UEA’s Student Newspaper
Issue 297 • Free • Tuesday 29 April
Thanks to all our contributors and readers this year!
UEA 2013-14: A year in headlines
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concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk
Editorial
Editor-in-chief | Sidonie ChafferMelly concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Deputy Editor | Sophie Witts concrete.president@uea.ac.uk Online Editor | Billy Sexton concrete.online@uea.ac.uk Deputy Online Editor | Amelia
Marchington concrete.online@uea.ac.uk News | Andrew Ansell & Lara-Jayne Ellice concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Comment | Zoë Jones concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk Global | Ella Gilbert concrete.global@uea.ac.uk Features | Bridie Wilkinson concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Environment | Peter Sheehan concrete.environment@uea.ac.uk Science & Tech | Dominic Burchnall concrete.science@uea.ac.uk Travel | Niyonu Agana-Burke concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk Lifestyle | Lydia Clifton concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk Sport | Charlie Savage & Will Medlock concrete.sport@hotmail.co.uk Copy Editors | Stephenie Naulls & Anna Walker concretecopyeditors@gmail.com Chief Photographers | Jacob Roberts-Kendall, Will Cockram & Jonathan Alomoto concrete.photography@uea.ac.uk Distribution Manager | Steph Gover
Issue 297
Contributors
News | Lara Ellice, Eliot Folan, Joshua Mott, Verity Stone, Andrew Ansell, Sophie Wits, Jo Spiro Comment | Joe Jameson, Olivia Grosvenor, Eve Lacroix, Thomas Diamond, Dian Atamyanov, Elliot Folan, Elliot Wengler Global | Alexandra Howat, Sonya Qureshi Features | Bridie Wilkinson, Sophie Brinkley, Graeme Tolley, Louis Cheslaw Environment | Peter Sheehan, Jacob Beebe Science & Tech | Dominic Burchnall, Julie Bishop, Mabon Elis Travel | Ciara Jack, Robert White, Anna Walker, Niyonu Agana-Burke Lifestyle | Eve Lacroix, Rebecca Bemment, Holly Wade, Ellen Musgrove, Lydia Clifton, Ciara Jack, Stephenie Naulls Sport | Will Medlock, Joe Skeet, Paul McDermott, Katherine Lucas Proofreaders | Helena Bradbury, Eugine Arourski, Holly Wade, Ella Sharp, Madz Abbassi, Lewis Buxton, Sidonie Chaffer-Melly, Steph Naulls, Anna Naulls
QUICK QUESTIONS This week we talk to... Stacey Armes, Collections Assistant, The Library What do you do? I’m a part-time Collections Assistant, working within the Collections Team for the Library. Our office is based on Floor 1, along with the E-Resources team and the Faculty Librarians. There were a few jokes about ‘being consigned to Room 101’ when I started, as that’s our room number! My work is focused on adding new stock to our shelves, keeping our current stock in good condition and increasing access for our users through digitization. On a typical day, my tasks could include uploading a thesis to our Digital Repository, mending a damaged book or scanning a book chapter for uploading to a module on Blackboard. How did you come by the job? I’ve worked as a Library Assistant for Norfolk Library and Information Service since 2009, working in various libraries around the county, with a particular focus on Local Heritage collections. When I heard about this opportunity to return to UEA – where I studied for my BA in Art History and English Literature – I jumped at the chance! What’s your favourite thing/place on campus? The views from the Library! I love being able to look out over the Broad from the top floor of the library; at this time of year the campus and surrounding landscape is full of life. At the moment the Broad is shimmering away in the sunlight. The birds are making a bit of a racket though.
Editor’s column The time has come, it’s our final issue. We are going out with a bang and some great content. If you are graduating this year, turn to Features for some UEA nostalgia. If you are already planning your summer, Travel have a guide on the best of North Norkolk, while Lifestyle have the low down on how to have a fun summer without breaking the bank. If you are bracing yourself for exam season, Lifestyle also have some tips on how to stop the internet from destorying your revision. It can be so difficult to tune
Editorial
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out of social media, and resulting guilt when you realise how long you’ve been procrastinating makes it even more difficult to work. We have all had so much fun doing Concrete, and would like to thank everyone who has contributed, whether it has been reading, writing, proofreading or taking photographs. We’ve had a great year, and we couldn’t have done it without you. Sidonie Chaffer-Melly Editor-in-Chief
What’s the best thing you have seen in your job? I’m only three months into the job – but it’s great to see all the new facilities and positive changes to the Library since I was a student here. I would certainly have benefited from the increased use of digital resources, as well as the 24-hour opening! It’s clear to see that users’ feedback has
Tweet of the Week “UEA bucklet list item completed: get in prospectus. Next to @ GregJames #result”
@StephenieJayne
been listened to, in order to bring in changes which students can benefit from - more computers, the improved High Demand section and changes to the carrel system, for example. What’s the weirdest thing you have ever seen in the job? Some of the things we find in the books when they’re returned are a little odd! Some people just really love One Direction… What do you think makes the UEA so wonderful? It’s all about contrasts. Between concrete blocks and the natural landscape; between being a relatively young university situated in a historic city, and being tucked away in East Anglia yet at the forefront of so many fields of research. Our motto is ‘Do Different’ and I like to think we are a bit different from other campus universities. What’s UEA’s best kept secret? UEA is its own best kept secret. You’ve just got to be here to find out for yourself. Whats the next big thing for you at the UEA or what’s coming up that’s exciting? I’m really looking forward to the next few authors coming for the Literary Festival. I’ve seen Margaret Atwood, Susan Hill and Eleanor Catton already! What piece of advice would you give to students? Make the most of your free or discounted access to museums, exhibitions, lit festivals and so on – there is so much going on everywhere you look! Don’t forget to use your library card either – there is a wealth of knowledge among the staff and great resources provided by librarians here. Whatever you’re looking for, don’t be afraid to ask.
Contact Us Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593 466 www.concrete-online.co.uk www.concblog.wordpress.com Editorial inquiries / complaints concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk Got a story? concrete.news@uea.ac.uk
Concrete welcomes all letters and emails, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Letters should be addressed to the editor-in-chief, and include contact details. All emails should be sent to concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk. We will consider anonymous publication, and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. Anonymous article submissions are permitted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the newspaper. No part of this newspaper may be reproduced through any means without the express permission of the editor, Sidonie Chaffer-Melly. Published by UUEAS Concrete Society ©2013 Concrete BMc ISSN 1351-2773
News
SCVA displays letters between Henry Moore and Robert Sainsbury
Lara Ellice News Editor The University of East Anglia will be displaying previously unseen letters between Henry Moore, one of the most renowned artists of the 20th century, and his patron and friend, Robert Sainsbury. Moore, famous for his iconic bronze sculptures, had a close friendship with Robert Sainsbury, beginning with Sainsbury’s purchase of Moore’s ‘Mother and Child’ sculpture in 1933. The sculpture was first displayed at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts’ opening in 1978. The exhibition, entitled ‘Moore in Focus: A Friendship in Letters’ will display their correspondence through letters, photographs and postcards. The material was sourced from the Sainsbury Research Unit archives and the Henry Moore Foundation. The deeply personal letters include Moore’s recommendation of a Gillette razor to Sainsbury, where Moore is seen to address Sainsbury as “Dear Bob”. In another letter to Sainsbury, Moore expresses his excitement in preparation for “the opening of your centre in East Anglia”, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Amy Chang, one of the exhibition team, emphasized the close friendship between Moore and Sainsbury: “The letters show clearly how much Henry and Irina and Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury respected and liked each other and we are delighted to be able to share these never-before-seen snippets of their friendship with the public. “Their relationship was a cornerstone of the creation of the Sainsbury Centre where we will now try to portray their relationship, and we have some fantastic photographs of Moore and Sir Robert.” The exhibition runs from April 26 to July 20 at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA. Free Admission.
