We hope you’ve all had a great year and feel ready for a relaxing summer. As you chill out
on the beach though remember one thing; jobs! Never far from a student’s mind is the
thought that soon we shall have to enter the world of work. This doesn’t have to be an ordeal,
and as many of our articles in this Employability Edition of Psych News show there are
plenty of opportunities here in Bangor.
First off, there’s an article on the Bangor Employability Award (BEA) a new pilot scheme
designed to demonstrate and develop your skills. Secondly there are a whole host of
voluntary opportunities such as Hergest (with an interview from the project leader Mike
Dally), Psych Soc (Comic Relief and the recent elections), Aspirational Mentors (a voluntary
scheme to encourage secondary school children to pursue a higher education), and Peer
Guiding (an introduction to the newly elected head peer guides and an article from the peer
guiding organiser Kim Davies).
These are just a few of the many ways in which you can help out and enhance your career
prospects. So, regardless of what you’re doing over the summer, we hope you enjoy it and
come back refreshed and ready to explore your options for the future.
This is the last full edition of PsychNews this academic year but do look our for the Special
Edition we are producing with photos of The Psych Factor and the upcoming Employability
Events.
Psych News Editorial Team - Bryony-Fleur Hopwood, Tracey Lloyd, Phil Nelson and Tom
Parmiter, Dan Scrase.
Bangor Employability
Aw a r d - A n I n t e r v i e w
w i t h Tr a c e y L l o y d
In no more than 50 words
what is the Bangor
Employability Award?
How can they get involved?
Students who are not already enrolled
need to speak to John Jackson, the
BEA co-ordinator (email
j.jackson@bangor.ac.uk, phone 01248
388424.
Is it difficult to complete?
The BEA is an award that runs
alongside the degree programme. It
will help employers to see the skills
that students have gained in a simple
and clear way by providing a
certificate of achievement along with a
transcript of skills.
I guess that would depend on
the types of activities that you are
involved in already. If you do any
form of work (paid or voluntary) and
are a member of clubs and societies,
then the award is relatively easy.
What gave you the idea?
Are there any disadvantages or side
effects to taking part?
This is an initiative from the
University to encourage students to
work on their employability skills as a
response to the current economic
climate.
Who can do it?
This year the scheme is being
run as a pilot in the School of
Psychology and in Computer Sciences.
Years one and two can currently enrol
in the programme. We will be
reviewing this over the summer.
Why should they do it?
Why not? Most students
already do some form of extracurricular activity and/or work. All
psychology students are taught a range
of skills during their degree. The BEA
allows students to use these
experiences to their advantage and
provides certification of these skills.
Really, why would you not do that?
Psych News, April 2011
Not really, but as a tutor, I
would have to advise students to make
sure that they put the same effort into
their academic work as they would into
the BEA and to plan accordingly.
Employers are looking for students
with good grades AND good skills, so
both parts need to be worked on.
There are forms to fill in online and
workshops to attend for the BEA so
students need to factor these extra
commitments into their academic
schedule so as not to over-stretch
themselves.
Comic Relief 2011
Kevin Deyna-Jones
Following the success of the
fundraising week for Children In Need
PSΨCH organised another fund-raiser for
Comic Relief. The second ever Club Uno
saw DJ Soc, Storm FM and the Stage
Crew taking over Bar Uno to put on a
night of awesome entertainment, which
raised a staggering £894. Everyone who
came to the Club Night was charged £2 on
the door and students had a great night out
and enjoyed celebrating St Paddy’s Day.
Tom Parmiter, Josh Payne, David
Farnsworth and Kevin Deyna-Jones were
on the door and thanks go to them for their
hard work. In addition to monies collected
on the door, £120 was raised through the
sale of red noses.
Psych Factor brought together
students and lecturers in an X-Factor style
music night, raising over £800. (A further
£50 has been donated from this newsletter
to Comic Relief from proceeds from
advertising). Kudos to Ruth Marsden,
Fraser Bailey, the acts, judges, stagecrew,
Steve Houlston and everyone who
attended Psych Factor. It was a hilarious
night and a great success!
Look out for the upcoming Special Edition
of PsychNews for photos.
