 11% against the top four sides confirms that the Airlie Birds have never reached their potential at any point throughout Agar’s tenure and that a Challenge Cup final runner up medal is not good enough showing for a club of Hull FC’s stature.

The coach had been linked with Wakefield Wildcats in the past and it always seemed likely that he would move on to another of Yorkshire’s Rugby League sides. After the final league defeat to top of the league Warrington Wolves, a result that assured the club of a 8th place finish in the league, it was confirmed that Agar had indeed penned a three year deal to take over prior to next season.

But back on the pitch and both teams did finish strongly after it had become more and more likely that only one of the two teams would finish in the top eight – a scenario that was only voided by the capitulation of Castleford. And even though both sides arrive into the play-offs in red hot form, the chances of them both offering a serious challenge to the likes of Wigan, Warrington and St Helens are slim – a thesis supported by Hull FC’s defeat to the Wolves on the final day.

In all fairness, the Hull teams are probably the form sides going into their respective play-off games against Leeds Rhinos and Catalan Dragons. They had to be if they were going to scrape into the top eight. Will they make a significant impact in the next couple of weeks? I doubt it. In fact, in Hull FC’s case in particular, previous results against the other teams in play-off contention are extremely poor. Their elimination play-off opponents Leeds have defeated them ten times with no reply since their Challenge Cup final appearance in 2007, and Agar has never defeated the Rhinos while coach at the KC.

I expect both sides to fall at the first hurdle and fail to rescue seasons that have ultimately been a massive disappointment. For Hull FC in particular, 8th place is a huge underachievement, for one of only three teams considered in Super League’s Category A, they are a side who should be challenging with the Wigans, Warringtons and St Helens of the world. Instead they have floundered in mediocrity under Agar and it was probably right for them to part ways.

Hull KR had high expectations for the season and will be disappointed with 7th place, but with Justin Morgan and a number of players leaving at the end of the season the Robins will be looking to start a new chapter in life at Craven Park. Their city neighbours will similarly be looking to draw a line under a bad season and realise their potential in the near future. Let’s hope our two sides can prove me wrong and impact on the impending play-off campaign. What is for sure is that fans will expect more from two of Super League’s perennial underachievers when the new season commences next year.

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With this recent success in mind, Assam and his son have their eyes firmly fixed on The Tiger’s return to the Premier League, and with money to invest, they intend to make this vision a reality. The first major part of this grand plan is to extend the capacity of the KC Stadium from 25,000 to 35,000, a crucial move if Hull are to come back up to the Premier League and remain there for the long haul. However, this extra capacity would not only benefit the football club but also would enhance the KC’s position as a concert venue. I remember a few years back when Elton John did a live concert there, if the stadium had a capacity of an extra 10,000 back then just imagine how much extra money they could have made!

But this development doesn’t stop at extending the KC, Assam’s master plan is to use the KC as the foundation stone for a £114 million sports complex that would include tennis courts, an Olympic sized pool and gymnastics facilities to complement the existing Bonus area. Assad’s dream then is to build a sports park that the people of Hull can be proud of, but this is also proof that Hull is starting to truly regenerate as a city. You see when Hull City council started to undertake the Hull forward project six years ago, the main purpose of it was to build facilities that would attract inward investment into Hull from large private sector businesses. Now don’t get me wrong, St. Stephen’s square has provided a new focal point for the people of Hull. However, this project has not created the levels of inward investment that Hull city council have strived for due to the fact that most of the shops in St. Stephan’s have just transferred themselves from their old Whiteferagate stores. As a result these empty stores are now housing some strange modern artworks. These works may be interesting but not exactly making any money are they?

This sports complex is therefore the first true example of inward investment that Hull can benefit from. The fact that a local businessman who has relied on the Humber region for his success is prepared to plough his funds into a project that isn’t just for the people of Hull but also for those of the wider Humber region itself and beyond, is a sign that (dare I say it) David Cameron’s big society is now starting to become a reality as the development could play a paramount role in reviving the wounds of Hull’s deeply scared reputation.

So, where do I even start with this? Well, first of all it is common knowledge that Hull’s crime rate is one of the largest in the UK, with a total of 60 offences per 1000 people, compared to the national average of 32. But what are the main causes of crime you may ask? One argument is that is starts with the youth of society, children, teenagers and young adults going into crime because they have been deprived by their neighbourhood and society of prospects and opportunities to develop themselves.