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Report: NUS annual conference Elliot Folan News Reporter The annual conference of the National Union of Students (NUS) took a turn to the left earlier this month, with delegates backing policies that called for free education, police off campuses, a 5:1 campus pay ratio and opposition to UKIP. The conference, which took place in Liverpool from 8th-10th April, saw delegates vote to re-elect Toni Pearce as NUS President, Colum McGuire as Vice President for Welfare, Joe Vinson as Vice President for Further Education and Raechel Mattey as Vice President for Union Development. Delegates to the conference also elected Piers Telemacque as Vice President for Society & Citizenship and chose Megan Dunn to be Vice President for Higher Education. The first day of the conference saw delegates vote to oppose the UK Independence Party (UKIP), a theme throughout the conference due to the presence of a UKIP-backed candidate for NUS President. Delegates also voted to oppose George Osborne’s policy of privatising all pre-2012 student loans, but voted against holding a national NUS demonstration. Delegates backed motions calling for the banning of police officers from campuses if they lack permission from students’ unions, and for opposition to the idea of markets in higher education. They also committed the NUS to automaticaly
“Delegates voted to oppose the UK Independence Party (UKIP)” support lecturers’ strikes, to support for a 5:1 pay ratio on university campuses and to campaigning against the government’s immigration reduction targets. The second day saw a heated debate on committing the NUS to the abolition of all tuition fees, which ended with 280 delegates voting in favour, 231 against and 40 abstaining. Delegates then backed motions calling for a “mass campaign” against all cuts and privatisation in further education, for safer student housing, for
Slump in student support for Lib Dems
raising awareness of students’ deposit rights and for a program of challenging the far right. Delegates also voted to endorse the living wage for all student workers, but decided against condemning zero-hour contracts. The final day was focused on internal matters, with elections held for three members of the NUS Trustee Board (won by Peter Smallwood, Roza Salih and Kelly Rogers), four places on the Democratic Procedures Committee (won by Nabil Alizai, Sam de Kare Silver, Hanif Leylabi and Liz Mutter) and for 15 positions on the NUS National Executive (won by Charlotte Agran, Dario Celaschi, Daniel Cooper, Clifford Fleming, Hannah Graham, Aaron Kiely, Shakira Martin, Michael Rubin, Vonnie Sandlan, Edmund Schluessel, Amy Smith, Abdi-Aziz Suleiman, Zarah Sultana, Miki Vyse and Poppy Wilkinson). Delegates voted to support policies that would ensure delegations to NUS conference and NUS committees have to have a minimum of 50% per cent of members who consider being female as part of their identity, and resolved that NUS will not cut affiliation fees until all fees for participating in NUS events are abolished. UEA students were represented at the conference by Joe Levell, Dan Wrigglesworth, Evie Forster, Elliot Folan and Rachel Knott. The next elections for UEA’s delegates to NUS National Conference will be held in November 2014. Joshua Mott News Reporter Student support for the Liberal Democrats has fallen to six per cent, The Independent has reported. The figure puts the party behind Labour and the Conservatives who hold 43 per cent and 24 per cent respectively. It also ranks the Lib Dems behind the Green Party who have leapfrogged Nick Clegg’s party to 14 percent of the potential student vote. Several of the Lib Dem’s key constituencies have hefty student populations, including Simon Wright’s Norwich South, where UEA is located. Even Clegg’s Sheffield Hallam constituency, with the country’s third largest student population, could be under threat. The Lib Dem’s Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Manchester constituencies could also find themselves under pressure. The main reason cited for the collapse is the party’s reversal on its opposition to the rise in student fees, which garnered them a great deal of support back in 2010. Student support for the Lib Dems has traditionally polled around five percent higher than the rest of the general public.
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The First World War was “not worth fighting”, says UEA historian
Graduates will be paying off debt into their 50s Verity Stone News Reporter According to a study found by The Telegraph, the majority of students will be paying back their tuition fee loans into their fifties, whilst many others will never be able to pay it back. In an interview with the BBC earlier this year, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge, said: “The Government assumes that 35 to 40 per cent of the total will never be repaid…But we don’t have confidence in those figures. We think that the value of student loans never to be repaid could be even higher.” The Sutton Trust is among many charities and institutions against the new regime; they commissioned a study, carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and stated that the new system has come at a time when family and living costs are at their highest. The new system means that graduates will not have to start paying back their loans until they earn over £21,000 a year; after that, income will
Professor John Charmley speaking at an event held by Intelligence Squared
EXCLUSIVE Andrew Ansell News Editor “It was not in Britain’s interests to fight in World War One”, UEA Professor John Charmley has claimed in a speech given at the National Geographical Society. At an event hosted by Intelligence Squared Professor John Charmley and Dominic Sandbrook faced off against Sir Max Hastings and Professor Margaret Macmillan, debating whether Britain should have gone to war in 1914. Professor Charmley argued that German military victory in 1871 did not herald the “skies to fall in” and neither would it have done if it was repeated in 1914. He went on to say that the arguments of Hastings and MacMillan were dependent on constructing an image of Germany as a “bogeyman”. In opposition to Professor Charmley, Sir Max Hastings said: “to believe that Britain could and should have acquiesced in a German triumph in 1914 requires one to believe in the moderation and generosity of Germany’s rulers”. “Whatever the shortcomings of the peace made at Versailles, if Germany
had been dictating the terms there could have been no return to honey for tea at Grantchester or across the British empire, I believe we had to fight”, he added. The policy of Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, was lamented by UEA’s lecturer in Diplomatic History who thought Grey was “frightened by British isolation”. The rest of the 20th Century following the First World War showed how wrong Grey’s word were, that nothing could be worse than Britain being left out of the war, according to the Professor. After the debate only 27 per cent of the audience agreed with Charmley’s view, while 62 per cent thought Britain should have entered The Great War in 1914. Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 The Tonight Programme, Professor Charmley said: “the suffering was just not worth it”. He continued: “The fact is after 1918 the big empires collapsed, Europe dissolved into lots of little difference nation states, all of them fighting for their own rights which created a chaos out of which World War Two emerged, out of which the Cold War emerged. I simply do not believe that any rational politician gifted with any foresight in 1914, in any country, knowing what we now know would have gone to war in 1914”.
News
be deducted by 9 per cent. Along with this, graduates will have to pay an aboveinflation interest rate of up to 3 per cent. The study carried out investigated the new and old systems to examine their impact. They concluded that graduates will now have more than £44,000 worth of debt from tuition fee and maintenance loans (without the added interest after graduation) - approximately £20,000 more than the old system left them with. Those earning more than £21,000 will pay less, but those earning higher salaries will have more to pay. The Director of Research at the Sutton Trust, Conor Ryan, has said that there has been a lot of focus on graduates making lower repayments in their twenties, but “very little about the fact that many graduates will face significant repayments through their forties, whereas many would previously have repaid their loans by then”. If you would like to find out more about your student loan repayments then visit this site: https://www.gov.uk/studentfinance/repayments.
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Illegal file sharing must be investigated, UEA academics warn Sophie Witts News Reporter Academics at the University of East Anglia have warned that more research needs to be conducted in to illegal file sharing in order to create sufficient policies to tackle the practice. The caution comes from a new report undertaken on behalf of the Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy (CREATe), which examined over a decade of research in to the motivations, intentions and consequences behind file sharing. Professor Daniel Zizzo, UEA Economist and co-author of the report, explained that the report found that the majority of past research was focused
A message from Student Support Services
primarily on the downloading of music, rather than films, television or software. He said: “This means there is a real risk of designing policy which meets the needs of a specific industry, possibly at the expense of other creative industries which are less well represented in the literature. Also, the economic effects found in one medium may not apply to another and current knowledge of file sharing is dramatically skewed by method.” File sharing is believed to cost the creative economy billions of pounds each year, and the laws around the practice remain controversial. However Martin Kretschmer, director of CREATe, has warned that legislating in the absence of more thorough research could produce “lop-sided policies.”
