Concrete 360

29 January 2019 Issue 360 The official student newspaper of the University of East Anglia | concrete-online.co.uk

'I’ve been without any medication for about three months now’

News:

Students wait months for prescriptions due to shortages

to the UK. Some fear that Brexit, and especially a no-deal Brexit, may reduce medication supplies significantly.

News Reporter Fluoxetine, an antidepressant, and naproxen, an antiinflammatory, are some of many drugs which have become Many students at UEA have been left waiting months for hard to come by. prescription medications from the Medical Centre.

In October last year, there was a shortage in supply of Pharmacists across Norfolk have warned there are a 45 drugs. shortage of medications, with no signs of a solution in the near future.

The NHS has decreased the amount it will pay for Continued on drugs due to ongoing austerity measures, meaning fewer pharmaceutical companies are willing to sell medications

Beth Bacon

pg3

Comment:

Barking up the wrong tree?

The Student Union’s (SU) weekly dog walking sessions are designed to encourage students to be active, using sport to benefit their mental health. While some may argue dog walking isn’t really a sport, the SU seem to be doing the best with the cards they’ve been dealt.

pg 6

Science

Which vegan milk is best for the planet?

The carbon footprint of the dairy industry has become a topic of global interest. But what's the best alternative?

pg15

29th January 2019

2

Editorial

1000 job losses that will make you Stay gold, say 'journalism is in trouble' lol! UEA Matt Nixon Deputy Editor

Photo: Alex Hayworth

Sophie Bunce Editor-in-Chief

To the horror of every working journalist, last week Buzzfeed laid off it’s entire national news desk and most of its national security team. Conde Nast made cuts at GQ. Huffpost let go of reporters.

While the decline of print is nothing new - neither the fall of local newspapers who struggle to monetise their content in an increasingly digital world - we’re not used to seeing the big boys, the Buzzfeeds and Huffposts, trembling in fear.

We’re not used to 1,000 people in media losing their jobs in January.

My Twitter feed is full of journalists posting their portfolios in search of work.

These are ‘proper’ journalists, award-winning ones, who’ve been let go in one of the biggest dumplings of media staff in recent memory. All in the name of Google and Facebook's duopoly.

It’s easy for me to say, but the leaders of these publications must do better. Google and Facebook are no new challenge. Their dominance comes as no surprise.

If publications have neglected to diversify their income outside of digital advertising profits, which they claim the duopoly has stolen from them, they’ve done a disservice to their staff.

Business isn’t for the fainthearted and cuts have to happen - but

Buzzfeed cutting fifteen percent of their staff is not simply finance management it’s the end of news as we know it.

"Buzzfeed cutting fifteen percent of their staff is not simply finance management it’s the end of news as we know it" We must all do better - buy your local paper, pick up a print copy of a magazine, subscribe to publications online. This won’t help all of the jobs cuts. Some of them are simply selfish people at the top being mean to those below them, playground bullying. Though if it can help anyone, it’s worth it. … and onto this issue.

Our front page is also a cry for leaders to do better, as medication shortages have reached a terrifying level. Our Online Editor Beth Bacon had dabbled in print this issue with her first front page story, ‘Students wait months for prescriptions due to shortages.’

While national shortages have been reported, we took a look at how it’s affected students at UEA. From nut

allergies to ADHD medication, the number of unavailable medications has reached eighty. It’s utterly unacceptable.

Check out Comment for our writers discussion of the SU’s dog walking initiative that sold out within an hour in its first week and 24 hours in the second.

Let us know if you went to it @ Concrete_UEA and send us all your dog photos! I won’t pretend, I don’t like dogs, but it’s a good moral boost for the team as we power on to Summer.

Keep an eye out for our Sex Survey coming out next issue. It’ll be full of all your scandalous secrets.

If you haven’t done it yet take a look on our socials to find it.

We hope you like fruit and vegetables as much as our branding does..!

In the wake of job losses, community amongst journalists is more important than ever, and this week I’m even more proud of Concrete and our writers. I hope you all enjoy the issue.

Scan the QR code to join Concrete on the SU website.

With the relief of finishing last semester’s assignments, which most of us have finally done (keep going if you haven’t yet!), comes a chance to breathe and enjoy the ever-so-slightly longer days, and maybe even a bit of snow if last year is anything to go by.

This semester is my favourite each year, with Easter break, the sun showing its face again, and a general buzz around campus.

Snakebites in the square, classes by the lake, and a new copy of Concrete every two weeks to report on all that you’re up to.

Since our last issue, our writers have not only been writing about UEA, but have been looking at everything local, national and global. In News, Jack Ashton has written about the new Broadcast Journalism undergraduate course at UEA (Page 6), an exciting prospect which, were I starting at UEA next year, might have steered me away from Creative Writing.

Looking off campus, our Global Editor George Goldberg has selected a the most important stories from around the world, and Jake Morris’ Brexit Box special about Parliament’s ‘meaningful vote’ (Page 8) is worth checking out, with now only 59 days before Britain is scheduled to exit the EU. For more opinions on Brexit, check out News again (Page 5), where Jamie Hose has reported on a PPL academic who wrote for the Huffington Post about ‘myths’ surrounding a People’s Vote, and our writer Jake Goddard has written a great response. But, if all this talk about assignments and Brexit feels too much, why not take a trip to Travel (page 20) where our writers have talked about the best countries to visit this year and the most ‘dangerous’ dishes around the world.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading this issue of Concrete as much as we enjoyed putting it together, and we look forward to reporting this semester, as well as polishing off our annual sex survey, out next issue! Stay gold, UEA.

concrete-online.co.uk Concrete_UEA concreteuea concrete_UEA Front page: Pixabay mmI9

The University of East Anglia’s Official Student newspaper since 1992 Tuesday 29th January 2019 Issue 360 Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593466 www.concrete-online.co.uk

Editor-in-Chief Sophie Bunce concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Deputy Editor Matt Nixon concrete.deputy@uea.ac.uk Online Beth Bacon concrete.online@uea.ac.uk News Shannon McDonagh Senior Writer: Jake Morris concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Global Global Editor: George Goldberg Senior Writer: Jake Morris concrete.global@uea.ac.uk Features Features Editors: Chloe Howcroft and Mia Shah Senior Writer: Roo Pitt concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Comment C. E. Matthews concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk Science Science Editor: Anna Jose Senior Reporter: Hannah Brown concrete.scienv@uea.ac.uk Travel Amy Newbery concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk Sport Spot Editor: Tony Allen Senior Writer: Meyzi Adoni concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk Chief Copy-Editors Holly Purdham Izzy Voice concrete.copy@uea.ac.uk Social Media Beth Bennett

Editorial Enquiries Complaints & Corrections concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk

No part of this newspaper may be reproduced by any means without the permission of the Editor-in-Chief, Sophie Bunce. Published by the Union of UEA Students on behalf of Concrete.

Concrete is a UUEAS society, but retains editorial independence as regards to any content. Opinions expressed herein are those of individual writers, not of Concrete or its editorial team.

News

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29th January 2019

concrete-online.co.uk/category/news/ | @Concrete_UEA

Beth Bacon

80 medications 'short in supply'

News Reporter

Continued from front page

Students waiting several months

Now, there are over 80 medications so hard to come by the Department for Health are having to pay premium prices for.

Tony Dean, Chief Officer at the Norfolk Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC), said: ‘It’s a national problem and it is a very real and increasing problem.’

“Since October I've been without an EpiPen because they ran out” The Medical Centre provided the following statement; 'Whilst we agree that disruption of medicine supply can be difficult for patients, pharmacists and prescribers alike, this is not a new problem. The Department of Health and the Pharmaceutical Industry set up the Stock Shortage Notification Scheme in 2007 to improve the monitoring of potential supply problems. GPs are regularly updated as to problems with medicine availability, and in the event that we prescribe a medication that is currently unavailable, the pharmacy should inform the GP and advise us on an alternative prescription, which is done as soon as is practicable.

UEA Medical Centre prides itself on having a robust and efficient repeat prescribing service with a 2-working day turn around for repeat prescription requests.

We do our best to provide an excellent service to students beyond that provided by neighbouring practices, including staying open and available for prescriptions to be picked up at lunchtimes and

Brexit could threaten supply

Photo: Matt Nixon Saturday mornings and sometimes providing repeat prescriptions at short notice when students have forgotten to re-order at the correct time.

We also work hard to ensure that students can have prescriptions directed to pharmacists all over the country during university vacations so that their supply is not interrupted.'

Serene Shibli, a History and Politics student, told Concrete: ‘I have medication produced in Europe and if these get worse, with no trade deal getting them might be a real issue to the extent my mum has suggested stockpiling.’

‘Imagine having people put in in the position of losing an organ because they wanted to win back their sense of national identity.’

One UEA student, who has asked to remain anonymous, has said ‘I have ADHD, so I have Tranquilyn for this. Over summer, for about five months, I wasn't able to get this from the pharmacist, they said they would text me when it was available, but never came through even though I phoned a few times.

‘Eventually, the prescription expired so I went back to doctor for it again, went back to pharmacy and explained what had gone on, they still didn't have it so suggested I went to another pharmacy.’

They continued: ‘I then had to

go back to the doctor again so the brand could be changed, as my medication is high control, so the pharmacist wasn't able to do this for me. This was really frustrating as it takes quite a while to get a doctor’s appointment at UEA doctor.’

This issue has become particularly worrying for many patients due to the potential backlash from Brexit. However, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said, ‘We have not seen any evidence of current medicine supply issues linked to EU exit preparations.’

Some have argued that a national shortage of drugs is a fluctuating phenomenon that is not uncommon. However, former Liberal Democrat MP Sandra Gidley, a pharmacist and chairwoman of the English Pharmacy Board at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has said supplies ‘are now worse than ever’.

Another UEA student told Concrete: ‘I have a severe nut allergy (potential fatal), since October I’ve been without an EpiPen because they ran out and ‘couldn’t estimate’ when they’d get more in.

‘They also had none of the replacement, EpiJETS. I’m going to check today, but I’ve been without any medication for about three months now.’

Another UEA student told

Concrete they had to ‘wait four weeks for a prescription because the doctor failed to change the medication, he had given me three times after he had been asked to change it.’

‘I also have asked for inhalers on repeat prescriptions, but the doctors haven't checked they prescribed the correct dose, so I had to pay for medication that was useless and go back and get more.’

The NHS’s ‘Medicine Shortage Guidance from June 2018 states ‘If a prescribed medicine is out of stock, ensure all options to help the patient get their treatment have been considered before contacting the prescriber.’

The final step, after contacting all wholesalers and other pharmacies in the area, is to ‘ask the patient if they would like their prescription returned to them, or whether they would like you to contact the GP to arrange for an alternative to be prescribed. In some cases, a patient may prefer to wait if the medication is not required urgently.’

Georgina Burchell, Welfare, Community and Diversity Officer said: ‘The shortage in medical supplies is troubling. Whilst this issue is being felt across many areas of the NHS current due to forces like Brexit it’s difficult to read that our students are being negatively affected.

'We’d encourage people to make sure they put prescriptions in with plenty of time and continue to check with your pharmacy.’

In Issue 360 of Concrete, published on Tuesday 20 January an article headlined 'Students wait for prescriptions due to shortages' said the UEA Medical Centre had been contacted for comment. Regrettably this was not the case and Concrete apologises for any confusion and distress caused.

In Issue 360 of Concrete, published on Tuesday 20 January an article headlined 'Students wait for prescriptions due to shortages' said the UEA Medical Centre had been contacted for comment. Regrettably this was not the case and Concrete apologises for any confusion and distress caused.

An earlier version of this article appeared on the Concrete website with the headline 'UEA Medical Centre leaves students waiting for prescriptions'.

Concrete is pleased clarify the medicine shortage is not the fault of UEA Medical Centre, but national shortages, and the headline has been updated to reflect this. Concrete again apologises for any confusion and distress caused.

Department for Education: 'Universities are failing disabled students' C.E. Matthews News Reporter

Universities Minister Chris Skidmore has called for universities to do more to welcome students with disabilities into the institutions.

Figures published this month show over 94,000 students with disabilities entered into universities in England in 2017/18, a record number.

While the number accounts for 13% of all entrants, it remains lower than the percentage of adults with disabilities who are old enough to work.

Skidmore said: 'There is more work to be done, and I want to see the access and participation plans universities are beginning to produce increase the ways they can support this group.'

He cited Brunel University and the University of Worcester as examples to other universities of how to create a campus 'with accessibility in mind'.

Owing to the 2010 Equality Act, universities have a legal responsibility to provide for disabled students. Mr Skidmore is set to call a meeting to examine how the higher education sector can improve the university experience for those with disabilities.The Minister hopes universities’ access plans will prove key to increasing the number of disabled people who go to university.

He said 'We can do more to break down access and participation barriers in higher education by focusing on spreading good practice and listening to disabled students

about their needs.'

“I want to see the access and participation plans universities are beginning to produce” Currently it is the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) that is most successful in aiding students with disabilities at university.

Students can apply for the DSA in addition to other student finance, but whereas most schemes take

household income into account, the DSAs are based around the needs of the individual in question. Research by the Department of Education found 59 percent of students who received the DSA believe they would not have succeeded in their course without the help of the allowance.

The National Association of Disability Practitioners hailed this news as a success. A spokesperson said 'Effective DSA support will enable future generations of disabled people to participate successfully in higher education.'

This academic year higher education providers intend to spend £860m to help disadvantaged and underrepresented students, including those with disabilities.

Mr Skidmore stated, “No-one’s background or circumstances

should hold them back from the opportunity of a university education.”

