Concrete 375

10 March 2020 Issue 375 The official student newspaper of the University of East Anglia | concrete-online.co.uk Striving for truth Est. 1992

Students petition for Interview:

strike compensation Henry Webb

Senior News Reporter

More than 1,500 people have signed a petition asking UEA’s Vice Chancellor to reimburse students’ for teaching hours lost owing to strike action. UEA students Kazim Chaudri, Ben Bownass, Lucy Hampshire and Tim Humphreys set up the petition. In a letter to the Vice Chancellor they wrote: “University education is a service which we pay for, and it is unreasonable to pay the full price without the full service.”

They added: “Above all, the following month is a crucial stage of preparation with dissertations and exams, and we as students will suffer as a result.

“You have asked that students write individual formal complaints if severely impacted. Thousands will be severely impacted. The students who will suffer the most are the ones who will not have the time or ability to go through formal complaints. This is unjust.”

Students pay £9,250 a year in tuition fees, and the University and College Union (UCU) strike action could

result in students missing up to 14 days of lectures and seminars. The strikes are taking place over 4 weeks from February 20, with the number of days of staff striking increasing each week.

UCU said: “The disputes centre on the sustainability of the Universities Superannuation Scheme and rising costs for members, and on universities' failure to make significant improvements on pay, equality, casualisation and workloads.”

Mr Chaudri said: “Our education was put on hold in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Now, we are in one month of yet another strike in 2020. In fact, there is another possible later this year.

“The idea of paying tuition fees without tuition is baffling. Students pay UEA £9,250 per year, expecting to receive a full education. Thousands of students will not

Continued on

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Paul Neary

From Old Trafford to UEA's Sportspark

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10th March 2020

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Editorial Another feather to my bow Jess Barrett Deputy Editor

Photo: Pixabay

Keep washing your hands!

Chris Matthews Editor-in-Chief

Summatives, choosing a career path, getting that summer bod - these are just a few of life’s stresses. And now there’s coronavirus to worry about.

It’s just not fair is it?

I’ve decided to use my editorial this issue to suggest some ways to steer clear of the virus, and hopefully dispel a few myths as well.

We’ll start with the adopted symbol of coronavirus: the surgical mask.

Will it protect you from contracting coronavirus? Nope. Will it make you look like you’re about to whack on your rubber gloves and dissect some poor animal in a lab? Perhaps.

Of course, if you are ill it’s like having a permanent hand over your mouth to prevent your germs from infecting us all. But it won’t protect you from getting the disease. Sadly, unless you have some sort of supermask, most everyday masks won’t filter out the virus.

The best thing you can do is wash your hands. Not just a light sprinkling of water though, I’m talking the full rubbing between your fingers with soap as you sing happy birthday twice under your breath, hoping no one else in the bathroom has noticed you mouthing the words. You should wash your hands more often than usual as well, and especially after eating food, coughing, blowing your nose or sneezing, and once you arrive home or onto campus.

The symptoms of coronavirus are having a cough, a high temperature, or having shortness of breath. That

said, these symptoms are fairly similar to that of a cold or the flu, so just because you have them doesn’t mean you have coronavirus.

However you should call 111 if you’ve been in contact with someone who has confirmed coronavirus disease, or have been to any of these places in the last 14 days: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, or the H 10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel in Tenerife.

If you think you have coronavirus, call 111. Don’t go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

Instead, stay inside and try to avoid contact with other people.

One term that many have thrown around is self-isolation. It sounds rather menacing if you ask me. Still, you should only self-isolate if the NHS or a medical professional has advised you to do so. If you find yourself in that position, you should stay at home, don’t go to uni, work or public places, avoid contact with people, and ask friends or family to carry out any errands you have, such as buying medicine or groceries. UEA are also asking that you contact Student Services at studentsupport@uea.ac.uk. There is also a dedicated coronavirus advice page on UEA Portal.

No one at UEA has or is suspected of having coronavirus yet, but just keep washing your hands anyway.

In other news, this issue of Concrete is another great read.

From Marco Rizzo’s article in Global, ‘Concerns over plans to drain Congo peat bog’ (p.9) to Callistra Tijtra’s

Comment piece, ‘UEA needs to step up after response to alleged sexual assault’ (p.17), we’ve packed this issue with another raft of fascinating articles.

I’d also like to congratulate our Global Editor Will Warnes on making it into Amnesty International’s top ten shortlist for Student Journalist for his work on human rights stories in Chile, Hong Kong and China.

It’s a fantastic achievement and I hope you’re looking forward to reading more of Will’s work in the future as much as I am!

To finish off with a little Media Collective news, Livewire’s Jailbreak is happening at the end of this week, so make sure you head over to their justgiving page to donate if you can at justgiving.com/fundraising/ livewire-135020.

Good luck with your summatives and we’ll see you again for our next issue after the Easter break.

Enjoy the paper!

This week is the first time I have produced Concrete’s award Winning radio show, ‘A Week in Concrete’ by myself.

It’s safe to say that it all went to plan, there were no major hiccups.

I found it very exciting.

We talked about all things venue this week, I had Venue Deputy Editor Amelia Rentell and gaming Editor Martha Griffiths as guests and worked our way through Venue 374.

I hope all our listeners enjoyed the show!

Venue is quite close to my heart as it is the way I first got involved in Concrete, for the first year I wrote exclusively for the music section, afraid to delve into any other sections for fear that my writing would be perceived as horrible.

All of my insecurities are laughable now.

My advice to anyone reading this who hasn’t taken the plunge to write for us yet, (in the famous words of Shia LaBeouf) just do it.

You won’t regret it I promise, you may even end up being an editor and winning some awards ;) Speaking of radio shows, the BNOC Will Rule and I are co hosting a radio show together for Livewire’s Jailbreak!

We’re on after midnight this coming Saturday, so tune into Livewire1350 and relax and Will and I read out bedtime stories.

Being able to get involved in radio is one of the many great outcomes of being a member of the media collective, and it has opened so many great doors for me.

I will miss it greatly when I graduate this summer.

concrete-online.co.uk

Tuesday 10th March 2020 Issue 375 Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593466 www.concrete-online.co.uk

Editor-in-Chief Chris Matthews concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Deputy Editor Jess Barrett concrete.deputy@uea.ac.uk Online Editors Alec Banister and Jack Oxford concrete.online@uea.ac.uk News Bryan Mfhaladi concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Senior Reporter: Henry Webb Global Global Editor: William Warnes Senior Writer: Piriyanga Thirunimalan concrete.global@uea.ac.uk Features Features Editors: Paige Allen and Leelou Lewis concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Comment Matt Branston concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk Science Science Editor: Jake WalkerCharles concrete.scienv@uea.ac.uk Travel Sam Hewitson concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk

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10th March 2020

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

Students petition for strike compensation Henry Webb

Senior News Reporter

continued from front page receive this across yet another four weeks of strikes.

“Students have continually raised one point in response to this petition: they want this to be the final time that they pay for the strikes.

So many reposts of this petition have voiced that paying the University during a strike is becoming a yearly tradition.

Unfortunately, I have to agree."

The strike is the fourth in three years and is in response to an average pay cut of more than 20% since 2009, relative to inflation.

A UEA spokeswoman said: “UEA will be putting the money withheld from striking staff during the industrial action into a fund to support all students.

"At this stage it is hard to know the full impact of the industrial action and therefore we will review how this fund could be used once industrial action is finished.

"Most funding for UK students comes direct from Student Finance England and university fees pay for so much more than teaching, including facilities like the library, Careers Central and upkeep of the

campus grounds. After previous industrial action, a consultation with students resulted in a decision being made to use withheld wages from striking staff for the benefit of students. The areas students nominated for the money to be invested were mental health support and funding for additional library resource, including additional books and an e-book subscription package.

“Once the industrial action has finished, if students feel that the measures put in place have not mitigated the impact upon their studies then they will be able to discuss this initially with their Academic Adviser and then if necessary they can make a formal complaint. Students are advised to seek assistance from the Students’ Union Advice Centre if considering making a formal complaint.”

Dr Michael Kyriacou, a UEA humanities lecturer and anticasualisation officer for UEA UCU said: “I don’t think it’s a matter for striking staff to tell students what they should and shouldn’t be asking for. It’s up to students as a political class to engage with the institution to work out their own demands.

Obviously, I want students to stand in solidarity with us, and I think for the most part they do.”

Mr Humphreys said: "This compensation that we are asking

Photo: Concrete/ Harry Chapman for does not mean that we disagree with the strike action.

"We stand side by side with the lecturers in the picket lines and support their fight."

However he suggested it was

unlikely UEA would reimburse students for the full 14 days of missed tuition.

He added: “I think the first thing the University would look at would be student attendance because you

have to prove that [the strike] was a break in your engagement”.

You can support the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/ uea-compensate-your-students

'Judge me by my actions' on mental health, Vice Chancellor tells students

Chris Matthews Editor-in-Chief

Mental Health Crisis UEA Vice Chancellor Prof David Richardson told students to “judge me by my actions” at a joint mental

health Q&A with Student Services and Uea(su). Prof Richardson said: “Why should people believe and trust in me?

"Judge me by my actions. A year or so ago I said I would put in place a Vice Chancellor’s mental health and wellbeing taskforce, I did. I said I would listen to the students, the ‘We Will Be Heard’ [campaign], I did.”

He added: “I’m the leader of this

university and I made it happen.”

He said other universities are coming to UEA to see how the university is tackling mental health issues because UEA is “genuinely becoming the exemplar”.

He said: “That’s good, but that doesn’t mean we’re there yet. We’ve got a lot more to do.”

At the same event Claire Pratt, the head of wellbeing at Student

Services, said: “There are huge amounts of students who have had a very positive experience and have felt very well supported [by Student Services].”

She added: “My aim is absolutely for every student to feel they can walk through the doors of Student Services and feel that support meets their needs, or if we’re not able to meet their needs that we’re able to

Photo: Wikimedia Commons adequately support them to find the right place that can.”

If you have been affected by a similar incident or know someone who has you can contact STS by calling 01603 592761 or emailing studentsupport@uea.ac.uk.

Alternatively you can contact Samaritans on 116 123 24-hours a day or email jo@samaritans.org

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10th March 2020

News News in brief:

UEA student had suicidal thoughts six UEA months before he died, inquest hears distributes Mental Health Crisis A UEA student who was found dead on campus last year was having suicidal thoughts six months ahead of his death. Theo Brennan-Hulme, 21, a first year English literature and creative writing student, died in March 2019. He was the fourth UEA student to die within the space of just 10 months. His death sparked student protests on campus focused on mental health and wellbeing.

Bibi Aniza Nordally, a Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust clinical support worker, was present

during an NHS mental health risk assessment for Mr Brennan-Hulme.

At the inquest into his death at Norfolk Coroner’s Court she said Mr Brennan-Hulme had acknowledged having suicidal thoughts and selfharming, which he called a “coping mechanism”.

She said: “Initially he was not overly talkative but as the meeting progressed he told us more about his background. He told us that he was not eating properly and was not attending lectures.”

The inquest had previously been informed Mr Brennan-Hulme had told University staff he had suicidal thoughts in September 2018.

An email forwarded by Katherine Drayton, his academic adviser, in February 2019 advised a warden should check on him after his mother was concerned he was self-harming in his room. Ms. Drayton told the inquest she wasn’t sure whether anyone checked on him or whether Student Services were told about it. In a statement his mother Esther Brennan said she hoped UEA would inform parents about their child’s mental health in the future. She said: “I hope changes can be made for all the sons and daughters at university.”

She added her son was the “loveliest, most selfless gentleman

you could hope to meet”.

In December last year the University announced 16 new mental health initiatives, including one to tell parents about students’ mental health issues. The inquest into Mr Brennan-Hulme’s death was adjourned until September 2020.

