Happinness and wellbeing are all the rage. Despite not being known for Zen-inspired working practices, the housing sector is getting in on the act by offering employees health and wellbeing initiatives, Inside Housing (June 20) reports. Projects range from stress-busting boxing sessions for staff to Indian head massages. David Blackburn, human resources director at Shepherds Bush Housing Group, says: “The sector is very stressful, particularly if you're a frontline member of staff where you're dealing with issues like customer conflict”.

Stress is rife among social workers. When tragic cases hit the headlines social workers are public enemy No1, so it is up to managers to rebuild morale and repair their self-esteem, says Community Care (June 19). Matt Dunkley, director of children's services at East Sussex Council, says social workers get things right in 99 per cent of cases but they have to find a way of getting this across to the public. “I don't think there is a sector of public life apart from some doctors where people manage the scale and volume of risk that social workers manage. They make life or death decisions and they get them right in most cases”, Dunkley says.

Risk is no deterrent for chief police officers from across the UK who are still getting their hands dirty on frontline patrols. “Being a chief constable can be a bit like being a member of the Royal Family - you end up thinking the whole world smells of fresh paint,” Sean Price, Chief Constable of Cleveland Police, tells Police Review (June 20). Price is one of a handful of chiefs speaking out about why he's not afraid to roll up his sleeves, spend time with bobbies on the beat and arrest villains: “It's about trying to keep in touch with what is going on on the streets.”

The public have lost touch with what's going on in the science lab. Think of a scientist. Is he a white-coated, bespectacled and mentally deranged character poring over a bubbling vat of chemicals? There it is. The popular image of the scientist is based so closely on fictional representations of science that the public view of science itself is becoming a mirror of these fantasy creations, lab rat John Gilbey writes in Times Higher Education (June 19). Take, for example, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein through to Bill Murray's portrayal of Dr Peter Venkman in the 1980s film Ghostbusters. Today, we need believable representations of science in the media to dispel unhelpful stereotypes, Gilbey says.

It's a grand life in academia

Academics have a shorter working week, more annual leave and better parental benefits, pensions and sick pay than the rest of us

Background

• How many nurses in a ward?

• A champion for the modern girl

• The key to winning an award

• What worked for us

Related Internet Links

• Public sector jobs

• Snakes & Ladders

The clichéd image of our Stone Age ancestors is not dissimilar to that of our modern day Olympians - lean and muscle-bound. It might come as a surprise to hear that you too have the ability to be as fit as an Olympian. According to S. Boyd Eaton, a professor of orthopaedic radiology at Emory University, Atlanta, our genes were identical to those of our ancestors who hunted and gathered to feed themselves: “Genetically, we are still Stone-Agers,” he tells BMA News (June 21). In evolutionary terms, it was normal for ordinary human beings to do a lot more physical activity until very recently. The human body evolved for the purpose of Herculean amounts of exercise. Eaton says it's a nonsense for people to blame their genes on the fact they are fat. So, no excuses, on your bike.

Media Monitor

“Large ham and pineapple for the hoody?” These words might be heard on an estate in Derby, where police have been trying to keep louts out of trouble - by giving them free pizza. Shopkeepers complained about intimidating youths, but expected cops to deliver action, rather than pizza to a local youth club. Police said the grub helped to build relationships, but an angry shopkeeper said the scheme was just “crazy”, reports The Sun (June 16). Is cutting grass at 3am another act of lunacy? Not according to Leeds City Council, reports the Daily Express (June 19). A stretch of road in a suburb is too dangerous to work on during daylight hours, says the council. But one bleary-eyed local thinks the council's decision smacks of hypocrisy. “If I started up a lawnmower at that time of day I'm sure the council would be straight round with a noise abatement order.”

Postmen in Leyland, Lancashire, are also making a bit of noise - because they've been told to ditch their trusty bikes. Depot chiefs fear that posties will injure themselves if they ride them while carrying heavy shoulder bags, reports the Daily Mail (June 17). One postman labelled the move senseless: not only do the two-wheelers have saddle bags, but colleagues are going to get “knackered” with all the walking.

Staying completely static was one man from Goole, East Yorkshire. He was stuck in the bath for two days, before being rescued by firefighters who found him while tackling a blaze in a neighbouring flat, reports the Daily Mirror (June 20).

Senior civil servants also seem to be stuck - in a pre-internet timewarp. They need help from junior colleagues to engage with online social networks, says Tom Watson, the Cabinet Office Minister. He wants young civil servants to “enlighten” older mandarins, reports the Daily Mail (June 19). But would the new scheme cover sending sensitive materials to ministers, one MP asked. “There won't be any top secret documents placed on Facebook,” Watson said reassuringly.

HEADLINE OF THE WEEK

Apple fuelled bike is a corker
A motorbike fuelled by crushed apples distilled by A-level chemistry students reached speeds of 160mph, says The Times Educational Supplement (June 20)

Explore Public Sector

• How to get a job

Times Recommends

• Inspirational leadership
• How to get a new job
• The reluctant CEO