A spokesperson for the Students' Union told Concrete: 'UEA still has a way to go in terms of meeting the needs of students with disabilities. Whilst we welcome the work of the Access All Areas group that has SU membership on it’s not enough and we’re pushing UEA to first understand the needs of our students and then make UEA a place where they feel welcomed.

'Government changes in recent years put more emphasis on the work that universities should be doing to support students and we want to continue to work with partners in Student Support Services to improve the situation here at UEA.'

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29th January 2019

News

News in brief

LDC grad receives Oscar nomination UEA’s Creative Writing graduate, Deborah Davis’ latest screenplay, The Favourite, has been nominated for the Best Original Screenplay at this year’s Oscar’s.

The film stars Olivia Colman (Peep Show), Emma Stone (La La Land), and Rachel Weisz (Disobedience).

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite is set in 18th century when England and France are at war. Queen Anne reigns, but she is frail so Lady Sarah must take lead. Abigail, their newly appointed maid, becomes close with Sarah and Abigail takes the opportunity to return to her aristocratic roots.

Davis began writing the script whilst studying for her MA at UEA, which became co-written with Tony McNamara. The script was first titled Balance of Power and was driven by her passion for history. Davis is a notable feminist and she said she wanted to see “women running the show” who had “very deep, intimate, and complex emotions”.

The Favourite has been nominated for a number of other awards, such as the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes. She was in fact the only female screenwriter to be nominated for these awards this year, which Davis describes as “very disappointing”. After twenty years, Davis’ sensational script has finally made it to the big screen. The only question is, who will be the next UEA graduate to do the same?

Beth Bacon

Fear of further strikes as UCU release ballot on work and pay Abi Steer

News Reporter

Approximately 700,000 University and College Union members from 143 universities are being balloted over the next month for strike action concerning disputes over pay and work conditions.

“Concerns also lie within the education sector's stagnating wages” Photo: Matt Nixon

offer that better responded to their demands.

UCU has said that as there is no offer that has been made by UCEA that they are able to recommend to their members, their only alternative is further industrial action.

Matt Waddup, UCU Head of Policy, said: 'Staff have concerns about spiralling workloads, pay inequality and the continued casualisation of the workforce.

‘Staff want these important

issues to be taken seriously, and that includes the 21 percent loss in the value of their pay since 2009, which the recently imposed 2 percent pay offer does nothing to address.'

This latest round of balloting follows an initial ballot between Thursday 30 August and Friday 19 October 2018 which resulted in many institutions not achieving the 50 percent turnout required for industrial action to become an option.

SU dog walking wellness scheme praised

News in brief SU bar removes Coca Cola

UCU members will be looking for guarantees that universities will tackle the gender pay gap, insecure contracts and excessive workloads.

Concerns also lie within the education sector’s stagnating wages, which has fallen in real terms by 21 percent since 2009.

Many students went several weeks without teaching in February last year following strikes regarding

staff pensions, though students as a whole were generally supportive of the move.

This discussion focuses on the failure of universities’ to improve on the 2 percent offer made at pay talks last year.

In July 2018 UCU contacted ViceChancellors around the country requesting their involvement in negotiations in order to push the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) towards an

Jake Morris

Senior News Reporter

UEA(SU) has received national recognition for it’s new dog walking scheme designed to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of students.

The scheme is the first of its kind at a UK university and gained coverage by media outlets such as The Telegraph, The Times, ITV Anglia and Eastern Daily Press.

The scheme has been a hit with students, with first two sessions were booked up in their entirety.

UEA has received £12,000 funding from Sport England through British Universities and Colleges Sport to improve student physical activity, opting to spend part of this on the dog walking scheme.

The scheme allows students to take dogs, loaned by members of staff and volunteers, for walks around campus and to Cromer beach and Thetford forest on funded trips. It will run alongside the widely well-received Pets as Therapy scheme run at UEA to help with mental wellbeing during exam seasons.

Professor Andy Jones of Norwich Medical School recently published his research on the

Photo: UEA(SU) benefits of dog walking. He said: ‘Our studies have shown that dog walking helps people to maintain their physical activity levels.

In addition to this, it is known that there are a wide range of social and mental health benefits.’

Oli Gray, Activities and Opportunities Officer, said: ‘Around this time of year in particular,

university can be a stressful time for students, with many feeling pressure from deadlines, financial worries, or just missing family and friends from home.

One of my key priorities this year is improving students' mental wellbeing using physical activity but that doesn’t have to mean sport. I’m thrilled to be working

in partnership with UEA Active in bringing Navigate Norfolk to campus – an opportunity to get out and get active.

A key strand of that is our weekly dog walks on campus – you can find out more and sign up at ueadiffererent.com!’

Dog walking sessions take place every Wednesday at 2pm.

Numerous students have voiced concerns over the SU bar removing Coca-Cola as a draught mixer.

A representative for the bar has responded to numerous complaints on the student ran Concrete Confessions Between UEA Seshions page, stating that the beverage will still be sold in bottled form.

The majority of the complaints were from individuals that experience allergies to the sweeteners in Coca Cola’s sugar free options.

This move is most likely a reaction to the government’s decision to implement a sugar tax in April last year, introduced to crack down on high sugar levels in soft drinks as strategy to tackle childhood obesity.

Many companies have modified recipes to avoid the charges, with others directing a higher portion of their marketing costs to sugar free products.

Coca Cola has seemingly failed to do either, meaning the price of a two-litre Coca Cola bottle has increased by 48p.

Bryan Theo Mfladhi

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29th January 2019

News

PPL academic dispells 'myths' surrounding People's Vote Jamie Hose News Reporter

Reader in Political and Legal Theory Dr. Alexander Brown has written an article for the Huffington Post arguing against a second EU referendum. Brown, a regular contributor to the publication, attempts to debunk several ‘myths’ which he claims have collected around this campaign.

Brown links this to the referendum of 2016, in which he claims there were also examples of ‘half-truths’ being told in order to generate fear and uncertainty, and presents the parallel between those that believe a second referendum would ‘double-down’ on democracy, whereas their opponents believe that this decision would be profoundly undemocratic.

Brown told Concrete that he is by no means a ‘Conservative Brexiteer,’ with his political affiliation lying with the Labour Party.

He also says that he is both an ‘internationalist’ and a ‘deeply committed democrat.’

He claims his article comes after following the arguments proposed in various media as well as at political meetings, rallies and marches over the last two years, although he believes that the movement has really gathered force

Photo: Ilovetheeu, Wikimedia

in the last three months.

The most common justification for a People’s Vote lies in the belief that the majority of voters did not know what they were voting for.

Brown suggests that voters still have little idea as to the sort of Brexit that they will be faced with, expressing apprehensions that the public will be demanding a third referendum in another two years’ time, and that a perceived loss of

value in referendums could lead to a drop in voter turn-out in future cases.

Brown argues that voters knew what they were in for when they elected a Conservative majority government in the 2015 general election off the back of Conservative promises to hold a referendum, and that, whilst the referendum suffered from limitations and problems concerning the extent of

the franchise and the phrasing of the question on the ballot-paper, a second referendum would likely face exactly the same issues, if not more.

He also suggests that there is not an overwhelmingly obvious change in public opinion enough to merit a second referendum, and that, in opposition to claims that the 2016 referendum did not provide a ‘clear answer,’ a small but definite

majority of 51.9% voted in favour of leaving the EU. Responding to a comment on the article from Dr Toby James, who suggests that a public vote is needed to break the ‘political deadlock,’ Brown proposed that, because the issue is a political rather than legal deadlock, the issue can be resolved without another referendum, stating: ‘old mother time will do that for us.’

Norfolk eating disorder charity Comment: 'A People's Vote is not about provide parental training changing your mind' says Jake Goddard Lauren Sant News Reporter

Norwich based eating disorder charity Beat are partnering with the Norfolk Community Eating Disorder Service to support and advise the families of those trying to care for a child with an eating disorder.

Beat are establishing a telephone support line, the provision of advice, and a two-day workshop this month to help parents to understand more about their child’s e a t i n g disorder and learn s k i l l s to help support them.

Beat was founded in 1989 as the UK’s first eating disorder charity, and has since grown into a key resource for those seeking advice, treatment and training.

Eating disorders affect over one million people in the UK, mostly teenagers and young adults.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommend family-based therapy as the most effective treatment for said disorders, though despite this

over 40% of parents said they were given little information on eating disorders, whilst 60% claimed to not have been told about useful support groups.

Furthermore, supporting a child with an eating disorder can cost a family an average of £32,672 - over £5,000 more than an average salary, with each patient is estimated to cost the NHS up to £80,000.This is does not include the emotional and financial costs incurred in the estimated 176 weeks between t h e beginning of the disorder and the starting of treatment.

Rebecca Field, head of communications for Beat, said: “Families can provide vital help for loved ones suffering with an eating disorder and it is essential that they get the information and support they need.”

BEAT’s approaches will undoubtedly act as a stepping stone towards the relief both the suffering individual, and the families who support them.

Jake Goddard Comment Writer

In order to justify arguments against a People’s Vote, Alexander Brown attempts to identify and debunk what he refers to as several ‘myths’ that are often relied upon.

Regardless of where you stand on the People’s Vote, however, his article hardly shows the strength from which to make that decision.

“[Dr. Brown] suggests leaving the EU is a simple choice that the UK has the capacity to make” For starters, the reasons for a second referendum are surely more than the seven he identifies: Where is the mention of the changing demographics?

He acknowledges the argument that ‘people may have changed their minds’, but not that there are now over 2 years’ worth of young eligible voters that had no say in the original referendum.

Likewise, there are 2016 voters at the other end of the age range

that have since deceased.

From this I would ask: why should the future be in the hands of the dead rather than the hands of a statistically more educated younger population?

This major hurdle needs addressing first if his argument is to be even remotely convincing.

Let us also analyse the statement that ‘people may have changed their minds’.

The 2016 referendum asked if the UK should ‘Remain’ in, or ‘Leave’, the EU. However, given the complexity surrounding the UK’s final leave from the EU as well as May’s recently overturned 585page deal (which was essentially a subscription to remain in the EU in everything but name, but with no say in EU decision-making), the question is dramatically misleading.

It assumes (and even suggests) that leaving the EU is a simple choice that the UK has the capacity to make, much like asking a child, ‘Do you want waffles?’, regardless

of knowing if there are any in the pantry.

“It's not about changing your mind, it's about giving the original question much needed clarity” It’s not about changing your mind, it’s about giving the original question much needed clarity.

Get involved with the debate by reading Dr. Brown's article on the Huffington Post, and by writing to us on our social media. @Concrete_UEA on Instagram and Twitter.

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29th January 2019

News

Broadcast journalism undergraduate course announced in partnership with Epic Studios Jack Ashton News Reporter

UEA can expect a journalism undergraduate course by September 2020, Concrete has been told.

The course, which aims to build off the success of the current ‘Broadcast and Digital Journalism’ Postgraduate course, is currently in development and will leave its graduates with a Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BCTJ) qualificationthe qualification sought after by leading broadcasters such ITN, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

“The course will give students access to Epic Studios' newly upgraded professional media suite” Students that currently wish to gain experience in journalism as a part of their course have a limited selection of modules from which to choose, and there are few other institutions in the Norfolk/Suffolk area that offer an equal level of qualification.

The course intends to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical journalism, and while it will offer journalistic ethics and media law training, it also aims to provide more streamlined modules such as political journalism as well as implementing the 15+ days of newsroom conditions which are required under the qualification.

These days will directly emulate a newsroom environment, giving students first hand experience of producing, presenting and directing their own broadcasts.

Utilising Norwich’s capacity as a media hub, the course will give students access to Epic Studios in Norwich where UEA students currently work in a newly upgraded professional media suite.

The studio is complete with

professional grade radio editing facilities, multiple studios capable of producing high quality, feature length documentaries as well as newsrooms to simulate a professional news environment as best as possible.

Speaking to the Masters students who already use the studio, it’s clear that the aims for both the studio and the practicality of the course have been met.

They told Concrete about the workshop days they’ve completed, which require them to work under professional newsroom conditions, producing real time broadcasts to give them a hands-on experience.

One student, who had a journalism undergraduate degree from another university, praised the mix of practicality and theory which allowed him to gain the hands-on experience required in a journalism job, and they all shared their appreciation of the employability value of the course.

Mark Wells and Clare Precey, the coordinators of the current postgraduate and future undergraduate course said 'UEA has never had a complete journalism program… just lots of aspects handled separately. This is a chance for us to have a complete journalism course aimed at developing professional journalists.'

Between them they have worked with the BBC, the EDP, Radio 1 and a variety of programs and broadcasts, and have very clear aims for the course.

Building off Mark’s comments, Clare told us how she 'gets news editors coming to me on a regular basis asking if we have news journalists trained and ready to go because they have shifts they can offer them.

'They need to be properly trained in radio news and software, able to write bulletins and record interviews.

We’re providing people who are ready to go into these jobs...'

The new course is expected to be an option in the September 2020 enrolment to UEA, but you can look at the work of the current Master’s students on twitter @ UEA_Journalism or online at www. ueajournalism.com.

Photos: Jack Ashton

University to offer £1,000 visual arts bursary Nina Maria News Reporter

A £1,000 bursary is available for a UEA undergraduate studying in any discipline, to pursue a project in the visual arts.

Alongside their formal academic studies, this award aims to support students, aged between 17 and 25, to engage in their interest in contemporary visual art.

This can include fine art, photography and curation.

The bursary can be used flexibly, for

example on materials, research or travel; depending on the nature of the project.