If you have been affected by a similar incident or know someone who has you can contact STS by calling 01603 592761 or emailing studentsupport@uea.ac.uk.

Alternatively you can contact Samaritans on 116 123 24-hours a day or email jo@samaritans.org

hand sanitisers across campus Bryan Mfhaladi and Jess Barrett Deputy Editor and News Editor

Hand sanitiser dispensers have been distributed on locations around campus. Information posted beside the dispensers suggest that the sanitiser has been provided in order to combat the spread of coronavirus.

The sanitiser dispensers and posters suggest some easy ways to limit the spread of germs, including carrying tissues and using them to catch your sneeze, and binning used tissues. The poster also promotes the regular washing of your hands, and the use of sanitiser gel in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

The poster advises that if you have arrived back from China within 14 days, you should follow the specific advice for returning travellers. This advice should also be followed if you have returned from a highly infected country, such as Italy or Spain.

UEA offers scholarship to University of Lagos students Henry Webb

News Senior Reporter

Photo: Concrete/ Chris Matthews

Universities to scrap predicted grades Leia Butler News Reporter

Universities could be scrapping predicted grades as part of their entry systems. The new review comes after most universities have been scrapping unconditional offers in the last few years. A potential outcome from these

new discussions about university admissions processes might see applications being delayed until after A-level results day.

This may mean that students will be required to take their A-levels earlier in the year, or publish exam results earlier than under the current system, which is in August. The Watchdog says that other options could include pushing back the start dates of university terms so that they

fall later in the year, to allow for any changes to results day. Sir Michael Barber, chairman of the watchdog, said that parts of the admissions system were, “not working”, and that in 75% of cases, students were not making the grades predicted by their schools.

He also said that the admissions process, “may be especially unfair on students from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

The Photo: Bryan Mfhaladi /watchdog Concrete

will publish its findings after the admissions review ends in May, however universities do not have to impose any changes to admissions as they are independent bodies. Jo Grady, leader of the UCU Lecturers’ Union, said that, “the review is the opportunity for us to finally move to a system where university offers are based on actual achievement rather than unreliable estimates of potential.”

UEA has introduced a scholarship scheme with the University of Lagos (UNILAG), in Nigeria. The scheme will cover the full tuition fees for one Law student to study a Master of Laws (LLM) at UEA, as well as allowing an unlimited number of students to receive a discount of between £4000 and £6000 off the cost of tuition.

Dr Hakeem Seriki, Associate Professor of Law at UEA, explained while speaking to hundreds of law students at UNILAG, that the selection process will be done by the university’s faculty of law, who will shortlist three students and submit their names to UEA. “We will ask the nominated students to write an essay on why they think they should get the scholarship while the best of them would get 100 percent scholarship.”

Deby Okoh, UEA’s recruitment manager for East and West Africa, said, “The university has over 100 West African students studying a variety of courses, and that the partial scholarship was open to Sub-Saharan Africa.” However, she added that, “The full scholarship is for UNILAG students because of the reputation of the Faculty of Law.”

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10th March 2020

News One in five students earn less than non-graduates Henry Webb

News Senior Reporter

Students often complain about the high cost of university, but it’s generally accepted that access to the higher-paying careers that a degree offers can justify the investment.

However, new research found that one in five students earned less than non-graduates with similar school results.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, who conducted the research, did so using tax data for students from the mid-90’s onwards.

Considering both taxes and student loans, for those who attend university, men earn on average £130,000 more, and women £100,000 more than their non-graduate peers, over the course of their careers.

Ben Waltmann, who is a coauthor of the report, said: “The exchequer gains a lot on average from higher education, despite the high costs of writing off unpaid student loans.

"That is mainly because highearning graduates go on to pay an awful lot of tax.”

However, some ministers want to cut back on courses that end up losing the government money due to unpaid loan debt. The report also looked at the variation between courses: “This analysis also shows that the government makes an overall

News in brief:

UEA in top 50 for graduate salaries

loss on financing the degrees of nearly half of all graduates. These losses are concentrated amongst those studying certain subjects.

“For creative arts, the losses are substantial”

Chris Matthews Editor-in-Chief

A study has shown UEA is in the top 50 when it comes to graduate salaries with a median of £29k.

RS Components analysed median salaries of graduates studying a variety of courses at institutions around the UK. Oxford and Cambridge topped the list with medians of £45k and £41k.

Of those analysed at UEA the highest salary was £46k. The lowest was £12k.

For creative arts, for example, the losses are substantial. This need not mean that the government is misallocating funds, but it is important to be aware of the costs involved.”

This does not however, take into account the social benefits of higher education, which can be much more difficult to measure. Jo Grady, the general secretary of the UCU, commented on this: “It is vital to recognise that education is about much more than just financial benefit.

"Focusing on future income following university ignores the wider benefits that education brings to individuals and to society.”

Photo: Public Domain Photos

Photo: Needpix

UCL bans student-staff relationships

UEA cancels Italy trip over coronavirus Chris Matthews Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Eliza Jack News Reporter

University College London (UCL) has become the third university in the UK to ban, “personal and intimate relationships” between staff and students over whom they have a supervisory role. The new guidelines state that, “UCL academic, research and professional

services staff, postgraduate teaching assistants, and student mentors are in a position of trust.

This policy seeks to protect students and staff from allegations of actual or perceived conflicts of interest, and to limit circumstances where a position of power may be abused.”

The new guidelines also prohibit relationships between any member of staff and a student who is under 18 or identified as an ‘adult at risk’.

Any other relationship between

a student and a member of staff without a supervisory role over them is to be declared for the consideration of the university.

Students are strongly encouraged to report any behaviour that they feel is inappropriate.

An undeclared relationship, or one between a student and a member of staff with direct supervisory authority over them, will result in disciplinary action.

Similar policies have been taken

up in recent years by the University of Greenwich and the University of Roehampton, though The Guardian reports that others are considering the position. Rachel Watters, women’s officer at the National Union of Students, is one of those in favour: "Given the public focus on sexual misconduct in higher education and elsewhere, we would hope and expect more universities to revise their policies in similar ways.”

Journalism students at UEA will not attend an international festival in Italy later this year owing to concerns of coronavirus.

Students and staff were set to travel to Perugia, central Italy, for the International Journalism Festival during April.

Jack Pullan is a third year Spanish and Italian student at Durham on a year abroad at the University of Siena, 70 miles from Perugia.

Although the University has shut down, he says “it’s more inconvenient than anything else”.

He added: “The virus seems very innocuous, especially for younger people.

"The real issue for people studying abroad is the limitations on travel”.

He says the worst cases are in northern Italy, where “quarantined cities are becoming somewhat purge-like”.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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10th March 2020

News

Oxford proposes to drop

classics

such as Homer and Virgil Lewis Oxley News Reporter

The University of Oxford’s Classics department are proposing to drop traditional authors of classical texts, including Homer and Virgil.

This is in an attempt to reduce the state school intake gap.

This is a result of what the university says has been the lower uptake of students taking Latin and Greek studies at A-Level.

Traditional subjects such as Classics are very rarely offered at state-school sixth-forms and colleges, and so the university hopes to, “end the gap” between students who had taken the A-level and those who did not.

The university has been under some scrutiny for being under the assumption that all students who

take up the course have read these texts. Both Homer and Virgil have been on the core Classics syllabus at Oxford since the foundation of the Classics department, and are regarded as two of the essential authors of the classical period.

Homer’s The Odyssey and The Iliad along with Virgil’s epic poem, Aeneid have been integral to the understanding of both Greek and Latin literature.

The university who has taught Classics and included texts such as that of Homer and Virgil for 900 years, and who are ranked second in the country, state that these proposals wouldn’t scrap these texts, but rather not,“make them compulsory”.

However, the university says they are to be offered as optional texts on the syllabus in the latter part of the course.

manifestos now online:

uea.su/elections/manifestos voting closes thurs 12th march, 10am

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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8

Global

10h March 2020

Death tolls rise as coronavirus continues to spread Wiliam Warnes Global Editor

In a week that has seen Italy’s death toll rise to 107, the first death in the UK, and three states in the US declare emergencies, fears are spreading globally as the Covid-19 virus outbreak continues to spread.

Italy has announced plans to close all schools and colleges for 10 days, as it was reported that more than 3,000 people have been diagnosed. 92,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed worldwide by authorities, with more than 80,000 in China and more than Photo: health.mil 3,000

people dying globally.

The United Kingdom has announced that 115 people have now been diagnosed with the virus, with a woman in her 70s, suffering from an underlying health condition, becoming the first to die from the virus in the UK. The first UK citizen to die from coronavirus passed away last week, after being infected on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan.

Six aboard the Diamond Princess ship have died after an estimated 705 people out of 3,711 passengers were diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease.

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has claimed that all who take sick days from work with Covid-19 will be eligible for sick pay from day one.

According to the EU and industry officials, Europe is experiencing delays in supplies of medicines and face masks due to disruptions caused by the outbreak.

The UK’s chief medical advisor, Prof Chris Whitty, has said that the second phase of the country’s health officials is now in action, as the “delay” phase measures will be ramped up to slow the spread of the virus.

He also told MPs that it was now “highly likely” some people being infected in the UK have no connection to overseas cases.

In the United States, California, Washington, and Florida have declared a state of emergency, as

“We’re calling on every country to act with speed, scale and clear-minded determination”

The latest from the World Health Organization has been a call for all nations to, “pull out all the stops” to fight the virus.

Speaking at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said, “this epidemic can be pushed back but only with a coordinated and comprehensive approach that engages the entire machinery of government.

We’re calling on every country to act with speed, scale and clear-minded determination”. He proceeded to say that officials from the organization are “deeply concerned” with the increasing number of countries reporting cases

the US death toll has risen to 11.

A 71 year-old-man in California, who had underlying health conditions, has been the most recent reported death, after having been on a cruise ship, officials have said.

It has now been reported that at least 150 patients in the US have been diagnosed with the virus across 16 states. 10 of the 11 deaths have been in Washington State.

and, in particular, those that have weaker health-care systems.

As of March 3rd, the mortality rate of Covid-19 coronavirus is estimated to be 3.4%, as announced by the WHO. So far, the international community is pulling together to help fight the virus and slow down its spreading.

However, with the number of infections on the rise, and the death tolls increasing, more action is required to put a stop to the virus.

Only time will tell how the fight continues, and how much further the international community will need to work together to halt the spread.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Turkey opens borders as violence with Syria escalates in Idlib William Warnes Global Editor

Fighting in the north-western city of Idlib has intensified after Syrian government forces killed 36 Turkish soldiers in an attack that saw a major escalation of the Syrian conflict. In response, Turkey has hit 200 government targets, killing 309 soldiers, and has opened its borders, allowing thousands of migrants to enter Greece.

Russia has stated that the Turkish troops were kills by Syrian forces while operating alongside jihadist fighters. Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, spoke by phone and both expressed concern and the need for, “additional measures” to calm the situation, leaving the possibility of a summit in the near future, says the Kremlin. The two countries are on rival sides of Syria’s civil war, with Russia backing Syria’s government, and Turkey

“There is a risk of sliding into a major open international military confrontation”

backing the Syrian rebels that the former have labelled ‘terrorists’.

The two nations have since agreed a ceasefire, after Putin and Erdogan spoke for six hours in the Russian capital in an attempt to avoid major escalation.

Russian-backed, Syrian government forces have been attempting to regain control of the city of Idlib from Turkish-backed rebel factions, and jihadist groups.

Speaking on the situation, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, tweeted, “there is a risk of sliding into a major open international military confrontation. It is also causing unbearable humanitarian suffering and putting civilians in danger”.

