With 54.3% of the vote, Becky beat Josh Gaskell in the last round, who came second with 31% of the vote. The re-open nomination option received 2.3%

Becky Grimes.

Becky, a medical sciences and humanities student, has promised in her manifesto to increase the provision of healthy and affordable food choices within the university’s food outlets and create an online advice service run by the Advice Centre and trained students.

She also promised to improve the wellbeing service:  “We really need to sort out the wellbeing service. Only 1.35 counsellors for the entire student population is ridiculous and I really am a big fan of making sure that everyone is mentally well.”

Meanwhile, Mr Gaskell said: “Becky had a really strong campaign team, she’s fantastic… I’m really proud of my friend base and support team, but at the end of the day, she really put the effort in.”

Having worked for the Students’ Union and being a part of the St John LINKS committee for the past two years, Becky claims that she knows what will make a difference to the university experience.

Students were given the chance to enhance their employability and skills during the University’s Employability Week which took place January 21st-25th.

Nonetheless, many have said that they were disappointed with the workshops and support on offer, with some branding it a waste of time.

Thomas Dunlop, the third year student rep for Materials Engineering, said: “I think all of the engineering reps were in agreement that it wasn’t worth it. The events I went to were low attended and in truth could have been done on evenings and afternoons easily.”

Although it is set to run again next year with plans for it already submitted to the university, employability week has been put under review for the 2014/15 academic year; student feedback will be the key factor in deciding whether to run it again.

The week was intended to give students the opportunity to undertake a work experience placement with one of a number of employers, including the Welsh Government, Leadbitter and Parc y Scarlets. Placements were arranged by the university, which also helped to fund travel and lunch costs.

However, there was confusion over how many students took up placements, with the university stating 300 undertook work experience, whilst the students’ union education officer said that the number was around 100.

Students could also take part in one of many employability workshops offered by the university, ranging from talks on careers in politics, interview skills and how to manage your e-presence.

These options aimed to enhance students’ employability and give them a head start in the world of work which has become more competitive in recent years.

Pro Vice Chancellor at Swansea University, Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott, said: “We know that times are tough for young people across the UK, so at Swansea University we’re making sure we give our graduates a strong head start.”

“We know employers greatly value applicants with work experience. Placements also allow students to develop key skills that we know employers are looking for, such as commercial awareness and working in a team, and can sometimes lead directly to job opportunities too.”

Kirsty Lloyd, 21-year-old Medical Biochemistry student, undertook one of these placements and found them beneficial to her line of career:
“My work experience placement has started making me think about my career choices more realistically and has started putting things into perspective.
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“It is really cool to see the things I am learning about in my degree being put into practice by professionals and it’s providing me with valuable hands-on experience.”
Whilst some students thrived in employability week, other students found that the week was limited in options for some courses:

Hannah Davies, a 20-year-old Geography student thinks that more talks and workshops could be organised linked to her course:
“It would be good if there were more talks about jobs within the geography and natural science industry.
“I attended a teaching and work experience talk but there was nothing about jobs after university.”

The education officer for the students’ union said: “Employability week was a great success before the week even started. Employability week is a great example of students, the union and the university together on a big project. The challenge now is defining exactly what ‘employability’ is and explaining exactly how these events could lead to jobs.
“This week also included the first ever Week of Work placements which gave over a hundred lucky students crucial work experience placements. I am very excited for the curriculum development aspect – many of these ‘core’ skills need to be embedded within degrees.”

Ah, Valentine’s Day, the anniversary of the murder of St Valentine in 269AD.
Poor guy, little did he realise that people would use his death centuries later as an excuse to hike up the price of a restaurant meal and flog

anything red, heart shaped or vaguely cute as a ‘seasonal’ product; if you genuinely think that your other half will appreciate a badly made teddy bear holding a heart saying something sickening, I personally feel that you need to reassess whether you’re both mature enough to be in a  relationship. Unless they carry serious sentimental value, stuffed toys are strictly for children, not people old enough to have overdrafts, buy fireworks and get a pilot’s license.

Now, I can kind of see the point of the day – mostly giving men everywhere a chance to make up for all their wrongdoing the rest of the year, the romantic version of the Men in Black’s mind erasing Neuralyzer – but I can’t help seeing it just as some major exercise in consumerism.

