How are you getting home tonight?

How are you getting home tonight?

It's day 7 of the 12 days of Christmas and today your officer team want to let you know a few handy hints on how to get home safely from the Students Union.There are several ways to get home relatively safely

1.Get a bus.
The number 52 runs from outside the Union and goes through Broomhill and Crookes.
The number 40 goes from West Street and stops in Broomhill and Ranmoor.
The number 94/95 goes from the back of the Arts Tower and goes to Walkley and Commonside.
The number 80 will take you to Endcliffe Village.

2.Get a taxi.
Hail Safer are a charity who promote taxi awareness, they have two simple rules. Always try to get a taxi with friends, and sit in the back.

3.Walk with friends
Waiting for all your mates to get their coats and finish their drinks can be a pain but it's the best way to make sure you all get home in one piece.

4. If you're a woman student get the Women's minibus.
The Women's minibus costs £1.50 and will take you anywhere within a 3 mile radius of the Union. Ask the security staff on the night where the bus will be as building work has disrupted it's pick up point.

5. If you absolutely must walk alone then carry a safety alarm and don't listen to your i-pod or talk on your phone. Safety alarms are available for all students from the Women's officer and Welfare Officer.

Time to get some sleep, we've got a lot planned for you..

There's only one week left of term and now is as good a time as any to take a rest and recharge your batteries.

The average person should get 8 hours of sleep a night in order to stay fit and healthy and refrain from murdering your housemates when they steal the last of your milk/cheese/tea bags/hairspray. However on the run up to Christmas what with essay deadlines, Xmas socials, nights out, heavy drinking, seminars, revision classes and Christmas shopping trips it can be pretty hard to make sure you get your rest. But luckily for you the students Union have planned you the perfect chilled out Sunday.

Pop on down to Bar One for our Soccer Sunday. Oooo football I haven't got the foggiest about it but apparently these lovely chaps are playing.
1:15pm Middlesbrough Vs Cardiff.
4pm Liverpool Vs Arsenal

Alternatively if football's not your bag (it certainly isn't mine, but I am the Woman's Officer I'm not supposed to like it!) then come on down to Interval to watch Sheffield University Jazz Orchestra play some tunes.

After all that go home and get some sleep in order to prepare your self for the big events we've got this week. Here are a few of my personal favourites....

• Monday: Population Snowcial. Population was my favourite night out as a student and for one week only we're doing some apparently 'crazy' group offers on tickets.


• Wednesday: Union Christmas Day, quite literally the stuff of legend. This year we're extending the Christmas feeling around the Union and are hosting a craft fair in the source.


• Thursday: This Union Boxing Day we'll be hosting a comedy night in the Raynor run by the 'Shrimps' a fantastic improvisational comedy society run entirely by students.

So go run yourself a bath get some rest and prepare yourself for a week of fun at the Union.

A new, fantastic and unusual idea for a society social!!

Yesterday myself the Education Officer and the Welfare Officer fancied a bit of quality time together, every one's so busy we never do get to see each other enough. So we set off on an alternative social...

Well actually that's a lie but hopefully I've got your attention. We actually set off to the G.U.M clinic at the Hallamshire hospital for a full sexual health check-up. Officer teams across the country are forever bombarding their students with condoms and chlamydia tests galore and Sheffield is no exception. However we thought we might take things a little further and practice what we preach.

Getting an appointment at the clinic was incredibly easy, all I had to do was ring up this number 276 6928 and explain that I wanted an appointment. There's no need to explain why you need to go or what your symptoms might be, they already know why you're ringing.

I was worried about finding the entrance to the clinic and was glad to have Holly and Jenni there with me to make the whole mission much less embarrassing. The clinic is on one of the main roads through the hospital and it is roughly opposite the outpatients ward. Here's a map of the building to help you out. If you can cajole a good mate into going with you it will make the whole expedition much less scary.

The clinic itself looks like any other hospital waiting room with fish tank, child's toys and plenty of magazines. There are separate waiting rooms for men and women so you hopefully don't have to worry about bumping into anyone you might wish to avoid. The staff were all very friendly, they're used to dealing with people day in day out so there's really nothing you can say that they haven't heard before. Importantly if you want to be seen by a male or female doctor please let the receptionist know.

As for the test itself the doctor called me from the waiting room to go to a consultation room to discuss any symptoms I might have and my sexual history. They ask you questions such as, when did you last have sex? Do you have symptoms? Are you with a current partner? How long have you been with your partner?

After that it's time to go into the next room to actually get tested. It's not the most pleasant experience in the world but it wasn't half as bad as people have made it out to be. If you can get over the fact that there's a complete stranger looking at your nether regions and think about something else, anything else it tends to help. The nurse explained that everyone reacts differently, most people stay deathly quiet, others grind their teeth, some sob (please don't sob), personally I could not stop laughing.

If you want to get tested for HIV you will have to give a blood sample, personally needles don't bother me but I know for some officers this bit was far more harrowing than anything else. After the blood test it's all over, you can pick up some free condoms and be on your way. The clinic will text you up to 8 days after the test to let you know if you have anything. You can also request to be texted if you are all clear.

All in all it was a fairly pleasant experience, you can leave knowing you have taken a positive step towards taking care of your body. Think of it like an M.O.T check up of your sexual health.

Party Time

Who fancies a party?

I know I do and luckily enough Thursday the 10th of December is the date of women's committee's termly 'Women's Party'.

It's a great night out and a chance to experience something a little different from our usual Union club nights. This is a non-alcoholic event but that doesn't mean no fun. There will be live DJ's, a troop of belly dancers, non- alcoholic D.I.Y bar, beautiful henna art (hint don't wear white it'll go everywhere!) and a free vegetarian buffet.

Tickets cost £4 and are available from the Union box office which is now located by the East entrance. The event runs from 8-11pm and you will find us in The Common room, in University house, that's one floor up from the International food court.

(Please note the event is women only, non-alcoholic, and the first hour will be percussion music.)