Syrian president, Bashar alAssad, has pledged to recapture, “every inch” of Syrian territory, and the major highways of Idlib are a necessary benefit to Syria’s economy, which is crippled by sanctions. However, to do so Assad requires heavily on the support from Russia and Iran-backed militias. Assad, speaking on Russian news outlet Russia 24, has said that he looks to normalise relations with Turkey again in the long run, despite the growing conflict. Thousands of troops had been sent to Syria by Turkey, in an attempt to halt the Syrian offensive on Idlib. This has led to direct fighting between the two countries, with an estimated 58 Turkish troops killed in the fighting.

In opening its borders to Europe, Turkey has caused a huge movement of people subsequently entering Greece, leading to tension on islands such as Lesbos between locals and migrants. Speaking on the issue, Erdogan has warned Europe to expect “millions” of migrants, as Ankara claims it is struggling to handle the refugees fleeing wartorn Syria. The EU has responded

Photos: Wikimedia Commons Photo: en.kremlin.ru

by praising Athens for its work as a “shield” to deter a further influx of migrants into the European Union.

Turkey has claimed that Greek Photo: Wikipedia Photo: Wikimedia forces killed three Commons migrants attempting to enter their country, an accusation that Athens strongly rejects.

The ceasefire between Russia and Turkey marks an attempt from the two nations to halt the escalating

violence in the region. However, whether or not this ceasefire leads to further movement in peace negotiations is yet to be seen.

Despite this, as the violence grows in a conflict that began in 2011, and the fighting spreads to direct contact between major nations, there appears to be no end in sight to a war that is ravaging a oncepeaceful nation.

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10th March 2020

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

Stock markets prepared to take major hit after coronavirus scare Alec Banister Global Writer

The global stock markets are likely to suffer their worst week since 2008, as the coronavirus begins to spread beyond Asia.

Analysts had hoped that the virus, named COVID-19, would have a temporary impact and be mostly restricted to China.

However, daily reports that more new cases of the disease were being confirmed outside of China than within, and the mass outbreaks in Iran and Italy have ended the

“Some major companies suffered a 13% decrease in the value of their shares”

likelihood of this.

On Friday 28 February, $5 trillion was wiped off the global stock market, with the UK’s FTSE 100’s contributing £152 billion of that total.

Some major companies suffered a 13% decrease in the value of their shares, with traders describing a sea of red across their screens.

In the United States, the Dow Jones stock market index saw its biggest one-day drop ever, falling almost 1,200 points. Unsurprisingly, the worst-hit shares were those in the travel and tourism industries.

Which then had a knock-on effect on the price of crude oil, with a single barrel dropping from almost $70 in January, to costing $50 on the 28 February.

However, researchers maintain that this is probably a temporary overreaction, as investors fear the worst, and attempt to protect their portfolio by selling stocks and investing in safer assets such as gold.

Concerns over plans to drain Congo peat bog Marco Rizzo Global Writer

Scientists voice concerns over the plans to drill in the Congo peatlands for oil, with the possible release of gigantic amounts of greenhouse gasses which could destroy the area and pose a serious setback to the Paris climate agreement targets.

The Covette Centrale Peatlands are situated in the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), and are the largest peatlands in the world, with an area equivalent to that of England. According to estimates, the entire area could be permanently damaged as drilling could release 30bn tonnes of carbon.

These peatlands lay in the Congo basin, one of the largest tropical forests in the world and are now at the center of the oil world, as they are suspected to contain more than 350 million barrels of oil. This would more than triple the country’s oil production, and could be a muchneeded boost to their struggling economy, which has seen a growing reliance on oil in order to pay off its debts to countries such as China.

Photo: wikimedia commons

The release of such a large amount of greenhouse gasses is not only a problem for the local environment, which houses multiple species of endangered animals, but could also put the global environment at risk; according to estimates, the peatlands store the equivalent of 3 years of global carbon emissions.

The Brazzaville government has repeatedly assured global authorities that it does not plan to drill for oil in the peatlands in order to preserve the local habitant. With president, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, commenting that the drilling would instead focus on the outskirts of the area.

This, while reassuring, must not be taken at face value, as the government has continued to sanction oil companies to conduct oil exploration in the zone.

Drilling is not the only issue that faces the peatlands, as infrastructure would need to be created to sustain the work and thus the area will see an exponential increase of human activity, ranging all the way from road construction to traffic and fence building. This additional exploitation of the land would disrupt the fragile ecosystem of the bogs.

To add more suspicion to the affair, there are reports of European oil giants, such as Shell and Total, having previously rejected offers to drill in the area as their surveys suggested a much more conservative estimate of the oil reserves, making the operational challenges of the area not worthwhile.

Norihiro Fujito, an investment strategist, said: “Markets can cope even if there is a big risk as long as we can see the end of the tunnel. But

“Markets can cope even if there is a big risk as long as we can see the end of the tunnel”

demand for goods and services remains the same, companies who have become dependent on Chinese labour and trade are unable to meet that demand.

Some analysts are even less worried by these events and are confident that a rebound should be forthcoming.

Guy Foster, head of research at

at the moment, no one can tell how long this will last and how severe it will get.”

Companies in trade and industry have also been negatively impacted because the sudden halt to China’s economy has meant businesses are constrained in terms of their supply.

In other words, although the

Brewin Dolphin, told Sky News that the supply constraint: “is actually pretty market neutral, something that just tells you there is going to be profits made later in the year.”

Nevertheless, he goes on to warn that if this, “goes on for longer, then it could hit employment and then that could lead to recessionarylike characteristics.”

Photo: wikimedia commons

Vice President of Iran diagnosed with coronavirus Piriyanga Thirunimalan Senior Global Writer

Among the many countries affected by the coronavirus, Iran has been one of the worst-hit.

Last week it had been confirmed that several officials, including the Vice-President for Women’s Affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, and Deputy Health Minister of Iran, Iraj Harirchi, had contracted the disease. A widespread video of Deputy Health Minister, Iraj Harirchi, shows him sweating and coughing, only to later be tested positive for the virus. Earlier this week it had also been confirmed that Mohammad Mirmohammadi, advisor to Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamanei, had died after contracting coronavirus.

Within a fortnight, the number of cases of coronavirus in Iran has escalated from two cases, to approximately 2,300 cases. The inability and inefficiency of the Iranian government in being able to

“Within a fortnight the number of cases... escalated from two cases to... 2,300 cases”

contain the spread of the disease in the area, has led to a lack of public

“Public panic spreads as Iran’s Supreme Leader... downplays the urgency” trust in the state’s capacity to bring a solution to the rapid spread.

Public panic spreads as Ayatollah Khamanei downplays the urgency and claims, according to the Daily Mail, that the outbreak of the virus is, “not that big a deal.”

The efforts made by the authorities to resolve the situation are being questioned by many, due to the sheer number of government officials who have fallen ill. Masoumeh Ebtekar was seen at a cabinet meeting, sitting merely a few seats away from the President, Hassan Rohani, a day before being tested positive for the virus.

The inability to contain the virus, even within the highest branches of government, poses a great danger to not only the nation, but also surrounding

countries. This is clear from the fact that the crisis in Iran has also led to the spread of cases to nearby countries, including Kuwait, Oman, and Afghanistan. The lack of skilled healthcare in MiddleEastern countries overall, causes neighbouring countries to watch Iran’s inability to contain the spread in anxiety. Reports released by various services such as the BBC Persian service, also show that the real number of deaths is being manipulated and downplayed to the public, leading to f u r t h e r distrust and panic in the nation.

Photo: wikimedia commons

Features

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10th March 2020

Is UEA accessible for everyone?

Laurence Scott Features Writer

I felt frustrated. I felt demoralised. I still feel shocked even now.

Surely my entire time at University will be better than this? Hi, my name is Laurence Scott and I’m - sort of - a Year 1 BA International Relations and Politics student.

I’m a mature student: I’m 26-years-old. 2019 was a difficult year for me. The first week of 2020 left me with a similar feeling.

“My wheelchair could not reach some parts of campus” Thankfully, I now feel a lot happier.

Rewind to 2008. My life changed overnight; I was in a mathematics lesson when my right hand turned orange.

It felt like my hand was on fire, and it was larger than usual. I have been in constant pain ever since.

To cut a long story short, I was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).

This left me wondering why it happened to me? And, why did it have to be a disability there’s no test for?

In 2013 I achieved A*AA in my A-levels, exceeding the AAA offer I got from University of Warwick, enrolling on the Politics BA. Unfortunately, whilst studying I became extremely weak.

There were two new symptoms which stuck out to me: extreme tiredness which wasn’t relieved by rest, and a pain in both my legs.

The day before my mother’s birthday in 2013 I came home to live with my parents: who live in Norfolk.

In April 2015, I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) by the NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ME/CFS service.

At least I now knew what it was.

The next five years were tough; it’s possible things may not get that bad again.

I was unemployed due to my CFS. I have walked with a stick from 2014 to this day.

I also use my wheelchair a lot. At first I was lucky to get a

wheelchair on loan, but I needed to be pushed around in it. Things needed to change; I needed a bit more independence. So, I bought an electric wheelchair.

“The university should be ashamed of itself” I even jokingly call it “the electric chair” when I do stand-up comedy!

Then, over the last couple of years, things changed: my tiredness decreased, as did many of my other CFS symptoms.

I wanted to study again. I applied to the UEA and got an unconditional offer! I still use a wheelchair and walking stick to get around.

Did you know the UEA used to be a golf course? Why did it have to be on a golf course?

Unluckily for me, I have found my wheelchair is not far enough off the ground to be able to get to certain parts of the UEA campus.

As a result of this, I quickly

began to wish I never started a course here.

The UEA is not the only campus which is very uneven: I looked around the University of Nottingham and the University of Exeter and they were even more uneven.

I hope wheelchairs which can fly will be invented soon. I think it’s such a shame there was a time when Universities were designed to be unsuitable for wheelchair users; the talents of those with a disability shouldn’t be lost.

In January I decided to intercalate: meaning I have stopped my studies and will begin again in September 2020 in first year again.

Another problem being a wheelchair user at the UEA is that not all the doors are automatic, so I have had to ask staff or students to hold the door open for me, which they do.

What could be done? I think I will have to buy a new wheelchair.

Photo: Unsplash

The option of doing an Open University degree would not help me improve my transferable skills: verbal communication skills, for instance.

When I get my new wheelchair, it won’t be able to fly, but it will be further off the ground.

As for the problem of holding doors open, the university should be ashamed of itself for not installing more automatic doors.

But feeling ashamed isn’t enough.

I hope to work with the university to find a good solution between now and September.

Ellie Robson on volunteering whilst at university Ellie Robson Features Writer

I’ve been involved in some kind of volunteering for most of my life.

Due to living in a seaside town, my family was involved in the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) charity for my childhood and teen years. By the time I came to university, I was no stranger to volunteering, both for charities and other organisations.

In my second year at UEA, I joined the committee of the Raising and Giving society, who fundraise for a variety of charities over the academic year and help to facilitate and support fundraising projects for individual students. I led a group of over 20 students in a large fundraising project, which was a big commitment, and I decided to take a step back from the committee going into my final year. More recently, I’ve been volunteering at local venue, Norwich Arts Centre.

I’ve been volunteering here for almost a year now, and made the move to switch my volunteering to something more arts based after I

decided that I wanted to pursue a creative career rather than one in the charity sector, which is an idea I toyed with for a little while in my second year.

I feel I’m pretty well positioned to share advice on volunteering, so hopefully my experiences will demonstrate the benefits volunteering can bring! The first thing to do is find a volunteering placement which is right for you.

I know this isn’t the situation for everyone, but I am lucky enough that my student loan covers my rent and necessities, and although I have a part-time job, I can pick up hours more flexibly during the semester, and I’m not dependent upon it. University is the time in your life where you’ll probably have the largest amount of free time that you have complete control over, so make the most of it. I decided to pursue a volunteering placement which was linked to something I’m interested in doing after finishing

my degree. This gives you a great opportunity to try out something you’re interested in without the pressure of being paid and forced into a regular, certain-hours-perweek commitment.