Mentoring will be available if desired.

Norfolk Contemporary Art Society and Young Norfolk Arts Trust are working together with

Norwich University of the Arts to create this award.

The project will be exhibited in the Young Norfolk Arts Festival in July 2019 and the award winner may be required to give a presentation about their work.

Applicants will need a

recommendation by an academic referee in order to apply.

The deadline is Monday 4th March.

Monday 4 March deadline

8

Global

29th January 2019

Brexit Box Special: Parliament’s ‘meaningful vote’ Jake Morris

Global Senior Writer

Theresa May’s draft EU Withdrawal Agreement was rejected by MPs by a margin of 230 votes. With only 202 MPs voting in favour of the deal, this was the largest Parliamentary defeat for a serving government in UK history. 118 backbench Conservative MPs rebelled and voted to reject the deal. The deal was originally scheduled to be voted on in December last year, but due to widespread speculation that it would be rejected, Mrs May deferred it to January.

Photo: Flikr, Mrs May has Arno Mikkor spent two years in negotiations with the EU to secure a draft deal w h i c h covers i s s u e s such as c i t i z e n ’s rights, and the future role of the European Court of Justice.

However, many MPs rejected the deal due to the controversial Northern Irish ‘backstop,’ whereby if a trade agreement has not been negotiated between the UK and EU by December 2020, then Northern Ireland would remain in a customs union with the EU to

prevent a hard border in Ireland.

“Mr Corbyn has refused to take part in talks until a no-deal Brexit has been ruled out” Mrs May’s government survived a motion of no confidence tabled

by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn immediately after her deal was defeated.

His motion was supported by all opposition parties, except the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who chose to vote with the government despite rejecting Mrs May’s deal.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Following her deal’s failure, Mrs May pledged to hold cross-party talks to find a consensus on Brexit. She and senior ministers Michael Gove and David Liddington

met with the Parliamentary leaders of the Scottish Nationalist Party, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the DUP and the Green Party.

Mr Corbyn has refused to take part in talks until a no-deal Brexit has been ruled out. Despite Mr Corbyn writing to his MPs asking them not to engage with the talks, two senior backbench Labour MPs, Yvette Cooper and Hilary Benn (Chairs of the Home Affairs and Brexit Select Committees respectively), met with the government.

Having had her deal rejected by Parliament, Mrs May set out her revised strategy to MPs. In a statement in the Commons, she outlined her continued commitment to crossp a r t y talks and reiterated that she will not extend or revoke Article 50.

She plans to table a neutral m o t i o n w h i c h

would allow MPs to introduce a series of amendments, and those that are passed will shape the Brexit process.

These amendments are likely to reflect the diverse range of opinions amongst MPs. Some are calling for a ‘hard’ Brexit, whereby the UK leaves the EU without an agreement. Other MPs favour a ‘softer’ Brexit, such as membership of a customs union or of the European Economic Area – the so-called Norway model. Some Leave-supporting MPs, including exministers Boris Johnson and David Davis, are calling for a trade agreement modelled on the EUC a n a d a deal, but the Government argues that this does not resolve the issue of the Northern I r i s h b o r d e r.

T h e L a b o u r Party is campaigning for a general

election and a group of crossparty MPs are calling for a second referendum, dubbed the People’s Vote.

One amendment, not supported by the Government, comes from a group of MPs including Ms Cooper, Conservative Nicky Morgan and North Norfolk’s Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat). Their Bill aims to prevent a no deal Brexit by forcing the Government to extend Article 50 if a withdrawal agreement is not completed by 28 February.

59

days before Britain is scheduled to exit the European Union

Photo: Unsplash

Canadian sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling will appeal Rassul Merali Global Writer

Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was tried, convicted and sentenced to death on Monday 14 January 2019.

He was accused of attempting to smuggle almost 500 pounds of methamphetamine into Australia.

However, both at the appeal hearing and the retrial, Mr Schellenberg said that he was in China for tourism purposes and that he had unknowingly became entangled in a drug smuggling operation.

The hearing, which was a retrial ordered by an appeals court in December 2018, took place in a port city of Dalian, in northeastern China.

According to Zhang Dongshuo, one of Mr Schellenberg’s two defence attorneys, the swiftness of the sentencing on Monday was astonishing.

Mr Zhang said: ‘This really was too fast… Under Chinese law, death sentences should be handled very carefully… Generally, they must be arrived at after careful consideration, assessment and discussion. For a court to announce a death sentence just an hour after the trial really is very, very rare.’

The next step that Mr Schellenberg can take is to formally lodge his appeal within ten days of receiving a written copy of the court verdict. Mr Zhang stated that prosecutors did not provide new evidence on Monday, which could justify a heavier penalty.

‘Under Chinese law, the penalty of a criminal conviction can only be increased on appeal if the prosecution produces new criminal facts,’ Mr Zhang said.

In legal terms the odds are

stacked against Mr Schellenberg, as successful appeals in criminal cases are rare and outright acquittals are even rarer.

Nevertheless, an appeal can aid Mr Schellenberg by extending the legal process whilst the Canadian government works towards securing clemency.

Mr Schellenberg’s fate seems to be connected to the tense relationship between China and Canada, following Canada’s detainment of Meng Wanzhou in

Vancouver in early December 2018.

Ms Meng is the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei, a powerful Chinese telecommunications equipment maker. She is currently free on bail waiting for a court hearing that will decide whether Canadian government can extradite her to the United States.

New York prosecutors have accused Ms Meng of fraudulent bank transactions related to business with Iran, which breached United States’ sanctions on Iran.

After Mr Schellenberg’s death sentence, Canada’s foreign service issued a revised travel advisory for Canadians thinking of travelling to China. The advisory recommended ‘a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws.’ China retaliated accordingly, with China’s embassy in Ottawa urging Chinese citizens to ‘fully assess the risks of travelling to Canada,’ referring to the detention of Ms Meng without naming her.

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29th January 2019

concrete-online.co.uk/category/global/ | @Concrete_UEA

Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for Nairobi hotel attack

In brief Fame for Afghan Trudeau look-a-like A contestant on an Afghan singing competition has gone viral on social media because of his likeness to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Mr Abdul Salam Maftoon, a wedding singer from northeast Afghanistan, is one of the final eight contestants on the televised talent show Afghan Star and has a distinct style of romantic folk songs. The show’s judge Qais Ulfat was first to point out the similarity in looks live on television, and since then Mr Maftoon has shot to international fame. Jake Morris Nike’s app-contolled sneakers Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

Vivamus elementum, massa eu fringilla posuere, urna justo cursus tellus, mauris non congue neque purus nec mauris. Nulla diam ante, blandit vitae nulla et, venenatis imperdiet dui.

Proin pretium, purus sit amet consectetur eleifend, dolor urna blandit urna, ut ornare nisl justo sed mauris mauris mauris mauris mauris mauris. Katie Tsappas Forever Toto Echoing one of the song’s most famous lines, it’s gonna take a lot to take away the sounds of Toto’s ‘Africa’ from the Namib Desert. Artist Max Siedentopf has set up an installation of six speakers with the 1982 hit playing on loop, assisted by solar batteries. He wanted the song to play for eternity as it is ‘liked all over the world’. A map to help fans find the installation circled the entire desert as the location - actually locating it will rely on keen hearing. Andrew Ferris

William Warnes Global Writer

An attack carried out by Al-Shabaab militants has claimed the lives of at least 21 people in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The attack took place on 15 January and lasted until the morning of the following day. Armed militants targeted the DusitD2 hotel and business complex resulting in the evacuation of over 700 people.

The attack began at 15:00 local time when armed gunmen threw bombs at a car park, followed by an attack from a suicide bomber in the hotel’s foyer. At least four armed gunmen entered the hotel and opened fire on those inside.

A joint rescue effort was carried out by Kenyan security services, US Navy Seals and an unnamed SAS soldier.

President Uhuru Kenyatta told

reporters, ‘The security operation at the Dusit complex is over and all the terrorists eliminated’ whilst urging Kenyans to ‘to go back to work without fear’. It is believed that the attackers were killed by security forces during the hotel siege.

“Jason Spindler, a survivor of the 9/11 attacks, was also a victim” British charity worker, Luke Potter, who worked for Gatsby Africa, was among the 21 victims.

US businessman, Jason Spindler, a survivor of the 9/11 attacks, was also a victim. Kenya’s Red Cross has stated that the 19 people who were

missing have now been accounted for. It is believed that 28 people have been admitted to hospital and militant group AlShabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al-Shabaab is a Jihadist militant group based in East Africa, with a declared allegiance Photo: to Al- Wikimedia Qaeda in Commons 2012.

In 2013, a mass shooting was carried out by four Al-Shabaab gunmen in Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi killing 71 people, including the four attackers. Another attack took place in 2015 at Garissa University College, in which 152 people were killed including the four gunmen.

Kenya has been targeted by AlShabaab since October 2011 after

sending its troops into Somalia to fight the group.

Al-Shabaab is believed to have released a statement calling the latest attack ‘a response’ to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; a decision that faced wide international criticism.

Following the attack, the United Nations have condemned the act and said that they stand in solidarity with the Kenyan people. In a televised address, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that ‘every person that was involved in the funding, planning and execution of this heinous act’ would be ‘relentlessly pursued’.

Seven arrests have since been made in relation to the attack.

New Zealand grieves the loss of 21-year-old British backpacker Fenella Sunaway Global Writer

A dark cloud has been cast over New Zealand following the discovery of 21-year-old Grace Millane’s body.

The British backpacker was enjoying her year-long overseas experience when she went missing from central Auckland on 1 December. A week after her disappearance, Millane’s body was located amidst thick forestry in West Auckland.

Millane’s family raised concerns over her whereabouts when she failed to respond to birthday messages. Her father, David Millane, flew to New Zealand whilst detectives worked tirelessly to find his daughter. Speaking to the media, he described her as a ‘lovely, outgoing, family-orientated’ girl who ordinarily maintained contact daily.

The 21-year-old was last seen

Photo: Flikr, Sids1 entering Citylife hotel at 9:41pm on the night of her disappearance; she was accompanied by her suspected

killer. The 27-year-old man - whose name remains protected by New Zealand law - is believed to have

murdered Grace between 1 and 2 December. He was charged on 8 December and is expected to stand trial on 4 November having pleaded not guilty on 16 January.

Mass candlelit vigils have been held for Millane in every major town in New Zealand and their Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, issued a tearful apology. She detailed the ‘overwhelming sense of hurt and shame’ that has engulfed the country. Mr Millane thanked New Zealanders on behalf of his family for their kindness and compassion.

In a statement he reiterated their appreciation for the country, saying that whilst she ‘was not born here, you have taken her to your hearts and in some small way she will forever be a Kiwi’. He encouraged all those who yearn to travel to do so and prayed that no-one will be deterred by what sadly happened to his daughter.

Pranksters to be driven away from YouTube under new rules Roo Pitt

Global Writer

When Jake Paul strapped on a blindfold and took to the busy Los Angeles streets he was probably hoping for some views on his YouTube channel and for his ‘bird box challenge’ to go viral. While it might have got views, the reaction that has followed couldn’t be further from positive.

Following a rise in dangerous pranks, YouTube has released a statement that extreme pranks which are likely to endanger others or cause harm to children will be removed from the site.

The company insists that this is not directly related to the rise in

dangerous versions of the bird box believe they are in physical danger or that can cause real physical harm.’ challenge, but rather that it reflects Reinforcing calls on social media platforms to be ‘dangerous more responsible about the content or abusive they allow.

In a statement on their FAQ page, YouTube said: ‘Our Community Guidelines prohibit content that encourages dangerous activities that are likely to result in serious harm, and today clarifying what this means for dangerous challenges and pranks.

‘Content that features a child participating in dangerous challenges that pose an imminent risk of injury or bodily harm are also not allowed on YouTube.

‘We also don’t allow Image: Wikimedia Commons & Vecteezy pranks that lead victims to

pranks that may cause emotional distress to children are not allowed.’

This announcement follows a spate of potentially harmful trends of pranks becoming popular on the site such as the Tide Pod challenge, which involves users recording themselves eating laundry detergent ‘pods’, and the Fire challenge, where users set themselves on fire after coating themselves in flammable liquids.

YouTube has highlighted that good-natured pranks which are not dangerous will still be allowed, such as tricking someone with a comical gif or non-dangerous forms of the bird box challenge.

Features

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29th January 2019

Photo: Unsplash

‘What is done cannot be undone, but we can prevent it from happening again’

- Anne Frank

Meyzi Adoni Features writer

We all have different identities, different personalities and different backgrounds. For example I am a Turkish/Italian girl who is Jewish and currently lives in Norwich.

Travelling to various countries, and most importantly living in a different country, allows you to meet with people from diverse backgrounds. And everyone has a different story to tell. Stories that they grew up with or stories that affected their life.

‘Had

someone disrespected me because I am Jewish?’

Last month, one of my friends asked me if I had ever personally witnessed an anti-Semitic attack, and it got me thinking: has anyone disrespected me because I was Jewish, or have they made inappropriate jokes?

I realised I have never personally witnessed one, which makes me a lucky person. Whenever I tell someone I am Jewish, people

always act interested and ask questions about it. Whenever there is a special holiday they always message me, which makes me feel special. However, this does not change the fact that anti-Semitic acts do not exist all around the world. Just because I have never had a bad experience in my life does not mean that my friends or Jewish people worldwide always feel welcomed and safe.

