Written by Students for Students

Awesome First Edition

Reviews InsideMastodon at the O2

Skate 3 for PS3

Clothes Show LIVE

TRUE LOVE STORY

Read it in this

issue

Students Go Penguin CRAZY for WWF

Socks & ChocsMore inside

The Imitation Game Movie

In This IssuePoetry Corner

Socks & Chocs

Student Photos

News Update

True Love Story

Reviews

Fashion

Horoscopes & Puzzles

SU Update

This is your magazine!Made for you by your fellow studentsand you could be part of the next

edition. Submit a story, a photo, a cartoon, apoem, a review of something you

love, a puzzle or star signs.This magazine is for you to show

what you can do and say.Just email your contribution to

studentnews@walsallcollege.ac.ukbefore 27th February to make sure it

gets in the next issue.

If you can think of a better title than 'AWESOME!', please email studentnews@walsallcollege.ac.uk with your suggestions

Dont like the design of this paper?

Then help design the next one. Pop

into C035 or email

studentnews@walsallcollege.ac.uk

What are you waiting for? Be part of the student news team. Go to the SU Office (C035), email studentnews@walsallcollege.ac.uk or phone 01922 688822

Bullying hurts, don’t you see?You are nothing, but a big bully.Don’t you think of what could have been?What if they put a razor to their skin?

What if they wrote a note to say goodbye?And their family and friends were leftwondering…? Why?What if at night, they cry themselves to sleep?By morning, it is too hard to get up on their feet.

They are afraid to come to college because ofbullies like you.When they try to tell an adult, their plea isoverruled.Soon they can’t take it anymore.They think, “What do I have to live for?”

Finally all of their secrets start to spill.They grab a bottle and overdose on pills.All they ever wanted was a friend.And to hear the words, “I’m sorry, I won’t do itagain.”

You did it all for fun.You didn't know what could’ve been done.What if you pushed them a bit too far?All your actions have caused one big scar.

Haven’t you seen what you put them through?You think they’re weak, but they’re stronger thanyou.All they want to do is forget.They think, “How much worse can’t get.”

Don’t you know, you’re their biggest fear?They scream so loud, but no one can near.What if it was you who got hurt every day?Tell me how many words you would have left tosay.

by Ashleigh Sutcliffe(Intro to Hospitality)

Bullying

Submit your poem about bullying forthe next edition and you could win a

prize.studentnews@walsallcollege.ac.uk

"Education is themost powerfulweapon which youcan use to changethe world."Nelson Mandella

Miscellany

If you are being abused or bullied inany way, or know anyone who you

think needs help, speak to your tutoror assessor, or email

staysafe@walsallcollege.ac.uk

There is another HarryPotter Studio Trip planned

on Wednesday March25th. Ask at SU for

info/consent forms, etc.

Alton Towers TripBOOK NOW

Wed 24th June2015

ONLY £19

Tne SU did a#PenguinDanceBattle for the

World Wildlife Fund inDecember. Check out the

video on Youtube(http://youtu.be/cwvnQqxNtfs)

"Expecto Patronum"

Photo GalleryTaylor Bird

Photographs by HE Photography student

Taylor-Louise Bird

She chose to re-create some of her favourite and most

popular iconic images based on MARILYN MONROE and

DITA VON TEESE.

“A feeling of powerlessness andinstability is increasingly commonamongst my generation — the firstgeneration in modern history tohave the dubious distinction ofstanding to be worse off than theirparents.We feel let down by politicianswho have failed to speak on ourbehalf in a world where the oddsare already being steadily stakedagainst us.We need a new deal for the nextgeneration. But to achieve this weneed to make sure that, not only isthe student voice loud enough forpoliticians to hear, but that thestudent vote is strong enough forpoliticians to listen.That’s why we need to make surethe voices of students are notignored”Toni Pearce - NUS President

www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

General Election7th May 2015

“Do you love me?” Tia was trying so hard to hold back her tears.

Joshua cupped her cheek and looked straight into her eyes. “Of course, I do. What kind of

question is that?”

She hugged him tight. “Then why are you leaving me?” He kissed the top of her head and said, “You

know I have to.”

She shook her head and sobbed into his shirt. Tears started to form in his eyes as well. “I know

it’s hard, sweetheart, and I’m sorry.”

She cupped his face with both hands and looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “Promise me you’ll

be okay…” He kissed her softly and said, “I promise.”

“Can’t you just stay here with me?” She felt her heart break all over again. “You know, I can’t,

but I have something for you.” No matter what he was going to give, all she wanted was for him to

stay with her. “What is it?” He smiled and wiped her tears. “It’ll arrive tomorrow morning. I

have to go now, and promise me you’ll take care of yourself. Okay? I love you.” He was about to

leave their house, when she grabbed his arm and kissed him with all the love that she could

give. “I love you, Joshua. Come home to me.”