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THURSDAY
MAY
5 - 9 PM
Jo Spiro Student Support Services Manager I was really pleased to read in issue 296 Concrete’s article on NUS’s research – Homes Fit For Study but I just wanted to let UEA students know how they fare in comparison. Students can look at the detailed facts and figures on our website http://www. ueastudent.com/articles/the-truth-aboutstudent-housing. We are really pleased to say that at UEA our stats show that you have a better experience than most students around the country. The Union’s Home Run accreditation scheme is the largest provider of student housing in the area and because it’s free this year alone we have saved
students over £93,000 in agency fees. This academic year the Advice Centre has had 34 reports of disrepair in the private sector, 74% related to private landlords and 26% to Home Run properties. Even though there is still a lot that can be done to improve student’s experience as tenants we believe Home Run is helping to influence the market and raise standards across the private sector in Norwich. We believe that informed tenants make good tenants. Home Run has properties available throughout the year at www. ueastudent.com/homerun and if you want to browse our leaflets or make an appointment to talk through your housing issues look at our webpages under Help, Advice and Housing or just pop into the Advice Centre.
GREAT OFFERS AND EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS* FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY AT INTU CHAPELFIELD! intu.co.uk/chapelfield twitter.com/intuChapelfield facebook.com/intuchapelfield
*All students must have valid student ID.
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Relgious extremism in schools Joe Jameson Comment Writer @CommissarJ The news that Sir Michael Wilshaw will personally head the ongoing investigation by Ofsted into the allegations that a group of ‘hard line’ Muslims have taken control of a number of schools in Birmingham is a major escalation into what has become known as the ‘Trojan Horse’ investigation. Around 18 schools have been identified as part of the conspiracy, and possibly as many as 25 are involved, according to a separate investigation by Birmingham city council, amid concerns of proextremist agendas undermining the curriculum and teaching methods. Such an allegation is very serious and must be dealt with thoroughly,
but in a way which does not promote ‘Islamophobia’, or resemble a witch hunt. Ofsted have a role to perform, which is to ensure that pupils are kept safe and that there are no discriminatory practices going on anywhere within the education system, their investigation is solely to ensure that some of the most vulnerable members of society are kept safe. However, this must be done in a way which is not offensive to the staff working in these schools, disruptive to the students enrolled, and respectful of the British Muslim community, which must not be demonised through fear mongering by the press. An interesting point worth noting in relation to the investigation is the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove’s much publicised negative opinion of Ofsted, and its relationship with independent academies, which he feels should be non-existent. What is crucial here is that a number of the schools being investigated by Ofsted are independent schools, and therefore would be outside of the operational remit of the watchdog. Mr. Gove’s
#WeAreEnactus
Olivia Grosvenor Comment Writer In the last three months UEA has been developing new student-led social enterprise project, Enactus, which works to apply business and economic concepts and an entrepreneurial approach to supporting the wider community. As a worldwide organisation, Enactus aims to equip students with the necessary tools to apply their existing skills outside of coursework and classroom activities. In the context of UEA, this has been achieved by outlining a project that intends to work alongside homelessness charities in order to develop a sustainable and profitable business enterprise. This has the potential to provide opportunities for the local homeless community to build confidence, develop existing skills and generate steady revenue. In order to make this goal achievable, Enactus is divided into two key groups –
commercial and social. No business can run on air, therefore the former group works to secure a cash flow for use within projects. Simultaneously, the social team corresponds directly with the charities and outside communities involved in the project, establishing a strong working relationship within the scheme whilst developing personal communication skills. Together the teams support one another financially and morally, whilst collaborating on ideas, in order to benefit the charity or organisation in question.
polyvore.com
incandescent lust for private sector investment in education appears to have blinded him over issues of pupil safety; this investigation shows just how vital an independent body can be. The issue of religion’s relationship with education has surfaced a number of times in the past few years, most recently over the issue of whether the presence of faith schools actively encourage discrimination and segregation within
society, as this might result in divided communities who choose not to send their children to non-religiously affiliated schools. Modern Britain’s social cohesion relies upon a secular education system, which introduces students to different cultures, beliefs and customs respectfully in the classroom and the playground, as only such a policy can have any success in breaking down racial and religious stereotypes.
Telegraph
You’ve got male Eve Lacroix Comment Writer The documentary The Mask We Live, explores the myth of hyper-masculinity and how it affects us. In a world where “you throw like a girl” is an insult, feminine qualities are shamed. As women are increasingly free and equal, shifts have been made to give the modern woman more space. But we like neat boxes - so how do we differentiate ourselves? Hyper-masculinity expects men to be aggressive, impulsive and assertive. Phrases like “grow a pair” and “man up” mean that their masculinity is constantly being questioned. These ideals have created what United Nations special rapporteur Rashida Manjoo calls a “boys’ club culture”, to us, lad culture and reinforced rape culture. If men are emotionally illiterate, how may they understand and relate to women? If they must fight for what they want, women are conquests to be “won”. On a more psychological level, these bottled up emotions lead to violence, suicide and rape. 50% of men dealing with mental health issues do not seek help, and suicide rates are the highest
amongst male teenagers. These societal narratives are failing both young men and women. We need to remind ourselves and our peers about consent and emotional intelligence. It is vital to understand that an enthusiastic, sober yes is the only true form of consent. Great movements like the No More campaign, starring, for one, rapper Ice T, are raising awareness against domestic violence. At the same time, new forms of expressing one’s gender with more fluidity are opening up. Big brands such as Clinique and Tom Ford have been releasing make-up lines for men. Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and David Beckham, as well as our fellow students, readily sport the ‘man-bun’ along with a beard. These facts seem to go completely against our earlier archetypal male model. Yvonne Roberts, writing for the Observer, wonder “Where that 90s’ drive to discover what makes some men the way they are?” Perhaps she has missed the point. Our identities and expectations are constantly shifting. There is no ultimate male, but rather a clamouring of voices, all different, but in unison, that constitute what it means to be a man.
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Comment
Issue 297
Cameron the Christian? not the Labour Party but the Church of England who leads the way in fighting legal loan sharks and supporting the Living Wage campaign. And while the Labour Party remains too nervous to truly denounce the benefit changes, the
Thomas Diamond Comment Writer Cameron has caused controversy by stating that Britain should be “more confident about our status as a Christian country”. Much of the press now puzzle over the electoral impacts of this statement. However, let us take a step back from the ramblings of the Westminster Village and actually look at what Cameron has said. Cameron stated that Christianity can “make a difference to people’s lives”. He is right. Many people rely on the Christian organisations to live with many food-banks set up by Churches. Despite some minor controversies, it is
“Cameron stated that Christianity can ‘make a different to people’s lives” Church has certainly been greatly vocal. This does not merely present the Church as charitable, but a bit leftwing. Chávez’s statement that Christ was “the greatest socialist in history” may be somewhat of a simplification, but he was certainly on the right lines. When referring to the rich failing to care for the poor he was no soft touch. ‘“Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Then they will go away to eternal punishment.’ Suddenly a 50p top rate of income tax seems rather mild. The destitute Rabbi seems more like a
Mounting tension in Ukraine
The National Union of Students (NUS) conference is over, but the decision of delegates to commit the NUS to a strategy of opposing the far-right UK Independence Party (UKIP) has continued to be controversial. The
The Star from willing to let such a strategic territory slip from under his fingers. Let’s not forget that he still holds the ace when it comes to natural gas, a critical resource for the Ukrainian economy, and can bare his fangs when pushed too far, as we’ve already seen with the annexation of Crimea. On the other side of the spectrum, the West is showing unquestionable weakness. Not long ago, a Ukrainian protester marching on a Crimean airbase shouted, “America is with us!” after pro-Russian forces threatened to shoot them in the legs. But where is the eagle when the bear is strangling their allies? Neither the US nor the EU, seem capable of anything more than a stern voice and a few sanctions. Perhaps they are cautious of the very real possibility of a new world war, but then the question is, where does that leave Ukraine?