Growing up, I heard about some horrible anti-Semitic acts that made me question the world I am living in. In 2003 one of my closest friend’s father was murdered just because he was Jewish. Again in 2003, two synagogues in Istanbul were bombed at the same time on a Saturday morning while people were praying.

My grandfather was praying in one of those synagogues when the attack happened, but thankfully he managed to get out of there alive.

He was lucky, but a lot of people were not, many lost their lives.

The only reason for the bombing was that they were Jewish and they were there on a Saturday morning for Shabbat prayers.

If we go back in time, during the Holocaust, my grandmother and her family hid in a house in Greece to escape from the German soldiers, while all of their family members were murdered in concentration camps. So maybe I have never been treated bad or different because

of my Jewish identity, but I grew up listening to these stories and hearing of these horrible attacks.

And I promised myself that no matter what happens, I am going to honour the lives of the people we lost during the Holocaust or anti-Semitic attacks whenever and however I can.

We might think that throughout the years, anti-Semitism and the anti-Semitic acts around the world have decreased.

However, it is the opposite.

In July 2018, it was reported that there are more than 100 anti-Semitic incidents happening in the UK every month.

These incidents included hate mail, abuse, social media posts and graffiti drawings.

Some of these acts happened in schools, and some of them happened in London and Manchester, cities which are considered to have the highest Jewish population.

The 2018 Pittsburg synagogue shooting was one of the worst attacks that happened last year. 11 innocent lives were killed while six people were injured.

In response, thousands of people stood up and showed their support for the people who lost their families and friends while social media campaigns and statements from foreign leaders were being published everywhere.

The reaction to the attack shows that people are aware of how awful the attack was, and find it hard to understand how a person could do this so easily. However, this act is also another reminder that anti-Semitism still exists, and it does not look like the hate some people have for Jewish people will disappear soon.

27 January is Holocaust Memorial Day. It is the day where we remember the lives we lost during the Holocaust, it is also the day when the Auschwitz concentration camps were liberated in 1945.

Each year, on this day, people show their support by saying that they remember what happened.

You do not need to give long speeches, or talk about the history of Holocaust.

You don’t need to have a family

member that lost their lives in the concentration camps. You don’t even need to be Jewish to remember this day.

Just talking about it, understanding the importance of it and remembering is enough.

Because once you start to forget history, there is a higher chance that it is going to repeat itself.

‘Remembering

is enough’ As Anne Frank beautifully states in her diary, ‘What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again’.

That is why I will keep on writing, keep on talking, and I will make sure that every person who has ever been in my life or crossed paths with me will have knowledge about this condemnable act and see how powerful we are.

I will do this for my grandma, my aunt, for all my family that lost their lives in concentration camps and for all the Jewish people who we lost during that time.

‘We Remember’ and we will keep on remembering until our last breath.

Photo: vecteezy

11

29th January 2019

concrete-online.co.uk/catergory/features/ | @concrete_UEA

Do we need a Will veganism digital detox? save our planet?

De Montfort University in Leicester, in an attempt to encourage students to carry out a digital detox, switched off all social media for a few days.

The main purpose of this is to promote student wellbeing by highlighting the detrimental effects that social media can potentially have on one’s mental health.

In the digital age that we live in, life has reached the point where interconnectedness and the online world is intrinsicå and because of this, separating ourselves is almost impossible, therefore inherently putting us at risk to the negative mental effects. UEA, unlike De Montfort University, have not opted for the encouragement of an entire ‘digital detox’, instead advocating balance through activities and incentives intended to distract and bring us back into the real world, such as the new and popular dog walking scheme.

The dependency that we have on social media and the Internet is

by saying that in leaving social media ‘you shut out the massive communication opportunities’ that it offers, leaving one constantly on edge about what is happening without their knowledge.

Reverting back to a stage where we do not have this anxiety involves a monumental shift in our mindsets, making it a hard task, but second-year Psychology student Emma Moxon points out that a digital detox would be beneficial for ‘proving that nothing awful will happen if you’re not online for a few days’. This is a reminder that most people could do with, the world will not stop when you detach yourself from the online world, although it may seem like it.

On top of the amount of time that we waste staring at a screen, the content that we are exposed to online is equally as harmful. It’s no secret that the person we are online is different to reality, we are concerned about showcasing the best parts of our lives, possibly to evoke jealousy amongst others, but in doing so we receive a taste of our own medicine from seeing others do the same.

The reception is often

becoming increasingly apparent, especially when schemes like De Montfort’s social media detox are enacted.

Responses received by people when prompted to discuss this topic accentuate this further, for instance, Seàn Bennett, a third-year International Relations and Politics student and one of the managing directors of Inkwell Productions, emphasises the pivotal role that social media plays in his company, bringing into question its success and existence without it.

The dominance of social media in both the professional and personal spheres of life directly demonstrates its inescapability, making our vulnerability to its detrimental effects a constant threat.

A world that revolves around social media makes one feel isolated and out of the loop should they not partake, which Katie Colyer, a second-year International Relations and Politics student highlights,

damaging, bringing an onslaught of emotions and feelings that make us feel inferior.

Adjectives used by Bennett to encapsulate this negative effect include inadequate, untravelled, poor, and unsuccessful, stressing that comparison is one of the most dangerous aspects of the online community for our mental wellbeing and self-worth.

A digital detox that I carried out myself, albeit unintentionally, proved to be one of the most productive, clear-headed days I can remember.

I ought to do it again, and I implore others to see for themselves how beneficial it is to have this separation. The adverse effects of social media, I believe, are only recognisable once one has stepped away and experienced the stark contrast in mentality that comes with this.

It’s time to live in the real world again, and I guarantee you will thank yourself for doing it.

Sam Hewitson Features writer

Photo: vecteezy

Senior Features writer Jess Barrett investigates:

Photo: vecteezy

The increase in popularity of Veganuary has led to the question, what steps do we need to take to help save the environment? Megan L-Moran, a student who has recently become vegetarian, commented that ‘It is quite astonishing how the meat industry contributes so much to greenhouse gas emissions and how much land it uses. It’s one of the reasons why I have decided to permanently change my lifestyle to a vegetarian one’.

A recent study by the BBC has shown that dairy milk is the type of milk which has the most negative impact on the environment. The BBC compared five different types of milk on their land emissions, water and land use.

Although dairy milk clearly takes the lead, it was surprising to see that almond milk still had a reasonable impact on the environment, requiring 130 pints of water to produce a single glass.

Products such as avocados and papayas have previously been declared as not vegan. The television show QI shocked viewers when declared that almonds, papayas, avocados and kiwi fruit are not vegan. The show explained that bees are used in their production and is therefore not seen as ethically vegan. The unclear categories and the different reasons for people taking up a vegan lifestyle make it difficult for companies to consistently categorise their products.

Especially as a result of Veganuary, people have taken veganism and plant-based eating

into their own hands. Many companies have led the change.

Indeed, Hellman’s have recently released a vegan mayonnaise, and Gregg’s have released their infamous sausage roll. Student Erin Bashford talks of the rise of vegan products in supermarkets, ‘Vegan products in mainstream supermarkets means that more working families have access to veganism. Even three years ago, when I first went vegan, there was hardly anything in Aldi or Asda etc, and if it was difficult for me, only cooking for myself, then it would be almost impossible for working families. This change is great because it means that veganism is becoming less of a luxury and is becoming easier for everyone.’

It is evident that supermarkets are recognising the importance of providing what the people want, and it is clear that we want to make a positive impact upon the environment.

It has become apparent that in order to save the environment, you don’t need to cut everything out of your diet, only reduce the amount of animal products you use. However, the messages across all articles are mixed. Some claim we only need to reduce our meat intake while others claim we need to pursue a completely plant-based diet in order to protect the environment from any further harm.

Walter Willet from Harvard University commented in a recent Guardian article that ‘The World’s diets must change dramatically’.

But how dramatic should the

changes we make be? Student Thom Yiangou commented on the importance of making changes that suit you. ‘I’d say cutting down is the key. If a plant-based diet is followed for the majority of the time, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with having yoghurt or cheese every now and then if you crave it.

As a one-off, it won’t detriment your environmental footprint.

It’s the constant consumption of animal products every day that is so damaging, so try to avoid animal products for the high majority of time if you want to be environmentally active, but at the same time, do what’s sustainable for you in the long term.’

Making a positive impact on the environment doesn’t mean cutting everything out of your diet, reducing will still help to make a positive change. There are so many meat and dairy alternatives available in supermarkets that making the change to a plant-based lifestyle is now easier than ever. Yes, there are products out there such as almond milk that still require a significant amount of resources in order to be produced, arguing the case that maybe a plant-based lifestyle won’t make much of a difference.

However, using a plant-based product is a much better alternative to dairy milk, and there are other milk alternatives that have a much smaller impact on the environment.

It is clear that changes need to be made in everybody’s lifestyles in order for there to be a significant and lasting impact upon the environment.

Photo: Unsplash

12

29th January 2019

Features

Overdrafts: a godsend or a burden?

Jake Goddard Features Writer

The amount of students relying on interest-free overdrafts to get through their degrees appears a consistent feature of higher education.

According SavetheStudent’s 2018 Student Money Survey, 78 percent of students worry about making ends meet and 45 percent of students report relying on their overdraft as a source of income. In previous years Endsleigh – UEA’s recommended student insurance provider – has reported similar figures of 46 percent.

“78 percent of students worry about making ends meet” So are overdrafts a godsend, or just a burden?

Well, it depends. Wendy Lee, an exchange student at UEA, says

that ‘whilst not so good as loans, overdrafts can prove can very useful in emergencies’. She isn’t wrong.

Student overdrafts can act as good safety nets and, in some ways, can actually help with budgeting. Some student costs at the beginning of the academic year, such as society/ club fees, course materials and bus passes can remain year-long investments and as such it is sometimes easier to subtract t h e s e from a yearlong budget without having to worry about the actual availability of money at the time to do so. Likewise, when the going gets tough, overdrafts can help soften the financial blow from unforeseen course costs and the frustratingly high winter electricity/ gas bills.

However, without proper financial planning and the goto back-up option of part-time or summer work, these interestfree overdrafts can quickly entrap students in a sunken financial bubble. Without the long-term means to escape from dept, even that

Photo: Unsplash

which is interestfree, the feeling of powerlessness combined with decreased ability to eat, socialise, or otherwise look after yourself is likely to result in physical and/or mental health problems.

One UEA student, who wished to remain anonymous, said that ‘being stuck in an overdraft left me feeling continually depressed and meant going without food until money

eventually came in’.

Even the best budgeters among us can become trapped by these overdrafts; all it takes is a delayed Student Finance payment, an argument with moneyproviding parents, or a broken laptop to push someone over the financial edge.

With that in mind, overdrafts are either a godsend or an ensnaring burden, in which the student’s own personal context is everything. Is it

really g o o d to develop a dependence on overspending money you don’t have in preparation for the world of work?

Probably not. If you can get away with not using an overdraft, as most experts would say, then don’t use it.

The harsh reality of student life is, however, that most students will need to use it at some stage or another, for no other reason than the fact that our lives are sometimes rather uncontrollable and unpredictable.

To the banks, we say thanks, but we should also take care to recognise that this is not free money, and when we take from them we take away from our very future. It’s up to each of us to then determine in our own contexts: does the cost (and risks associated) outweigh the benefit?

Degrees vs apprenticeships Emily Latimer Features Writer

When headlines are constantly suggesting that universities are dishing out first class degrees like no there’s no tomorrow, how much does a grade really reflect our employability skills?

After ten years in education, three more years of academic studying whilst racking up to £50,000 worth of debt, university may not seem like the most appealing option, especially if you’re not someone who succeeds with essays, exams or rigorous testing. On the other hand, unsure about what career to do, university can seem like the preferred option, offering more time to explore your interests,

a chance to move out of home, gain independence, and the perceived social life of being a student.

If your school was anything like mine, university was something from the outset, whereas apprenticeships were seen as the lesser option; something that was not nearly given as much guidance or information, despite the potential benefits of them. So biases aside, how do apprenticeships really compare to a degree? Is a degree really worth it?

Apprenticeships combine work and study, allowing you to ‘earn while you learn’. You’ll be employed to do a real job while studying for a formal qualification which could range from a vocational qualification to a degree or masters.

Those who opt to study for a level 5 higher apprenticeship will earn £1.5million during the course of their career Almost £52,000 more than graduates from non-elite universities who can expect to earn £1.4million

Moreover, you may be surprised at the scope of apprenticeships on offer. I had always perceived apprenticeships as dominated by the stereotypical manual trades and engineering sector.

However, they do in fact span a range of industries and job roles - for instance, accountancy, IT, law, media, publishing and journalism. The government has also pledged to create a further three million apprenticeships by 2020, suggesting an increase in the variety of them.

As a paid employee, each apprentice works alongside their studies, and legally an employer must pay the National Minimum Wage which for apprentices is currently £3.50 per hour. Whilst this may seem small, there are no student fees or debt, your training costs are funded by the government and your employer, and there are examples of both higher and degree apprenticeship adverts offering salaries of between £16,000 and £24,000 per year.

For these reasons, it’s an ideal option if you have a clear idea of

the career path you want to follow, providing you with practical, onthe-job training, and classroombased instruction.

“Some students already say they don’t go to uni because of debt” According to research by The Sutton Trust, when examining the earning potential of university graduates and apprentices, it found that top apprentices can expect to earn thousands more in their lifetime than undergraduates from a non-Russell Group university. In fact, those who opt to study for a level 5 higher apprenticeship will earn £1.5million during the course of their career, almost £52,000 more than graduates from non-elite universities who can expect to earn £1.4million. However, students from

top Russell Group universities come out on top with estimated lifetime earnings of £1.6million.

