Other News Articles

BREAKING NEWS

£1 million target reached to exchange the site contracts.

Following on from our previous Odeon story, James Hannaway was jubilant today to have reached his initial fundraising target.

To be exact, by Wednesday 10 March £1,022,437 had been raised, but money is still being donated.

Today, James Hannaway told us 'It is phenomenal, that the St Albans public have raised £1 million all in seven weeks and three days!' The exchange and completion has not yet happened, but you can be kept informed with a full report to follow on Friday 19 March here. However, £2,000,000 is still to be raised in order to restore the cinema. This does not need to be raised immediately but people have to remember that money is still needed.

Bill Gates Knocked Off Top Spot

By Beth and Courtney

According to the Forbes' Rich List, Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. As of today, Carlos Slim, a Mexican engineer and business man, has officially taken the title of the world's richest man according to Forbes Rich List.

Carlos Slim is a widower with six children and as a family they now control more than 200 companies. He is worth $53.5 billion This compares to the $53 billion that Bill Gates is worth. Bill Gates had been the world's richest man for thirteen years, but today it was announced that he no longer held this title, and was second to Slim.

Carlos Slim's wealth rose by $35 billion over the last year. Slim had been climbing the rich list for years. However, out of the fifteen people of varied ages who took part in our poll, only one was familiar with Carlos Slim, and all were familiar with Bill Gates, Carlos Slim has beaten Gates to the top spot.

Carlos Slim's spokesman did not confirm the estimation of Slim's wealth, but instead commented on how grateful they were in receiving this news. His spokesman told the BBC that, "We're pleased that he has been considered the best businessman of the world. It means there is trust among the investors."

Heartwood Forest: A year on...

>> Newly added!     Audio clip from interview with Woodland Trust

By Lauren   

One year ago, the StAHS BBC School Report Team investigated the Woodland Trust project in Harpenden. The Woodland Trust started its planting at Heartwood Forest at the end of November last year. The forest is going to be 850 acres and The Woodland Trust has over 1,000 sites in total, covering 50,000 acres across Britain with magnificent woodland. Many people have been involved with planting the wood, including many volunteers and school children. It will be the largest native forest in England as over 600,000 trees will be planted in a period of ten years. It is in between St Albans and Wheathampstead, in the town of Sandridge. The Woodland Trust felt that people had become disconnected with nature, and wanted to plant Heartwood Forest.

On 9 March, we were lucky enough to have an interview with the Woodland Officer from the Heartwood Forest, Louise, to discuss the project's aims and progress since last year. The Woodland Trust's target was to plant 90,000 trees this winter. They have got to a stage of about 75,000 and need to fulfill their aims by the end of March. Everything is running smoothly and successfully at the moment, volunteers have planted many trees and community days have all been very busy. A local school class had a Geography trip to Heartwood Forest and each student planted about 10 trees.

The Woodland Trust feel that the forest will connect people from all over Britain because people have become disconnected with the beauty of nature. Some people in Britain do not realise how urbanised they are, but people that live in Harpenden think it is a good thing to plant the Heartwood Forest. Sarah said 'I think having Heartwood Forest is really good because there are a lot of families living there, and there have been so many trees being cut down and houses being built that it is nice that some of the space is being replaced with forest.' Other people, like Anna, want the forest for different reasons. She said, 'Having the forest is really good because I walk my dog there about once a week and I am looking forward to it being completed.' But some people are worried that there might be an increase in crime, for example fly-tipping or vandalism. Ali, who doesn't live in Harpenden, thinks it is a good idea to plant the Heartwood Forest as 'there are too many roads'.

Hertfordshire has been chosen for this massive project because The Woodland Trust wanted land somewhere in the South of England. The chosen place is about 25 miles from London, and therefore is the perfect tourist location. Hertfordshire has already benefited directly economically, as visitors use their local services, pubs and shops. Young people are contributing to the forest too as thousands of youths have volunteered to plant trees and have learned about nature and it's importance.

At the moment most of Heartwood forest is arable land; stopping ploughing and farming helps the wildlife. The Woodland Trust has made sure there is no danger of harming animals by creating this forest because they have been through an Environmental Impact Assesment (EIA). Therefore, animals can only benefit from the building of this forest.

Six hundred average sized houses could be built in the space of this forest, but if we did this everywhere, there would be nowhere left in the UK for woodland, and there would be nowhere for people to get away from town life or for wildlife to flourish.

We asked Louise many tough questions, such as 'When people donate money towards the making of this forest, will there be any benefits for them personally?' Louise said that just the feeling of satisfaction by helping build this wonderful forest is beneficial enough. We also said 'You were asked last year, ‘What sort of facilities (if any) could possibly be opened up somewhere on the site to attract visitors?’ Have you now planned any facilities?' Louise answered that they are not going to build toilets or restaurants because there are some near in the town, but they are building play areas and bridleways.