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Why I voted to oppose UKIP Elliot Folan Comment Writer
Dian Atamyanov Comment Writer @Dragoonfire In 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the nation that the disintegration of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical tragedy of the last century. Some take this as a hint towards a publicly secret agenda to bring back the hammer and the sickle. What they don’t realize, however, is that they never left. As every historian and journalist alike will tell you, Eastern Europe is a maelstrom of tragedies, and Ukraine is very near the funnel. The country has always been the target of political segregation, be it between Central Europe and the Soviets or the West and Russia, and tensions have always been high. After the fall of the Union, three of its past members signed an agreement to form a new coalition titled the Commonwealth of Independent States. Among them was Ukraine, which subsequently chose not to ratify the agreement following Russia’s declaration to be the only legitimate heir to the previous superpower. This renewed attempt at regional hegemony by their former ally is the main reason why the country is pulling away from Russia. The nation sees no prospect in a partnership with a federation run by a former KGB agent. However, Mr Putin is far
working class hero than a Tory activist. The Right claiming Christ for their own is one of the strangest occurrences in contemporary politics. The great problem with Cameron’s comments is not that they are incorrect, the Christian values of love, forgiveness and helping the poor and the needy are undoubtedly positive and are in dire need in contemporary Britain, but that he does not live up to the principles he espouses. Cameron’s policies have hurt the weakest in society, whether it be the bedroom tax or the VAT increase. It is the churches who have had to pick up the pieces. Cameron’s office even called the police when the Bishop of Oxford attempted to hand over a petition against the government’s inaction on hunger in Britain. The government’s role in society of looking out for the poor and the needy is now being left to the churches. Cameron was right when he said that Britain could do with being more Christian. However, his Britain is many things; harsh, brutal and uncaring, but certainly not Christian.
“I believe that no-one is illegal” youth wing of UKIP recently challenged conference delegates who voted for the policy to explain themselves, and as one of UEA’s delegates – and someone who voted for the policy – I thought I should do just that. UKIP’s main policy in the last few years has been not only its opposition to the European Union, but its virulent opposition to migration, and its desire to restrict migration severely – both “illegal” and “legal” migration. UKIP has made claims about “Romanian crime waves”, whipped up scare stories about migrants taking jobs, promised to “end support for multiculturalism” and claimed that parts of the UK are “unrecognisable”. I voted to oppose UKIP because I believe that no-one is illegal, and because migration brings immense
benefits to Britain. Concerns about wages, jobs and housing are being blamed on migrants by ex-banker Nigel Farage and his racist party - but wages are low because bosses choose to make them low, jobs are scarce because the government has chosen to cut services and jobs, and housing is scarce because the government has refused to build the housing we need. Migrants are our friends, our neighbours, our lecturers and our classmates, and students should stand against any attempt to demonise migrants and blame the UK’s problems on them. We should all oppose UKIP.
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Privacy, social media and the law Elliot Wengler Comment Writer It is perhaps too typical for the modern politics student to take away from early lessons about the media and sociology that the internet is the Orwellian Big Brother prophecy come too. Last year plenty of stories floated around about the NSA and Facebook and Twitter, and a fear about the ability of private companies like Facebook to profit out of our information. However, a more interesting case occurred recently when young Dana Snay bragged about her father’s recent court-winnings, which inadvertently broke a confidentiality agreement that was part of a settlement between her father and his former employer, the Miami-based Gulliver Preparatory School. This is possibly going to cost the Snay family their entire settlement. Our generation is more prone to sharing information than any before, and we do willingly. It is not always a bad thing, but in this scenario, whether you are an authoritarian or not, one can’t help but feel that Dana Snay should have
thought about the law and her freedom to express herself. Can Dana be defended? Should she be allowed to boast? The Facebook status did not refer to the specifics of the settlement, just boasted that about her parent’s victory. If we were not addicted to, or fearfully, dependent on social networking, then would she have gotten in as much trouble for lightly mentioning it to her friends in a conversation in a café?
The famous incident from yesteryear was when John Hemmnigs MP mentioned Ryan Giggs’ super-injunction in the House of Commons (with parliamentary privilege) in reference to the apparent inconsequential mention of it on Twitter. The privacy debate is even more interesting as injunctions and the like are only truly accessible to the rich and elites in society. Should they be able to sue us over a Facebook status?
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Facebook does have its political and debating purposes, but it also features things written without consideration or understanding of consequence, like Dana, perhaps. Social networking provides an instant online playground or dystopian social scene, however you would like to see it, but surely we cannot expect them to be regulated in quite the same way that the law permits privacy now. Maybe we can, but by who? The government befriending every single one of us on Facebook and checking our statuses? No. Obviously not. Surely even less appealing would be to trust unaccountable private companies to determines what should and should not be permitted. The difficulty is that of course we would want to block hate speech, in all its forms. Yet we have to respect the same form of law that is now costing the Snay family. In conclusion? Think about what you write. It’s not just employers who might think a bit less about some public thoughtlessness, but also the law if you don’t know what your doing. ‘Like’ it or not.
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Global
It’s OK to be gay in the UK - but what about everywhere else? Alexandra Howat Global writer On Saturday 29 March, the UK became the fifteenth country to grant gay couples the right to marry. Given how much pride the UK takes in being a world leader of civil rights and liberties, it seems surprising that it has taken 14 years to grant the gay community such an obvious right. This may be because many people believed the civil partnership, which was introduced in 2005, was enough to satisfy the gay community’s need for ‘equality’. It could also be the lingering effect of Margaret Thatcher’s anti-gay law that was only repealed in 2003, and which prevented schools and local authorities from “promoting” homosexuality or depicting it as “a pretended family relationship”, much like new legislation infamously introduced in Russia. The Office for National Statistics conservatively estimate that 1.5 per cent, or roughly 933,000 people, in Britain are gay, lesbian or bisexual, whilst the gay rights charity Stonewall puts it at 6 per cent, or 3.79 million. Recent polls also indicate that two thirds of Britons support gay unions. Thankfully, the government has recognised in law that being a minority should not mean one has fewer rights. Unfortunately this is not the case across the globe. Only 15 countries allow same-sex marriage, leaving a staggering 181 countries without the same levels of equality. Those countries that have passed the law tend to be more secular, such as Norway, France, and the Netherlands. Anti-homosexual sentiment often stems from rigid interpretation of religious
texts, so it is not surprising that many religious countries which do not allow gay marriage are those where being gay is the most dangerous. Of these 181 countries, it is illegal to be homosexual in an astounding 77. The speed at which countries are introducing same sex marriage seems to be matched by the deterioration of the rights of the LGBT+ community in others. For example, this January, both Nigeria and Uganda passed laws making it illegal to be in a gay union, with a sentence of 14 years in prison. Uganda has gone so far as to sentence life imprisonment for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ which they define as repeated gay sex between consenting adults, children, a disabled person or if one of the partners has HIV. This rapid change of law comes from President Yoweri Museveni’s belief that “many of our homosexuals are mercenaries, heterosexuals who become
homosexuals because of money. These are prostitutes for money” and that the West’s “social imperialism” is encouraging children into homosexuality. India has seen a surprising erosion of LGBT+ rights in recent years. Although a religious country, it has long been considered liberal and progressive, with its constitution supposedly guaranteeing “the right to life and personal liberty, equality, and which prohibits discrimination”. They reinforced this in 2009 by decriminalising homosexuality, abandoning a draconian British ex-colonial penal code. However, last December, India’s highest court overturned this and declared homosexuality punishable by up to 10 years in prison. This has led to outcry in India and worldwide, especially as many young people who have come out as gay, lesbian, bi or transgender since the 2009 ruling are now being severely persecuted. As reported by Concrete Global,
The Guardian
Russia has dominated international headlines recently, particularly because of the brutality with which LGBT+ people are treated. In March 2012 the feminist and LGBT+ activist punk rock protest group, Pussy Riot, were famously arrested for staging a performance in one of Moscow’s Cathedrals in protest at the Orthodox Church leader’s support for President Vladimir Putin during his election campaign. Their trial, conviction and jail sentence were widely covered by international media and governments, shining a light on the stark homophobic policies of Putin’s government. The charity and activist group All Out has played a major role in changing the attitudes towards LGBT+ issues worldwide, and has almost two million members. They were pivotal in the press coverage of Pussy Riot, and likely aided their release. Very recently they collected 85,000 signatures on a petition that was presented to Orange telecoms companies asking to pull their adverts from a major Ugandan tabloid known for leading an anti-gay witch-hunt in the country. Orange responded promptly and suspended all association with the paper and promised to protect their LGBT+ employees in Uganda. Instances such as these prove that media coverage, petitions and public support can influence social, political and cultural issues, such as discrimination against the LGBT+ community. Russian protest group The Sochi Boys did exactly this by making a crude, unashamed and hilarious music video, aptly named ‘Put it in Putin’ in protest against Putin’s antigay propaganda law. It is well worth the watch, but certainly not for the faint hearted.