Whilst an apprenticeship may seem like the better option for some, for those who are unclear on a career, then spending three years at university meeting new people and figuring out who you are, might push you to work out what it is you really want to do. Not to mention the opportunities that come with going to university, like networking, clubs and societies.

Clearly, it depends on the individual apprenticeship and university.

Ultimately, it seems apprenticeships are often underrated and do not hold the recognition they deserve, and if you’re lucky enough to land a good one you are pretty much set for the future. However, the question between university or an apprenticeship really boils down to which route is right for you. Does the university experience outweigh that of an apprenticeship? Or is going straight into work, immediately earning money and avoiding thousands of debt the better option?

It’s not an easy question.

13

29th January 2019

Features

Anniversary of our sanctuary status Jess Barrett

Senior Features Writer 23 January 2019 marked one year of the University of East Anglia being a ‘University of Sanctuary’ and saw several events take place on the day to celebrate. The title was awarded

by City of Sanctuary, a movement promoting the support of asylum seekers and refugees, as UEA had been recognised for its ability to offer sanctuary through a wide range of courses and scholarships.

It is one of few universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland to offer such support.

The British Red Cross Refugee Centre welcomed donations throughout the day. Another initiative was the donation of unwanted winter clothes. The UEA Student Union collected adult coats, scarves and other items of winter clothing to donate to asylum seekers and refugees.

The university also ran dropin sessions to provide information about volunteering at NGOs, but also to offer advice to any students that need financial advice about studying at UEA as part of the Sanctuary scheme. The celebration event featured a display of work by a number of UEA staff members, further showing that UEA is wholeheartedly committed to

Photo: Chloe Howcroft offering sanctuary to those in need.

The celebration event was wholly engaging, providing live music, drinks and a range of food including a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream stall. The stall was campaigning to lift the ban in place preventing people seeking asylum from working in the UK. You can help to demand action against this by using the link benjerry.co.uk/ right-to-work.

Lord Mayor of Norwich Martin Schmierer also attended

the celebration event, commenting that ‘Norwich prides itself on being a welcoming city and something needs to be done to support asylum seekers’. The Lord Mayor continued by saying ‘This is close to my heart and it is wonderful to support initiatives like this.’

Steve Waters and a group of Drama undergraduate and postgraduate students read a short excerpt from his play Calais, which has been performed both in

Photo: Vecteezy

Norwich and in Cambridge. Waters himself described the play as ‘almost an act of journalism’ in how it portrays events.

After the celebration event Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Neil Ward, began the presentation of the evening, claiming that, ‘we will continue to ensure UEA is a sanctuary to asylum seekers’.

Enana Al-Assaf spoke of her experience living in Aleppo whilst continuing to study, and explained

her trauma and how her home was caught in the crossfire of the civil war. Her husband, Dalyan, spoke of his journey learning English as a foreign language and about the amount of support he experienced from The Forum and the NILE Institute in Norwich.

Steven Wordsworth, representing the organisation Cara, helped to explain their work. Cara is a charity that provide a lifeline to academics at risk. 70 percent of those Cara helps are pursuing a postdoctorate career, however 30 percent are Masters and PhD candidates. Cara want to make UEA their 117th member.

To spark academic debate, an interactive balloon debate was held in the UEA Drama studio about borders and if controls are needed.

This debate is particularly relevant with the current turbulent political climate in America surrounding Trump’s persistence to construct a wall on the Mexican border.

War clearly impacts every aspect of life including education, it is extremely important that UEA continues to lead the way in providing sanctuary to those that need it. UEA have celebrated their status of being a University of Sanctuary in a way that embodies UEA as an institution: welcoming and thought-provoking.

Hey UEA

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#UEA

@ueaestates

29th January 2019

@_ueavelo_

@ueatrampolining

Media Collective News ‘How do you feel about the smoking ban on campus?’

50% 50% “The way smokers crowd walkways makes it impossible to get around without breathing second-hand smoke”

Livewire will be hopefully broadcasting soon with training and demos occurring next week concluding with the schedule launch on Friday 1st. Don’t miss out on your chance to be on the final schedule of the semester!

Uea:TV has a new exciting weekly politics show starting up which will be using the tv studio.

Concrete’s Sex Survey is out next issue!

Want to feature in our roundup?

Find us at @Concrete_UEA or use the hashtag #HeyUEA

Scan the code to become a Concrete member

29th January 2019

The archive:

For this issue’s archive, we’ve selected issue 322, from February 2016. This has always been a favourite and memorable front page for us, and still hangs in our office now.

Editor-in-Chief Dan Falvey and Deputy Editor Peter Sheehan reported the Students’ Union had made a budgeting mistake of £170,000, but the Union said UEA wasn’t funding them enough, while raising the prices of their services.

Do you remember this raise? How woul you feel about it now? Let us know your thoughts over on our Twitter @Concrete_UEA, and get featured in #HeyUEA!

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Comment

16

Barking up the wrong tree?

Samuel Woolford Comment Writer

The Student Union’s (SU) weekly dog walking sessions are designed to encourage students to be active, using sport to benefit their mental health. While some may argue dog walking isn’t really a sport, the SU seem to be doing the best with the cards they’ve been dealt. For the university body seems to me far more concerned with the profits reaped from students than with the actual wellbeing of students.

The SU’s response to the university’s apparent lack of action includes encouraging students to take part in these events. The demand was huge, with the first week being sold out within an hour and the second week within 24 hours of the event tickets being released.

But to some the notion that walking with a dog for five minutes can solve

students’ mental health problems is far-fetched.

The dog walking programme is an offshoot of the SU’s previous pets as therapy scheme which they claimed to be enormously successful. But there remains a deeper question, one which implies an academic environment that is failing its students and not providing for the most vulnerable in the student community. These schemes shouldn’t be necessary in the first place. I doubt dog walking will make a profound or sustained benefit to the lives of students who are going through incredibly difficult times. The university body must realise that while dog walking may be part of the solution, they need to evaluate their approach to student support and wellbeing.

29th January 2019

Is it time to get rid of student unions?

Cartoon: Chris Matthews

I’ve been at UEA for four years now and I’ve had a complicated relationship with the Student Union (SU) to say the least. I went from being utterly disillusioned and disengaged to being a Union Councillor last year and the Deputy Chair of Union Council this year.

But I’ve often wondered whether there’s any point in student unions anymore. It’s an awkward question that’s been lurking in the closet like the Babadook, gnawing away at me.

In my experience, the vast majority of people who get involved in student unions do so for the simple and decent reason of wanting to improve the university experience.

They mostly want to make it fairer, more supportive, and more fulfilling

for every student. Day in, day out, whether a councillor or an officer, these people spend ages tirelessly trying to make our universities better places for students.

Student unions are progressive institutions. Look at UEASU: we now have much better dissertation support and advisor training, incredible safer taxi and Never Okay schemes, and even free sanitary products and gender-neutral toilets.

All of these things have made such positive differences to the dayto-day lives of UEA students, and all these things wouldn’t have been possible without an SU fighting for them.

Take the campaign to increase investment in the Student Support Services (SSS) for example, a campaign the SU has been running for the entire four years I’ve been at UEA. Do you honestly think the student body has any hope of getting the

University to increase SSS funding without the SU campaigning for it?

At its core that is the purpose of the SU: to be a recognised body fighting on behalf of the student body, in a manner in which they are listened to by Universities and can actually enact real change.

In this time of the marketisation and commercialisation of higher education, we need student unions.

With incidents like the University of Liverpool enacting academic sanction on students who can’t pay their rent, or Vice-Chancellor expenses scandals being a sectorwide issue, students need somebody to fight their corner.

We need somebody to struggle for a more progressive and more fulfilling university experience.

Somebody to stand up willingly, and shout enough is enough.

We need an institution to fight to achieve real change for the entire student body. We need the SU.

unappealing as that may sound, with my impending graduation this year and the jobs market being competitive as it is, experience like this is indispensable for students like myself.

If you’re lucky enough to know someone in the industry you want to go into then you have a golden advantage you mustn’t waste.

Contacts are everything, particularly if you’re looking for someone willing to have an undergraduate-shaped shadow with them for a week or two.

As the saying goes, ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know!’

But not everyone has this luxury.

As important as networking is, sometimes you simply don’t have

the contacts you need. In times like this the best thing to do is swallow your pride and put yourself out there.

Having found myself short of options, I added the head of a department in a company I want to work with on LinkedIn… and he accepted! With some encouragement from my Dad, I sent him a message expressing my enthusiasm and asking if he could put me in touch with someone who could arrange some work experience. It felt somewhat like a weird dating-app moment, and I’ll be twice as gutted if he ‘ghosts’ me, but hey, I’m glad I’ve done it.

While our ultimate goal at university is to finish with a

degree, there are so many other facilities available for students to take advantage of. CareerCentral offers appointments with careers advisors, as well as group talks and workshops on a range of different industries.

Even speaking to your lecturers and advisor may help. You never know who may have brilliant contacts and suggestions.

It’s tough, and I can’t help but feel a little helpless as I send off my application to join the other thousand applying for one placement.

But if you’re proactive and approach the right people with enthusiasm you’re already on the first rung.

Dan Box

Comment Writer

‘Please, sit’

Finding work experience Francesca Bloor Comment Writer

Internships are like gold dust, and finding work experience can be as difficult as finding a paid job. It’s no surprise some students can feel disheartened.

As well as supposedly helping

you to stand out from the crowd of desperate jobseekers, work experience and internships are important rungs on your careerladder, providing skills you can’t learn in the classroom.

I’ve spent my morning scanning ‘Vacancy’ pages and slogging through lengthy applications in the hope of getting a glimpse at some short-term, unpaid work. As

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29th January 2019

concrete-online.co.uk/category/comment/ | @Concrete_UEA

‘A general election is the only way’ Matt Branston Comment Writer

Propped up by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Theresa May is a leader more shameless than a public exhibitionist. The frontbenchers are like wolves at the door of number 10, and backbenchers hold opinions so wildly different to each other they might as well be from seven different parties. The question is, what’s next?

Despite the Tories’ and parliament’s waning confidence in Theresa May as leader, she’s still in

power. Whilst countries like the US or France have formal constitutions (at least of sorts) off which they can base their operations, the UK has no written constitution and acts almost entirely off of convention.

Now, if Theresa May was a regular politician who had any level of shame built into her, she would perhaps be willing to resign (as is convention). Yet Theresa May is not a regular politician; she’s a cockroach living in the nuclear wasteland that is Brexit politics, surviving every blow in the most inexplicable ways possible.

If we’re aiming for a way out of

the mess that is Brexit, the answer is a general election. A second referendum will likely face nothing but criticism, and considering it would probably take over five months to arrange, the EU would have to give an extension to Article 50. Then there’s a question of what would even be on the referendum.

Leave with no deal, leave with a deal, remain, join the EEA… It’s a complicated mess of options, and another referendum would create as many controversies as it solves; and while I would like to see a referendum, it’s not a viable solution.

A general election is the only way to solve the political gridlock the country is currently in. Either the Tories receive a majority, allowing the government to actually be in power, or people give power to some sort of coalition of parties such as Labour and the SNP, or Labour and the Lib Dems. The latter may allow movement towards some sort of actual conclusion - hopefully remaining in the EU. I’m not saying a general election will save Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn still believes Brexit is the way to go, despite his party not agreeing with him. But with a general

election Parliament will break out of the current gridlock and how the government should act would become clearer.

Whatever happens, the British people will be able to feel they’ve had a say. It will be separate to the referendum politics, separate to BoJo standing on a bus like a low-rent out-of-shape Olympian, separate to every lie, falsehood, and general bit of rubbish we’ve been told over the past two years.

We might actually have a chance to feel like we were part of this nation’s future. There is nothing more valuable than that.

Photo: Pixabay

Brexit is happening: let’s make it a socialist one Joe Williams Comment Writer

We’re leaving the EU one way or another - that much is certain. But it’s far better for students and the UK as a whole if we leave under a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn.

Parliament is in deadlock. No deal has a majority against it and a second referendum would waste time and money just to produce a second Leave vote. Theresa May’s proposed deal received the most humiliating defeat of any government bill in Parliament’s history.

The two Prime Ministers with the next largest defeats are Ramsey McDonald in 1924 (166 votes) and James Callaghan in 1979 (89 votes); both subsequently lost a general

election. Even after scraping through the confidence vote last week, it’s clear that history, like everything else, is against Mrs May.

“It’s clear that history, like everything else, is against Mrs May” We need a socialist Brexit.

Corbyn has been a lifelong Eurosceptic, following in the tradition of Tony Benn and Michael Foot, and there is a strong socialist case for leaving the EU. Foot’s 1983 Labour manifesto - often called ‘the longest suicide note in history’ because it was so overtly Left-wing

- proposed higher taxation, nuclear disarmament, renationalising public industry, and - would you believe - withdrawal from the European Economic Community.

Whilst that was nearly 40 years ago, the EU today continues to be a neoliberal project that supports banks and multinational corporations above all else.

As Grace Blakeley wrote in the New Statesman: ‘it is not possible to implement socialism without a confrontation with capital and its representatives in institutions such as the EU’.

Brexit encouraged racists to come out of the woodwork: in October 2018 the Home Office reported ‘a rise in racially or religiously aggravated offences during the EU Referendum campaign, from April 2016, to a peak in offences after the result, in

July 2016.’ But the UK was deeply racist and xenophobic before the referendum, and the Tories had been shamelessly capitalising on this to scapegoat the damage of their austerity policies.