But what allows young people to develop? My belief is that the youth of society needs to have freedom to socialise in a space that they can explore and call their own, with no-one to tell them to move away or go somewhere else and is separate from the urban streets. In the old days these spaces would have been sports playing fields or small areas of open grass in the middle of suburban estates. However, due to the last government’s violation of these green spaces that they successfully achieved by selling them off to housing developers, and the advent of the cotton wool culture that developed in the later Blair years, many Parents have been mistaken to think that it is safer for their children to play computer games and stay at home under their watchful eyes. However, these ideas have instead isolated the younger generation from the childhood socialising and exercising that their parents took for granted, and with no escape from their parental control forced upon them they believe that crime is the only way that they can escape from the clutches of Big Brother and gain a short period of freedom before they end up with criminal convictions that draw curtains on all of their prospects.

It can therefore be seen that this new sports complex will give children and young people a better chance to take up and perfect a range of sports, allowing them to stay healthy and also to socialise with others, without the eyes of Big Brother parents watching and recording their every move. In addition the complex will be a big step in solving the city’s obesity crisis as it will give sports and fitness greater levels of representation in Hull, making it a clear beacon for the importance of sport to the city’s lifestyle and political agenda. This would also balance out and reduce the domination of the takeaways and chip shops. Of course being a town associated with the fishing industry fish and chip shops have never been uncommon. But seriously, how far do have to walk in hull to find a takeaway? Undermines the concept of healthy eating a little bit doesn’t it?

This development would also be good for the University Athletic Union as sports teams would finally have proper training facilities that they could use not only for themselves but also for university competitions. As a committed member of the Hull university trampoling club I am delighted to hear the news that a competition will be held at the Bonus arena in Hull during November next year. The arena is next to the site of the proposed complex will help to bolster Hull University Trampoline club’s reputation as an active and professional club, as well as that of their partnership club, the Hull High Fliers. It would also allow people like me to take a greater role in other aspects of trampoling such as marshalling competitors and judging them, if I felt like a challenge. In addition, if the new facilities were built the swimming club could abandon the 30 metre pool at Beverly road baths and adopt a 50 metre Olympic sized pool to train in which would allow them to be better prepared to compete in the student galas in Sheffield. There would also be the possibility of Hull University creating a Tennis team but in the short term it would also increase the status of the squash team by allowing them to host their own competitions as well.

One of the most immediate concerns with these plans is that they would be built on the site where hull fair is usually held, meaning that our once a year fair will have to find a new home. But maybe that’s not a bad idea. I mean, it only happens once a year doesn’t it? Meaning that for 11 months of the year the land just sits there doing nothing. Wouldn’t a permanent sports complex make the land more productive? It would increase its value and generate more revenue for the city and its owners. Let’s not forget that fairgrounds can be set up anywhere, even an empty field would do, especially if it’s only once a year. Local farmers could benefit hugely, especially seems that the autumn and winter are their least productive months, it would help keep their cash flow healthy during this period.

So, as we can see it seems like the time has come to end the dark days of Hull’s recent past, to put an end to the days when Hull’s own John Prescott would be seen scoffing a bag of Fish and Chips or Mr Chou in the light of his own city drowning in a sea of obesity and inactivity amongst its citizens. To put an end to those days when the Humber region didn’t have large enough facilities to firmly put itself on the map of our United Kingdom. But most importantly, an end to the days when businessmen and investors wouldn’t touch Hull with a bargepole. This project might go ahead with just council consent but if Stephan Brady gets his way, and these plans go to a local referendum, just Vote Yes. Not only to a new sports complex, but to a brighter chapter in Hull’s rich and varied history.

By Tom Davis

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What do you think about the proposed fees? If you could write this article, what would you write?  Use the comment feature on this article to share your views about your University’s future and see what other students think.

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This is a trend that is not exclusive to Facebook. Twitter has been the victim of technical issues such as the introduction of worms into the website. There are several instances of these problems and this is an issue that cannot be resolved at a user level through changing personal settings. This is a problem that requires the attention of the development team. If a user is infected and this causes a loss of data or data is published without their consent, there should be a compensation scheme. It is a failure on the part of the organisation to protect its users at a basic secure level. Is it the case that as we become more wired into the digital age and raised in a world where social networking is synonymous with popularity we are abandoning our concerns about privacy and security?

We live in a world where we treasure our possessions, a world where there are laws that protect us against theft and infringement of our liberties and those same laws should be applicable in the digital sphere. Companies and organisations are aware of the voice of discontent among users. Social networking is changing to meet the needs and demands of its users. One of the latest social networking websites, Diaspora, was designed after the designers were concerned about the diminution of user control. Diaspora states that one of its mission statements is “Diaspora makes sharing clean and easy – and this goes for privacy too. Inherently private, Diaspora doesn’t make you wade through pages of settings and options just to keep your profile secure.” One of the problems facing emerging social networking websites is the control that companies like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have over their user base. It is difficult to break into a saturated market where a large section of the population is using Facebook, where celebrities are using Twitter and professionals and businesses are using LinkedIn.