To find these opportunities, I would recommend following the social

media of local organisations that you are interested in, or bodies that have an awareness of, and promote, local opportunities, such as UEA CareerCentral. The National Centre for Writing social media is also great for arts students, as they constantly advertise different opportunities in Norwich. Volunteering is relatively easy to get into, as places are usually looking for somebody who is friendly, enthusiastic, and willing to help out, but don’t necessarily need prior experience.

I think the only downside to volunteering is that you don’t get paid for your time. It can seem pointless to pursue unpaid experience whilst at university, but I believe volunteering provides many benefits.

Firstly, there is the knowledge that you are aiding in an organisations ability Photo: Pixabay to achieve their goals.

For example, the RNLI branch in my hometown couldn’t exist without people giving up their time. The greatest advantage of volunteering is the skills you can learn. During my time at RAG, I learnt to manage large groups of people, deal with risk assessments, and event planning. My role meant that I had to improve my time management, and also my confidence with working with new people on a regular basis. The only other way the range of things I was able to be involved in would only be available to me, is if I were to undertake a fulltime job somewhere. Additionally, with the arts centre, I’ve begun to learn things about marketing, event management, and collaborating with artists.

These skills will be incredibly useful once I graduate, and undertaking some volunteering looks fantastic on your CV. It displays a willingness to go above and beyond what is asked of you, and a desire to learn new things. I really believe everyone can benefit from volunteering placements whilst at university, time permitted, and that you just have to find the right fit for you.

10th March 2020

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concrete-online.co.uk/category/features/ | @ConcreteUEA

Lecture Capture technology

is introduced on campus.

Jess Barrett Deputy Editor

Catering for students with invisible disabilities is an ongoing issue at UEA, with more students requiring lecture capture technology in order to assist them with their studies.

The process of setting up lecture capture technology at UEA has been ongoing for many years. Both Jenna Chapman and Callum Perry (Undergraduate education officers for the last two years respectively) have petitioned the university in order to opt in to the technology.

Callum Perry, current Undergraduate Education Officer at the student’s union stated, “For years uea(su) has been advocating for the introduction of lecture capture. A system which allows you to revisit content and begin to think about different ways of accessing learning in a visual and audio styles. We have been working on getting this over the line and now finally I am excited to say that the first phase has been introduced as of 2nd March 2020.”

“This system will help to increase the accessibility of learning for students that might have access needs or who might be distance learners. This also helps to drive forward the vision for making learning more innovative and exciting for all students across campus. There are some key things to know. Firstly is that the implementation has happened in 50 rooms across campus. This means

“The introduction of lecture capture at UEA is imperatively important” equipment is readily available to capture the screen content and lecturer’s voice. The policy is currently an opt-in this means that lecturers can choose whether or not to use it but I would encourage all students to talk to their course

reps to encourage staff to use the equipment. I have released two blogs around lecture capture. The most recent one details important information around the new technology.”

“We have good take-up from across all faculties. Uea(su) is incredibly supportive of the UEA’s progress on this and we want to work towards a full installation

by September and the move to an opt-out process for all staff. This is because we truly believe that this system will help to make learning more accessible, innovative and flexible for all student learners.”

It is clear that every student at university has different needs, and the introduction of lecture capture at UEa is imperatively important in providing students with the facilities they need so that they can complete their studies to the best of their ability. It is fantastic to see that the university is taking steps in order to assist the learning of their students, I hope that many seminar and lecturers opt in to use the technology as this will positively impact so many different

students educational experience, as consequently positively impact their wellbeing - which is such a prevalent issue on campus at the moment.

Photo: Unsplash

‘Poems help us to deal with our greatest struggles and challenges’ Sam Gordon Webb Features Writer

Mental Health Crisis Poetry is the most undervalued, underfunded, and underperformed art form in our contemporary age.

Yes, poetry sales have soared in recent times, but poets still struggle to make a living from their work. As a poet myself, and as somebody who knows - from experience - the ability of poetry to help me to grapple with my everyday struggles, this reality feels criminally unfair.

The link between poetry and mental health is extreme, and yet the

Photo: Pixabay

effort to find such a link, is mostly missed. Poetry played an important role in my own recovery. Indeed, it still does. I believe this to be guided by the unique ability of poetry to concisely express emotions without limit. There are no rule books in poetry, or to be more precise, each and every rule book is being torn up and replaced every day.

And yet, poetry provides an insufficient source of income for even the greats of the modern day.

Having established herself as a respected figure of the modern poetic scene, Andrea Holland, Creative Writing lecturer at UEA, told students at an event this month she still grapples with the question affecting most of her poetic peers: “will my poem help to put food on the table for my family?”

Potentially, but probably not.

Unjustifiably, I think. After all, how could a poet - someone who’s creativity has such wide spreading and transformative effects on reader’s lives - be so economically downtrodden?

This feels wrong, not least for the poet. I am strongly of the view that poems can form an important mechanism for mental health recovery, certainly for myself.

I enjoy poetry, not so much for understanding, but to better appreciate the beauty of emotions. I write poems to feel more in tune with reality, the reality being constantly evolving, creating new challenges as well as new opportunities.

My personal inclination for reading and writing poetry comes from the inherent nuances of

the poetic form itself. In poems, complex emotions can be properly described and voiced in the space of a few lines. Michaela Spencer was raped at a House Party in 2014, and later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She writes poems to cope with the trauma. “Each time I write, I write something so true about myself that I heal each time,” she told the BBC. Poetry offers the most powerful source of clarity in the midst of a vast, complex and ever-changing global picture.

When we seek a better understanding of our lives, we read and write poems. When we feel lost or alone, we turn to poetry for reassurance, a way of communicating the complexities of anguish, to give a message of

hope within the chaotic reality of everyday experience.

Poetry also builds comradery.

Aristotle claimed poems are, “finer than history, for poetry expresses the universal”.

We use poetry, not only to heal ourselves, but to heal and unite people. Poems help us to deal with our greatest struggles and challenges, rectifying and rejuvenating both our bodies and minds.

The power of poetry lies within its ability to defend personal worth in ways that you may never have dreamt possible.

As Ernest Hemingway urged readers: ‘write hard and clear about what hurts’.

Feeling low? Pessimistic about your future? Poetry to the rescue.

INTERVIEW

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10th March 2020

From Old Trafford

Jamie Hose in conversation with

Paul Neary’s long career in professional football took him from Manchester to Japan and back again. But when he decided to start a family, he settled in Norwich as UEA’s Head of Football, bringing the knowledge he learned with Manchester United and the FA to UEA’s Sportspark.

Accompanying him to the interview is Tony Allen, a former Concrete Sports Editor, who now works with Neary doing match analysis and as an all-round stats expert. He occasionally jumps in to offer some clarification of league tables and match results.

I can only imagine that his analysis of the last few UEA matches must paint a glowing picture, with the men’s first team beating Great Yarmouth on penalties back in February, putting them through to the Norfolk Senior Cup final against Dereham Town at the end of this month.

Neary acknowledges the victory was “hard fought” against a “higherleagued opposition.”

“The lads stuck to a game plan and they performed a hundred per cent,” he says. “And the fitness of them came through in the end, which complemented the technical ability of each and every one of the players. They were absolutely fantastic to take a good Great Yarmouth side into extra time.

“We should have won it in extra time really, with some chances that we created. Unluckily, we hit the crossbar and whatnot. And then to win on penalties was superb.

“But, as I said at

the time, we’d got some really technical players, so I was pretty confident that Tom would make a save, and our lads would hit the target and that’s exactly what happened.”

But the team didn’t have long to rest on the laurels of a successful performance. Instead, the next day they were packing their bags and climbing into the bus to head off to BUCS, hosted by Southampton.

The team had to, “flip it over and go to the BUCS quarter final in Southampton 15 hours later, away to Southampton,” Neary tells me. He says it was, “a massive ask, because we didn’t finish the game until half ten the night before. We were setting off at eight in the morning … unfortunately we weren’t successful … but I think asking some of the

“Performances are good.

We’ve had one defeat ... this calendar year” lads who played 120 minutes the night before, I mean on such a high, to then go on to actually perform again less than 15 hours later, was a big ask.

“We were actually the better side over the 90 minutes to be fair. From that, then we went b a c k into our

league on the Saturday.

“Performances are good. We’ve had one defeat ... this calendar year, which happened on Saturday, to the top of the league.

And again, we were the better side. I think what came of that was playing seven games in two weeks… while the lads are very fit, and James Warren does a remarkable job to get them to that level of fitness… it’s been a hectic fortnight or so.”

In spite of such a relentless programme of matches, the team has been managing to garner impressive performances, being the first side in the Anglian Combination in more than ten years to make the final of the Norfolk Senior Cup, when they will once again face a side used to playing in higher leagues, Dereham Town.

Neary breaks down the opposition side for me: “We’ll have to watch out for Hipperson on the left, Logan on the right, Toby and Crisp up front, Matt Castellan at the back.

“They’re four leagues above us.

They’re a very, very good side. They play, obviously, to that standard week in and week out, so they’ll be used to the intensity of a greater technical ability than what we are at our league.

“But it’s a one-off game, 90 minutes. It truly is a cup final for us isn’t it? So, we’ve got nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. No one expects us to win. No one expects us to even score. So, play with no fear.”

Even so, playing against sides from higher leagues is increasingly becoming commonplace for the UEA team, and Neary points to their game with Norwich United last month as being the team’s best performance in the last 18 months.

Neary explains the team was, “two leagues above us and are second in their league. Top scorers in their league. Came to play us here

and, again, it was nil-nil, so to keep them quiet for so long was great.

“Extra time, nil-nil, and again going through on penalties was fantastic. A game which perhaps again we had chances to win within that 90 minutes really, so whilst people look at it and say ‘yeah you won on penalties twice. It’s a lottery,’ actually we were the better team, considering that we only get paid around four, five hundred pounds a week.

“That’s the gulf that we’re competing against and we’ve got very, very, very good players who should be playing at that level anyway. So, we’re in a good position.”

In the event that the team wins their final, Neary naturally hopes they will be able to progress to compete in higher leagues, but he also acknowledges that the club might not be ready to make the change yet.

“I think each year you reflect on your performances. We are perhaps, as a club, so not necessarily as a team, as a club, we’re not ready for promotion yet.

“The infrastructure’s not quite ready for it, if I’m honest. It might be a year too soon. But that’s for the people at the university to sort that out. And for this team to progress they need to.”

But, considering the team’s frequent underdog status, Neary also takes pride in just how far they have come.

“Just by getting to the cup final is an unbelievable, amazing achievement, which I don’t think people realise just how big it is in Norfolk,” he says.

He also hopes that the performances of not just the main team, but of all the teams that fall under the umbrella of UEA Football, will be able to coax a little more attention and funding from

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concrete-online.co.uk/category/features/interview | @ConcreteUEA

to UEA’s Sportspark

Paul Neary, Head of Football at UEA

the university to facilitate their ascension into higher leagues.

“We were tremendously successful last season. We won everything last year. Promoted in both leagues, won all the cups, not just our first team but through the club, the women’s team as well.

“If the women win today, they’re promoted. So, it’s not just the first team, it’s the whole club.”

The result of the women’s match was a 4-0 win to UEA, seeing the U’s safely through to promotion.

Neary adds, “We now have an under 12s team. We’ve got a UEA FC Under 12s and next year we’ll have an Under 11s under 12s. We’re the first university in England to have a youth pathway, which is fantastic isn’t it? So, I think we are growing, we’re growing fast. Obviously, success on the pitch reflects success off it, doesn’t it? It’s a vicious circle isn’t it? One compliments the other.”

As one of the most universally

popular sports, football sees some of the largest intakes of freshers every year.

“Yeah, it’s huge,” Neary says. “I think we had the biggest ever trials this year. I think there was 200-odd people come down, like cavalry coming over the hill. It was crazy!”