St Albans is only a short drive away from Heartwood forest, and a car park will be opened so local people can visit. Having woodland is very important for our health because we need trees to live. A tree only costs fifteen pounds to sponsor and you get to plant it youself. If you are interested in taking part, follow this link.

High End, High Risk

by Emi and Georgia

Today, there is a lot of pressure on young women to be thin. Many people blame the fashion industry, celebrities and the media for this huge problem. This problem is the one of size zero models being used in fashion shows and in media today. Girls as young as five worry about their image and many teenagers have health problems resulting from the desire to be thin. This problem isn't just in the UK. It is a global problem and will not go away quickly. This has occurred over a long period of time, ever since fashion designers felt that size zero models were the perfect image for their brands. It is highly relevant today and affects many people around the world, including girls in our school. You can find this problem everywhere, from websites, publishing and even shop windows. Someone needs to show young girls that being skinny is not so glamorous and causes not just physical damage but mental damage as well.

In this day there are many problems resulting from the image of very thin women. Girls as young as 7 are being treated for anorexia in Great Ormond Street Hospital, it is a great problem and has become worse recently. Figures show us that there has been an 80% rise in the number of young girls admitted to hospital with anorexia in England over the last decade. It is shocking result that our body image views have changed so much in just 10 years. This shows the incredible influence of the fashion industry and how worrying this problem is. In a recent article on the BBC website, Dr Alex Yellowlees said "It is estimated that 1.1 million people in the U.K. suffer from eating disorders. The majority are young women aged between 12 and 24". Why do young women feel under so much pressure to be this idea of perfection? It has many health risks, these include hormone levels being changed, chemical imbalances in the body, osteoporosis, depression and even death in extreme cases. One of these cases brought anorexic models to life a couple of years ago. A young model who was severely underweight had lived on a diet of lettuce and diet coke for 3 months, her name was Luisel Ramos, she was only 22-years-old and died of a fatal heart attack during a fashion week. The fashion industry had been shocked by this news and many tried to stop these young girls starving themselves. At Madrid fashion week they put a ban on size zero models, by measuring their BMI. If the model's BMI was below 18 they would not be allowed to participate in the fashion week. A BMI of 18 is healthy, anything under that makes the person underweight. Six months after her sister's death Eliana Ramos who was only 18 died of malnutrition, this sent another outcry to the fashion industry. This put pressure on other cities to ban size zero models. But this did not stop the influence on young girls. Results show that 1 in 100 women between 15 and 30 suffer from anorexia. This is not right, why should women have to starve themselves just so they fit in with the unrealistic appearances of models and celebrities? How is it a good view for girls when normal sized celebrities are shamed for being too fat and then pressured to lose all the weight? An example of this is Lily Allen. She was picked out by the press for being 'too large' when she was a normal sized girl. This put her under a lot of pressure and due to this she had to lose a lot of weight to appease the press. Many other celebrities, who are already thin enough are under pressure to lose even more weight. Celebrities like Victoria Beckham are a bad influence on young girls, being an American size zero.

Nowadays, with the internet, young girls have access to images and websites. These websites are called pro-ana websites. These have forums that have ways that girls can lose weight quickly. Girls suggest ways that they can starve themselves. One of these is the 2,4,6,8 diet. Young girls are encouraged to have 200 calories the first day, 400 the second day, 600 the third and 800 on the fourth. Then they start the diet all over again and go back to 200 calories. This lack of food leads to malnutrition and many other health problems. They influence girls by having pictures of very thin women seeing them as thin idols and people to aspire to. Girls upload pictures of themselves showing how thin they have got, with other girls commenting saying "I can help you become even thinner by doing this". How are these websites legal? They are influencing very young girls and the results of these can be fatal and have cost girls their lives.

Within school, we conducted some research. From this, we observed people's responses to the pressures of the industry. Firstly, we took a poll. We found two images of models on the catwalk and the girls had to pick which body they would prefer to have. The first image showed an extremely thin model, the second showed a slim model, but of a healthy weight. A shocking 17% of the girls picked the first model. This shows how affected people are by the industry, without even realising it. People, especially girls, yearn to be stick-thin, which for many young people is pressurising and unhealthy. After the poll, we interviewed people of all different age groups around school, about their views on how they are pressured by the industry. As girls, many people felt the same way. For example, when asked the question, "How does fashion influence you?", the general feeling was "you need to look good for other people, otherwise they will judge you." . In addition to this, they are influenced by each other, If my friends are wearing more expensive clothes, like Hollister, you feel you should have them too. Even if you can't afford it." . We also asked a teacher, her view is: "It influences them too much. Girls are influenced by the magazines and the pop singers and I do not think it is right." Following the recent incident where Mark Fast used models up to size 14 on his catwalk, we asked if people thought this should happen more often. Many people agreed, as they felt that skinnier models are more intimidating and put under unneccessary pressure, a few seemed to disagree. Taking this into consideration, we then asked whether people thought the "typical" size 0 model should be banned. This was a more controversial question. People agree to a certain extent that this would be good, as size 0 promotes anorexia,bulimia and peer pressure. However, if the model is naturally skinny, or they look fairly healthy for a size 0 it should be considered acceptable.