Psych Factor and the event’s judging panel
Psych News, April 2011
BPS Wales Student Conference March 26th 2011
On Saturday March 26th at silly o’clock in the morning (6.20am to you), a party of intrepid
Psychology students and two hardy staff members set off for Swansea Metropolitan
University to present research at the BPS Wales Student Conference. We had planned to set
off at 6am, but SOMEONE was late (I am not at liberty to reveal who this was, since “what
goes on tour, stays on tour”). 18 year-three students (and one bus driver) chose to travel
with Drs Lloyd and Short on board a very nice coach to the venue. One student wisely chose
not to travel with us at all, and another asked her Dad to pick her up when she got there!
On arriving in Swansea (LATE) we joined in with the conference and the students
represented Bangor Psychology brilliantly well. All presented in a clear and professional
manner (hurrah for POPPS) and their work was well received. Representatives from the BPS
Wales committee met together and awarded prizes for the best presentations. Bangor
Psychology won first prize this year and we are proud and pleased to announce that Kevin
Deyna-Jones was the winning student with his presentation on Precision Teaching Methods.
Having won a prize, we headed back to Bangor; tired, but proud of ourselves. A
confidentiality agreement between those of us who went on tour at the weekend prevents
me from revealing further details about the trip, but I have to ask the question “Are we
nearly there yet, Fay?”
Psych News, April 2011
Looking to Fresher’s Week…
This year we would like to
ensure that no Fresher is left behind by
introducing new schemes for joint
honours students and masters students
to make sure they have the opportunity
to get involved, too. These schemes are
in the process of being constructed so
we will be able to give more
information closer to the time.
Hello Psychology students,
Our names are John Galvin and
Rhiannon Edwards and we are your
Head Peer Guides for the academic
year 2011/2012! At the moment we are
working with the Senior Peer Guides
and the LRC staff to organise and
structure everything, from arrival
weekend to the events which we will
be putting on during the week.
We will be working closely
with the Psychology Peer Guides
throughout Welcome Week to ensure
that everyone enjoys their first week at
University and becomes familiar with
the University life-style before
semester one begins.
It is also within our
responsibilities to ensure that the Peer
Guides and Senior Peer Guides have a
good week and we aim to bring more
advantages to being a Peer Guide than
previously. This year we will focus on
making sure the Peer Guide’s get the
recognition they deserve for their hard
work, for example, we will be giving
awards for Psychology Peer Guide of
the Year and Psychology Senior Peer
Guide of the Year along with many
other prizes.
Psych News, April 2011
We hope that everyone will
enjoy Welcome Week and get a lot out
of it. We will endeavour to make this
Welcome Week one to remember for
both Peer Guides and first year
students. We have numerous events
that you will see advertised over the
coming weeks. We are currently
working with the Senior Peer Guides
and the LRC staff to bring you the best
Welcome Week to date!
Welcome to Bangor-here’s your Peer Guide!
Kim Davies
Want a bit of a hand settling in?
Worried about making friends?
Don’t know where to find things?
Don’t worry - find a Peer Guide
You won’t be able to miss them
in their bright shirts with the smiley man on the back
Bangor is well known for the warm welcome it extends to its students and integral to that is
our Peer Guide scheme. It has successfully helped our new students settle in for 15 years now
and was recently shortlisted for a Times Higher Education Award.
In September there will be over 70 Peer Guides in the School of Psychology. These
are 2nd and 3rd year students who remember what it’s like to be a new student and have
volunteered to give you a friendly hand settling in. And this happens right from the start
when they are out and about greeting the new students as they arrive in the Halls of
Residence and continues through Welcome Week and beyond.
They’ll help you find your way about Bangor – both the town and the university - as
well as organising different activities and social events where you’ll make lots of new
friends.
They’ll give you the low down on being a Psychology student here and will answer
your questions about all those niggling little things that you might need help with
o
o
o
o
o
Where’s the lecture theatre?
What are the lecturers like?
Where can I play badminton?
Where’s the launderette?
…. and all the other things you don’t want to bother a member of staff with
If they don’t know the answer or can’t help you themselves their training makes sure
they will know someone who can.
And after all that once you’re settled maybe you’ll want to become a Peer Guide
yourself. It’s a great way to have fun and to develop some worthwhile employability skills.
Psych News, April 2011
Headway Gwynedd is the local branch of a national brain injury charity that supports people
with brain injuries and their loved ones. Its organisers, many of whom have first-hand
experience with brain injury and post-injury care, hope to form close ties with Bangor’s
psychology students by providing volunteering opportunities from which both students and
Headway’s members can benefit.