In 2008, a professor of software security, Herbert H. Thompson, wrote an article in the Scientific American where a test was run where Mr. Thompson to steal someone’s identity using information only available online. He was successful in seven stages and wrote that “It’s also critical to remember that once you put data online, it’s almost impossible to delete it later. The more you blog about yourself, the more details you put in your social networking profiles, the more information about you is being archived, copied, backed up and analyzed almost immediately. Think first, post later.” In 2009, CNET and PCWorld ran articles that highlighted the major security concerns with both Facebook and Twitter and most of the issues are still being addressed. In 2010, Leo Hickman wrote an article in The Guardian which highlighted how geo-location applications such as FourSquare could increase the risk of stalking and other malicious crimes.

These are examples of how we are at risk of a digital age that is less about the protection of basic human rights and our personal information but about how companies can manipulate that information for our purposes. People are critical of these articles because the truth is more disconcerting than we would care to imagine. We sacrificed our personal liberty and privacy in the interest of an “open revolution”, a world where we are inter-connected, a world where it is possible to connect with friends with the ease of a few clicks. It is not a world that has a negative value but it is one that should be neutral – it should be balanced with a concern for personal information. There are users on Facebook would publish their telephone number and address to their friends. If that user is unconcerned about who they accept as a friend, malicious and upsetting incidents could occur.

Organisations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy International have published articles on how to protect our personal information in a digital world. It does not discourage users from the digital age but warns them to be cautious, to approach it with scepticism. In a report on privacy in Europe published in January 2011, Privacy International highlighted how there were few safeguards against issues of privacy and assessed how users were at risk. The United Kingdom scored well in government surveillance issues but ranked low in the centralisation of medical databases and how there are still few safeguards against government access to private data.

Social networking a step forward for communications, logistics and development of targeted software but we believe that social networking is synonymous with data loss or with a loss of privacy control. Few users are concerned about these issues. Behavioural advertising, whether it is from Facebook, Google or other smaller organisations, will always be dubious because it hinges on those companies accessing our search history. Personal information will always be available in the public domain but we can take safeguards to ensure that the users of Great Britain are leading the world in how to protect ourselves against rogue organisations.

Articles:

1. http://www.eff.org/wp/effs-top-12-ways-protect-your-online-privacy
2. https://www.privacyinternational.org/ephr
3. http://www.pcworld.com/article/160545/facebook_hit_by_five_security_problems_in_one_week.html
4. http://news.cnet.com/Will-security-become-Facebooks-Achilles-heel/2010-1029_3-6231585.html
5. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10162649-2.html
6. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=anatomy-of-a-social-hack
7. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jul/23/foursquare
8. https://joindiaspora.com/

Ian Caithness

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So when I finally began to fill out the form, under the helpful gaze of my housemate (if you’re reading this please don’t hit me), I’d answered 15 questions before I realised what I was doing. I was filling out a pointless form. I was reading a question and ticking a box. Most of it wasn’t even very interesting; the majority of questions felt like the most tedious part of a job application form. The problem I have with the census is this: it doesn’t really tell us anything about our society. Okay, you could argue that it tells us how many married couples there are, how diverse our country is in terms of ethnic background, how old or young our population has become. But the statistics are shaped by the questions that are asked. This means that the picture of society taken from the census is likely to be influenced more by the social prejudices of the question writers than the question answerers.

A key difference between the 2011 and 2001 census is that in 2011, for the first time, a same sex couple could register their existence to the government. In 2001 this option was not available. Does that mean that in 2001 there were no same sex couples? Somehow I doubt it. The census, as with all forms, often assumes there can be no other possible answers than the ones they offer us. ‘What is your country of birth? Better be one of the five we’ve offered you, or you don’t exist’. Admittedly the 2011 census does offer the option on some questions to pick ‘other’. I took this option on one particular question. None of the stated answers to ‘How would you describe your national identity?’ seemed to fit me. In the end I declared to the UK government that my nationality was the World, seeming the only honest answer I could give.

The census is supposed to tell us about the major trends shaping our society. What has changed? How has it changed? How important is it? By shaping the questions the way it does the census assumes it has the answers before anything has been asked. If the government really wants to know what its society looks like it should ask us what the questions should be first.

As for me, I don’t think I will be nearly as excited in 2021.