Only today, the Daily Telegraph reported an article of a girl being bullied for her beauty. A 13-year-old girl, Poppy Bracey, hanged herself in her bedroom last week, using her school tie. Poppy was bullied for being pretty, others were jealous of her looks. In The Telegraph report, Nick Hudson, executive director for children and young people's services at Wigan council, said: "Poppy's untimely and tragic death has shocked and saddened many people." His statement shows the pressures that young people today are under about how they should look and act around others.

Many shops lead to pressure on young girls, just walking past shop windows influences them with mannequins being an average of a size 8. Many young women are larger than this and this constant image of "the perfect size" puts pressure on them to lose weight. Other shops stock very low sizes, Topshop stock a UK size 4 which is an American size 0. Other shops like Banana Republic have stocked a UK size 2 which is an American size 00. This is an extremely thin size and a big problem. However, some shops are helping. In their Oxford Street store, Debenhams are using larger mannequins in their shop and shop windows. They have plus size mannequins, of size 16, the average size of British women. Images like this are influencing other shops to follow suit. This is encouraging a healthier attitude to body shape and stepping away from the anorexic models of high end fashion. Many other shops should do this so girls don't feel under so much pressure to be very thin and put their health at risk.

Other people who are helping are designers. They are starting to use more plus size models and stay away from the size zero ones. This is a new movement that the fashion world is leading. Some designers that are using plus size models are Macy's, Jean Paul Gaultier and Lane Bryant. One designer that caused controversy was Mark Fast who put size 12 and 14 models down the runway in the figure hugging dresses that he had created. The fashion world was shocked and two of his staff actually quit in fury. Many charities are also contributing to stop size zero and put an end to anorexia, these charities have helplines for young girls who are concerned about their weight or have an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia. One of these charities is the famous b-eat. This is one of the big charities helping people with anorexia and bulimia. There are hundreds of charities devoted to helping people affected by eating disorders. They are slowly trying to convince girls that they are fine as they are and do not need to lose weight, they also provide support to people and their families affected by these eating disorders. It is a huge problem but all of these people helping are slowly making a difference. They are putting pressure on designers to use healthy models and trying to have healthier girls in the media rather than size zero ones.

Overall, in modern day society there is still too much pressure on young people, especially girls, to look a certain way. Even without knowing it, they feel they should be a certain shape and size; because of this, peer pressure and bullying becomes a part of the pressure the young people feel. Poppy Bracey is a perfect example of this. As people start to realise the problem, it is increasingly improving, this can be seen in the promotion of an "average sized" model used on the catwalk and larger sized mannequins on show in shop windows. We believe that the pressures are now decreasing, but some people will never let their preferences change. They will always see thin as perfect.

Kiribati, an Island in the Sun

By Lauren

Rising sea levels are taking their toll on small islands such as Kiribati. It belongs to a group of low-lying states in the Pacific Ocean and most of its inhabitants mostly live in villages with populations between 50 and 3,000. Their houses are made of materials obtained from Coconut and Pandanus trees, so they are not stable if flooding occurs. Frequent droughts affect the agriculture, so the islanders have turned to the sea for jobs and food; most men are sailors or fishermen. Copra plantations serve as a second source of employment, but because life has become so tough for the citizens of Kiribati, large numbers have moved to the more urban capital, Tarawa.

Kiribati’s weather has changed dramatically from what it used to be, the heat has become unbearable and the weather is now unpredictable. Like many Pacific states, Kiribati has been suffering from severe droughts as rainfall patterns are becoming more variable. The sea is rising because of global warming and it is destroying their houses, hospitals and important buildings. People are being forced out of their homes by the rising water.

The sea levels have already risen by around ten to twenty-five centimeters during the last one hundred years. This may not seem like a lot, but it has caused many problems. It is likely that most of the rise in sea levels is because of the increase in global temperature. Twenty-five percent of the rise in sea levels has been due to the thermal expansion of seawater, which is when the water heats up and then expands. But a second major cause of rising sea levels is the melting of ice caps in places such as Antarctica and Greenland. At the moment, we cannot be certain how much the melting ice caps are contributing to the rising sea levels, but we know they definitely are, and we also know it is going to get a lot worse.

Forecasts of rising sea levels are based on climate model results which indicate that the Earth's temperature may increase by between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees Celcius during the 21st century. Global warming is expected to cause a further rise of between nine and eighty-eight centimeters by the year 2100, if greenhouse gases remain uncontrolled. Some areas of Antarctica have warmed by 2.5 degrees Celcius during the past fifty years, a rate of warming five times faster than for the Earth as a whole. Climatic changes in the Polar Regions have the potential to cause severe and disastrous impacts for a rise in global sea levels over the next one hundred to two hundred years.

But just because Britain isn't experiencing the rising sea levels, doesn't mean that we wont be affected in the future. We all need to be prepared for the worst of global warming and to be aware of everything going on around us because the world has become unpredictable and unsafe.