But it begs the question whether the club will simply continue to expand, and stretch its resources across a larger number of teams, or if trials will have to become more competitive in order to siphon off the talent from an ever-growing pool of fresh players.

The answer appears to be a mixture of both: “We’ve put another team in now,” Neary explains to me.

“We’ve got four teams competing, which is great. I think the better calibre of first of all person that you have in and around, the better it is for your environment, and obviously the better the player you are the more competition you’ve got

for places.

“And we’ve got it now where if you’ve got your shirt, you need to work hard to keep hold of it.

That’s the way it is…

“I think we’ve got to get an opportunity for everyone to play football, everyone to kick a ball around.

“Ultimately, if you’re going to come and play for the first team, say, if you’re good enough, you’re good enough, aren’t you? It’s as simple as that.

“And for the players that have now got the shirts, you’ve got to make sure that you’re doing the right things. You’ve got to make sure that you recover well, that you don’t go out on a Tuesday or a Friday night. You’ve got to be as professional as you can, whilst still living your life doing a degree. Because, obviously, that’s what they’re here for, isn’t it?”

While some of the players at UEA Football may sign up to have a casual kick-around, there undeniably are some that take Neary’s philosophy of ‘doing the right things’ to compete to heart.

This time last year, UEA player Ben George was selected to go up for the England Universities Team, and this year his path has been followed by another handful of U’s players.

“We had five trial this weekend from our team, five successfully into trials. By all accounts they did very well, so we find out not next week, the week after, so you’d like to think out of the five two would get through. You’d like to think.

“One of those persons… [is a] guy called Henry Clark. If you want me to sing about a player I’ll sing about him. My captain this year. Top lad, first and foremost.

“The potential of him playing football is massive and we had a good chat about it at the start of this year, and our agreement was if you do the things we talked about before: if you commit to going to the

gym, if you eat right and you drink proper and you sleep proper, at the end of it we’ll offer you a trial out in Japan.

“He was subsequently offered a trial in the J1 League as a professional contract going out there this year.

“Unfortunately for him, the coronavirus just started, hasn’t it, and no one can get there! But he’ll come, it’ll just be delayed for, well however long, six months or however long the thing’s on for. He’s got a really, really good opportunity of being offered a contract out there.

I’ve been lucky enough to work in Japan, and I would say that Henry fits the bill really well.”

Neary spent several years travelling around the world while working for the FA, before

“We’ve got a UEA FC Under 12s and next year we’ll have an Under 11s under 12s. We’re

which is fantastic because I’ve been there a long time and it’s hard to break your roots.

“I’m very loyal. I’m pushing 20 years at United, so I’m not a United fan, but it’s hard to leave it. But what I would say is all the stuff you learn up in Manchester, we implement here. So that’s the trade off, I suppose.”

Whether a United fan or not, he’s not a fan of the Canaries it’s safe to say.

With the kick off of the Norfolk finals set to take place at Carrow Road on 23 March, Neary looks at his time with UEA as a period of steadily improving performances.

However, it may all come to a close when Neary’s contract ends in six months’ time.

I ask him if he’s looking to stay on at UEA. “Well, that’s not for me to decide, is it? It’s for other people to decide that,” he tells me. “But they’re running out of time!”

Norfolk Senior Cup Final Dereham Town vs. UEA

the first university

When? March 23 2020 KO 19.45

in England to have

Where? Carrow Road

a youth pathway.” joining UEA. But he still maintains relationships with his past employers, including at Manchester United.

“I still go off to United and do bits and pieces up there,

Phot

Jame

Photos: Concrete/ Matt Branston (centre), Tony Allen (left and right)

10th March 2020

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SU ELECTION SPECIAL Activities and Opportunities Ben Hawes Ben Moxon Lizzie Payne Joe Joftus Neith Charlesworth Samuel Snowling Sarah Williams

Welfare, Community and Diversity Aaron Campbell Alice Martin Ash Wise Eddi Gell Emily Anderson Ethan Johnson

Campaigns and Democracy Hamish Williams Jack Annand Kate Hicks Roo Pitt Susannah Esiri-Bloom

Undergraduate Callum Perry

Postgraduate Ayane Hida Kimberley Hirst Jones Lewis Martin

For each position you can also vote to re-open nominations

10th March 2020

15

ALL THE CANDIDATES STANDING Environment Eva Korczynski Will Hobbs

Ethical Zaib Alli

International (EU) Ghazal Quadir

International (non-EU) Sam Tsui Syed Saad

LGBT+ (open place) Kasper Hassett

Mature

Adrian Ashby

People of colour (open) Serene Shibli Sexton

Women

Briony Randell

NUS delegate (officer) Martin Marko Purvesh Patel Tyler Bell

NUS delegate (women+) Alicia Perez Ayane Hida Sophie Atherton

Non-portfolio Amelia Trew, Sophie Ciurlik Rittenbaum, Tristan Michel Cyril, Politt, Tyler Bell

Comment

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10th March 2020

Stop caring about climate change Matt Branston Comment Editor

still be producing over ten times what we did. Meanwhile, China produced 9.8 billion tonnes of CO2.

6.5 million Ford Focuses.

Saudi Arabia) are producing carbon emissions on a level infinite leagues above what the average person can produce.

out of that system is either difficult or impossible.

It’s like when those Extinction Rebellion protestors

Climate change, in words, is not great. It’s a really big mess which is more than likely going to be the end of the human race.

And the tragedy of having about 7.8 billion people on the planet is that really nothing we do matters.

So stop trying. There’s literally no point.

In 2018, the UK was provisionally estimated to have produced 449 million tonnes of greenhouse gases.

“It doesn’t help, it’s just annoying” That sounds like a lot considering a Ford Focus weighs 1.5 tonnes. So that’s about 300,000 Ford focuses.

If we cut down on transport enough to half the emissions, we would eliminate 13% of the UK’s greenhouse gas output.

That sounds like a really hopeful amount. Also in 2018, the United States produced 5.4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases.

Just to keep it on track with the same numbers, that’s 3.6 million Ford focuses.

There are only 1.5 million actual Ford focuses in the UK. So even if the UK managed to eliminate all our carbon footprint, go down to 0 Ford Focuses per year, America will

Do you really think you can have any impact when China is not only producing at that rate, but their production is actually going up?

Since 1988, just 100 companies have been the source of 70% of the world’s emissions.

Companies like ExxonMobil, Gazprom, Shell, and Saudi Aramco (the national oil company of

And yes, we all contribute every time someone buys a bacon sandwich or puts petrol in a car, but we’re also irrevocably committed to a system of capitalism that means breaking

decided to stand on top of the tube in London or block roads, it doesn’t help, it’s just annoying.

In the grand scheme of things, the average person does nothing, the same way the average person’s vote doesn’t matter.

We still should do things, but we need to acknowledge that as an individual, we don’t affect things.

Photos: Wikimedia

And I still buy meat which I think is from farms where animals are treated well, and I buy eggs from those little places in the countryside where people claim chickens are massaged every day and given little hats, but that’s more for animal welfare than the expectation of it saving the world. Let’s be honest, veganism is useful for lowering emissions, but not eating bolognese isn’t doing anything when smoke is pouring out of factories faster than a Bugatti Veyron in the Mont Blanc tunnel.

The best hope for the planet, and it’s a bit dark, is that coronavirus

“None of this can actually be solved” wipes out enough of the population that we go down to a reason level of pollution.

You know you’re in a dire state when the best recourse is that half the planet dies. Maybe Thanos was right.

At the end of it all, in 20 years, when we stopped seeing polar bears and none of us can breathe because of the dust storms and when UEA (and Norfolk) has sunk into the North Sea, it’s not going to be fantastic.

However, we should all keep in mind that even if we had wanted to do anything, we couldn’t. None of this can actually be solved, there’s nothing you can do. We’re dead already.

Making the choice to go instagram sober Amelia Groves Comment Writer

For a few weeks now, I have been Instagram sober.

I decided to delete the app from my phone because I was terribly bored of my relationship with it.

I’ve done this a few times before, when I grew irritated at seeing people I didn’t know out for dinner, or mindlessly scrolling through someone’s holiday photos, but this time something felt more different.

I was readdressing my relationship with Instagram and how multifaceted it is.

Don’t get me wrong – overall, I think social media can be a force for good.

I have a lot of friends who I don’t see often, so using a sharing platform means I get to know what they’re up to.

However, I started to question the ability to peer into the lives of people I don’t know. I can search

the name of someone who is in my seminar and before the first class I can know their friends’ names, what breed of dog they have and how often they go out clubbing.

There’s something a bit sinister about being able to know a plethora of information about someone before having met them.

My problems also manifested in the common comparison. In my first year of university, when I struggled to make real friendships, I would see

“Toxicity can loom in the corner of your home screen” other freshers who had big groups of besties within the first month.

Social media hides the cracks and blurs the lines between real and fake.

I have totally been guilty of it too – a little facetune to whiten my teeth or delete my double chin, or making it look like my life is just a slideshow of smiles and sunsets.

This complex platform of good and bad teases out the worst parts of myself.

Obsessing over someone whose photos paint the ‘perfect’ life, sharing so much information and having preconceived ideas about someone before you’ve even met them, wasting time scrolling through countless pictures taking up precious space in your memory and constantly comparing yourself to those who appear to have something you don’t.

I know all of this is a major ‘me’ problem and not something that everyone thinks about.

To many of my friends, it’s just an app to look at at the end of the day.

I am not sure why for me it encapsulates a lot of problems – perhaps someone else can relate.

To me, it seems ludicrous that

my life could be affected so intensely by an app, but I’m sure people said the same thing about Farmville ten years ago.

I probably will go back on Instagram at some point in the near future.

If we could all collectively agree to bin it off, I would jump for joy and recharge my old Motorola.

However, I have a fear of missing out on the announcements and the pictures of my far-away friends and I miss documenting life events.

Whilst going Insta-sober, I have realised that it is important to check your relationships to things, as well as just people.

Toxicity can loom in the corner of your home screen, but luckily, it’s easier to delete an app than a person.

For now, I will enjoy the time off but inevitably, I’ll go back to regularly posting smiley selfies and sunsets.

Photos: Pxfuel, Wikimedia, Concrete

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10th March 2020

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

UEA must step up after response to alleged sexual assault Callista Tjitra Comment Writer

I’m sure everybody who read the front page of Issue 374 was as appalled and shocked as I was.

UEA left a student who alleges she was sexually assaulted “in limbo” for five months. Amy Cooper, not her real name, told the University in November 2018 that the police had finished their investigation into the incident. At the time she didn’t realise this should have prompted UEA to start its own investigation.

When the

University eventually started an investigation five months later, it blamed Amy for the delay, telling her that she hadn’t informed them about the end of the police investigation.

However, emails seen by Concrete show she did. A university spokesman said UEA “takes all reports or disclosures of sexual misconduct extremely seriously, and all reports are thoroughly investigated,” but added they would not comment on individual cases.

As I was reading the story in my bedroom, I felt my dissatisfaction towards the University’s evasive methods of achieving nothing of value rise to a boil. I struggle to think of a way their response could be any more of a deflection.

I am even more disgusted by their handling of a matter so serious and detrimental to a student’s life. UEA has supposedly made steps to improve student’s lives. We now have the Enlitened app, for

Photo: Geograph

example. Initially I was curious and hopeful at the idea of a platform where students can voice their opinions and ideas. Most importantly (and probably naively), I had hope because I thought the University was finally listening to students’ voices and making sure it considered our needs when making its agendas.

Instead, I realised the Enlitened app is another one of those strategies people in power use when they want to reduce background noise and silence students. Responses to suggestions that make it to the top tier of ‘popular ideas’ are generally polite and diplomatic but if you compile them there is a robotic and repetitive quality behind their responses.