Love isn’t about heart-shaped chocolates and novelty knickers; it’s about finding someone with whom you can share the most intimate details of your life with. If you’re okay with admitting to them that you shave your toes and you can go for a wee in front of them without being embarrassed then congratulations, you’ve found someone you genuinely click with. Either that or you’re a pervert. Take your pick.

I know that I’m giving off the air of a single cat lady, but actually, that description of me is redundant. Somehow, I’ve achieved the status of crazy cat lady in a relationship. Luckily for me, my boyfriend feels the same andso we’ll be blissfully ignoring the day, smug and happy in the knowledge that making an effort shouldn’t be reserved for just one day a year. Instead, it should probably be saved for those times where you’ve either
made a massive mistake or when you want something.

Now, if you’ve managed to stay strong in the face of adversity and chosen to carry on with your romantic Valentine’s Day plans, then I can only wish you good luck.

As for everyone else – enjoy your day like every other Thursday you’ll ever have; going to Sin Savers and waking up the next day with only your smiley face hand stamp for company.

Becky Adams, a sex industry consultant who owned brothels for 25 years, claims that the recent influx of students joining the industry to help pay their way through university is increasing competition and driving down prices.

Speaking to WalesOnline, Becky said: “The number of young people turning to sex work to pay their way through university has increased to the extent where the market is almost flooded with them… There are just squillions of them.”

“An hour used to be £150 in the 90s and now you can find an hour for £70 or £80.

“That is a result of supply and demand because there are so many more people at it.”

Although it is not clear quite how many students are involved in sex work, numbers have risen in recent years as university has become more costly than ever before.

A former student sex-worker who preferred to stay anonymous said that she worked alongside many other students doing webcam work and as a lap dancer.

She also said that she wasn’t surprised by the rise in students choosing to take up the profession: “I’m not surprised about student involvement, because at the end of the day the work is cash in hand.

“My motivation to do it was financial. Not everyone is in a position to be able to wait for a pay day, [and] that’s if they can get a job that fits around their studies in the first place.

“I wouldn’t put anyone off who wanted to do it, although I would give them a few pointers on what to watch out for!”

The Student Sex Worker Project, which began in June 2012, aims to promote learning and understanding about student sex worker needs and associated issues, as well as providing an innovative sexual health service for them.

This is due to the lack of associated research and policy on the topic. More information can be found on: www.thestudentsexworkproject.co.uk

As temperatures fell sharply, the park was not gritted as it has been in the past, leading to several students slipping in the park on their way to the university and some minor injuries.

Chloe Newman, a third year Social Policy student said: “I was walking to my morning exam and thought I should take the long way round the park as it looked safer.

“As it turned out, it really wasn’t. I fell over and landed on my thigh, resulting in a dodgy looking wet patch that I had to try and get rid of instead of revising.

“I’m lucky it was more funny than serious, but I could have really hurt myself.”

Ceri Davies from the Culture, Leisure and Tourism department at Swansea Council which is responsible for the park said: “Gritting Singleton Park has been done previously but has been overlooked this year. We don’t want anyone slipping over and injuring themselves and will look into gritting the route from Brynmill.”

Zahid Raja, Education Officer, was also hurt after falling over. He said: “I was walking into university around 8am so there was a good amount of light. I slipped, fell down and injured my knee.

“The council grits pathways that are going to be used lots and are very hazardous – thousands of students were going to use that path to get to university, so it’s an obvious area to grit.

“Students aren’t any less important than other people in the city, but the way we’re treated by the council certainly makes you feel that way. It’s all very awkward seeing as we bring in a huge amount of commerce into the city.”

Taking place during employability week – 21st-27th January – students will be given the opportunity to take a week’s work experience with leading local companies invited by the Swansea University Employability Academy.

Students’ union education officer, Zahid Raja, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for students and local businesses alike. Students will gain a fantastic new experience and exposure to a field of work that the university has sourced.
“The experience will be reflective and the university has assured us that whilst students won’t be paid for this, travel and lunch expenses shall be reimbursed.”

With students constantly being reminded that a degree is no longer enough in the world of work, this initiative is part of the university’s attempts to boost its employability rate and is recognised on the Swansea Employability Award, which every student is encouraged to complete.

Ashley Wilkinson, an Egyptology Masters student from California, brought Tabitha to live off-campus with her despite all of the complications involving last minute vets’ checks, microchips and wrongly filled out rabies vaccination certificates. Just getting her out of quarantine took over five hours.

