What on earth is national Equal Pay Day?

This Friday the 30th of October is national Equal Pay Day

Unison and the Fawcett society have worked together to provide information on what exactly this means. In breif "Women wroking full-time in the UK get paid 17.1% less than men. that's equivalent of men being paid all year round while women work for free after the 30th October".

To mark this day women's Committee wil be holding a stall and giving out information on what the pay gap means. We will also be handing out careers advice books from Traget jobs Diversity range.

To read up on the arguments for Equal Pay Day please look at the Fawcett society's website. There's a very amusing picture of Bill Bailey on there just to make it worth your while.

If you're and eager beaver you can find out the pay gap in your home town here

This Union is political

Hi everyone

If you don't know the drill by now where have you been?

This week it's the students Union council elections and for the first time ever, yes really ever! you can vote for your departmental councillor or representative councillor online.

What does that mean?

It means you get to decide who represents you within this institution. Believe or not this Union is a representative democracy and it is a political animal. Who ever you elect will get to debate on important issues within the Union. These issues can be as diverse as; bar pricing, animal testing, sandwich prices, drugs policies, getting student parents a fair deal, getting home safely at night, having safe spaces, paryer rooms, reading rooms, baby changing mats, breast feeding chairs, international clocks, multi language signing, the list goes on.

What's important is that you choose who represents you.

Vote here online or vote at the Mappin building or inside the Students Union

Turn that frown upside down, the counselling service are here for you

It's a few weeks into term and things are finally starting to settle down. If you're a returning student you're probably just getting used to your new house and are settling in with housemates. And for first years the mania that came with freshers week will have calmed down and no doubt some sort of routine is starting to appear.

But not everyone finds their first few months back at University quite so easy. The threat of looming essay deadlines and enormous reading lists that have been thrust upon you can make even the sturdiest student a little worried. Worrying about workload, essays, money, friends and home life can lead to an awful lot of sleepless nights. All of which can be talked about at the Univeristy's counselling service.

When students think of counselling they often assume that they must have to be in serious mental health trouble to go along, but that really is a massive misconception. This year the counselling service are keen to make it clear to students that they are here for you no matter how big or small you may think the probelm is.

Here are a few upcoming events that students are encouraged to attend which are being run by the Skills For Life programme at 317 Glossop Road, not far from the Studnets Union. And I might be the Women's Officer but the Counselling service are keen to encourage male students to come along and talk about their issues. So to all you women out there make sure your teammates, housemates, coursemates know about the counselling service too.

Every Monday starting October 5th until Febuary 1st, 'Relaxation For All' drop in session. 1- 1.50pm

Tuesday 3rd November, 'How to cope with stress'.

Friday 27th November, 'Helping men cope with stress'. 1.30-4.30pm

Tuesday 15th December, 'How to think positively about your exams'. 2-4.30pm

You can read more about the counselling service and all the sessions that they run on their website