Many are pretty similar to the response a university spokesman gave about their extremely delayed and unprofessional response in handling the alleged sexual assault case, that UEA are “continually reviewing [their] procedures”. I wholeheartedly agree with Amy’s view that glaring posters of the Never OK campaign don’t scream enough to make any real difference in the lives of people who may be affected by sexual harassment or assault. UEA’s gutless response may mean it’s doing little else to prevent such cases from happening again.

Recently,

the University and Uea(su) launched the Report and Support programme, which aims to help students and staff to report and get support for incidents of “violence, harassment and hate crime”. After my disappointment with Enlitened, I am hesitant and frankly unwilling to let myself be hopeful with another glossy campaign.

The University shouldn’t treat incidents of alleged sexual harassment or assault as isolated events. It should address people’s thoughts before they become potentially harmful behaviours that could ultimately scar an individual for life. The central flaw in most of these campaigns is that they are addressing problems after incidents have allegedly occurred. Instead, UEA should allocate funds to think of prevention strategies to nip them in the bud.

When cases as serious as this are met with such indifference, it’s inevitable s t u d e n t ’s and staff’s faith in t h e

university will deteriorate. Enough is enough. UEA’s inaction is glaring.

It’s time for the University to step up and acknowledge that they’ve largely neglected social responsibility to protect the welfare of its students whose futures and careers largely depend on UEA.

Photo: Concrete/Roo Pitt

Good for animals or an abzoolute disgrace? Legalising assisted dying Ellie Robson Comment Writer

‘The Secret Life of the Zoo’ is somewhat of a staple in my university household, and I’m sure the same goes for any student residence where the minority who want to fork out for a TV license have succeeded in their goal.

What isn’t there to love? The last episode that I saw featured tiny meerkat babies, cute sun bear cubs, and a pair of hornbill birds laying their first eggs in almost twelve years – and all just in one hour of television.

Whilst it’s an entertaining programme to watch, I always feel at least a small amount of guilt for enjoying the show.

Particularly in our increasingly aware society, where vegetarianism and veganism are on the rise, I know that zoos will be more carefully scrutinised in the coming years.

My first instinct when I hear the word ‘zoo’ is to cringe and pull away. It isn’t a word with particularly redeeming connotations, bringing thoughts of captivity and abuse to mind with just one syllable.

It’s difficult to say whether this

reaction is one that I have developed for myself, or one that has been instilled in me by the ideologies that surround me.

The main horror comes from thinking about the space, or lack thereof, that animals are given to thrive in in these establishments.

The same can be said for aquariums, where it is widely known that there simply isn’t enough room for the creatures who reside there.

Additionally, there is the concern that animals aren’t being given the opportunity to live their natural life,

depending on people and artificially manufactured situations when they would likely be entirely capable of survival in the wild.

Animal behaviour can be altered, and it can be hard to know when zoos just want to profit and encourage animals to produce performative behaviour to gain extra attention, and perhaps, funding.

On the other hand, shows such as ‘The Secret Life of the Zoo’ instil a feeling of warmth and hope in their viewers. You get to see the powerful connections keepers build with the animals they care for and ensure the preservation of species who are struggling in the wild or need more carefully controlled environments before they can safely breed.

The educational benefits and opportunities for research are huge.

It really is difficult to know where to stand on the matter.

I feel that in certain cases a zoo environment is acceptable, as long as human interference is kept to a minimum and the animals are provided with a space as close to their true home as possible.

However, in an ideal world I wouldn’t want any creature to be held in captivity.

Photo: Pxfuel

would be a ‘slippery slope’ Laurence Scott Comment Writer

Imagine how it feels to know that you have six months left to live.

The normal argument is euthanasia would end the suffering of the most vulnerable.

Autonomy is important - we live in a society of choice. Why shouldn’t people decide when they die? No one wants to see others in pain, but the issue is choice is not always a good thing. Why give someone the power to make such a decision who may not be in the right frame of mind?

It’s understandable why someone with six months left to live would be motivated by compassion, in order to prevent loved ones from seeing suffering. For that reason, maybe it’s understandable to back assisted dying. But I think the most compassionate thing to do is to tell the dying that life is a precious gift and shouldn’t be thrown away like that.

Some might say that legalising assisted dying would be a slippery slope, and I agree completely. It

would create an appalling culture where one life is judged to be more worthwhile than another.

You might be against assisteddying on the basis that it would require a change to the principle that a doctor’s role is to heal, not to help people die.

If I was in favour of assisted suicide, I wouldn’t want doctors being able to refuse to help, but then is it fair to the doctor to force them to? Death by lottery based on your doctor’s views on the matter is clearly unfair.

In Oregon, doctor-assisted suicide is legal. Here, 59% of people who died as part of their legislation identified feeling a burden as a reason for making their big decision, which is truly terrifying. Also, it is so difficult to assess life expectancy, why allow someone to end their life when we don’t know how long they have left? There could be years! We just don’t know.

Assisted dying may be supported by the majority of people now (93%), but we need to stop before we do anything hasty. Hopefully public opinion moves in a more positive direction.

Science

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10th March 2020

The dangers of fake news Emily Hawkes Science Writer

We are currently facing various health challenges worldwide, including outbreaks of vaccinepreventable diseases such as measles and diphtheria, rising cases of drug-resistant pathogens, ever increasing rates of obesity and physical inactivity as well as the impact of pollution and climate change on our health.

The most recent and prominent case of concern is the coronavirus that has swept up a media storm, but how much of what we read is true?

The impact of misinformation is significant throughout the globe, with 40% of the British public believing a minimum of one conspiracy theory, and this statistic

may be higher in other countries such as the US. Even more alarmingly, the enhanced support towards the antivaccine movement correlates with a

“The prevention of circulating fake news could potentially save lives” soar in measle outbreaks in Europe, the Americas and Japan.

It was also reported that 14% of parents in the UK would send their children to school with symptoms of contagious chickenpox, despite this

breaking school policy and official quarantine advice.

In extreme cases in West Africa, the effect of harmful advice can even drive unsafe burial practises where Ebola outbreaks are present.

Current research carried out by the University of East Anglia, with the support of Public Health England, has found that the prevention of circulating fake news could potentially save lives.

This is due to those believing in fake stories being less likely to undergo tasks that would prevent them, and others from contracting a disease e.g. washing their hands.

Two studies were carried out: one strategy, focusing on information about the flu, monkeypox and norovirus, discovered that by reducing the circulation of false knowledge from just 50% to 40% diminished the outcomes of a disease outbreak.

The second study added to this by concentrating on the impact of “immunising” people against fake

“Facebook are removing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus” news, which the modelling system suggests would reduce outbreak effects.

Although the study was based on stimulation models and not real behaviour, the same principles can be applied to current society. In the modern world of social media, the impact of scare stories and false

rumours have become amplified and are far more accessible.

This places pressure on social media platforms to combat the issue, for example YouTube have prevented channels that promote anti-vaccine content, Facebook are removing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus, one including that drinking bleach will cure the virus, whilst Twitter are directing users to official Government information.

It is evident that social media can give the public partial information that magnifies concerns and can even help the spread of the disease.

Current research emphasises the impact of fake news coverage and that readers should be careful when reading sources to decipher fact from fiction.

This includes analysing where the information is coming from, what is referenced and if the information is too good to be true.

Photo: Pixabay

Who is the ‘anti-Greta’?

Henry Webb Science Writer

Greta Thunberg has become a leader of the world climate activism movement. Her “Fridays For Future” strike has now been replicated in towns and cities worldwide, inspiring millions of young people to take to the streets in protest of their government’s inaction,

“Naomi Seibt states that ‘the goal [of climate scientists] is to shame humanity’” despite the unanimous agreement in the scientific community that we need to act now to prevent climate breakdown.

When she attended last Friday’s strike in Bristol, some 30,000 people showed up in the less than ideal

weather to show their support. But with the climate strike movement gaining so much momentum and press coverage, it’s easy to forget that not everyone is convinced by Greta’s message.

Naomi Seibt is a 19-year-old German YouTuber who has been called the “anti-Greta” in reference to her sceptical view on the climate crisis.

She refers to the mainstream message of the climate strikers and the scientific community as “climate alarmism” and calls herself a ‘climate realist’. Naomi has called the IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report “fictional science”, despite it using a variety of climate models from scientists around the world. Talking about media coverage of the climate crisis, she said: “the goal [of climate scientists] is to shame humanity. Climate change alarmism at its very core is a despicably antihuman ideology and we are told to look down at our achievements with guilt, with shame and disgust, and not even to take into account the many major benefits we have achieved by using fossil fuels as our

main energy source.”

Seibt’s other political views are mostly conservative and she says

“She has described an altright Canadian YouTuber as an ‘inspiration’” she became sceptical of “Germany’s liberal immigration policies” in 2015, after which she became more interested in politics.

She has also described Stefan Molyneux, an alt-right Canadian YouTuber known for his white supremacist views, as an “inspiration” for her own videos.

Naomi has not been afraid to use the media’s comparison of her and Greta to her advantage in speeches.

Thunberg’s “how dare you” quote from her speech at the UN has now become a common sight

on protest signs at strikes around the world.

Seibt uses this quote in response to negative coverage of her in the media. German media have called her a “climate change denier”, which she has said is inaccurate.

Despite the scientific consensus, she believes climate change is not as severe an issue as the “mainstream media” says, and questions how great of an impact humans have had in influencing any warming that has taken place.

However, Naomi does not deny that the climate has changed in the past 100 years.

She has spoken at a number of conservative think tanks like the European Institute for Climate and Energy in Munich and, perhaps most notably, the Heartland Institute.

The Heartland Institute promotes climate change denial and also warns of the need to avoid “climate alarmism” because of the potential economic damage it could cause. T he institute has stopped reporting its funding sources, but oil company ExxonMobil is known

to have been a donor in the past.

Naomi Seibt does not yet have the same audience or media coverage as Greta Thunberg, but many believe she will become the equivalent voice for climate change sceptics.

The director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center for Climate and Environmental Policy at the Heartland Institute said: “She’s a fantastic voice for free markets and for climate realism”. He has also said he hopes she will help the climate

“Many believe she will become the equivalent voice for climate change sceptics” sceptic movement change its image to “move away from old white men and instead showcase a younger generation.”

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10th March 2020

concrete-online.co.uk/category/science/ | @ConcreteUEA

The benefits of coral farming Erica Thajeb Science Writer

It may be surprising to learn that coral, the colourful rock-like wonders you find on sea floors, is actually an animal. Corals are sessile and remain permanently immobile, which is why they are often mistaken for a plant.

A coral “group” consists of hundreds or thousands of genetically identical, yet individual animals called polyps.

Each soft, sac-like polyp measures no more than a few millimetres thick and a few centimetres in diameter. When they attach to other polyps, however,

they can form structures called coral reefs up to 1,600 miles long, like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Corals don’t make their own food, as plants do, but feed on nutrients produced by the algae that lives on them and planktons captured using their tiny tentacles.

Depending on the species, they can live between three months to 30 years.

Indonesia, the country with the most reef area, has 51,000 square kilometres of coral reefs.

However, due to destructive fishing and illegal harvesting of wild corals, the Indonesian government issued a coral ban and released its first statement in November 2019.

This ban on coral exports was first introduced in 2018, when the previous maritime minister felt that

“Newfound farming techniques can speed up the natural coral growth by up to 50 times” foreign poaching of wild corals was getting out of hand. Wild corals were being passed off as farmed

and as it was difficult to differentiate them, the ban prohibited export for both kinds.

This ban resulted in an unforeseen collapse of hundreds of coral farms and put thousands of people out of a job, which led to a ban reversal in January 2020.

But why do we farm corals in the first place?

Coral farming is a process of collecting coral fragments, raising them in carefully-tended nurseries and replanting them on restoration sites.