So how can we help a problem that is on the other side of the world? Well, there are lots of things we can do. For example, just recycling glass, paper and plastic will really help. Simple things like filling the dishwasher so that there isn’t any space left and having baths instead of showers are great too. Also, you can join charities such as ‘Friends of the Earth’ and ‘stopglobalwarming’. Please do your part in helping to stop global warming and saving islands such as Kiribati.

Magical Transformations in House Drama

By Lara

On Thursday 4th March, the Senior School Hall was transformed into a mystical world of wicked witches, evil fairies and cruel stepmothers as House Drama 2010 took on the theme of Grimm’s fairytales. First on stage was Verulam’s production of Snow White, directed by year 12’s Caitlin and Grace. The creative drama techniques and inventive props set off the scene for an extremely well acted performance from Sascha as Snow white, Izzy as the evil witch, not to mention numerous comical dwarves and evil sprites. Following this was Mandeville’s performance of the Golden Goose. This was directed by Tabby and Emma and boasted stunning makeup and costumes, as well as clear and well-characterized performances from Rachel as the Golden Goose, Zarina as Dummling and a mystical elderly Texan man played by Zoe. Third on stage was Paris, who’s extremely funny yet sophisticated production of Cinderella starred Sophia as Cinders, Kate as the Fairy Godmother and Chloe as the Prince. It even incorporated some beautiful singing from Sophia, an X-Factor spoof as well as a variety of colourful costumes and sets. The highly inventive and successful performance was directed by Alice and Siobhan. Lastly, we experienced an extremely mature and visually effective production of Beauty and the Beast from Julian. It starred Milly as Belle, and Tobi as the fearsome yet kind-hearted beast. The gripping production was directed by Lily and Selena.

Miss Whymark, Head of Drama, said 'It was a pleasure to work with such talented young directors who worked tirelessly to create professional and imaginative versions of these stories with their young casts. The future of British drama will be safe in these girls' hands."

Milkshake, Burgers and a Free GCSE

By Kaya

Teenagers will now be able to gain a GCSE-equivalent qualification in numeracy or literacy by working 10 days in McDonalds.

Children will be offered the chance to gain a certificate in “Work Skills” after being given training sessions in preparing burgers, serving customers and communicating with colleagues. The McDonald's qualification is mainly aimed at pupils who have a legal entitlement to undertake work experience between the ages of 14 and 16.

The decision was attacked by a leading academic who said the move risked “devaluing the currency” of other qualifications.

David Fairhurst, the company’s Chief People Officer, said: “Whether people join McDonald’s for two weeks’ work experience or a full-time job, the aim is helping them build their confidence, gain transferable qualifications and fulfil their potential.”

Under plans, every pupil who completes a two week placement will have the chance to gain a Level 2 BTEC in Work Skills. It will be equal to a GCSE graded B or C.

The new qualification which is the first of its kind in the UK will be made official by Edexcel, one of Britain’s biggest exam boards.

Around 20 per cent of the course will be completed at school. After the placement, pupils are expected to show completed workbooks to teachers and take part in a group discussion.

McDonald's insisted that it represented 80 hours of learning which was “equivalent to the amount of time required to attain similar level qualifications in other subjects”.

Professor Alan Smithers said, “If someone can get the equivalent of a GCSE in work experience, how are people going to judge pupils who get an 'A' in Physics?”

He said high-quality work experience should be seen as an integral part of other courses but was not a qualification in its own right.

The comments come more than two years after McDonald's – along with Network Rail and budget airline Flybe – became the first company in the country to be handed powers to award their own qualifications. Richard Forte, chief operations officer mentions, "We're proud to help young people get a decent foot on the career ladder."

If the new qualification is accepted, McDonalds will become one of the first companies in Britain to formally accept work experience.

Dr Paul Redmond, head of Liverpool University careers service, said: “Vocational qualifications, such as that being proposed by McDonald’s, can be an excellent opportunity to gain valuable work-related learning, while also gaining a first-hand insight into the changing nature of the world of work.”

Not safe from bullies: even in your own home.

By Lizzie, Aurelie and Kaya

Have you ever been bullied online or felt intimidated or upset by someone's words in cyberspace? And what is it like to be a victim of Cyber bullying? "It's horrible," answered one student. "It's hurtfull and upsetting. I thought 'Why do they judge me like this. "I couldn't understand why they could send me annonomous notes were unable to say their feelings to my face." said another.

The internet offers great experiences for adults and children. Learning how to use the internet is not hard, it just takes some thinking and getting used to, like any new situation you normally get involved in.

Firstly, it is always a good idea to make sure a parent, teacher or guardian knows when you are surfing the Internet. That way, if you see or have sent anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or upset while you are online, you can tell them.