Tia knew this day would come... The day Joshua would leave to carry on the tradition in their

family of being in the army. It was hard having a husband who was in the army. She knew that no

matter how many times he’ll come home, when he leaves again it’ll always hurt like the first

time.

The next day, her doorbell rang and she found herself looking at the most beautiful bouquet of

roses she’s ever seen in her life. She went to their room and put it on their dresser. She found a

card with her name scrawled at the front.

She knew who it was from and tears started to form in her eyes again. She opened the card and saw

his handwriting.

“Happy Anniversary, baby. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but here’s to the most beautiful girl I’ve

ever laid my eyes on. I promise to love you until the last rose dies.”

- Joshua

It hurt to love someone this much. She sobbed for the love and loss that she felt at that time.

Then… she noticed that out of the 12 roses in the bouquet, one was made of plastic.

A year later, Joshua was meant to arrive. Tia was so excited, she even

cooked his favourite food. Today, they were going the spend the whole

day together. Tomorrow will be for family and friends. She was about

to pop her homemade pie in the oven, when someone rang the doorbell.

She looked at her watch and she swore Joshua’s flight wasn’t until

later. She took her apron off and went to the door. When she opened it,

she saw two men with the same uniform as Joshua’s. That’s when she

knew something was wrong. Her heart beat fast, her palms became

sweaty and she could feel her whole body shaking. “No! No! No!” was all

she could say.

The military men made sure she was okay before they left. They even

gave her the last letter Joshua wrote before he died.

The Last Roseby Ryn Lois Funtilon (L2 Health & Social Care)

Dear Tia, my love,

You don’t know how happy I am to have you in my life.I want you to know that each and every day, wheneverI’m in thebattlefield I always thought of you.I know you don’t want to talk about death or thepossibility ofme passing on to another life, but when I die, the lastperson thatI’m going to think about is you.Don’t you worry, my love. Everything will be fine.Always remember, I love you until the last rose dies.

Love,Joshua

She swore her heart broke in tiny million pieces. Though her eyes blurred, because of the

tears, she kept on reading the letter over and over and over… She couldn’t believe it. Her

Joshua, the love of her life, was gone. Forever.

She came to his burial and held the plastic rose close to her heart. She whispered to the

wind, hoping it could carry what she said to her love.

‘I’m glad to know that you thought of me even when you took your last breath, my love. I love

you so much it hurts. I know you wouldn’t want me to ruin my life, I also know you’d want me

to move on and be happy. Just give me time and I’ll learn to live with the fact that you’re

gone. You’ll always be in my heart no matter what.’

Tears fell from Tia’s eyes as she laid the plastic rose on his coffin.

Tia was walking on the beach wearing a long white dress. She could feel the wind in her hair

and the sun on her skin. She was enjoying the view when she saw someone. She couldn’t believe

it. It was Joshua wearing all white. He was more handsome than she could remember. He walked

towards her and touched her cheek. She laid her hand on his and they looked into each other’s

eyes. A tear fell from hers and he wiped it away with his thumb. “Shhh. Save your tears.” “I

missed you.” Joshua only smiled. “I know.” “I love you so much, Joshua.” He pulled her towards

him, so their foreheads can touch.

“And I love you… until the last rose dies, my love.”

The dream faded, then Tia woke up to find herself in tears. Nothing changed, Joshua was still

gone, but his love will remain forever.

MASTODON O2 Academies, Birmingham

Review by Adam Roy Moore (Access to HE)

Here we are again for Mastodon’s now yearly excursion to our shores, this time theyhad Big Business and Krokodil in tow for the European leg of the ‘Once More ‘Roundthe Sun’ tour.

Mastodon, Atlanta’s finest export, has risen through the ranks to become thepreeminent metal band of our generation. As such, anticipation in the audience waspalpable. Although touring their latest album ‘Once More ‘Round the Sun’, they openedto the now packed Academy with ‘Oblivion’ from their ‘Crack the Skye’ album, and thecrowd lapped it up, with the sea of bodies in the standing area already crashingaround.

The set list drew from their entire back catalogue and played like a greatest hitsalmost, with classics such as ‘Blood and Thunder’, ‘Iron Tusk’ and ‘Crystal Skull’ sittingnicely next to the new, more accessible album.

Speaking of which, the new material went down a storm, with head banging a plenty.Despite the O2’s overzealous stewards, the mosh pit had plenty of crowd surfers andeven a circle pit (which guitarist Ben Kelliher cheekily encouraged). Title track ‘OnceMore ‘Round the Sun’ sounded truly epic and will become a staple of their live showsfor sure.

Mastodon are a band that let theirmusic do the talking on stage, butguitarist Brent Hinds still had astab at stage banter, with resultsthat can’t be repeated here! Theset was completed by drummerBrann Dailor’s heartfelt thanks tothe very vocal crowd, stating thebands pleasure at playing in the‘birthplace of heavy metal’ again.