Once they’re installed on the dying reefs, they can then overpower or protect the dying one. While the main goal is for reef restorations,

coral farming is sometimes done for commercial or research purposes.

Most coral farms build nurseries on shallow ocean floors with plenty of sunlight exposure, much like an underwater garden.

Recently, some farms have introduced land-based holdings, which are more effective for largescale restorative projects. Newfound farming techniques can speed up the natural coral growth rate by up to 50 times.

Corals that used to take decades to grow can now do so in months.

All in all, coral farming is a great solution to reverse the destruction and death of the ocean’s richest ecosystem.

Photo: Public Domain Pictures

Are freshwater species doomed?

Olivia Johnson Science Writer

A group of scientists from across the globe have unveiled a new plan to halt the decline of biodiversity of our freshwater ecosystems.

Referred to as the ‘Emergency Recovery Plan’, it details the actions needed to bend the current downward curve of freshwater biodiversity loss.

Published in Bioscience on February 19, the paper outlines a 6-point plan to tackle the threats facing biodiversity in rivers, lakes and wetlands. According to WWF’s Living Planet Report, the average abundance of freshwater species populations declined by 81% between 1970 and 2012.

The 6-point plan presented in the paper deals with the following

issues: there are plans to accelerate implementation of environmental flows including river basin planning, water allocation and infrastructure design and operation all to restore and maintain the water flows to the freshwater systems.

There are aims to improve water quality to sustain aquatic life, and this will be implemented by wastewater treatment and regulation of polluting industries to prevent the spoiling of the water sources and improved agricultural practices to reduce the amounts of pesticides and fertilisers making their way into the water systems.

In addition, critical habitats will be protected and restored via an introduction of protected areas of the water system, such as the entire 825,000 hectares of the Bita River basin where the Amazon River Dolphin is known to have its habitat, along with being a rare example of a completely free-flowing river.

Habitat restoration is also occurring in places

such as Eastern Europe along the Danube where 60,000 hectares of flood plain have been restored.

The plan will manage the exploitation of freshwater species and riverine aggregates through science-based fisheries management and community fisheries management, along with bycatch reduction to prevent the unnecessary deaths of species not intending to be captured and the overfishing of regions allowing populations to recover.

Reducing aggregate demand and improved regulation of aggregate extraction will prevent the abstraction of rivers.

There will also be the prevention and control of non-native species invasions in freshwater habitats.

This will be enforced through the identification and control on introduction pathways and the control and eradication of established invasive non-native species.

Safeguarding and restoring

the freshwater connectivity will be carried out through system-scale infrastructure planning, including dam reoperation and removal and levee positioning.

Accounting for less than 1% of the Earth’s surface, wetland habitats are home to approximately one-third of all vertebrate species and around 10% of all species on Earth. Some species, like the Amazon River Dolphin, live only in freshwater habitats with no way of evolving quickly enough to colonise any other habitat.

It is a relatively abundant freshwater dolphin but is classified as vulnerable due to human influences, including the contamination of the rivers and lakes and the building of dams that can fragment the populations.

Habitat loss is the major cause of the decline in freshwater populations as lakes, rivers and

wetlands across the world continue to be fragmented, polluted and developed to follow human activities.

In a section focussed on rivers, the Living Planet Report states that almost half of all river flows globally have been at one point subjected to alterations (abstraction – the removal of water from the river or channel modifications – altering the path of the river) or fragmentation by weirs and dams.

Fragmentation of the rivers may be attributed as a cause for the 41% decline in migratory fish species which rely heavily on their natural migration routes along the river course to get back to breeding ground in breeding season.

Photo: Peakpx

Travel

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10th March 2020

Is Coronavirus keeping us grounded?

Jess Barrett Deputy Editor

Coronavirus has massively impacted the travel industry through its disruption of airlines, student holidays and international study.

Currently, over 95,600 cases have been confirmed worldwide. Around 3,285 deaths have been recorded so far. 85 countries have been impacted in total.

However, almost 54,000 have been recorded as recovering from symptoms, others are recovering within quarantine.

The World Health Organization has defined the spread of coronavirus as a, “Public Health Emergency of International Concern”. The use of international highlights that the disease is affecting many different nations, and it is spreading as a result of international travelling.

Coronavirus has impacted some airlines, particularly because flights increase the risk of infection due

“Flights increase the risk of infection” to the confinement and the use of closed air filters.

The air quality on planes is infamously poor, and in times of crisis, such as the coronavirus outbreak, it is imperative that passengers' health is made a priority.

The ‘bleed air’ that passengers breathe in during flights is

infamously terrible.

It’s a combination of cabin air, and air compressed within the aircraft's engines.

The recycled air is known as a breeding ground for infection and disease.

Therefore, with the outbreak of coronavirus, it is important that passengers catch their sneezes and coughs in tissues and regularly wash their hands.

The increased danger of flying and infecting others is clearly important. Last Wednesday, United Airlines became the first US airline to cut its domestic service.

The outbreak has had an instrumental impact on all aspects of the travel industry.

Those waiting to book summer holidays have had to pause their plans to see if the Coronavirus spreads further, and it becomes increasingly dangerous to travel internationally.

Coronavirus is also impacting students going on semesters abroad.

One female student at UEA who went to Italy to spend the semester studying, has now been made to

“Police officers are required to control the flow of people” return to the UK as the risks posed to her health are imminent.

Students are famed for travelling, even spontaneously booking city breaks in the middle of term. However with the vast spread of Coronavirus, students are no longer booking to go away for a

few days and experience a different culture, for fear that this will make them ill.

This in turn has made the cost of travelling go down, flight tickets are cheaper and accommodation costs have gone down, which is very appealing for money scrimping students.

It’s a case of weighing up the pros and cons of travelling currently, and at the moment it looks like Coronavirus is winning.

Societies who are organising trips for their members are also having to proceed with planning their trips with caution.

Often, societies plan trips in order to increase the sense of community amongst their society, therefore the bond that is established between members will be put at risk.

Overall, the effect of Coronavirus is vast, the effects of the disease upon the travel industry will only grow greater over time.

Photo: Unsplash

Come fly with me, or don't Ellie Robson Travel Writer

I wrote in an article earlier this year which revealed that, despite living in five different houses and three different countries in the first decade of my life, I didn’t get on a plane until I was twenty. Although I hopped around Europe for much of my early life, I always travelled by car or ferry for long distance journeys. None of my family holidays required me to fly, and it wasn’t really on my radar as a mode of transport. I was the odd one out amongst my friends for having not flown, but not having undergone this experience yet was never a worry of mine.

It wasn’t until university when I began to realise I felt like I wanted to avoid flying. The thought of flying completely freaked me out, and became a source of anxiety if I thought about it for too long. My mind would fill with the idea that there would be a disaster: the plane would crash, or something would stop working and we would simply fall out of the sky.

In 2019, my best friend convinced me that we should go to Amsterdam just before our third year began in September. I can’t

entirely remember how it came about, but we settled on the idea that we should go by plane. It’s a flight

“My mind would fill with the idea that there would be a disaster” of less than an hour, and I realised that I couldn’t spend my whole life avoiding this thing that in reality posed little-to-no risk to me. We booked the trip months in advance, and it was so far away I felt like it would never actually arrive, and I would never really have to get on a plane. We got a good deal for an early morning flight from an airport near London, so began our trip with an overnight coach journey.

The process of getting ready and starting the journey was so exciting that I managed to put all thoughts of the flight out of my head.

However, once we hit the airport, everything changed. I began

to panic, slowly at first. I took two sips of an overpriced cider before I couldn’t stomach anything else, and in the hour before the flight, I even told my friend that I simply wasn’t going on the holiday anymore.

Magically, once we boarded the plane, my anxiety settled down.

Even when it was announced our flight was delayed by two hours and we were going to have to sit on the runway, the panic didn’t rise. I came to terms with my environment, and my friend and I did simple things like listen to podcasts and attempt to French braid each other’s hair in the very cramped space we had.

I was nervous about taking off, as I’d heard many people hate the start of a flight, but I genuinely

really enjoyed the feelings of taking off and landing.

However, I hated being in the air. My worries about something going wrong and our plane suddenly falling to the earth lurked in my mind for the whole flight, particularly when we were over the ocean. I was relieved when we

landed, and had a decent enough experience that I didn’t spend our whole trip dreading the flight back like I had worried I might. Despite this, I’m in no hurry to get back on a plane. I have no plans to do so in the near future, and it would take a very tempting holiday to make me give it another go.

Photo: Unsplash

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10th March 2020

concrete-online.co.uk/category/travel/ | @ConcreteUEA

Travelling while environmentally conscious: is it a contradiction?

Henry Webb Travel Writer

The age of climate breakdown has raised an important question among environmentally conscious travellers: Is it possible to travel in a way that doesn’t completely contradict our efforts to live a low carbon lifestyle?

With Heathrow’s planned expansion being cancelled, and high profile climate campaigners like Greta Thunberg refusing to fly, the carbon cost of flying is being discussed frequently in the media, but just how bad is it and how

do alternative modes compare?

Unsurprisingly the plane is usually the most environmentally damaging option, both due to its high fuel consumption and the increased

taxiing around the airport, meaning the average fuel consumption per passenger mile decreases as flight length increases, up to a point. This can mean for medium distance trips, a full economy flight at full capacity might be better than say, a diesel train, or a car with one passenger.

However, in general, a train or coach is the best option for longdistance travel, followed by a full car (if it’s electric it may even be more efficient than a train or bus).

Given this information, should you still travel? And is flying to get there ever ok?

In answer to the first question, warming impact of emissions at I would argue that the social and cruising altitude, but it’s not always economic benefits of travelling so simple. For example, planes use make it valuable despite the carbon the most fuel during takeoff and cost. Everyone should have the opportunity to travel, but that means we must do so in a sustainable way so that future generations can also have these experiences.

The second question is more difficult.

I never used to think about the environmental impact of my travel, and finding out just how bad flying was for the planet has made me reconsider if and how I should keep Photo: Unsplash travelling.

“Planes use the most fuel during takeoff and taxiing around the airport”

However, living in Europe we are incredibly lucky to have access to an extensive network of trains and buses linking major cities and small towns. While many argue that the slower speed of these modes of transport makes them an impractical alternative for longdistance travel, there’s a potentially simple solution: night trains.

Europe’s rail network already has quite a few regular night routes, including two here in the UK, but night services have been in decline for decades due to the rise of ludicrously priced budget airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair.

However, very recently it seems night trains are making a comeback to cater to a new generation of environmentally conscious travellers. Austrian state-owned operator OBB reopened their Brussels-to-Vienna Nightjet route, meaning it’s now possible to get the train all the way from London to Vienna with just one change, and without leaving the ground.

Germany’s DB has suggested reopening their Berlin-to-Paris

“It's up to us to be as environmentally conscious as possible” route, and other operators like SJ in Sweden are planning to expand their night networks. These routes will be competing with long-distance coach operators like Flixbus, which could result in prices dropping quickly to become

competitive with budget airlines.

This also ignores the fact that, aside from the carbon benefits, the train has other benefits as a method of travelling.

Many travellers prefer having the opportunity to break up a long journey and explore towns and cities they would never have seen if they chose to fly.

“It's up to us to be as environmentally conscious as possible” So, is travelling while environmentally conscious a contradiction? Not necessarily if you consider the impacts your choices have.

Within Europe, choosing the train or bus over the plane can cut your carbon emissions by up to 90%. When travelling further afield you may still need to fly, but you can still take steps to reduce the number of flights you take.

As travellers, it’s up to us to be as environmentally conscious as possible, but governments and businesses also need to be held accountable to provide real alternatives to flying.

Tax frequent flyers, stop airport expansions, subsidise rail networks.

There’s only so much you can do as an individual, so, aside from not flying, the best way you can reduce your impact is to lobby politicians for real change to bring transport policy in line with the climate crisis.