How can you stop cyber bullying once it has begun? You could easily delete the e-mails that have been causing trouble, but the bully still has your address so this would not stop the bulling. Cyber bullying is very different from playground bullying, because it can enter your home space. But the message is always the same: ignore the bully. It is not as if he or she is able to physically harm you like a playground bully, so you can just not read the messages; what you don't read can't play on your mind so much. Eventually, the bully will stand down as they will see that they are not getting a reaction. If you are being bullied via a chatroom, you can just block the bully. If the bullying gets really out of hand, you can also report them to the internet company and have them banned from the Chat Room.

We interviewed StAHs Deputy Head Mrs Goulding, and came away with lots of interesting information about cyber bullying. The main methods of cyber bullying seem to be sending nasty messages via text, email and chatrooms such as facebook. We wanted to know more about what we as a school were doing to help victims and to prevent it.

"We always take part in Anti-Bullying Week," she told us. "And we have annual assemblies about bullying. Also, we have the computer safety programme called 'Securus', which moniters girls' computer use and blocks innapropriate words." Mrs Goulding went on to explain how the matter comes up in school council meetings and PSHCE lessons as well. "Members of staff are always more than happy to listen to your problems and help you in any way possible." she said. We asked her what advice she would give to victims of cyber bullying and she gave this advice: "Always keep the evidence because no one can help you if you do not have proof. A good piece of advice is this: never delete the e-mails. You do not have to read them, but you need to have proof that you are being bullied. Reports confirm that girls are more likely to be cyber-bullied than boys. Mrs Goulding agrees with this and she told us that "Girls do more talking than boys and they will open up more for help." She also said that this is due to psychology that this is the case. Bullying is always taken seriously whether it is in school or out of school. If girls or boys are cyber-bullied they should always tell someone they can trust. Mrs Goulding left us with this final piece of advice: "Never suffer in silence. Always talk to someone you can trust whether that would be a teacher, a family member or a trustworthy friend."

Cyber-bullying is harmful to children and happens more frequently than we realise. It has become a big problem and it is serious and must be addressed seriously. It has resulted in abuse and can even go as far as suicide. So take a stand and to stop it, tell someone and it will prevent it from happening in the future too.

The news on this day - 11 March

By Tobi

Whilst the members of our news team are busy working on the news of today, in this article you can take a look back in history and remember what news occurred on this specific day.

1918: The Great Influenza Pandemic Early in the morning of March 11, 1918, a young soldier appeared at the army hospital in Fort Riley, Kansas, complaining of a fever, a sore throat and a headache. What they did not know at that time was that this was to be the beginning of the worst epidemic in American history. It was later incorrectly nicknamed 'Spanish Influenza' after Spain suffered from a violent outbreak of influenza in May and June of 1918. In true fact, it had been the American soldiers from Fort Riley who carried the disease to the trenches of Europe, where it soon mutated into a killer virus.

All throughout history, flu viruses have been mutating and have caused many major epidemics. Recent estimates have put the global mortality rates from the 1918-1919 pandemic at anywhere between 30 million and 50 million. This was a flu like no other. It was capable of killing people who had been healthy that same morning whilst others died more slowly, suffocating due to the build-up of fluid inside the lungs. Fortunately the flu virus died out quickly during the winter.

1997: Paul McCartney is knighted by the Queen On this date Paul McCartney, 54, once belonging to the most successful rock band in history, the Beatles, was knighted by the Queen for “his services to music”.

2001: A rise in new foot-and-mouth cases Foot-and-Mouth Disease is a highly contagious disease affecting cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and deer. It could be characterised by the painful blisters found in and around the mouth of an animal, on the teats and between the toes. These blisters cause a thick flow of sticky and foamy saliva to fall from the mouth of the animal. This day had been the worst day for new Foot-and-Mouth Disease cases since the outbreak of the disease two weeks ago, bringing the total number of cases to 163 and leaving approximately 30,000 carcasses still waiting to be burned.

2004: Terrorist train bombs in Madrid leave many dead At least 170 people were reported dead and 500 injured as a total of four huge terrorist bombs tore through three of Madrid train stations and suburban trains. “People started to scream and run, some bumping into each other. I saw people with blood pouring from them, people on the ground," said Juani Fernandez, a commuter, aged 50 at the time. No group had admitted to carrying out the attack but the police, at this time, were reported to be searching for two men spotted jumping on and off trains further down the line from the sites where the explosions had occurred.

Why Have Young People Abandoned the Vote?

By Lara

This summer, the UK will be voting in the 2010 general election. It is the first election that Gordon Brown will face as prime minister after his nomination as head of Labour in 2007. It is also the first general election for all the leaders of the major parties of the opposition; David Cameron as head of the Conservatives and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats. It is evidently a key election for the parties, but what proportion of the younger public understands their importance as voters in this election?

On the website for the Office for National Statistics, it is claimed that in the last general election, 'People who were under 34 were less likely to vote than those in older age groups. This voting behaviour may be linked to young people's attitudes.’ It is evident that, in general, younger people are not contributing to the election and are not carrying out their responsibilities and roles as an integral part of societiy as eligible voters. This seems to also be the case in other parts of the world. The US, for example, is struggling to encourage younger members of the public to vote.