As Home Secretary from 201016, May announced the ‘hostile environment’ policy in 2012, toured vans with ‘Go Home or Face Arrest’ billboards through London in 2013, and introduced a ‘Deport first, appeal later’ policy in the Immigration Act 2014.

This was extended in the 2015 Conservative manifesto, which won them a majority. With this in mind, it’s evident that May’s Conservative government is completely unfit to negotiate Brexit.

Nine years of Tory austerity have destroyed the UK. Even before Brexit, people were homeless, using food banks, and dying in poverty

- all whilst the Tories fanned the flames of xenophobia and racism.

Pushing for a general election and a Corbyn-led Brexit would allow for a socialist government that would radically reverse austerity and actively promote a more just and equal society.

“Nine years of Tory austerity have destroyed the UK”

Don’t waste time trying to keep the UK in: let’s get the Tories out.

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Science

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Which vegan milk is best for the planet?

Emily Hawkes Science Writer

The carbon footprint of the dairy industry has become a topic of global interest. Greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and enormous water consumption due to dairy production has had devastating impacts on the planet.

Research has shown that meat and other animal products produce the most food-related greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock has been found to be the largest use of global land resources, contributing considerably to deforestation.

The global water usage in animal agriculture is 2,422 billion cubic meters, 19 percent of which is used to hydrate, clean and provide feed for around 250 million dairy cows.

The effect of dairy production on the environment has not gone unnoticed, with some taking up veganism to tackle the problem.

The number of people opting for a vegan lifestyle in the UK has risen from approximately 150,000 in 2006 to 540,000 in 2019.

This has caused a growing

market in plant-based alternatives, which has also sparked interest into what type of dairy-free milk is the most environmentally friendly.

Almond milk requires significantly larger water consumption than oat or soy milk, with 1.1 gallons of water needed to produce a single almond. Despite consuming a vast amount of water, around 80 percent of its crop is grown in California, an area that had the driest drought between 2012 and 2015 in around 1,200 years.

This has put significant strain on the surroundings and wildlife, as honeybees are needed for the pollination of the crops subjecting 1.6m hives to insecticides. Similarly, rice milk also has a high water consumption with 54 litres needed to produce one glass.

Oat and coconut milk demand far less water than almond and rice milk. This is due to oat being a winter cereal which is mostly rain-fed and coconuts being grown i n

areas with an abundance of water such as the tropical

environments of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Pacific.

Oat milk has also relatively low greenhouse gas emissions and land usage, with the brand Oatly claiming that 80 percent more greenhouse gas emission occurs during cow milk production than oat milk production. A study also found that the dairy industry requires ten times

“Oat and coconut milk demand far less water thn almond and rice milk” more land than oat milk to make the same volume of milk.

Whilst the carbon emission and water usage for soya beans is rather low, its land usage is substantially more harmful. It is estimated that 70 percent of deforestation is due to agriculture in which soya bean harvesting plays a prominent

role, causing 2.6 million hectares of Brazilian rainforest to be destroyed each year.

It seems that oat milk is currently one of the best vegan milks available, with statistics proving that it is a

50 percent of Brits said they know someone who is vegan

sustainable and environmentally friendly option.

These advantages have not been ignored, with the UK having the highest search interest in oat milk of any country in the last 12 months.

A spike is observed in UK internet searches for milk alternatives during January suggesting that 2019 really is the time for new year, new milk.

Bristol was the most popular British city for veganism in 2018 The Vegan Society found there were 600,000 vegans in Great Britain in 2018

Can physical activity help to tackle osteoporosis?

Anna Jose Science Editor

Researchers at UEA are exploring the link between leading a sedentary lifestyle and developing osteoporosis.

Researchers at the Norwich Medical School will be looking at whether the loss of bone density is directly related to extended periods of sitting, and whether encouraging less sedentary behaviour could improve bone health as we age.

The study is led by the University of Strathclyde, and it also involves Glasgow Caledonian University, the University of Birmingham, and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia.

The team hope that their findings will improve future health policy regarding the promotion of physical activity in day-to-day life.

Much of the upcoming research will focus on bone biomarkers which show biochemical changes in the bone depending on activity levels. There will be particular focus on bone turnover, which is how quickly bone is broken down and formed. Researchers will also investigate whether vitamin D deficiency contributes to faster bone loss.

“The team hope that their findings will improve future health policy” Professor Bill Fraser of Medicine at UEA’s Medical School said, ‘We know that a sedentary lifestyle is not

good for us, but we don’t yet know exactly how it causes bone loss and subsequent osteoporosis.

‘This project will look at whether extended periods of sitting in a controlled laboratory setting affects the bone metabolism of older adults. It will also look at the effects of breaking periods of sitting with standing, and whether this could be better for us.’

Researchers will use stateof-the-art technology to perform biomarker analysis on existing blood samples and data collected from participants who have taken part in a previous sedentary behaviour study at the university. They aim to detect important changes which occur early in the bone-building cycle.

It is already known that some extreme lifestyle conditions such as being bed-bound can cause increased loss of bone density.

However, what isn’t known is

whether long periods of immobility have a similar effect on bone health.

“Researchers will use state of the art technology”

If the findings identify a significant negative effect of sedentary behaviour on bone metabolism, preventative behaviours such as taking frequent breaks from work could prove a simple and effective way to prevent osteoporosis in later life.

The research is being funded by the Royal Osteoporosis Society, previously the National Osteoporosis Society.

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The future of the fashion industry Jake Walker-Charles

Science Writer

Clothes shopping is an undeniable part of Western culture, but just how harmless is this treasured pastime?

People are becoming more and more aware of the damaging effects that over-farming and over-fishing has on the environment, however a little-known fact is that the multitrillion-dollar fashion industry is harmful to the environment in its own right.

Today’s fashion industry is unsustainable. In fact, it causes ten percent of global carbon emissions.

In order to make polyester fibers, nearly 70 million barrels of oil each year is required.

These microfibers themselves take more than 200 years to fully decompose and much of this waste ends up washing up on beaches.

According to a study by the University of New South Wales, Australia, microfibers make up around 85 percent of the human-made debris that washes up on global shorelines.

Of course, this has huge consequences for the ocean’s wildlife.

These fibers are easily consumed by small marine life and therefore have the potential to poison animals higher up the food-chain.

As gloomy as this sounds, there is opportunity for change. Scientists from all over the world are developing new forms of sustainable fashion, devoid of polyester fibers.

Wooden clothes may not sound particularly appealing at first glance,

however they might just be the future.

Finland is a forerunner in the sustainable fashion industry. Aalto University, is currently exploring the possibilities of a new clothing fiber manufacturing technology called ‘loncell’. Academics at the University claim it is more environmentallyfriendly than cotton and the synthetic fibers which are predominantly used today.

‘Loncell’ can use recycled wood which would otherwise be wasted.

In the forests of Eastern Finland the process of thinning is common practice, whereby small trees are felled in order to encourage more growth. This is an example of just one renewable source of wood for clothing production.

These clothes, however, are not just made from recycled wood: recycled newspaper, cardboard and old cotton textiles can also be used in the process.

The wood-based items have already had the nod of approval from several notable political figures. Finland’s First Lady Jenni Haukio wore a dress made from recycled trees at a recent state gala, and President Macron of France wore a scarf made of recycled materials on a visit to Finland.

In order for wooden clothes to become a thing of the future, these clothes need to be stylish. Professor Pirjo Kääriäinen of Aalto University remarked that ‘people want garments that look good and make them feel good, so there is no choice but for the design to be good.’

UEA leads the way in cataract research Sylvie Tan Science Writer

A cataract is described as the clouding of the lens in the eye leading to a deterioration in vision.

It often develops with age, but trauma and exposure to intense radiation can also cause it to form.

Easy preventions for developing cataracts include wearing sunglasses and abstaining from smoking, but the only known way to treat cataracts is through cataract surgery. It is estimated that more than 30 million cataract surgeries will be performed annually by 2020.

In collaboration with Hoya Surgical Optics, with funding from Hoya Surgical Optics and The Humane Research Trust, researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) now have an improved laboratory model which replicates cataract surgery on human donor eyes. This enhanced model provides a better understanding and evaluation of the artificial intraocular lens (IOL) implants in a

post-surgical environment.

During cataract surgery, the cloudy lens will be replaced with these IOL implants. One of the common complications after cataract surgery is Posterior Capsule Opacification (PCO), where the individual’s vision will turn blurry. The only way to remove this is through laser surgery, which is both expensive and risky. Thus, the improved human capsular model, pioneered in the 1990s, allows scientists to better understand the psychological events of PCO and ways to manage it.

Professor Michael Wormstone, lead researcher from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, commented that ‘Our model now mimics the transient nature of inflammation that patients experience after cataract surgery.’

The researchers used this model to examine the influence of two market-leading commercial IOLs - Alcon AcrysofTM and Hoya VivinexTM - on PCO management.

The study shows that the model ‘predicts that the Hoya VivinexTM

is better able to manage events leading to PCO than the Alcon AcrysoftTM IOL.’ The results of the investigation confirm this statement as cell growth was reduced on the posterior capsule, there was lower light scatter in the central visual axis, and IOL surface growth significantly decreased.

“Easy preventions for developing cataracts include wearing sun glasses“ Prof. Wormstone said ‘We believe this latest model will allow assessment of current commercial IOLs and will aid the development of next generation lenses.’

Medical tech: a gimmick or the future?

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Evlyn ForsythMuris Science Writer

Advances in the accessibility of online-based healthcare services has the potential to change how we use and access medical help.

A Service called ‘Thriva’ offers online and postal health monitoring services. Pay somewhere between £24 and £69 per package and you can have your blood tested for cholesterol, liver function, vitamin D and more.

The idea is that individuals can monitor their own health, but is this actually anything new?

A qualified GP still has to interpret the results; the only difference is they don’t know anything about you and the test has usually been requested because of anxiety or curiosity, and not for a medical reason.

Samples are collected by fingerpick blood collection which Thriva states is accurate and supported by research, but when contacted they declined to give further details. A literature search

of Medline was unable to yield any papers on the sensitivity and specificity of this method of testing.

Thriva is not alone, but part of a wider network of tech companies trying to get in on the medical business.

Last year the Apple Watch Series 4 came with a single lead ECG function. This is more than the usual heart rate function on a fitbit, and it claimed to be able to detect atrial fibrillation (AF) and provide data to take to your GP for diagnosis.

Apple did provide very impressive data on sensitivity

(98.3 percent) and specificity (99.6 percent), however their unpublished study only included 600 patients, a very small sample when dealing with AF which has an estimate population prevalence of 2.5 percent.

23andMe has also jumped on the e-health bandwagon. For £149 it claims to be able to provide genetic risk analysis using a spit sample. It claims it can then use your genome to predict your risk of developing certain diseases, despite no evidence that genetic risk calculators are ready for use in the general public.

In conclusion, this kind of testing has the potential to see healthy patients presenting to their GP with ‘abnormal results’ or ‘genetic illnesses’, despite the tests they have taken being backed up with limited scientific evidence. What are GPs meant to do with this information?

There is no precedent set.

It’s likely to cause anxiety for patients, overtreatment from doctors and a whole new level of legal backlash.

As a wise doctor once said ‘all patients are people but not all people are patients.’

Travel

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29th January 2019

La Guardia; the worst airport in America comes to a halt Sophie Bunce Travel Writer

I last visited La Guardia on the night New York’s sky went blue.

You might have seen reports of the power plant explosion on the news along with speculation about whether the blue hue was thanks to UFOs. Spoiler, it was not.

In a display of the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced, staff stopped to take photos of the sky while alarms blared, lights flickered and the newly landed Brits (me) sat on the static carousels

waiting for someone, anyone, to tell us what was going on. No one did.

The notoriously poor airport was voted as the worst in America and fourteenth worst in the world. I now understand why.

We waited for hours, our only entertainment watching how many people the reunited couples could bump into before deciding to kiss against the carousel.

With the alarms loud enough to make my brain vibrate in my skull I sat, sulked and hoped the couple would fall over again soon.

When a member of staff finally emerged they asked if we would like our bags sent to us - it would take a week. My holiday was a week. I explained they could send it to my apartment but I’d have to leave it there and they couldn’t work out the issue.

Hours later we had a bags and called an Uber home. Ready to take New York by storm after writing a complaint on TripAdvisor.

You’d think that the closest airport to Manhattan would have to up it’s game with 30 million passengers each year. It boasts to be midway through an eight billion dollar overhaul but the

results, or even beginnings of these changes, are as of yet unclear.

Last week, La Guardia found itself back in the papers and this time, it wasn’t their fault.

Thanks to Trump’s government shutdown, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which runs air-traffic control, delayed arrivals at the airport.

So many staff called in sick the FAA reduced the number of flights coming into the major domestic airport and then halted them altogether.

The ‘ground delay’ holds the planes on the tarmac for an hour to an hour and a half, if not

longer, and all customers can do is wait. I’m just sorry travellors will have to do it at La Guardia.

While suggested to be a ‘temporary delay’, from my experience with short waits at La Guardia, you better get yourself some snacks.

While my heart goes out to the travellers stranded and business people halted. My only words of wisdom are avoid the airport altogether.

Who knows how long the ramifications of Trumps choices, or lack thereof, will haunt America. I just know, I’d rather be anywhere but La Guardia while I wait to find out.

Three countries to see in 2019 Rassul Merali Travel Writer

Following the spirit of the New Year these are the three countries that you should definitely visit and explore. They are lesser known, but still amazing sites of nature...