Having been with Tabitha for 14 years, Ashley was keen not to leave her behind. Having had intensive surgery earlier this year, she became somewhat of a ‘therapy cat’, helping her with the recovery process. Also, Ashley felt that moving so far away would be helped by having her ‘very loving and very loyal’ pet with her.

Ashley said: “I do love Tabitha very much and I’m glad I brought her with me. She’s settled in quite nicely to Swansea.”

However, even she is finding the furore over the whole story hilarious: “I keep running into people on campus, and when I tell them I’ve brought my cat with me, they say “YOU’RE THE CAT GIRL! OMG!!!”

•Students are reminded that they are not allowed to have pets within student residences, whether on campus or in the student village, and to ask landlords permission if they are considering obtaining one.

For many of you, this is the first time away from home. You’re anxious to assert your independence, and mostly this will come in the form of consuming far too much exotic-looking alcohol and being in pictures that you definitely won’t want your parents to see.

Now, I’ve been a fresher twice – yes, I made a Poor Life Choice (hereby known as a PLC) when I first applied to Portsmouth University, but I made up for it tenfold by switching to Swansea as soon as I could. So it is with my wisdom and experience of making some serious PLCs that I am here to guide you through the next year. I want you all to make a point of learning from my mistakes. Alternatively, you could make some even bigger ones so that mine look good in comparison.

1. Firstly, do not attach yourself to someone within the first week of university. You’re here for three years, and they won’t seem half as attractive within six months. Don’t rush; you’ve plenty of time to find someone your parents will hate.

2. Secondly, your student loan is finite. I know, it’s a horrible realisation. You also have to be aware of your priorities: first comes your rent and bills, second to that is food, and then it’s important things like books and shoes that will see you through the winter. Only when you have managed to negotiate these hurdles is it appropriate to spend the rest of your loan on new clothes and alcohol. You will soon learn to budget and shop around – for example, buy fresh food in the market where you only buy as much as you need for cheaper, and then go to JC’s for a pint rather than one of Wind Street’s fine establishments. If you can, try and save yourself some money for over the holidays – right now, it is the end of August, and I am sat here with precisely £9.86 to my name, with three weeks to go until pay day. Remember what I said – learn from my mistakes.

3. Pace yourself. In small to medium doses, alcohol is not necessarily that bad for you – although what is said for your body is not necessarily true for your wallet. However, getting completely obliterated four times a week is bad for you, and you will do well to avoid doing so, else you will be making a PLC. I conducted a personal study this year by getting drunk very regularly for a fortnight. My body held a small demonstration, and I was unable to eat properly for a month. I felt disgusting, looked awful, and my mum was furious, but my housemates were overjoyed by how much food I gave to them – every cloud has a silver lining, I guess.

4. Fourth, eat properly. Please don’t make a point of eating only potato smileys and turkey dinosaurs for every meal just because you can. Eventually, you are going to get sick of beige-coloured food, and you will want some vegetables. Beat your body shutting down on you by learning how to cook. Waterstones in the Taliesin sell some basic student cook books that are brilliant for learning the staples of home cooking, and if you can’t be bothered to buy them, you can just take pictures of the recipes on your iPhone.

5. For this one, make sure your parents are out of the room… Gone? Excellent. Boys and girls, you may have heard of sex. You may have heard that university is a brilliant place to obtain it. Let me tell you, Swansea may have gone up in the University Sex League (up to 12th place, from last year’s 60, woo!), but university is not one massive orgy. Or at least, if it is, I’ve not been invited. Anyway, if you are going to do it, your Students’ Union provides thousands of free condoms per year. Make use of them – and not for balloon animals. Also, make sure that you have enough money the next morning for the taxi of disgrace, rather than having to humiliate yourself with the walk of shame. Alternatively, if you’ve awoken being able to remember their name, you are entitled to take the stride of pride. Congratulations.

6. Join a society. I really, really wish I’d done this in my first year. Since joining The Waterfront – not technically a society, but you know what I mean – I have had the best time at university. I’ve met friends for life, learnt new skills, discovered what I want to be when I grow up, and had some awesome experiences. No matter what you’re interested in, you’ll find a society for it, and if you can’t, don’t be afraid to form your own.