Harvard politics lecturer, Pippa Norris, suggests in her seminal book, 'A Virtuous Circle', that in fact, younger people are less engaged in politics as a result of a poor knowledge and understanding in the subject. This leads to little interest and engagement in the issue and therefore younger people feel less of an inclination to vote. She also suggested that it is easy to see why youths are not forming an interest in the subject as political education is not mandatory in schools. In the UK, political education (as a singular subject) is not compulsory and in some schools it is not even offered at A-level.

Head of History and Politics at St. Albans High School, Mr Mew, believes that ‘Young people aren’t voting because they don’t know enough about the political system to have the confidence to choose a party to vote for.’ He said this is also the case because,‘Without the understanding of the key workings of the parties and how to access their policies, youths have little understanding of the system and therefore less of an interest in politics.’

Miss Pitcher, another member of the Politics department added that, ‘More emphasis and time should be devoted to political education in order to gauge the interest of students when they approach the voting age.’ She also believes that ‘With little education on the issue, younger people don’t understand how directly politics affects their lives and so voting seems unnecessary and irrelevant to them.’

One young person, 18 year old Haniah Bailey, who took politics for A-level, believes that, 'Many young people at the moment are simply disillusioned with politics. There are many reasons for this, the most immediate being the coverage of the expenses scandal which portrayed MP’s and Parliament in a very negative way. If they were educated more on the actual policies of the main parties, then they would actually get an overview on the current stance of politics rather than what is portrayed by media.'

It is apparent that the underlying factor, suggested by many people with experience in the matter, is a lack of political education. If more effort and time were invested in this type education for younger people, it would be beneficial in terms of providing them with the information needed to make an informed decision on who to vote for. Such an investment would benefit the UK as a whole as a wider range of the population would be represented in the political election process.

Redbourn remembered

By Dani

Nowadays, in the 21st century, it is quite normal for people to reach the ripe old age of 90 and even 100 but there is one thing that can beat them all - Redbourn.

900 years ago this very year, the small town of Redbourn was born and right up to this day it has been developing, growing and improving.

To celebrate these nine centuries of birthdays, there are many events, spreading over the course of the year which include talent shows, carnivals and festivals, and a trip down memory lane with good old-fashioned street parties all around the village. These events will jointly be known as 'Redbourn 900'.

I spoke to one of the organisers of Redbourn 900, Keith McAdam and asked him:

Are you excited and why?

"Well, thank you, Dani. I am very excited about Redbourn 900 because it's bringing the whole community together to celebrate something rather special which is the 900th anniversary of Redbourn. We know this because in 1110, that's 900 years ago this year, St Mary's church was founded and we know that from ancient records. Remember, at that time it was about 25 years after the Doomsday Book had been written and Edward the Confessor had been very much involved in creating communities. It was a long time ago and there were about 150 people living in the Redbourn area. 900 years later, our population is about 6000 and that community is a very rural community. It's about 5 miles from four big towns so you could say it's a hub, a little village hub amongst these big, big towns around it and we're trying to pull the community together and allow the community both to celebrate the past, our heritage and also to look forward and dream about what Redbourn might be in the future and that's a very interesting process. We're saying "what do you think your community could do and be in 20, 30, 40, 100 years times?" and we've participated in that sort of process with the whole village. We've started with a consultation and that consultation involved a lot of people in the village giving their ideas as to how we should perform it and what they wanted for the future and the organising committee have been involved with trying to bring together a programme of celebrations through this year"

What event are you looking forward to the most?

"Yes, well there's several and I'm going to highlight some that might interest you as well. Well, we've got a family fun and sports day on May 3rd when lots of different people are going to be participating and trying out new activities that they perhaps have never done before and that's going to be at the Recreation Centre in Redbourn and on the 23rd May there's going to be a Rural Day where we learn about where our food comes from and we visit local farms. We look at the rural heritage of our area, the Ver and the water mill and we see what it is in our community that actually allows this little village to exist in a very rural environment. That will be fun. All day actually. Then on 26 June there is a carnival which will be wonderful fun attracting something like 5000 people including a reanactment of the Civil War battle of Watling Street whereabout 300 people are going to be dressed up as if it was the Civil War days with an encampment which shows how you lived in those days and the schools are going to parade, there's going to be a Scout band and the Salvation Army band. There is going to be an inter village tug of war and lots of stalls that allow people to have a go at things. So that should be really quite an exciting day. There is a lot of music during our music festival and a Battle of the Bands which might be fun for people that play and sing and do things that they might like to show off to the community. Then there's a sing along movie of Grease where you can actually sing the songs of the film Grease while it is going on and a number of children's music that week too and finally at the end the finale which I'm organising is a very interesting affair where we are celebrating the old straw plaiting that used to take place in Redbourn from the River Red and those plaited straws were used in the hat industry so we are going to have a day where everyone wears hats with a big dance on the common in hats, a Mad Hatters Tea Party and we're trying to break a Guinness Record for the number of people dancing in hats on the common. That's going to be while the Juniors Cricket match goes on with some celebrity cricketers helping the Junior teams try to play better."