East meets West: Russian imperialism vs the hegemony of capital Sonya Qureshi Global writer The crisis in Ukraine and Crimea has developed into an ideological battleground between Western and Eastern ideology, in a throw-back to the Cold War era of tension, secrecy and embitterment. Russia’s militaristic celebration to ‘welcome back’ Crimea into their territory smacks of Russia using events in Eastern Europe to flex its muscles and regain lost ground by re-consolidating its influence in ex-Soviet satellite states. Soviet imperialism is making a comeback, but with a new face – a smirking Putin. The annexation of Crimea was a demonstration of Russian force, but was also the result of many years of
accumulated grievances against an ‘unfair’ international system. The Kremlin considers the USA and many nations in the EU regular violators of international law, and sees itself as the victim of unfair treatment - most recently over its gay rights record, the Sochi Winter Olympics, and the alleged corruption around the construction of sports facilities. Russia is sticking two fingers up at Western ideology and getting her own back by violating international law herself, demonstrating that she is still an imperialist power: allegedly stirring up unrest and violence in Eastern Ukraine, seizing the Crimean Parliament by force, denying the presence of Russian troops in Crimea, staging a very rushed referendum, and by brazenly celebrating its somewhat
predictable outcome. The West is equally keen to assert its authority in the region – countries like the USA present a veneer of sensibility, realism and level-headedness through their role as “independent peace keepers”, dispatching negotiators like John Kerry and Joe Biden as part of their diplomatic assault on “terrorists”. However, capitalist countries see the resurgence of Russian influence as a threat to free trade and neoliberalism. The USA uses money to assert its influence, so Russia’s undermining of capitalist sentiment erodes Western power, maintained by donating stringsattached aid to developing countries, steering international institutions like the IMF, and influencing international decision-making on a multiplicity of issues.
Moscow sees a gulf between the stated commitments and the actions of the Western partners (the US, EU and Ukraine). Despite a supposed commitment to ensuring peace in Ukraine, it says facts “regretfully speak to the opposite”, and reveal their “strong arm ambitions”. Yet local people in Eastern Ukraine seem relatively immune to the geopolitical wrangling going on around them. Ideological battles are not a priority for ordinary people, for whom the issues that aggravated violence in the first place are an everyday reality. Issues of unemployment and political representation are important, but most people want a return to normality, and an end to the violence. People are tired, and many want the crisis to be over.
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You know you’re a UEA student when...
Features Editor Bridie Wilkinson lists five typical traits of a UEA student that will be hard to shake once we’ve all left... It’s that time of year again. Term is slowly and painfully coming to an end, and whilst we are all inundated with deadlines and revision, for a significant number of students there is an added pressure. Graduation is also looming. Soon, many of us will have to hang up our title as a “UEA student” and be released into the big, wide world. For all that we are leaving behind, there are certain things that our time at UEA has given us that will be hard to shake off. So, here are a few uniquely UEA traits that any graduate will take with them when they finally depart from the beloved concrete campus. 1) Concrete Life It’s an affinity that you can’t help but have. You’ve spent years surrounded by it, and a significant amount of your university memories have been structured upon the grey walls, pavements and steps of our campus. It’s even the name of the publication that you’re reading right now. There is no escaping it: concrete is an inherent part of UEA life. You may have complained about its dreariness, or heard others comment that on occasion, campus looks a bit like a prison. But your many years spent amongst it have taught you how to find beauty in its greyness and simplicity. You know how it seems to shine when the sunlight hits it on a warm day, how it perfectly contrasts against
until you meet someone from Essex Uni out in the real world, and you feel your smile waver just a little bit. You’ll somehow find a way to mention UEA’s past sporting triumphs, all the while wearing a smugly polite grin.
the greenery of the campus’s grounds. In the future, you’ll find yourself wistfully staring at building sites or at bricks in Homebase, remembering your days of living la vie des concrete. 2) Appreciating Acronyms We’ve all had that moment. Someone asks you where you go to university, and when you answer with “UEA”, they look at you baffled. Eventually, you realise that there are people who don’t automatically recognise the acronym. We’ve all become so used to explaining our degree through short hand phrases: UEA, LDC, HIS, BIO, DEV, and of course, LCR. It’s almost like a secret language that only our fellow UEA students can understand. Your ears will be attuned to the acronyms, and you will be unable to avoid invading a conversation whenever they are mentioned. 3) The Legend of the LCR No list about UEA can be compiled
without a mention to the notorious institution of debauchery that is the Lower Common Room. Trying to explain it to a non-UEAer makes it sounds terrible: everyone you know crammed into a venue that is by day a coffee shop and union, but by night a club with the stickiest floors and the cheesiest music imaginable. You’ll find yourself missing your regular Saturday night haunt and its cut-price drinks and easily persuaded DJ’s when you’re out at a fancy, city club which charges £5 for drinks and plays strictly underground jazz funk. 4) Aversion to Essex University It’s a rivalry as strong as the Capulets vs. the Montagues, spawned from years of sporting triumphs and failures and played out on sporting fields across the East of England on Derby Day. The ‘friendly’ competition between the universities is such an old tradition at UEA, that you don’t even really realise how much you cared about it. That is
5) Bunny lovin’ The first time you saw one, you didn’t quite believe it. Was that really just a rabbit you saw sprinting across the green, or did you have one too many snakebites at the Union bar? But as we all know, the UEA bunnies are very much real, and basically our university’s unofficial mascot. Maybe you’ve attempted to catch one, but been outsmarted by a breed of rabbit who are by now long used to the antics of drunk students. All you know is that you’ll never be able to see a bunny again without recalling the many times they popped up on the greenery around campus; it was basically like living in Watership Down. These are just a few of many things that graduates will take with them when they leave the hallowed, concrete walls of UEA. To any departing students, Concrete wishes you all the best of luck (and hope that come graduation, you’ll avoid sobbing into your university branded hoodie, softly singing to yourself “Oh UEA…”)
Channel 4’s Unreported World Student Media Event Sophie Brinkley rounds up the industry advice and insight that she gained whilst attending Channel 4’s recent Student Media Event. On Friday 4 March I attended Channel 4’s Unreported World Student Media Event, in association with NUS and Amnesty International. It provided an invaluable insight into both media and NGO sectors respectively. I intend to bestow all of the excellent advice I received upon any brilliant, beautiful, budding journalists out there. But first off, a little side note from this author. I would argue that extracurricular activities such as attending events like Unreported World Student Media are paramount to your personal development and employability as a journalist. Not only are they excellent for your CV, but they also give you tangible skills and the opportunity to network with seasoned industry professionals. The latter, for me, has been a truly inspirational experience insofar and a source of unparalleled motivation. Meeting people with wonderful, distinguished careers is a little intimidating at first. My initial approach was utter fangirldom.