The best bites of the Big Apple Tara King Travel Writer

The first time I went away without any adult supervision was in 2016, when a friend and I decided to book a holiday.

We decided to be bold in our choice of destination, and instead of opting for the classic European

"Always try and walk everywhere”

weekend break most people choose for a trip away, we booked ourselves a trip to New York.

It was amazing, and now I have experienced the ‘Big Apple’ myself, I have come up with a list of things you just have to do if you ever get the chance to visit New York City!

Firstly, try to walk everywhere, as there is so much to see down every street. Google Maps helped us out a lot.

If walking isn’t for you, use Big Bus sightseeing to travel around, especially if you’re going around the different boroughs. You’ll see so much more than going on the subway.

Also, you have to go to the Disney store in Times Square as soon as they open! From the moment staff open the doors, they all sing! Disney songs of course.

For food, go to the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, and get a

picture with the famous Hard Rock sign on the wall inside. Oh, and their

“Their mac 'n' cheese is out of this world” mac n’ cheese is out of this world.

Ellen’s Stardust diner in Manhattan is a classic American diner with a twist: the staff sing!

Some staff have actually been on Broadway, and during my trip I met a waiter who was in The Lion King - unbelievable!

Make sure you try their chocolate chip pancakes too, they

are just the best.

For a quick bite, go to Papaya Dog, one of NYC’s most well known hot dog spots, and order their chilli cheese dog.

Or, go to a food truck outside the Natural History Museum and have a philly cheese steak baguette, and sit on the steps of the museum.

An important note, avoid taking pictures with the different characters in Times Square, they ask for money and will not leave you alone until you pay (I didn’t experience this, but I did see it happen to another tourist).

Times Square, both in the day and at night, is a sight to behold, so make sure you make the trip!

Another tip, only use yellow taxis, especially to and from the airports. They have fixed rates, for example a trip to JFK airport was $50.

So I realised that the majority of

the list is food, but New York City is

“Only use yellow taxis, especially to and from the airport” famous for its amazing food spots!

I could have put the obvious sights on the list, but I think that is a given.

Instead, I wanted to give you an ‘insider’ look and experience of the famous Big Apple.

If you do ever go, have fun and be safe! Make sure to check travel advice for the USA so you’re prepared for your trip.

Sport

10th March 2020

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Is corporatism ruining sports these days?

Marco Rizzo Sport Writer

Red Bull, possibly the most famous brand of energy drink, is a familiar name in the world of sports.

From Formula 1 to Football to Gliding and even esports such as Dota2 and CSGO, the brand’s reach is visible in every corner of the competitive world.

“So what?” you may ask. “After all, Red Bull is a large sponsor with

“Conflict of interet seems to be a common trend for Red Bull” the ability to bring new attention and resources to any sports scene they enter. What’s the big deal here?”

While this is absolutely true, Red Bull has done immense work for the structure and organisation of the teams they run and always aim to be competitive, the problem starts when their activities begin to affect the competitive integrity of the sport or start disrespecting its traditions.

The most blatant example is, of course, their Bundesliga side, RB Leipzig.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons The team has been at the centre of controversy since their promotion to the top German league, due to the way they avoided adhering to the traditional ‘50+1’ rule.

The rule dictates that every club (except for a couple of historical exceptions) must be majority owned by its supporters.

RB Leipzig has exploited two loopholes within the regulations, which allows Red Bull executives to be the only ones to have voting

rights in the club.

Red Bull ownership of multiple European Football Clubs could also spark a conflict of interest if competing on opposite sides in European competitions such as the Europa or Champions League.

Conflict of interest seems to be a common trend for Red Bull.

Their Formula 1 line-up consists of two of the 10 teams present in the world championship, with Scuderia AlphaTauri (previously Toro Rosso)

acting as a ‘junior’ team to Red Bull Racing.

The teams in F1 each get a vote in important matters, such as amending a rule, meaning Red Bull has control over one entire fifth of the votes, and thus will have significantly more influence than other teams. Another issue to consider is the competitive integrity of the sport. For example, the Austrian company could easily influence the outcome of a race in

favour of one of the two teams.

The presence of big sponsors such as Red Bull in sports is always welcome and provides an injection of revenue that many sporting teams need to thrive. As well as this, the value they bring to the scene just with exposure alone is incredible.

Nevertheless, it remains harmful to teams and sport as a whole when these companies try to run their teams like corporations.

UEA reach the finals at the Inter Varsity Dance Championships Claire Bilsborough Sport Writer

Photo: UEA Ballroom and Latin Dance Club

UEA Ballroom and Latin Dance Club (BLDC) competed at the 58th annual Inter Varsity Dance Championships (IVDC) on February 22, our most important competition of the year.

The competition took place at the famous Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

It was a highly challenging competition for everyone involved, but our dancers excelled, and one couple even made it to the finals in the Ex-Student Novice Latin category.

Every year the rounds are incredibly competitive, and it is incredibly difficult to make it through. So, in the build up to this year’s competition, every couple competing practiced several days a week.

Although some of our dancers were left disappointed, as a team we were very successful, having a

total of 35 call backs, including three semi-finals and one placing in the finals.

One of the key highlights of the competition was Offbeat.

Offbeat is a group dance section, where the Ballroom and Latin competitors perform a style of dance which they are not necessarily used to.

These often include Charleston, Jazz and Contemporary, but this year we decided to step out of our comfort zones and perform a HipHop routine, choreographed by Izzy Carroll and Ella Cockcroft.

Personally, I found performing this routine was an incredible and exhilarating experience, and it was great dancing with other members of the club from different levels.

Choreographer Ella describes her experience: “I loved the atmosphere there was at our rehearsals, because our dancers were working hard together, smiling and laughing constantly.”

Izzy also commented that: “The

routine getting a shoutout from one of the judges was by far the icing on the cake!”

The Nationals weekend was not all about competing, however.

Philip Leadbitter, another member of the team, celebrated her birthday whilst competing. She said: “It was a great way to spend a birthday, friends from the society even organised cards and cake at breakfast.

“The only downside was the six thirty wake up. No one should be up at that time on a Saturday!”

We were given the opportunity to dance in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, which was a highlight of the trip for many of our dancers.

It provided the opportunity for everyone to dance with anyone, not just their regular partners, so it was a great way to get to know newer members.

Blackpool has been my highlight of the year so far, and it was a great way to get to know everyone in the club.

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10th March 2020

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

SCome t r i cDancing tly returns to UEA Claire Bilsborough Sport Writer

UEA Strictly will once again take to the dancefloor this year on Friday, March 13.

While some may consider the date unlucky, event planners are certain hockey masks and machetes will not be part of the evening!

The doors will open on the night at 7pm for spectators to take their seats, and tickets are being sold through the SU website.

In the vein of the popular BBC

“Dances will range from Cha Chas to Rumbas”

TV series, the idea is that each couple consists of one professional dancer, in this case a member of UEA’s Ballroom and Latin Dance

Club (BLDC), and someone with limited dancing experience from another sports team.

This year the roster includes: Gwenda Killick from Badminton dancing with Caelum Spearing, Fiona Standen from Baseball and Softball with Izzy Carroll, Alex Lush from Cricket with Hannah Jones, Lizzie Payne from Gymnastics with Tom Baragwanath, Kathryn Stanley from Women’s Football with Minamo Mizuno, Owen Hooper from Hockey with Claire Bilsborough, Amelia Jones from Women’s Rugby with Cameron Willson, Oscar Ogilvie from Snow with Alexia Popescu, Hans Van Baalen from Squash with Amy Leech, Alex Lee from Tennis alongside Ella Cockcroft, and Alex Turner from Velo with Glenneze Ong. Dances will range from Cha Chas to Rumbas, and the event is hosted and organised by the BLDC. It’s been a busy time for the club, as members recently went off to compete in the Inter Varsity Dance Championships.

voting open until:

thurs 12th march, 10am uea.su/elections

Photo: UEA Ballroom and Latin Dance Club

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10th March 2020

S port The debate surrounding controversial team names: Racism or freedom of speech?

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Luke Saward Sport Senior Writer

“A supporter of or player for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club” is what the Oxford English Dictionary recently expanded their definition of the term ‘Yid’ to include.

This is an extraordinary development for a word that, to this day, still deeply offends many members of the Jewish community.

Writer and Broadcaster David Baddiel has been very outspoken in his belief that there should be a blanket ban on what he describes as a “race-hate word” in football grounds, creating a short film, along with his brother Ivor, criticising its use.

The Baddiels state that, unlike the reclamation of the N-word by black musicians, most Tottenham fans are not Jewish.

In fact, less than 1% of the population in this country are, according to the most recent census.

As such, they logically believe that Spurs fans have no right to reclaim the Y-word.

However, in doing so, they ignore the historical context in which Spurs fans adopted the Y-word as a self-identifier.

This occurred in response to

years of abuse from opposing fans, which they attempted to render impotent by taking on the term themselves.

The Baddiels have claimed that this abuse largely occurs due to the use of the Y-word by Spurs supporters.

The issue in this is that it seems to place blame squarely at the feet of Tottenham fans, who predominantly chant the term only to stress its

“Owners... have openly defended these traditions” positive connotations.

Similar issues are also present across the Atlantic, with the Washington Redskins’ name and logo causing discontent for years amongst the Native American community.

Likewise, on their road to victory in the Super Bowl, Kansas City Chiefs fans caused controversy with their “war chants” and imitations of tomahawk chops.

However, unlike the UK, the

United States has far fewer legal restrictions on the freedom of speech; the Supreme Court has even gone so far as to rule that denying the trademarking of derogatory names would be an unconstitutional infringement of the First Amendment.

Potentially influenced by the fact that, even if offensive, the name is not illegal, the owners and management of these teams have openly defended their traditions.

Washington Redskins President, Bruce Allen, went so far as to highlight the use of the name by high school teams (with a majority Native American composition) as evidence that the name itself is not, or at least is not used in such a way that is, inherently offensive.

Spurs, by contrast, have never officially adopted the Y-word through club channels and have always stressed their “zerotolerance” stance towards antiSemitism.

However, they have always stopped short of stating that the usage by Tottenham fans of the Y-word amounts to anti-Semitism, only criticising the lack of context provided by the OED’s change in definition.

In the club’s most recent survey on the matter, a third of fans stated

that they use the Y-word regularly in a footballing context, although very few would use it outside of this.

Is it then acceptable, but only in this very narrowly restricted context, because the law would seem to suggest so.

The Metropolitan Police have stated that they will distinguish between anti-Semitic Holocaust chants directed at Spurs fans, which

“We absolutely should clamp down on all forms of anti-Semitism” are an offence, and some songs sung by Spurs fans including the Y-word, which are not.

In 2014, the Crown Prosecution Service discontinued cases made against three Tottenham fans arrested for using the Y-word, stating that the language used could not legally be considered “threatening, abusive or insulting” under the circumstances.

Gerald Jacobs, the literary editor of The Jewish Chronicle, agreed with David Cameron, back when he

was Prime Minister, that such hate speech should only be prosecuted when it is motivated by hate.

Jacobs noted how ‘Jew’ had replaced the Y-word as the foremost insult directed at those of the Jewish faith, with the OED reflecting how the use of the Y-word has developed.

Therefore, I would agree with Frank Furedi, the Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, when he encouraged caution with policing language.

We absolutely should clamp down on all forms of anti-Semitism, as it has no place in society.

Derogatory usage of the Y-word, be it by Spurs fans or those of the opposition, should be strictly punished, with such individuals having no place in football stadiums.

However, in today’s society, the evidence seems to suggest that when Spurs fans use the Y-word to bestow hero status upon their favourite players, as they did with the well-known Jermaine Defoe chant, this does not amount to antiSemitism.

Crass language is commonplace at football games, and perhaps it shouldn’t be.

However, should the positive chants of Tottenham fans be the target of the Baddiels’ campaign? I would argue not.