Is this going to be a birthday party to remember?

"It certainly is and I hope many of you will come to join in it's going to be 6 months of activities and we hope at the end that we will leave something, quite a lot of things, as long term benefits that have arisen during our time in Redbourn and you of course. Well I hope you will really come and help us celebrate but more importantly decide what we're going to leave as a legacy for the nexr generation for our children and grandchildren. This is our one big chance you get involved and anyone else who lives in this area but it's actually intended for people to come from all over the surrounding towns and villages to come and join in."

'Redbourn 900' is a great oppOrtunity for many businesses and people.

Science: A hot topic?

By Anna and Ellie

Can you imagine a life without television, cars, medicine? We take all these things for granted, yet none of them would exist without scientists. However, with fewer people choosing a career in science, for how much longer can we expect scientific developments in the UK?

As the Headmistress of St Albans High School for Girls, Rosemary Martin, stated, ‘Science is so relevant to society today’. So why is it that so many young people do not enjoy their science lessons and of the thirty fourteen year olds we talked to, 50% had no interest in doing or pursuing a career in science whatsoever? After extensive research during which many of the people we talked to told us they didn’t enjoy doing science because they thought it was boring, we conducted an interview with one of the most innovative scientists of today - Professor Winston – to find out his views on science education.

He claimed, ‘What we know from evidence is that what mostly turns people on to science in schools is doing practical work, and what happens in schools far too often is that the teacher does a demonstration of the experiment and the pupils watch. That’s a totally pointless exercise, in my opinion. It doesn’t actually help people doing the science.’

Professor Winston, who is not only Professor of Science and Society but also Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies, both at Imperial College, also believes that science education should be taken more seriously. As a solution to the problem he sees, he has set up a newly developed lab called the Reach Out Lab. This Lab is a facility open to school children of all ages to do experimental science and is situated at Imperial College, London. When asked why he decided to build it, he responded, ‘The evidence is that at least 30% of schools in Britain have totally inadequate science labs and another 30% of schools have science labs which aren’t really as good as they should be.’ He added, ‘The Reach Out Lab is really for kids to come in from underprivileged schools who don’t have laboratories.’ He hopes that the Lab will have a more long term effect on the children who experience working in the Lab and that it will encourage them to take science more seriously.

The work being done by Professor Winston stems from a nationwide perception that science in schools is only for the brightest students and so is less attractive to the rest of the pupils. Whether science A Levels are being made easier or not, which is a debatable question, the fact is, fewer people are now taking them and this is a problem.

In conclusion, our investigations show that although things are being done to try to encourage more students to participate in science, such as Professor Winston’s Reach Out Lab, the fact remains that more needs to be done to persuade students to continue with science throughout their careers.

Sport Relief: Are you mile ready?

By Aurelie and Lizzie

In one week the UK fundraiser, Sport Relief, will kick off. The event takes place every two years and raises money for children who face difficult lives in some of the world's poorest countries. Children who receive the funding face poverty and often live on the streets. In fact, over 100 million children live on the streets and find it very hard to survive day to day life. 246 million young children have to work and it is very dangerous for them as conditions are terrible and the threat of malaria is constant. In Africa, a child dies every 30 seconds from malaria. The money raised from sport relief can pay for medicine and equipment needed to fight the disease. It can also help pay for an education for the children and help get them off the streets and out of severe poverty.

Not only in Africa, but also in the UK, the money raised from Sport Relief helps famililes that are suffering from unemployment and also people with disabilities. The money also aids families who do not have as many opportunities to escape the poverty they face in the isolated areas in which they live. The money can help them solve any major problems in their lives.

Celebrity Eddie Izzard set himself a challenge to run 43 marathons for sport relief. Incredibly, he completed this huge challenge in 51 days and raised more than £300,000. 'Blue Peter' presenter, Helen Skelton, kayaked down the Amazon River for Sport Relief. It took her about six weeks to complete her 2,000 mile journey and she broke two world records in the process. She is the only woman to have completed such a challenge. She hopes that her efforts will inspire everyone in the UK to get out there and run a mile for charity. Also, singer Robbie Williams has recently released his new single "Morning Sun" which is again raising money for charity whereas Christine Bleakley plans to water ski across the Channel.

Members of the public are raising money for charity as well as celebrities. People from all over the UK have been sponsoring celebrities and running their own miles. 'Miss Mile Ready' has been sprinting all over our TV screens, encouraging us to become 'mile ready'.

The money raised for Sport Relief helps children like Ram who was only six years old when an older boy from his village took him to Delhi and left him on the streets. After suffering on the streets of Delhi for a long time, money from sport relief helped Ram to get an education and a better life.