Botswana Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa that must not be missed. The country has plenty to offer adventurous travellers wishing to explore the stunning beauty of the Okavango Delta and the Tsodilo Hills.

The Okavango Delta is located in northwestern Botswana and it is

one of the rare large inland delta systems, which does not have access to the seas. Instead, its waters drain into the basin of Kalahari Desert. The delta forms a magnificent wetland system filled with channels, lagoons and islands that support a plethora of flora and fauna. The best way to explore the delta is by using a canoe, which locals call a ‘mekoro’, where you will be traversing across the marshlands with the gentle rowing of a local guide.

The Tsodilo Hills contain one of the world’s largest concentrations of rock art and are appropriately called the ‘Louvre of the Desert’. In an area of only ten square kilometres in the Kalahari Desert, there are over 4,500 paintings on rocks. According

to archaeological records, the hills have evidence of human activity and environmental change over 100,000 years. Moreover, the local communities, who believe that it is home for ancestral spirits, consider the Tsodilo Hills a sacred space.

Both the Okavango Delta and the Tsodilo Hills are on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan is the bridge that connects Europe and Asia through the great legacy of the Silk Road trade routes. It is full of gorgeous natural sites, and Lake Kaindy deserves special attention.

Lake Kaindy is located in southern Kazakhstan, inside the

Kolsai Lakes National Park. The lake has an interesting origin as it was formed after the 1911 Kebin earthquake, 2,000 metres above sea level and inside a mountain gorge.

The defining feature of the lake is the Asian Spruce trees that rise above the lake’s turquoise coloured surface. The closest village is 12 kilometres away from the lake, so the most efficient way to get there would be to hire a local guide with a car who can lead you there through the natural mountain wilderness.

Bolivia Bolivia is home to many wonderful marvels of nature, with Salar de Uyuni salt flat serving as their crown jewel.

Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat, which is a remnant of prehistoric lakes that evaporated a millennia ago. The closest dwelling area to the salt flat is the small town of Uyuni in the Andes Mountains.

At specific times in the year, when there is a thin layer of water coming from nearby lakes, the salt flat turns into a majestic reflection of the sky, creating a sense of being in the heavens.

Moreover, located at the edge of Salar de Uyuni is a hotel called ‘Palacio de Sal’ (Spanish for ‘Palace of Salt’), which is constructed entirely from salt blocks! In case you wondered, the hotel does not allow licking the walls, in order to prevent material degradation.

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Twitter's travel community on surviving a #layover?

Rachel Glaves Travel Writer

We all run the risk of a long layover between flights when flying to far away destinations.

There are numerous things to do to pass the time both inside the airport and outside.

I asked the Twitter travel community what they do in a layover, and they were more than willing to share their experiences.

" There are museums to wander around, monuments to ogle" What people do in a layover depends on have long they have. People tend to stay inside the airport when they have little time between flights; they grab a nice meal, get a drink or perch in a corner, hum to their music and

read a good book. Airports are designed for layovers, I looked at a random selection (Manchester, Heathrow, Washington and Dubai) to see what facilities they had to offer the lowly tourist to pass the time. Almost all airports have multi-faith prayer rooms (a respectful addition), and they also often have Wi-

@LauraSideStreet

Fi (helpful for those among us who want to catch up on social media). Airports also have shops galore, and numerous restaurants, cafés and bars. Perfect for killing time.

Most of the responses I received focused on the facilities

Trying local specialties is one of the exciting aspects of travel, but sometimes what the locals consider as food isn’t something we would normally assume is edible.

It may sound bizarre to the rest of the world, but some of these strange cuisines are favourites among the local tongue.

When we talk about bizarre food, Japan will most certainly come to mind. We may already be familiar with tuna eaten raw or seared, but what about tuna eyeballs? Markets in Japan pluck out the fishes’ eyes and sell them cheaply, which the locals enjoy

best simply steamed or boiled, and served with soy sauce and garlic. Some say these eyeballs taste like squid!

Another unique Japanese food is shirako, but unlike the cheaper tuna eyeballs, this one is a delicacy sold in restaurants and more expensive supermarkets.

Shirako are the sperm sacs of fish; it looks like gooey miniature brains and has a soft, creamy texture, like pudding.

Korea is famous as the origin place of sannakji, or what we recognise as wriggling octopus tentacles. As soon as the young octopus is killed, its legs are chopped and served in sesame oil and seed, even as it continues to wriggle on your plate. Talk about daunting food!

You may have heard of people eating insects, which is

characters I have seen in a lounge is amazing. On my most recent wait I wandered through the bar area at Manchester Airport and found myself surrounded by beer-drinking football fans on their way to a World Cup match.

Almost all of them looked hopeful, which is probably not quite how they felt a few weeks

later.

Some people actually choose to have long layovers so they have time to explore the city they have found themselves in and kill a few hours.

There are museums to wander around, monuments to ogle at, historical sites to gawk over, restaurants and bars to explore and a new culture to delve into, even if it is only for a couple of hours. Of course, you need to be wary of the transportation to the city and back and consider any delays there could be.

After all, you don’t want to be late for your flight that you’ve waited so many hours for!

There are numerous things to do in a layover, both inside and outside of the airport.

Reading, music, working, wandering and, of course, sleeping are among my suggestions.

If you are lucky (or perhaps unlucky) enough to have a long layover, exploring the city should be up there on the list of things to do.

A quick glance at the Lonely Planet Guides app would give you an endless list of things to do!

shell by tapping a hole in the top, slurping the liquid and the rest of the insides.

Italy has its fair share of bizarre food as well with their casu marzu, also known as rotten maggot cheese. The cheese is made up of sheep’s milk and live insect larvae, hatching and nesting inside.

Speaking of dairy, Mongolia has a special kind of beer called a i r a g made from fermented h o r s e milk.

This alcoholic drink is a staple across the country and a must-try when you visit Mongolia.

Another bizarre cuisine that I’d like to spotlight is the Alaskan jellied moose nose, also found in Canada. It is literally moose snout, removed of the hair, boiled with onion, garlic and spices, and left until it sets into a gelatinous pudding.

The possibilities of unique food to try around the world might be endless; these are only some of the more popular ones.

It’s important to know what the local dishes and specialties are

from t h e places we visit, as it will help us understand the local culture better and make for a richer travel experience.

Of course, there’s always the case when a certain food feels a little too extreme for you, for whatever reason it’s okay to say no.

But I think everyone should, at least once in their lifetime, try a bizarre new food that they didn’t even think edible!

@SeizetheTrek

@ryandupay

@crafty_explorer

Would you try these dangerous dishes?

Travel Writer

wonderful way of passing time, especially as it’s something you can’t do whilst flying.

Someone suggested doing yoga in a layover and making the most of the showers that are sometimes available - a freshen up before a flight @CourseChartered might be a good idea.

Humans are naturally nosey, so people watching is a must during @Fymoraes a layover.

The wide variety of

@amitaakes

Eye balls anyone?

Erica Thejab

available at the airport.

Some people explore the terminal; stretching your legs would be ideal before hopping back on another cramped flight.

@BagsWerePacked

Making the most of the WiFi to check emails, work or edit photos of your trip is also a a particularly well-loved street food in Thailand. It’s easy to spot street vendors selling fried crickets, grasshoppers, scorpions and all sorts of worms.

Cambodia, meanwhile, boasts deep-fried tarantulas as their bizarre snack; these were made popular when starving people under the Khmer Rouge regime started eating them.

On a quite similar note of strange animals, Laos is known to make one of the world’s most unusual soup out of white ants.

Yes, ants. Ant eggs, embryos and a sprinkle of baby ants make up this supposedly delicious soup that tastes, as some have claimed, like shrimp.

“The cheese is made out of sheep milk and insect larvae”

Balut comes from the Philippines and is a developing bird or duck embryo that’s boiled alive. After seasoned with salt, vinegar and chilli, it’s supposed to be eaten straight out of the

Sport

22

29th January 2019

UEA Snow visit Andorra Introducing: UEA Golf for this year’s ski trip

In Brief

Marna Paulina Bailey Sport Writer

UEA Golf… Where do I start? Since joining the team, I have made a whole new family with twenty new brothers! Each week is something new with Golf, from Popworld and LCR nights to charity events and posh meals.

“Every Monday you will find us all at the Norwich Family Golf Centre”

Rob Harbord Sport Writer

Pas de la Casa - ‘Step from home’ This year the ski trip took place in Pas de la Casa 2100, a resort home to the Pyrenees in a little-known country called Andorra. The trip was arranged by the lovely UEA Snow society and NUCO Travel.

The trip began outside the LCR at 5pm on 5 January, to arrive a mere 22 hours later in Pas. There were a couple hiccups there and back, a few forgotten passports and emergency flights. I myself using my driving license to get back into the country on return.

Once we arrived there were a couple of instant observations; the snow was mediocre, and the alcohol

was cheap. Very cheap. This spelled good news all round and turned the trip into a very eventful week.

Après at the top of the slopes.

For the uninitiated, Après is French for after, and it’s tradition to go and have a beer and a dance at the top of the mountain once the day’s skiing is over. It gives you the chance to see everyone and talk about the day’s activities and talk to our Scottish counterparts at Strathclyde who were also at the resort at the same time.

Onto the resort. The clubs were awesome, the food spectacular and the snow improved throughout the week to bring us some powder higher up. The views I must make a point to note were absolutely fantastic and we were blessed with sun and blue skies for 90% of the trip.

Every Monday you will find us all at the Norwich Family Golf Centre having competitions over who’s got the better aim… of course I always win! Alongside the competitions, we do get slightly serious by helping each other perfect our swing to ensure we have a chance of winning a Wednesday match, with our first team currently competing in BUCS Midlands 1A and the second team in Midlands 2B. Matches for both the first and second team happen on a Wednesday at Eaton Golf Club and away at other universities. The coach journey is always a laugh and a McDonald’s for breakfast AND dinner is a must!

With a UEA Golf membership, you are able to enjoy a full allyear-round, 7-day membership at Eaton Golf Club and can join other members for a social round whenever it’s convenient for you.

Not only do we have fun with

golf and partying, but also try to help charities wherever possible.

Our current project is working with the UEA Alzheimer’s Society to organise a fundraising event focused around a golf tournament at Eaton Golf Club – please feel free to join, keep a look out for advertisements. Come rain, snow or even hail, nothing will stop us from having a swing and a laugh.

“Matches for both the first and second team happen on a Wednesday at Eaton Golf Club” UEA Golf members are like no other, they are all caring, hilarious and up for any social that is suggested. We may not be the biggest winning team that UEA has considering we’ve lost all of them so far, but ‘win or lose, bring on the booze’!

Something that has been overlooked in much of the coverage of UEA’s dog walking scheme is where the money has come from. Co-ordinated by UEA Sport as part of their Navigate Norfolk scheme, the sessions have been realised thanks to £12,000 funding from Sport England, awarded to UEA via BUCS. Other initiatives in the scheme, aimed at improving mental health through exploring the local community, include trips to Norfolk beauty spots and casual cycling events in the city.

UEA’s Refreshers’ Fair on the 16th January saw a number of UEA’s clubs hold stalls in the Hive. This year, clubs are offering single semester memberships, with UEA SU also reducing the price of SAM for one semester, to encourage new members to join a club.

Four UEA footballers travelled to Warwick to take part in trials for the England Universities team.

Goalkeeper Tom Smith, defender Richard Black, midfielder Ben George and forward Ryan Swift were chosen to make the trip to the West Midlands.

UEA currently sit a predicted 41st in the BUCS rankings on 643 points, between York (645) and Lancaster (642). Futsal (70), Rugby Union (58), Volleyball (53) and Football (51) are UEA’s top contributors. UEA’s 45 BUCS teams have so far managed to record 136 victories, with 149 losses and 13 draws, making a win percentage of roughly 46.

Essex currently sit 36th out of the 158 eligible institutions, although they have 61 teams.

Tony Allen

Veronica White discusses the season so far for Ultimate Frisbee

Aye-Aye, or UEA Ultimate, is the university’s Ultimate Frisbee club.

And before you ask, yes Ultimate Frisbee is a real sport. Feel free to join the club at one of its four training sessions each week if you don’t believe me. Despite some

disappointing losses, the club has been doing well this academic year, growing thanks to a great group of ‘Frisbee Freshers’ who have joined the club, showing serious dedication to the sport (as well as the socials, of course).

Ultimate Frisbee is a rare sport in that there are both mixed divisions as well as men’s and women’s. Last semester, UEA Ultimate competed in all of these divisions, giving many of its members a chance to compete. Men have the opportunity to compete in BUCS matches on Wednesdays, winning all but two of their games last semester, putting them into the semi-final of the cup which will be taking place in February.

In late October, Aye-Aye were excited to host Mixed Indoor Regionals at the UEA Sportspark.

UEA’s first team were undefeated on the first day of the tournament, however after some tough games on Sunday, were unable to seize one of the four spots to compete at Nationals. UEA 2s fought hard throughout the tournament and were awarded ‘Spirit’ for having the most positive attitude throughout the weekend. Katie, one of the cocaptains of the second team said: ‘I’m super proud of my team, we

just kept improving as the weekend went on and spirits remained high, which was our main goal for the tournament.’

In November, both the men’s and women’s teams travelled to compete in their respective regional tournaments. Both teams gained seed in their tournaments, with the men’s team coming 8th and the women’s team finishing 5th, a result which qualifies the ladies for Division 1 Nationals.

The next few weeks hold a lot of excitement for the club. At the beginning of February, Aye-Aye’s women’s team will be travelling up to Nottingham to compete in Division 1 of the University Women’s Indoor Nationals tournament! The team will be facing some tough competition on the first day of the tournament, with Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Loughborough and Cardiff in their pool. Seeded 16th out of 20, this will not be an easy tournament, but the ladies have been training hard and will be fighting for every point.