Chris Hansell
Photo by: Cencus.gov.org

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There have been suggestions from many that this introduction of advertising within programs could inherently ruin or damage the viewing pleasure for an audience, as the producers have to subtly incorporate products into a program. Whilst this was a simple task for This Morning, as it was merely in the background of the shot, it may not be so simple within soaps, documentaries and dramas, as it may be incorporated into the storyline.

There are of course restrictions set by Ofcom, the regulator for UK communications, the viewer must be aware that they about to watch a program which contains product placement, so a black and white P will appear in the corner of the screen before the program starts. There is also rules regarding the type of product as it cannot not be alcohol, tobacco, edicines, fatty or sugary foods, baby foods, or connected in any way to gambling. This will still leave room for millions of products deemed safe to subliminally advertise to the nation.

The contract between Nescafe and ITV, worth £100,000, allows their products to be shown within the program, to be watched by all the different audiences attracted to the channel. There has been some speculation that the overall annual worth of product placement for ITV could be between £25 and £100 million if they continue to sign with other companies in order to show their products.

There is mixed views regarding the new laws about product placement, as Mike Stevens, head of research at Vision Critical London, said: “It’s to be expected that people will feel uncomfortable at first,” but believes that the public and the viewer will see no difference after a while. Where as Kathy Sweeny from The Guardian suggested the introduction of product placement could lead to an “American-style brand invasion of our TV screens”. Personally, I don’t look forward to watching the whole cast of Coronation Street sipping on Coke Zero, or for everyone in Hollyoaks to be wearing New Look clothing. I believe this change in law could alter television for the producers and the viewers alike, but not necessarily in a positive way, we shall have to watch to find out.

Emily Rogers
Image: BBC

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By: Sam Hargreaves

The Union’s Response:

I am quite appalled at the level of journalism contributed to this article. There was no need to dig around on facebook, we are very open and proud of our training of sabbatical officers. We are proud of it because compared to our comparable unions it is a programme that is very cost effective at producing officers who within two weeks are capable to offer leadership of a multi-million pound charity when they have had little or no experience of the sector and management of budgets, staff and volunteers. It is even more impressive as a programme now we have got rid of an expensive staff house dinner with university management (the money for that is now part of the elections budget to give candidates running for full time positions £30 worth of credit with marketing so they can run effectively for election with minimal cost to themselves) and because we have also got rid of a day where all managers of the union go away together in mid August to save further money for our student facing services. This information is not in the article because you failed to get comment from myself or anyone from Hull University Union, which is either down to rushed journalism or due to the angle of trying to make this an expose style article.
 I take greater offence to you saying that “This is a team who’s dynamic has not changed since last year. [referring to Ash Lord and Suzie Morris as the only leavers] The new members of the team were involved within the union prior to their election so they are not entering an alien environment”. I take offence because this is incredibly insulting to the two incumbents who are leaving and the two Vice Presidents elect. The two elects have their own personalities and plans for their year in office and by not giving them adequate training we are limiting their ability to achieve their goals and serve students. Also they are not Suzie or Ash, they are very different personalities who I look forward to getting to know and to say the team dynamic “has not” (which should read will not) change is insulting. You are right to say that the more fractured a sabbatical team is the less effective they are, we owe it to our students, our members to do the best we can in our time in office and I will do that the only way I know how and that is as a team. To do this everybody needs to be away from their comfortable environment in order to create a new team that is effective rather than forcing new officers to conform to be like who was there before. We are and want to continue to be an outstanding student union, this means that in everything we do we do it right and taking students and turning them into effective officers in the space of weeks is a tall order and I would rather do it well than allow them to make mistakes later that will cost us the ability to provide some of the services you imply we are ignoring.

 Ps there is no “average” student.

 Aidan Mersh

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The remains of the Berlin wall are covered in paintings and muriel’s to express the freedom but also the pain and sorrow it took to achieve. They all act as marks to remind people of the political and violent struggles that people went through. Many show marks of respect to those who died and made peace possible. Tourists also sign their names on the wall, perhaps to agree with what it stands for, is this graffiti?  What about public toilets?  Slogans such as ‘Dave woz ere’ with obscenities and bad mouthing of others scrawled upon the walls for all to see is the true definition of graffiti; marks that people leave that mean nothing, or are offensive to the eyes.

All other examples where people look and admire and understand are not, they are marks of life’s art. On Grimsby Bridge, a council community project brought in an artist, renowned for being a graffiti specialist on canvas and other materials. In this project he was asked to give life to the main bridge in Grimsby by adorning it with tasteful graffiti.

The true meaning of graffiti is a communal area or place that many people have chosen to write or draw a message. To allow others to see what has happened there or to understand the feelings of others that have passed through. A sort of modern history book on the walls we pass everyday.

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