Believe me, the pleasure was allours.

Skate 3 is a skating simulator that perfectly captures what it is like to skate. From experience, you’re notgonna play skate for the first time and be able to do a darkslide on a rail and kickflip off of it while rockingthe air guitar. Much like the pastime it is based on, becoming good will be a growing experience that willmost likely break a few bones by the time you can do something cool. Some say this is a weakness but Isay it’s a strength! If I want to do that stuff then no problem I’ll play Tony Hawk. This is where SKATE 3shines brightest. It perfectly simulates the road to being a skater.

As far as the gameplay goes it’s pretty straight forward. You create your avatar though a decentcharacter creator and from then it’s just you and your board. There is a “campaign” that involves youdoing stuff like races and competitions to promote your brand; this unlocks a few more features but to behonest I could live without a new hoodie design. The meat of the game is in you just going around townwith your board and skating to your heart’s desire. Ollie your way around three districts, these beingdowntown, university and industrial, each with a unique style and layout. My personal favourite beinguniversity with it's giant shark statue that I try to jump over.

You do a trick by flicking the right control stick; for an Ollie you simply flick the stick up and the moreawesome the trick is the harder the stick movement is to pull off. The game also offers a unique ALL OFMEAT mode where you do whatever it takes to hurt yourself in order to get the highest score. It’sawesome and surreal to see a virtual you break his legs after failing a wall ride.

However…this is a game by EA, so not surprisingly it has issues. Firstly the game is riddled withgraphical glitches. I’d be a wealthy man if I had a penny for every time the board went through mycharacter's legs or when I become one with a ramp that I collided with. But to my amazement the onlinecommunity actually like this so to each his own. If you don’t mind that sort of thing it shouldn't bother youthat much and I haven’t encountered anything game breaking yet.

And as far as the multiplayer goes it's pretty good…if you’re online. There is no local multiplayer, justonline…which sucks for anyone who isn't online because playing with friends is a blast. But if you areonline you can play with friends and check out skate parks people have made. And let me tell you..thereare a lot of really cool parks out there.

And finally, this is a game that you have to be in the mood for; it’s like a fighting game in the sense thatyou have got to be ready to remember relatively complex moves in order to play the game right.But none of these criticisms take away from how fun this game really is. If you see this game on a sale orfor a cheap price, pick it up! You won’t be disappointed.

As far as skating games go,you’ve got to choose. Eitherthe wacky and crazy TonyHawk games, or the realisticand down to earth skategames. As a skater myself, Imuch prefer the SKATEfranchise.

Nathan Mills (L2 Creative Media)Awesome 10/10

The film follows Alan Turing and his fellow code breakers as they try to crack the

unbreakable Enigma code. The Enigma code was a code set up by the Germans to

encrypt messages so that no one would be able to read them and the code breakers

of Bletchley park tried to break the seemingly unbreakable code.

While watching the film you do have to pay attention or else you will miss bits,

as Alan Turing, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, explains that you must pay

attention. The film is directed by Morten Tyldum and adapted from the book, 'Alan

Turing: The Enigma' by Graham Moore. Morten hasn't done many films that have been

as big as The Imitation Game, as he is relatively new to Hollywood filmmaking,

but he seems to be on the right track in making blockbusters. As the film

progresses you start to feel closer to Alan Turing, especially when young Alan is

shown to be an outsider in his school.

Personally I think this is Benedict Cumberbatch’s best work and shows just what a

talented actor he is. However, the film would be nothing without the fellow

actors who play the other code breakers of Bletchley Park who put on an amazing

performance.

Overall this film makes you laugh, cry and shows you true heroes of the second

world war.

I would definitely recommend this film to anyone and say it should be shown in

schools in the future to show the work of the Bletchley Park code breakers.

The Imitation Game

is a heart warming

film about the true

story of Alan Turing

and the amazing code

breakers of

Bletchley Park.

Amy Phillips

(Diploma in Creative Media Production)

Aries

The January 4 Full Moon pits familyconcerns against work demands. Be calmand clear, and don't get rattled.Wednesday, January 14, and Thursday,January 15, avoids strife or disagreementswith a boss or authority figure.

Taurus

Keep control of your time, money, andreal or imagined social obligations. Beready and willing to take on more atwork during the New Moon on January20. It shouldn't be a challenge, but itmight need more time than you have.

Gemini

A friend or family member may point it outor perhaps cause it in the first place. It'snothing you can't handle, and it will affectsomeone else more than you. Be busyand enjoy the January 20 New Moon.You'll have the magic touch at work, andthat will leave you plenty of time andenergy for a big break or even a getaway.