In 2008, over 100,000 people ran a mile and in total Sport Relief managed to raise £28,523,047. Hopefully, this year we can make those numbers even bigger!

By raising money for Sport Relief, you can help to make a difference.

Too much, too young.

By Courtney

Teenage involvement in drugs is an increasing problem. Now, a staggering 45% of people are tempted to try drugs during their teenage lives. This could be because of peer pressure.

In 2005, a shocking 39% of teens were offered drugs. This figure proves that peer pressure could convince teens to take drugs. Other reasons for teens taking drugs could be the thrill of the fact they are doing something illegal, or the want to experience the so called "high" involved with taking drugs. Some teens use drugs as an escape from their private lives. This could be because they might be unhappy with school, friends, family, or other private issues. If this is the case, then this is a more worrying issue and drugs could become a more regular occurance, therefore becoming an addiction in a teen's life.

In 2006, teens were statistically 10% more likely to take drugs if they have been truanting or excluded over those who had not.

Drugs are advertised as the "cool" thing to do. A lot of clothes have the cannabis leaf printed on them, and numerous songs are about it. This has been known to make teens think that drugs are the common, normal, safe thing to do and that by taking them you gain acceptance.

Drugs are readily available for teens; 33% of teens in 2005 said that they thought it was easy to obtain drugs.

The problem of drugs is also a worrying problem amongst pre-teens. 4% of UK 11 year olds sniffed substances and 1% had taken cannabis. There is also a large increase of underage alcohol users. Britain now has the highest level of underage drinkers across Europe. Alcohol makers advertise drink to teenagers through "alcopops" which are sweet tasting drinks with alcohol in them.

Alcopops contain an alcohol content comparable to, or more than, beer. These appeal strongly to teens. Alcopops are statistically a lot easier for underage people to get hold of than most alcohol but can cause teens to try with the brands other products and gain a like for alcohol.

The problem of teen involvement in drugs is a large one that needs to be looked at seriously. Unfortunately, no-one is immune.

Who has been picked as the real winner?

By Ali

2005 was the year of the last General Election when the Labour Party came out on top, which was led by Tony Blair. A total of 27,110,727 votes were made throughout the country, with 9,562,122 votes being made for the Labour Government. However, figures released late last year by ITV show that more votes were made for the X Factor Live Final than were made for Labour. Roughly 10 million votes were cast in the X Factor Final in December 2009, which is half a million votes more than Labour received in the last General Election. This suggests that today, young adults and teenagers care more about reality television shows than they do about who is running their country. However, the numbers can be controversial, as although you can only vote one time in General Elections, you can vote as many times as you like for these television shows in question. Several surveys have been carried out in recent years about what people value the most. For example, Girl Guiding UK carried out a survey between May and July of last year, asking girls about what they care about.

Younger girls tended to care about different things to older teenagers. For example, girls aged 7-16 wanted to follow a career in hairdressing or beauty therapy, whereas older girls would prefer to take a career in more diverse areas of work, although nearly one in six wished to be a teacher. Another example is that as the girls got older, it seemed like they spent a lot less time with members of their family. In addition, the girls asked also valued beauty a lot. Nearly all of the girls said that they would want to change something about the way they look, with the majority of older teenagers in particular wanting to be slimmer than they are.

This survey shows that girls care a lot about their physical appearance, and naturally drift towards careers linked to this. Many teenage magazines on the market put emphasis on beauty and fashion, possibly contributing to their worries.

Following this, we carried out two surveys. The first was asking a selection of 30 schoolgirls, either of ages 13-14 or 16-18, two main questions. One question asked whether, when they are at least 18 years old, they would vote in a General Election. The results showed a great difference. In the younger age group, although 71% of the girls said they would vote in a General Election, 76% also said that they prefer to know and care about reality televsion shows such as Big Brother or the X Factor. However, in the older age range, all of the girls asked said that they would vote in a General Election, and again, all of the girls said that they prefer to know about politics than reality television shows. Only one of the older girls said that they even watched reality shows. This suggests that either older girls take more interest in current affairs in the news, or that reality television shows aim for a target market of younger teenagers.

We also made a survey on what career the girls would like to follow when they were older. Younger girls, the youngest being 11 years old, tended not to be thinking about what they wanted to be when they were older. In years 7,8 and 9, exactly one in three girls did not know what career they wanted to take. However, the girls who did know what job they wanted to have, in year 7, mostly chose fashion designing as their future career. Girls in years 8 and 9 wished to be a lawyer or doctor.

As the girls got older, the preferred careers become clear. In sixth form, only four of the girls asked did not know what career they wanted to have- the same amount as the number who wished to become an architect, a career almost unmentioned in the lower school years. However, the most popular career choice in our school was medicine, with nearly one quarter of the girls questioned stating that they wanted to be a doctor.

These figures in total show that it is in fact younger teenagers or older children who tend to value fashion and beauty higher, but also value family extremely highly as well. However, older teenagers seem to value medicine and law as careers highly, but spend less time with family and prefer to spend time with friends.