As Student Events Coordinator for Headway Gwynedd I’ll be organising a number of
events over the next few months to raise funds and awareness. Money raised helps to pay
for the charity’s regular support meetings and to provide transport for members to attend
relevant educational events. Sharing experiences with other carers and sufferers can
empower members with knowledge about injuries and in turn alleviate some of the distress
and helplessness they often experience. Donations also help to mitigate the travel costs
incurred when the loved ones of recently injured people find themselves needing to visit
one of the few hospitals in the UK equipped to deal with severe brain injuries.
My personal experience of volunteering with Headway Gwynedd has been
immensely rewarding. Although members are extremely grateful to fundraisers, they are
very excited just to see students take an interest in their cause; even minor volunteer
involvement has a real and immediate impact. Unfortunately, due to overwhelming
demand, we are currently unable to offer any places for students to come along to the
support meetings directly. However we do need all the support we can get from students
who want to help us as fundraisers and, if we can reach out to more people, then we can
hopefully offer more places for more direct involvement in the future.
Upcoming events that we’d love students to get involved with include a sponsored
bag pack at Tesco planned for the 2nd of April and a walk up Cadair Idris in the second week
of May (date to be confirmed) to promote National Brain Injury Awareness Week. We’re
always looking out for new fundraising opportunities so if you have any ideas you’d like to
share please email me at psuc40@bangor.ac.uk. Also email me if you’d just like to be put on
our mailing list to be notified of upcoming events or are continuing your education at
Bangor next year and would like to contribute then.
Psych News, April 2011
Thanks,
Alex Wojtowicz, Student Events Coordinator, Headway Gwynedd
A Missing Crossword…
Emily O’Neill
Across
6. Type of attachment
1. One of the big five personality traits
7. Zimbardo’s prison experiment
4. A neurotransmitter
9. A general perspective
5. Famous for his dogs
12. A defence mechanism
Psych News, April 2011
8. Part of the brain associated with
emotions
Down
10. Face blindness
2. An acceptable addictive drug
11. A disorder where sufferers may have
problems with reading comprehension
3. Can help treat stress
St David’s Day
Bryony-Fleur Hopwood
Here in Bangor, the city prides itself on being a well-established community that is
proud to call itself Welsh. The Welsh patron saint St. David was known for bringing the
people of Wales together and rather than having individual possessions he encouraged the
community to share everything they had. St David’s day having just been celebrated on
March 1st was recognised by the wearing of the daffodil (the national Welsh flower) or a leek
(the national Welsh vegetable). Welsh flags are flown, singing, a national pastime, is
common in schools on this day, and church services are held to honour the life of St. David.
Many people eat cawl, a typical Welsh soup consisting of leek and other vegetables. Another
local delicacy is bara brith, a delicious Welsh fruitcake.
This year’s St. David’s day was celebrated by both the SU and the Welsh SU
(UMCB) with a Welsh week from 28th February- 6th March involving a show of singing,
dancing, music in Welsh. The Pontio programme (a range of events to precede the new arts
and innovation centre currently being built) presented a Welsh comedy and music night, with
Welsh food and beer. The grand finale was a Twmpath (Welsh folk dance) performed on the
last night!
This celebration is a key reminder that we are all part of a unique local culture that
incorporates all incomers. There are many ways to get involved, whether it be at Serendipity,
Psych Soc’s Siop Siarad or the UMCB’s many events and regular activities. Come along and
learn a little about where you live.
Psych News, April 2011
Hysteria-The Past Farce
in Psychology
Tom Parmiter
Hysteria describes a state of
unmanageable fear or emotional
excess, which can result in violent
emotional outbreaks and disturbances
of sensory and motor functions. It was
medically diagnosed, but solely to
women, until 1952. Symptoms were
vast and included fainting, insomnia,
fluid retention, vaginal lubrication,
voluptuous sensations and a general
tendency to cause trouble. In a
nutshell, hysterics were just women
who were “too emotional.”
Hysteria was first diagnosed around
the 4th Century BC. Hippocrates said:
“In the middle of the flanks of women
lies the womb, a female viscus [organ],
closely resembling an animal… in a
word, it is altogether erratic. It
delights, also, in fragrant smells, and
advances towards them; and it has an
aversion to fetid smells, and flees from
them; and on the whole the womb is
like an animal within an animal.”
Bluntly put, if a lady’s libido
was not satisfied, the animal that was
her genitalia took over her mind and
made her mad. This was a medical
diagnosis that survived for well over
2000 years.