When someone stands before you with the job you want, it can be a struggle to think of anything to say. So a definite tip for this situation would be to calm yourself down before going up to them, and have a general idea of what you would like to say beforehand. Flattery is natural by default, but it isn’t necessarily the best approach. Have questions prepared, and do not be afraid to ask for an opportunity of work experience or taking contact details if the
“When someone stands before you with the job you want, it can be a struggle to think of anything to say.” conversation flows well. After all, these people come to these kind of events in order to help ambitious students. Have a kind and respectful demeanour. Sell yourself but don’t overstate. Smile! Now, for the stuff you actually want to hear: words of advice
from actual professionals. Shaunagh Connaire, an Irish Journalist for Channel 4 and Associate Producer for Unreported World, gave an insight on the best approach to take when seeking internships and getting your foot in the door. Her advice was to be personal in your contact with employers. Go for coffee if possible, talk about your ideas, rather than simply emailing a CV like everyone else. Daniel Bogado, a producer and director of international current affairs documentaries for BBC, Channel 4 and AlJazeera, gave some key guidance in how to make a great impression during an internship: “Show up an hour earlier than everyone else. Go home an hour later too.” Suzanne Lavery, Executive Producer and Series Editor for Unreported World, emphasised the importance of building contacts and taking every single opportunity you can at university and within the industry. She also made note of the importance of learning a language for a career in
journalism, in order to make yourself
“ Their hard work and perseverance clearly worked out for them, so the advice that they’ve shared is an essential consideration for anyone looking to kickstart a career in media.” stand out as an indispensible candidate. Their hard work and perseverance clearly worked out for them, so the advice that they’ve shared is an essential consideration for anyone looking to kickstart a career in media. The main thing to take away from my time at the event is the important of being active. Awareness and commitment are things that are imperative to anyone in the pursuit of their long term career goals, and especially within the media industry – so, if it’s what you want to do, you should really go for it.
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Palestinian Child Prisoners: A Breach of Human Rights Graeme Tolley looks closer at the treatment of Palestinian children by the Israeli army, and asks what we can do to protect the rights of the young victims. In the middle of the night in the West Bank, a young Palestinian boy awakes to shouting, the crash of a door and the arrival in his bedroom of a masked Israeli soldier holding an automatic rifle. Pulled out of bed, hands tied painfully behind his back, the boy is pushed into the back of a security van. His parents are not told why he is being detained or where he is being taken. When he arrives at the detention centre he will be interrogated without a lawyer or responsible adult present, often verbally and/or physically abused and told to sign a document in Hebrew confessing to his crime. The vast majority of arrests are for stone throwing and often a child needs only to be in the vicinity of such incidents to warrant detention. When brought before a judge most of the defendants have already agreed to a plea bargain without due process or a trial to prove their innocence or guilt. Almost all defendants are sentenced to a prison term, usually the time already served but occasionally as long as 18 months, a suspended sentence and a fine.
This is a typical experience for around 700 Palestinian children every year, mostly boys aged 12-17. In recent years reports produced by UNICEF, Defence for Children International and a delegation of British lawyers have all reached similar conclusions: that the Israeli military is in breach of international law, particularly the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified by Israel in 1991), which states that the detention of a child “shall be used only as a measure of last resort
courts that, by definition, fall short of providing the necessary guarantees to ensure respect for their rights”. The reality of this breach of children’s rights is the significant impact it has on the child’s psychological state and welfare. The removal of children from their families in the middle of the night without informing parents as to where they are being detained is not only a breach in the rights of the child but is also a tool for the control and oppression of a population. It produces a dual effect whereby parents and communities become powerless to protect their children or to comfort them during this ordeal; whilst in the eyes of the child it fractures their belief in their parent’s ability to protect them. The psychological effect of the helplessness felt by those involved should not be underestimated. The process also falls short of Israel’s own domestic standards regarding the detention of children. The minimum age for custodial sentences for a Palestinian child is 12, and the maximum period of detention without a lawyer is 90 days
“Parents and communities become powerless to protect their children or to comfort them during this ordeal; whilst in the eyes of the child it fractures their belief in their parent’s ability to protect them. and for the shortest appropriate period of time” (Article 37b). UNICEF reports: “in no other country are children systematically tried by juvenile military
Relationship Status- iPhone
Features writer Louis Cheslaw discusses the worrying role that our phones now play in regards to our sexual and emotional relationships. “Social media is destroying our lives,” said the girl at the Grove. “So why don’t you go off it?” I asked. “Because then we would have no life,” said her friend. The above conversation is taken from an interview conducted by Nancy Jo Sales for ‘Friends Without Benefits’, a Vanity Fair article which assessed the ways certain social media applications dictate social status amongst teenagers. Troubling as this new reality is, perhaps more worrying is how these applications are influencing romantic relationships - and terminating them. The ever-reliable Urban Dictionary hails ‘The ultimate definition of a college relationship’ as being ‘when on one’s Facebook profile it says “In a Relationship” and your significant other’s name.’ Mark Zuckerberg’s $104bn baby is certifying couples in the same way priests have at weddings for centuries, and just as middle-aged single adults are often stereotyped as being worried by their lack of spouse, research suggests we should all be equally concerned if our relationships aren’t ‘Facebook Official’. Published in July 2013, a Social Psychological and Personality Science Study “found that individuals who posted
dyadic profile pictures on Facebook reported feeling more satisfied with their relationships and closer to their partners than individuals who did not.” In other words, the way that our relationship appears online affects the way that the relationship feels in reality, rather than vice-versa. In 2014, the proof of a relationship is not in the amount and nature of human interaction between the two parties, but in the amount of online exposure the relationship is given. Often now the actual interactions between the two parties are only there to facilitate the images that will act as proof of the relationship’s ‘strength’, especially
“The way that our relationship appears online affects the way that the relationship feels in reality, rather than vice-versa.” in
the case of younger couplings. In 1983, Jean Baudrillard explained how manipulated images like these, themselves false, actually reveal deep truths through the need for their existence in the first place, writing that “The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is already reproduced, the hyper-real”. T h e sociologist and philosopher later stated “There are only a few images that are
not forced to provide meaning, or have to go through the filter of a specific idea”. His use here of the word ‘filter’ is especially prescient, as the same word denotes the type of calculated effect Instagram users apply to manipulate their images into looking more colourful, more vibrant, more perfect. And they are calculated. Has there ever been a time when we are as conscious of the reaction our social behaviour is eliciting? Like Gods, we can now observe from above, in real-time, as our pictures enter the ether, vulnerable to hordes of ‘likers’ and commenters. We see the exact amount of likes not only on our pictures but our peers’, educating us in what not to do next time, and every couple selfie, ‘Foodstagram’, or bikini picture is laced with an intention to perpetuate the stereotypes, users sacrificing themselves at the altar of community. Like American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman, they “want…to…fit…in”. According to recent research, for the first time in history the number of unmarried Americans will exceed those who are married. No longer does an engagement ring serve as the ultimate signifier of a couple’s union, rather shared images of a first child or a surprise holiday confirm unity in the eyes of others. Sadly, social media doesn’t only confirm
relationships today: it also ends them. A 2012 survey by the UK-based legal services firm Divorce Online
“Facebook in the first place put pressure on couples and individuals to analyse their romantic situation, through their inclusion of ‘Relationship Status’ as a category” found that more than a third of divorce filings that year contained the word ‘Facebook’.How does it happen? That survey hasn’t been carried out (yet), but one can hazard a guess. At the beginning of your relationship, the phone plays the role of ‘third wheel’, a quotidian object always showing up, forcing you to hold their hand and demanding attention even when you’re caught up in the shiny new object of your affections. Soon, however, your lover will lose their veneer, revealing to you their secret truths and intricacies. A phone will never perform such an injustice, rather it will continually update both its interior software and exterior hardware with even shinier, more playful temptations to suit you. Naturally, your attention will swing away from your partner, towards the new worlds offered through our pocket-sized portals, with
social media as the enticing maître d’. A further problem arises here, in that our sexual attentions can also be transposed from our partners onto our devices. The way an iPhone feels in our hands (and pockets), its svelte, curved form, is undeniably phallic. There is a latent sexuality in the intimate glimpses into others’ lives that we are afforded through Instagram and Facebook photos, a notion also supported by Baudrillard, in his observation regarding bodily images that ‘the promiscuity of the detail, the zoom-in, takes on a sexual value.‘ Facebook in the first place put pressure on couples and individuals to analyse their romantic situation, through their inclusion of ‘Relationship Status’ as a category to be filled in on the ‘Basic Information’ section, anointing it with the same level of importance as ‘Age’ and ‘Gender’. While the decision to include it amongst other ‘basics’ probably didn’t come about as dramatically as it is depicted in 2010’s ‘The Social Network’, with Jesse Eisenberg chasing through thick snow in sandals, the revolution social media have led regarding the way relationships are conducted and understood, spearheaded by the generals of Facebook and officers of Instagram, cannot, and should not, be underestimated.