7. Do some work – everyone knows the freshers’ mantra of ‘f**k it, 40 percent’, but organising yourself to do some work from the off is a really good habit to form, and it looks a lot better on your transcript. Learn to organise yourself so that you’re not working right up until the deadline, too. There’s nothing worse than sleeping through the hand-in deadline and waking up to your face in your keyboard, smothered in drool.

8. Perhaps the best and most useful piece of advice I can give you is to enjoy yourself. Don’t forget that you’re here to work, but university is also about a whole new lifestyle and learning about yourself and the world around you. Forget school being the best days of your life – your time at Swansea will definitely beat it.

The national president, Liam Burns, was first elected to the role in 2011, winning a second term at NUS Conference in 2012. His platform was one of implementing a graduate tax rather than using the existing student loan repayment system; allowing students to take more control over their institutions; and ensuring that students are more financially secure.

What does the NUS mean for students?
Being at university is literally life changing, the best years of your life. But it’s not all easy going, it’s not an easy ride. There are challenges from fees, student debt, hardship, what house you have and where you live, and how much money you’ve got in your pocket.
NUS does two things: one, to make sure your Students’ Union is as strong as it can be, with its societies and campaigns for change. It also stands up for students on a national basis. NUS Wales has done stuff like stopping the cap on tuition fees being lifted, it’s managed to win tens of millions in student financial support, and has now put through legislation to
protect Students’ Union funding. All of these things are helping to protect Students’ Unions right across Wales; saying we have a right to education, and a right to be supported in that education.

What are the biggest challenges facing students now?
Obviously the tuition fees are a huge challenge, which puts an incredible strain on Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland about what they’re going to do. At the moment, no Welsh student will pay more than they used to, but the funding for that is precarious, it’s unstable. The government has just released a white paper in Wales on the structure of higher education, and that’s a huge challenge for students in Wales. There’s quite a different type of education that we could fight for here, one that’s free of price tags. We could do things differently here in Wales from what the rest of the UK has decided to do.

How do you think we can best achieve our wants?
We need to keep them on the agenda of politicians and decision makers, especially in preparation for the next election. The student vote is huge, and at the end of the day, investing in education is investing in the society of tomorrow. We don’t shout out enough about what’s great about the student movement, such as volunteering in the community. We can’t rest on our laurels too much.

So do you think that party politics has a part to play within NUS politics as well?
Massively in the sense that we have to work with all political parties, as at the end of the day they all have very different views on how students should be supported, and how higher education should be funded. Some we agree with on particular issues, some we won’t, but there is always rationality in engaging across the political spectrum. Party politics by its nature articulates how we value education, and that’s why we have to make sure that politicians of every colour have the right values when it comes to how our education is funded and structured.

When you’ve got universities such as Aston and Southampton who have chosen to disaffiliate, do you believe that NUS is as strong as it used to be?
We’re much stronger. 98% of all students in the UK are in membership. Of the unions that are out, we’re having fairly positive discussions with Southampton, they’re having a referendum coming up next year. We have other positive discussions with other students’ unions across the UK. We generate tens of millions of pounds for students’ unions every single year. For those unions that decide not to be part of the NUS, it’s their students’ decision.

You’ve called for a national demo in November, why should students go along and show support for it?
Conference called for a national demo back in April, and rightly so in my opinion. What we’re trying to say is that our future is being destroyed. It doesn’t matter what part of the UK you’re in, whether it’s tuition fees if you live in Scotland, youth unemployment across the board, or whether it be the impossibility of getting on the housing market, all these things are just taking away our futures. It’s about time we told not just government, but parliament, that they can’t just keep hacking on about the squeezed middle, when there is a whole raft of people being hit much harder.
The reason we’re demonstrating is two-fold. One, that we start putting in place markers for the next general election to say to those politicians that betrayed us that we’ve not gone away. Two that, we have a positive vision of what the future should look like for us and that involves funding education, it involves unemployment, it involves empowering people who have had their rights taken away.

So it’s just to show everyone that we’re still here?
Not just that, I don’t think that it’s the absence of a bill from Parliament in England, or making sure that we say we do believe in education right across the UK, but it’s about telling politicians that they have to perk up. As they start writing their manifestos now, as they are doing, they’ll know that this is a big vote that they have to appease. I do think that it’s the right thing to do, but it will not be an action in itself.