But wait, it gets worse. The
treatment for hysteria was as follows:
intercourse (if married), marriage (if
single) and, as a last resort, a
physician’s vaginal massage. That’s
correct. Hysteria was cured for well
Psych News, April 2011
over 2000 years by making women
orgasm. Physicians were solely
qualified to provide this treatment, as
masturbation would cause mania and
death. It was not classed as a sexual
act, but rather a medicinal treatment,
much like a course of antibiotics.
Hysteria was not caused by a woman’s
need for sex, but rather their need for
maternity. In the 1600s, hysteria was
the most commonly diagnosed disease,
second to fever. No temperature? You
have hysteria! Well, if you’re female.
In the 1800s, the criteria for hysteria
covered 75 pages, described as an
incomplete list. Virtually any ailment
could fit the diagnosis.
Due to the time treatment took,
it was burdensome to physicians.
Enterprising individuals took it upon
themselves to aid the medicinal
community. Inventions started to
appear as home appliances treating
hysteria. Around a decade before the
electric iron and vacuum were
invented, home vibrators were best
sellers.
The diagnosis of hysteria
sharply declined at the start of the 20th
century. Hysteria had previously been
the default diagnosis, should other
explanations not be forthcoming. As
new diagnoses came to light providing
alternate explanations, hysteria was
less commonly diagnosed.
Furthermore, hysteria was deemed an
unacceptable diagnosis by the evermodernising society of the time.
Fortunately, today we are
moving towards a society that
recognises these psychological
illnesses for the life threatening
illnesses that they actually are.
The Hergest Project - An Interview with Mike Dally
So guys, some of you may or may
not heard of this wonderful voluntary
opportunity. We interviewed Michael
Dally (project leader) to give you the
inside look on what it’s all about.
What is the Hergest project and how
would you describe it?
For those who may not have heard
about it, The Hergest Unit is an acute adult
mental health facility based at Ysbyty
Gwynedd hospital. It is run by Student
Volunteering Bangor (SVB) and sends two
groups of volunteers to the unit, one on a
Monday night and one on a Wednesday
night, on these evenings volunteers
socialize with the service users through a
variety of activities.
What kind of activities do you run week
to week?
We have a full size snooker table
and a pool table along with a new
badminton set (rackets, shuttlecocks and
net), table tennis, karaoke and DVD
player. Even though we have these each
week we try and keep it fresh by coming
up with new, fun and original ideas. In the
past we have made popcorn and hotdogs,
and provided crisps, dips and fizzy pop for
a movie night. We have made hundreds of
pancakes, Welsh Cakes, soup and even
fortune cookies for Chinese new year.
What is the profile of a typical service
user?
Every service user is different in
many respects and therefore each week is
a whole new experience. Conditions vary,
including problems due to alcoholism and
/ or drug abuse, self harm to delusions and
schizophrenia.
Psych News, April 2011
The Hergest Unit
What do you look for in recruits?
Enthusiasm, good social skills and
a creative flair always bode well at The
Hergest Project, as it can be quite
demanding at times.
What are the advantages and
disadvantages of this position?
The advantages to volunteering at
The Hergest Unit are gaining hands on
experience in an acute mental health ward
and, from what I personally have noticed
amongst our volunteers, a huge boost in
confidence. Disadvantages could be that it
can be extremely demanding at times and
while we want everyone to have a good
time it’s not always fun and games. We
don’t want people to forget that it is an
acute mental health unit and there are
some very sad stories there so, in my
opinion, it’s not for the faint hearted.
What is the most rewarding part of
your volunteer work?
There are so many to choose from;
seeing how well every single one of them
are doing and the progress that they have
made, the feedback we get from service
users, hearing how much they enjoyed the
food we have cooked or just our company
in general makes it all so worthwhile.
What got you interested in mental
health work?
There is a history of alcoholism
and self-harm in my family so mental
health is quite close to home for me. When
I heard about The Hergest Project and the
work that the volunteers do there I knew it
would be right up my street and got
involved straight away.
What advice would you give to someone
who wants to work in the mental health
field?
I would suggest gaining as much
experience as possible while you are at
university. Through my time as a
volunteer and now project leader I have
seen people come to realize that clinical
health is a very competitive field and this
experience would help them stand out in
Psych News, April 2011
the crowd. Previous volunteers have
gained paid work in various mental health
facilities over others because they have
had this experience.