in comparison to the rules for Israeli children where the corresponding figures are 14 years and 48 hours. This creates a dangerous discrimination, which can only serve to exacerbate perceived inequalities, injustice and tension within the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Whilst in 2009 Israel introduced military juvenile courts to separate children from adults within the criminal justice system, this is generally seen as an attempt to placate increasing international, and domestic, pressure for change, rather than making a real difference in practice. Until the inherent inequalities and illegalities in the system are reformed, many Palestinian children will continue to grow up psychologically affected by a system that criminalises and subjugates generations, thus contributing to a spiralling cycle of disengagement and violence. In Western Europe, the provision for children’s rights is often taken for granted: children should be protected and safeguarded against abuse and
unfair treatment. Yet, a Palestinian child often receives no such consideration. What would be your reaction if you heard children were being detained by the military in the middle of the night in Manchester or London or Norwich, subjected to abuse and a failure of judicial
“It is not only a breach in the rights of the child but is also a tool for the control and oppression of a population.” due process? Probably, it would be one of outrage and disbelief, yet this situation is happening in Palestine every night. When the state, and in this case an occupying force, fails to safeguard the rights of children it loses all credibility and descends into a rule of tyranny. Until such breaches in human rights are brought to an end, it can only lead to an ever-growing divide between generations of Palestinians and the Israeli state.
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concrete.environment@uea.ac.uk
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Environment
What else I learnt from the Daily Telegraph Peter Sheehan Environment Editor The environmental coverage of the Daily Telegraph: so much nonsense, so little time. Regular readers may recall that we have already examined the Telegraph’s climate contrarianism at some length. But it truly is the gift that keeps on giving, so we return for a second visit. “The game is up for climate change believers”, proclaims the headline of a piece by Charles Moore. He has read a book by a historian that tells him so. Leaving aside the question as to why one would trust a historian’s opinion on climate change over that of many hundreds of climate scientists, there is much in those eight words to delight the well informed. ‘Believers’ is what those of us who accept the say-so of climate scientists are frequently called – and it is not a term that is intended to flatter. The implication is that environmentalism is not a concern; it is a religion. Al Gore is its pope. Nature magazine is its catechism. In defiance of, presumably, common sense, we allow science to slip into the blindlessness of faith. People who accept predictions of warmer things to come are drawn as those awaiting some kind of malign reverse rapture. Of course, this overlooks the fact that climate science is founded on, ahem, science. Admittedly, there are those who sometimes allow things to get a little out of hand. Prince Charles is taken to task for saying that there are “only 100 months to avert irretrievable climate and ecosystem collapse”. But what may be one man’s over enthusiasm
What I learnt from
Environment 2013–2014
UKIP doesn’t like Caroline Lucas Flickr: Barbara Rich does not undermine the scientific consensus. Indeed, his zeal is arguably more grounded in reality than Moore’s belief that climate science is merely “a gigantic weather forecast”. If that is what he is looking for, he is almost certain to be disappointed. The second point of interest is Moore’s contention that “the game is up”. This is another common theme among climate change deniers. Their every “revelation” is heralded as the death knell of climate science – although, as a body of knowledge, it appears to be unfortunately resilient. In particular, Moore points out with no small amount of glee that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has examined ways in which we can adapt to climate change. This, Moore says, is a “huge concession”. It isn’t. Analysis of adaptation policies has long been a part of the IPCC’s brief, as is apparent to anyone who’s read – skim read, even – one of their exhaustive reports. But more
importantly, adaptation is set to become a more prominent topic as effective action on climate change becomes less and less likely. Had we been more proactive, say, twenty years ago – and the IPCC published its first report in 1990 – we would perhaps have saved ourselves the bother of worring about picking up the pieces at this late stage. But we weren’t. Sceptics may be relied upon to crow that discussion of mitigation is an admission that climate change was either too big a problem to solve, or else that it was never our fault in the first place. In reality, neither position is true. In reality, climate change was eminently solvable, but we have all but passed up the opportunity to do so. Whether denying the science or criticising the response, the Telegraph can be relied upon to not quite get it right. If we have learnt anything, it is that we should take a great deal of its environmental coverage with a very large pinch of salt.
Killing badgers is a costly business Pirates threatened to invade the Arctic
Ann Widdecome doesn’t like wind turbines
Is there a future for carbon capture and storage in the UK? Jacob Beebe Environment Writer A major contributor to the increased concentration of atmospheric CO2 is the use of fossil fuels to generate energy. Whether uttered through the grinning teeth of campaigning politicians or simply the abysmal ratings of your student housing energy efficiency documents, CO2 emission will have likely caught your attention at some point in the past. But what is the future of CO2 emission reduction strategies? The common opinion is that, perhaps as a halfway house to exclusively renewable alternatives, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is the answer. And it would appear that the EU shares this view; it has just
announced 300m euros of funding into a UK CCS project. CCS is a technique that captures CO2 emissions at the source and stores them elsewhere, typically in porous rocks, such as carbonates, or in emptied oil and gas fields. A UK project named White Rose CCS aims to capture the CO2 emissions from a new coal-fired/biomass facility near Drax power station in Yorkshire. The gas will be stored under the North Sea. White Rose claims it will be capable of capturing 90% of the emissions, amounting to around two million tonnes per year, and supply electricity to 630,000 homes. The initiative aims to show the world that CCS can be done in a cost effective manner and to reduce CO2 emission to meet future environmental targets.