The following weekend is one of the club’s highlights of each year, the famous (or infamous?)

Aye-Aye Open tournament. With all of the club’s players encouraged to compete, this will be some of the freshers’ first real experience competing at an Ultimate tournament against other university and club teams. Each Aye-Aye team will play the weekend dressed in ridiculous costumes and the night out to the LCR on Saturday is always one to remember.

Other highlights to look forward to the rest of the year include Women’s Outdoor Regionals, which will be hosted at UEA in March, plenty more socials and, of course, Derby Day! Are you still looking for a fun, social sports club to join? UEA Ultimate are always welcoming new members and would love to welcome you into the family. Feel free to message the club to find out more by searching ‘UEA Ultimate’ on Facebook!

23

29th January 2019

concrete-online.co.uk/category/sport/ | @Concrete_UEA

Some Excellent Men’s Lacrosse Action!

Tony Allen Sport Editor

UEA Men’s Lacrosse second team have completed their inaugural season in the South of England Men’s Lacrosse Association (SEMLA) East Anglian Division 2.

And UEA got a superb 4-3 win in their penultimate fixture, at home to eventual league champions Milton Keynes, avenging their defeat in Buckinghamshire earlier in the season.

UEA fielded a strong team for the clash, with several first team regulars returning early from their Christmas breaks to regain match fitness ahead of a final run of BUCS fixtures which should see them stay up in Midlands 1A. They were joined by a number of new and fringe players, some of whom have gained considerable experience in SEMLA this year, plus a trio of UEA alumni who have been able to continue their association with UEA Lacrosse through the Saturday team.

UEA went 2-0 up through Travis Payne and Sean Cullum, but were pegged back to 2-1 by the end of the first quarter by Jacob Nichols Cook, who also represents Nottingham Trent University. An unanswered Jack Gambrill goal for MK in the second quarter saw the sides go into the halftime break level at two apiece.

The game was won in the third quarter, with Payne grabbing another and fresher Connor Watson netting his second SEMLA goal of the season, but Gambrill’s second kept the visitors within touching distance. However, UEA’s solid display in the fourth quarter saw

them close out the win and prevent any more goals as both teams tired, the visitors’ smaller squad particularly running out of steam.

“It was a huge thing to come away with the win” Despite being scrappy in places, the game could well have yielded a higher scoreline. Goalkeeper Charlie Albuery was solid for UEA while man of the match Benz Josiah was excellent in the home defence.

However, Milton Keynes’ forward line will be disappointed they didn’t test Albuery more. Cullum, playing his penultimate match for the club, could also have finished his Colney Lane career with even more of a bang after a mazy solo run, but was denied a shooting chance by the visitors’ organised backline.

The following week, while Milton Keynes were seeing off Cambridge to claim the East Anglia Division 2 title, UEA visited Hitchin’s second team. Despite a 23-0 loss, honours remained even for the season after the Hertfordshire side forfeited their planned visit to Colney Lane at the start of the campaign.

The establishment of a second men’s side this year is the first time UEA Lacrosse has entered a team into the local adult league. It

follows the successful introduction of a second women’s team last season to allow more players valuable game time as the club continues to grow its membership.

The season has also seen closely contested matches for UEA men’s seconds against Cambridge University’s second side which have been very useful in getting minutes into fresh legs, including a tight 1211 away defeat which saw several players score their first Lacrosse goals.

UEA SEMLA captain Ethan Brickwood, himself a first year, praised a number of players new to the club who have made progress this season including Watson, Josiah, Dumitru Bandol, Paddy Watt and Euan Dickson. He reflected: ‘Some of them rival the BUCS boys now, having played five or six games in their life. That’s a huge achievement and I think it goes under the radar sometimes how much they’ve improved.I’m proud of the boys. It’s an honour to play with them.’

On the Milton Keynes victory, Brickwood added: ‘It was big news, a huge thing to come away with the win. Team spirit went through the roof and I was just happy to be a part of it. [Milton Keynes’] offence as a whole was quite difficult to handle, they have quite a few different types of players. But our defence really stepped up, with some huge plays from everyone. I was over the moon with that.

‘We could have won by so much more, there were so many opportunities. We now know what we’ve got to work on.’

UEA Lacrosse SEMLA statistics 2018-19 Results:

Top Scorers:

(UEA score first)

(League goals only)

Hitchin A (H) – W/O Milton Keynes (A) – 3-9 Cambridge Eagles (H) – 1-12 Cambridge Eagles (A) – 11-12 Milton Keynes (H) – 4-3 Hitchin A (A) – 0-23

Travis Payne - 8 Sean Cullum - 2 Jhan Tibudan - 2 Connor Watson- 2 Alex Blinston - 1 Ethan Brickwood - 1 Sam Campbell - 1 Eric Ritchie - 1 Tom Sanders - 1

Concrete meets... UEA Volleyball!

Meyzi Adoni Sport Senior Writer

We have officially entered to a really exciting time of the semester. The time where we start counting down for Derby Day and getting ready for a day of sports, drinks and fun. It is also an important and a hectic time for the BUCS season as well.

So talking to sports teams and being a part of their excitement and hard work is crucial.

I have always been a fan of volleyball. I was not really successful at it even though I was only playing for fun (but trying still counts I guess?), but as a sports lover, watching volleyball is one of the best things. When I met with a fellow Turkish friend and learned that she is a part of UEA’s Volleyball team, I thought that I had to interview them

before the year ends. So here we are. For this issue of Concrete, after a long Christmas break, I decided to interview Charlie Naadland, Social Secretary of UEA Women’s Volleyball team, and talk about their ongoing season, how they are getting ready for Derby Day and what it feels like to be a part of a sports team. So if you want to learn more about UEA Women’s Volleyball team and support them for the rest of the season, keep on reading. And again, Derby Day is fast approaching so keep an eye out on the Sports pages for more interviews and details about the teams and the event.

How is the season going for you so far?

The season so far has been

absolutely amazing. In BUCS, the Women’s Volleyball team has been dominating and playing so well.

We have won all games but one, and in our regional tournaments we have been doing really well and been aiming to finish 1st in every competition. We are now preparing for Student Cup, which is our biggest tournament of the year, and we are beyond excited.

Derby Day is fast approaching, and this year it will be at UEA, which is always special. How are you getting ready for it?

Derby Day is going to be amazing. It was extremely fun last year and now that it is in Norwich it is going to be even more fun. We know that we have a very hard game coming up, as the Essex Volleyball team is amazing, but we will try our best and no matter it will be a great match.

Can you describe what being in a team feels like?

Being in a team is one of the greatest feelings in the world. It allows you to have an entire new family of people that you know will love and support you on and off the court. Being a part of this team makes me value team work both in a sporting environment and academically.

During your home matches, do you feel like you are getting enough support from other UEA students?

Our home matches are my favourite matches, because we are able to invite whoever we want to come watch and support us. We always have a full bench of the team and the rest of the Volleyball club and Men’s team usually come and support us as well.

What are you looking forward to this season?

This season I am looking forward to improving as a volleyball player myself, but also to watch the team

and I move forward in the volleyball world!

Do you have any “taster sessions” for people who are interested in volleyball but never tried it before?

We do have taster sessions! We have Wednesdays from 5-6:20 for members, and then we have 7-8:20 on Sunday evenings for drop-in members!

What is the hardest thing about being in a sports team?

The hardest thing about being on a sports team is definitely the balancing of university life as well having a social life. But once you get the hang of that, everything else works out very smoothly. It is very challenging at first, but with the help of supportive teammates and supportive friends from courses, it makes the challenge worth it. It also helps that volleyball is doing so well and it is something that I want to spend my time on.

24

29th January 2019

Sport

High hopes for UEA Cheer Stunt Tony Allen Sport Editor

Excitement is building and preparations are well underway for UEA Angels Cheer Stunt’s 2019 season.

As well as the usual national competitions and Derby Day, UEA Sport’s reigning team of the year are hosting several events including the return of the club’s Blind Dates event in the LCR, and an upcoming showcase next week where the public will be able to see the club’s new routines that they’ve been working hard on for the first time ahead of the new season.

Cheer Stunt consists of four sections: tumbling, dance, jumps and stunting, all coming together to make a routine. It is a separate sport from Cheer Dance, the synchronised, pom-pom wielding troupe.

A basic ‘stunt’ sees a brave ‘flyer’ lifted up in the air, with two strong ‘side bases’ standing either side and holding each foot, plus a taller ‘back’ to stand behind the bases and keep the flyer upright.

Some of the cheerleaders have backgrounds in trampolining and gymnastics, but many only started at university. UEA’s squad, like any good Cheer Stunt team, requires a variety of different skills contributing to some impressive moves. The bases and backs need to be strong, with excellent communication when performing stunts, while flyers have to have total confidence in their team-mates to execute each stunt.

While the club is naturally femaledominated, it is not exclusive, with everyone welcome.

Cheer Stunt at UEA is split into two squads. Comp squad is selected at the start of the academic year after tryouts, with around 25 members training up to three times a week and representing UEA at several national competitions. Show squad is slightly more relaxed with a weekly training session, and performs its routines at events like showcases and Derby Day. Comp squad competes at Level 3 of national Cheer while Show squad is at Level 2. Next year, the club is looking to send a group from Show squad to competitions alongside the Comp squad to give them extra experience at Level 2.

Training for both squads takes place in the Sportspark’s Spring Centre, at the end of the corridor to the sports halls. Concrete visited a Show squad training session, and got to see the work that goes on behind the scenes in creating the slick routines for audiences. The club is more popular now than it has ever been, with a membership of over 90, and more than 60 in Show squad creating a real team identity.

When Concrete visited, dozens of members took to the springy floor to

Photo: Tony Allen practise stunting and choreography.

Show squad captain Nicole Bellamy said: ‘It’s so nice to have such a big Show squad this year,’ noting that in previous years they had to put down mats in Congregation Hall but can now benefit from the Sportspark’s safer and better purpose-built gym facilities.

It’s a busy time for the club, with Showcase fast approaching. There’s motivational speeches, teamwork and a real sense of achievement when a group performs well. You get the feeling a documentary maker would love to get their hands on some of the characters in the room. Bellamy wanders around, talking to the team, offering advice and encouragement where needed. Show squad coach Katya Parrish leads the session, referring to a folder of routines, the flood of

pencil ‘x’ marks corresponding to a minutely detailed plan of action on the mat.

For most exercises, small groups practice stunting and choreography, transitioning between moves.

Cheerleaders, we’re told, love an audience to perform to. Parrish occasionally chooses one group to perform a stunt, with the others gathering around to offer their support and encouragement. Some moves are filmed for analysis later.

Cheer Stunt is one of UEA’s most successful sports, having brought home a host of medals and national titles from previous competitions. Derby Day is never far from the club’s thoughts, with UEA and Essex both having Comp and Show squads that go head to head for the point. UEA are confident of emerging victorious again in 2019.

The club has traditionally had links with UEA’s American Football team, holding joint socials and seeing cheerleaders attend home matches to offer their support. UEA Angels can often be seen selling cakes in the Hive to raise cash.

President Emily Roe sat down with Concrete after training to run through her sport and plans for the season: ‘Cheer Stunt is a sport that is a combination of dance and gymnastics. You need different types of people – people who are confident in the air, people who are strong to be bases, people who are steady as backs and fronts.

‘In the past we’ve been double national champions which is a great achievement and hit clean with no mistakes multiple times in certain routines, especially in BCA which is our big competition.

‘The girls did well in last year’s

comps. This year we’d love to become national champions again, like two years ago. We’ve got three competitions coming up, Future Cheer, Legacy and BCA, across the country. We’d love to win those and becoming grand champs overall would be ideal!

‘At the end of a cheer year new coaches get elected. This year for the Comp squad we’ve got Sophie Carter and Becky Davies, and Katya Parrish is the coach for Show squad.

They work over summer to come up with the routine before tryouts at the start of the year. They work really hard and come up with the routines on their own, every part, even the dance choreography where every single person has a different bit.

‘We’re trying to improve things for next year and do lots of fundraising to get the Show squad girls uniforms. We’ve got bigger socials, plus more sober socials like paintballing, to make the club more inclusive. There’s a real family feel.

‘You can join Show squad at any time of the year, visit our Facebook page, the SU website or just come along on Tuesdays 8:00-9:30 in the Sportspark.

‘Showcase is four days before our first competition so it’s quite a lot of pressure. We love to have Showcase as a chance to practice performing before our first comp – it gets the new girls less nervous and they can bring family and friends along to watch from the balcony.

It’s always a really nice atmosphere and great to have that support going into the first comp and a trial runthrough.

‘There will be two routines from show squad to give everyone a chance to perform and have fun because they don’t get to perform a lot.

‘Blind Dates is also going to be a good night – I can’t wait! We’re looking for people of all genders and sexualities to participate so please get in touch if you’re interested in taking part.’

UEA’s Cheer Stunt Showcase 2019 is taking place Wednesday 6 February, in the Sportspark Spring Centre, with routines from the Comp and Show squads in their first show of the year. The club are asking for a small, voluntary donation of around £1 to help fund their travel and participation costs for this year’s competitions.

Blind Dates, based on the format of the legendary ‘90s TV show, will take place on Thursday 28 February in the LCR, with doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm start.

Tickets are £5 each, available from the SU website.

The bar will be open for business and there will also be a cake sale to raise cash for the club, following the success of last year’s event.