Cheers,
Michael Dally
Monday night project leader with Marina
Simeou
Optimism, Pessimism and Realism –
Employment for the present
If you have ever interviewed for a job,
you’ll know that the interview does not
end with a list of your qualifications. In
today’s world employers want more than
just a degree; they want a well rounded,
experienced individual. Thankfully that is
just what today’s higher education
provides – in abundance.
Of course, that’s not the whole story, the
desire for more and more skills is not
wholly the natural progression it appears
to be – it’s not that we have moved on,
it’s that we are being pushed, for better or
worse by an intrusive government, their
best intentions are paving the road to hell
and forcing more graduates into a market,
where there is no way to differentiate
them from each other.
This is not all the doom and gloom it
sounds, if you are just starting your
university life, or just fishing, it, then you
could always benefit from giving your CV a
little boost with some extra-curricular
activity, “But how?” is the clarion call of
the average student. Yes, you are urged to
volunteer, to “get involved”, but to some
people this is just too vague. Questions
bubble to the surface; “Does it have to be
relevant to psychology?” or “Does it have
to be relevant to my future career?” and
the answer, in my opinion, is no.
The point of extra experience, to me, is
not to get skills in a certain vocation –
such as as a psychologist’s assistant – but
it is rather to learn the ever elusive
“transferable skills”. What are
transferable skills? They are skills you can
use across a multitude of disciplines, skills
such as; organisation, delegation,
communication, human relations and
many more. So how does one go about
gathering this experience? Well here at
Bangor, volunteering is big. We have
opportunities for everyone, no matter
how much or how little they want to get
involved.
This, however, begs the question; why?
Never before in history has volunteering
and “extra experience” been so essential
to getting a job – how far will such a trend
go? Will it eventually become necessary to
have 100 hours of voluntary work? 200
hours? Who knows?
Well do not despair; water has a way of
finding its own level. As too will the higher
education market, the role of which is
ever evolving and shows no sign of
stopping – yes employability is a different
ball game today, than it was just a
generation ago but there is plenty to
suggest that in ten years the employment
landscape will look entirely different, and
so the requirements for employment too
will have changed.
By Philip Nelson
Psych News, April 2011
Pancake Day
Pip Winstone
Wheldon lounge was a-buzz with
activity this Shrove Tuesday (that's
Pancake Day to the uninitiated) as students
were given the opportunity to take part in a
whole host of pancake-related activities.
Students were offered the chance to win a
discount voucher for the new Creperie that
opened last year in upper Bangor. To win
this prize, students had to decorate a
pancake to look as much like a brain as
possible! The entries were judged by none
other than our lovely Fay Short who was
only too happy to help out; congratulations
to Matt Everett for winning that
competition. Another fun event that took
place was a pancake tossing competition,
won by none other than Johnny Lyden
with an impressive 86 flips in a minute!
Finally students had the chance to
purchase a pancake for only 50p with a
selection of toppings! All profits where put
towards Comic Relief.
I would like to thank Sammie Wheable,
Rachel McShane, Nikolaj Jensen and
Laurence Lundgren for their help on the
day and special thanks goes out to the staff
for the loan of their microwave! I think it
is safe to say a great time was had by all.
PsΨch Elections
Dan Scrase
On the 14th March Psych Soc held their AGM.
The former committee (consisting of Kevin
Deyna-Jones, Dan Scrase, Phil Nelson, Adrian
Tan and Corina Wan) stood down to allow the
new committee to be elected. Tracey Lloyd
(academic liason) thanked the previous
committee for their hard work and dedication
during the previous year. Kevin and L-J
reaffirmed this, with L-J adding her hopes and

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
aspirations for the new year. L-J Stokes was
automatically elected as Chair in agreement
with the constitution (thankfully no one
declared a vote of no confidence!). Members
were then given a choice of candidates who all
gave short speeches giving reasons why they
should be elected. Following is a breakdown
of the positions, candidates and votes received
on the night.
Vice Chair - Pip Winstone (47), Matt Everett (31), re-election (one).
Academic Coordinator - Dan Scrase (23), Bethany Miles (21), re-election (three).
Social Coordinator - Tom Parmiter (48), re-election (none).
Treasurer - Laurence Lundgren (44), re-election (four).
Secretary - Vicky Goodwin (37), re-election (nine).
Congratulations to the new committee and good luck with your next year of office!
Psych News, April 2011
Psych News, April 2011