Cancer

Close relationships should grow closertoday, and new relationships becomeclose ones. You like the way you feel,Cancer, but want to express it outwardlythrough gifts or intimacy.

Leo

Relations with family or other members ofyour household should be especially warmnow. Leo, providing you with a rewardingday. You probably won't spend much ofyour day alone. Make the most of it.

Virgo

You could be greatly inspired and high on acreative streak that doesn't leave muchroom for socializing. It's your place - youdecide. The weekend of January 10 can befun and romantic, but unmet expectationsand disappointments may follow. Take goodcare of yourself

Libra

Romantic matters could thrive now, as youwill be in the mood to physically expressyour feelings. Old friends form strongerbonds, while you discover commoninterests with new friends.

Scorpio

The doors of communication are open foryou. You could decide to spend the daygetting to know your friends all over again. You can be comforting and supportivewithout getting run over. Life may alsolook more magical and fun. It's no illusion.Keep this feeling all year long.

Sagittarius

You may feel called to help someone whoreally doesn't need it as much as youthink. Respect your own finances andneeds, don't neglect yourself, andeverything will be fine.

Capricorn

Be patient and pay attention and you couldscore big with a better job offer, more work,or simply more income without the extrawork. Enjoy the weekend of January 24, butdon't tire yourself out.

Aquarius

The January 20 New Moon belongs toyou, and you should prepare to startsomething new and important. Don't becaught off guard if some new, importantopportunity comes your way out ofnowhere.

Pisces

Be thoughtful and treat people gently -you'll have great influence and personalmagic now. But don't dally over somethingimportant. The magic won't last long.

Horoscopes

Mar 21 - Apr 19 Apr 20 - May 20 May 21 - Jun 20

Jun 21 - Jul 22 Jul 23 - Aug 22

Aug 23 - Sep 22

Sep 23 - Oct 22 Oct 23 - Nov 21

Nov 22 - Dec 21

Dec 22 - Jan 19

Jan 20 - Feb 18

Feb 19 - Mar 20

Collated by Gintare Ruzgyte (L3 Business & Management)

SU Magazine Prize Crossword

Across

Down1 A social media company for computer and video game players2 A social networking service with a strong music emphasis4 Home of the Official Chart, the Live Lounge and the world's greatest DJs5 A social networking site that relies on micro-blogging for communication6 A portfolio of social networking websites based upon the themes of reunion8 An instant messaging app for smartphones15 A telecommunications application software18 A provider of on-demand Internet streaming media

The first correct set of answers

handed into the SU Office (C035)

will win a special prize

3 A video-sharing website6 An online social networking service7 An American social movie site fordiscovering new movies9 Connect Jellys to win10 A match-three puzzle video gamedeveloped by King11 A microblogging platform and socialnetworking website12 The world's online marketplace13 A website for discovering, sharing andpreserving family history14 A feathered phenomenon16 A virtual bulletin or cork board that allowsusers to find and collect images and videos.17 A social sound platform where anyone cancreate sounds and share them everywhere19 A social networking and identity service

Good Luck!

by Dee Stoute (Access to HE - Social Work)

Answers in the Next Issue (Feb '15)

Welcome to 2015. The Students' Union will be as busy as ever this year

in making your college experience better than you could hope for.

IF YOU ARE A CURRENT STUDENT, YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE

STUDENTS' UNION.

This means you can join in any of the activities we put on and there is

someone on your side when you need it. If you have any problems in

the college, try the Students' Union and we can help, or at least point

you in the right direction.

You can also take advantage of the trips we put on. Last year, we went

Ice Skating, visited the world of Harry Potter and sent our elected

representatives all over the country. This year there is Alton Towers

pencilled in for the end of June but we have plenty of money left, so let

us know where you’d like to go.

As a Students' Union member, you can also get an NUS Extra Card. This

is the main student discount card accepted at shops (high street and

online), restaurants and many more places. Only £12 for 12 months

and only available to students.

Our big fundraiser will be on Friday

13th March, so if you have a crazy

idea, the wackier the better, tell us

about it.

If you want to do something with

your class, we have buckets,

collecting tins , props, wigs, costumes

@WalsallSU

Our intrepid student

volunteers will be out and

about in 2015 crusading

against bullying and

disrespect in college and

further afield.

If you would like to volunteer

for the SAS Team, please

contact the Students'

Union in C035 or via

the internet (see

below)

Hi,

I am your Students' Union president

and my job is to represent all Walsall

College students with the

Management and Governors of the

College.

All students should be treated equally

and with respect, so if you feel that

you are not, please contact me via the

Students' Union Office (C035), Social

Media (see below) or by phone

(01922 688822).

I also represent the college to the

National Union of Students (NUS) and

with local and national politicians, so

if you have anything you’d like me to

say, get in touch and Speak UP!

I look forward to hearing from you,

Gintare

Ruzgyte

Students' Union

President