The development of the technology sounds very good in theory, but there are some concerns with regards to practice. These include the long-term safety of storing the CO2 and the potential increase in the cost of electricity the system may cause. There is also the issue of the environmental impact of fossil fuel extraction and transportation; these are not addressed by CCS. The significance of this development is that there could potentially still be room for fossil fuels in a low-carbon future, assuming a universal CCS conversion. But how realistic is this aim? And would the money spent rolling out CCS as an alternative not be better spent on researching new, revolutionary, completely renewable technologies that could match the energy demand?
Condoms are surprisingly bad for the enviroment Sarah Palin is kinda daft
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Lend me your ears
Dominic Burchnall Science Editor. The mechanisms of the inner ear are some of the most delicate parts of your body, and once damaged by loud noise or disease are incapable of re-growing. However, in the next few months, human trials are due to start for a gene therapy which is hoped will be able to restore hearing to the deaf. The mechanisms of the inner ear involve a series of cells with long thin strands called hair cells, which are present in the area of the ear known as the cochlea. Vibrations which are picked up by the ear drum are transferred to the cochlea via a trio of tiny bones, and the movement of the hair cells is translated by the brain into audible sound. When these hair cells are eroded, deafness occurs. At the University of Kansas, researchers have engineered a type of virus which is capable of inserting a DNA strand into a specific section of the human genome. In this case, the DNA sequence is the Atoh1 gene, which in normal development is linked to the growth of hair cells. By using the virus to re-activate the Atoh1 gene, the
team were able to drastically improve the hearing in deafened mouse subjects by around 20 decibels. This improvement is roughly equivocal to holding your hands over your ears, compared to normal hearing. The treatment is only viable in patients
WorldNomads.com
“If the trials prove successful, it would be a huge leap not only for teatment of deafness but also for gene therapy” who were born with hearing and lost it in later life, as all the necessary neurological connections would still be in place. Sufferers born with deafness would still have to rely on hearing aids or cochlear implants. Regardless, if the trials prove successful, it would be a huge leap not only for treatment of deafness but also for gene therapy. Up until very recently, using gene therapy of this type was only a speculative treatment, and if it can be shown to work on a condition as common as loss of hearing, it will be a significant step forward.
Bigstock
Instant alcohol
Space race touchdown Julie Bishop Science writer Space exploration and reconnaissance is coming on in leaps and bounds, in what is being called by some the Second Space Race. Rather than being a contest between countries, this space race is a competition between governments and private businesses. The most recent step has come from the private sector, with the company SpaceX launching a mission to re-supply the International Space Station. While this in itself is not a new occurrence, with SpaceX having used Dragon modules to reach the ISS before, what is special is the nature of the rocket. The Falcon9 is the first reusable rocket made by a private company. Concrete has reported on the test flights of the Falcon prototypes before, but the launch of this Falcon is the first that has actually attempted to reach the ISS. Carrying its own 5,000 lb Dragon module with food and scientific equipment for the crew of the 39th Expedition, the Falcon9 launched on 18 April. Shortly after launch, the first stage of the rocket separated and used its spare fuel to gently descend back to Earth, and hover momentarily before dropping into the Atlantic Ocean off the shore of Florida. While the first stage unfortunately sank beofre it could be reclaimed, this ability to perform a controlled landing has already exceeded expectations. Elon Musk, the CEO and chief designer of SpaceX, is expected improved landing control with each test flight, until the rocket can be brought to
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a controlled descent to within a meter of its landing zone. Once the Dragon module has detached, the second stage of Falcon9 will attempt a similar return. In the history of space exploration, the solid fuel booster rockets used to get the main craft airborne are usually left to crash land in the ocean and sink, meaning they have to be rebuilt for every launch. If the stages can be safely reassembled, then the $60m price tag of each launch could be brought down by 70%
Credit: Brad Plummer, SLAC Reuters
Mabon Elis Science writer News emerged this week that an American company had been given permission to sell powdered alcohol in the US. The product, known as Palcohol, will mean that rum or vodka can be made by simply adding water. The company’s website is very secretive about how Palcohol is produced while it seeks a patent. Alcohol powders are not a new invention, however, having been first patented in 1974. Most powdered beverages, such as instant coffee powders, are produced by evaporating all the water, usually by freeze-drying. The liquid is frozen under a high pressure, and the pressure is slowly released, turning solid ice directly into a gas and preserving the beverage. This would not work with alcoholic drinks, however. Alcohol is a compound in itself, rather than being a water-based solution like coffee. Simply drying vodka would remove all the alcohol. Alcohol powders instead take advantage of starch-derived compounds called cyclodextrins. These are ringshaped molecules that have special chemical properties owing to their structures. The outside of the ring is hydrophilic, which means that cyclodextrins can dissolve in water. The inside, on the other hand, is hydrophobic, allowing it to interact with compounds that would not normally dissolve in water. Because of this, they have important
uses in drug manufacturing, where they are used to make insoluble drugs more effective. Ethanol, the chemical name for drinking alcohol, already dissolves well in water. But it has a chemical structure that also allows it to interact with hydrophobic molecules. This way, ethanol can be contained within a cyclodextrin ring. As Backdoor Pharmacist explained in a blog post for internet magazine Animal: “By shoving other molecules inside the hole, you can turn substances that normally don’t dissolve in water into soluble substances.” Its founders describe Palcohol as a
“You can turn substances that normally don’t dissolve in water into soluble substances.” product of convenience, with the website recommending that you “Take your Pal wherever you go!” Many, however, are likely to see it as a way of smuggling vodka into venues where alcohol is banned or expensive. What it is not, the company is keen to point out, is snortable. “We've added volume to the powder,” it said. “You would feel a lot of pain for very little gain.” The product’s approval has since been suspended due to discrepancies between label values and the amount of powder in a bag. Palcohol plans to resubmit its application with revised labels.
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concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk
Issue 297
29/04/14
North Norfolk Matters
Ciara Jack Travel Writer The first thing people think of when you mention North Norfolk, is not a sunny holiday destination. Steve Coogan’s character Alan Partridge has planted the reputation of it being the type of place that would perhaps be host to a show called ‘Mid-Morning Matters.’ Naff DJs and tractors aside, the North Norfolk coast is actually quite a spectacle in its own right, and thankfully not for all the wrong reasons. Thanks to its sandy long coastline, it has become a destination for people to go and just relax. If it’s spanning white beaches and fresh seafood you’re after, beaches such as Holkham Beach and Brancaster are well worth the trip. Not to mention the endless picturesque sand dunes, Holkham Beach eventually runs into a pine forest that can be found behind a row of kitsch beach huts. The sand that overlaps into the forrest floor gives it a strangely tropical feel. Some of you may have already heard
of Holkham due to it being a renowned nudest beach. However, that section of it was recently closed, so for those of you who aren’t fans of bumping into locals in their bare finery, fret not. Thanks to its new reputation for being a relaxing get away, boutique hotels and gourmet restaurants and pubs have popped up all over the coastline. One boutique hotel that is worth visiting, even if it’s just for coffee or dinner, is Titchwell Manor, which can be found in Brancaster, overlooking the North Sea and marshes. The surrounding walks, some only a stone’s throw away from the beach are perfect for long walks or even bike rides. Brancaster has its own cottage and stone wall charm, but other towns such as Holt offer tea rooms and shopping opportunities for those in need of some retail therapy. For those on a budget, it’s easy enough to find a quiet place to stay, North Norfolk is also host to plenty of hostels. The award winning Deepdale hosts not only a number of cheap options such as self-catering accommodation, hostels,
camping sites and even glamping sites. It’s well worth checking out their helpful website, which offers helpful guidance on how to get to local attractions via cycling and walking. If you’re up for a boozy, thrill-seeking holiday, perhaps North Norfolk won’t be
Travel
such a great choice when making holiday plans. However, if you’re in the mood for a beach holiday that’s relaxing, or some twee local towns and walkabouts, it’s worth looking into what’s on offer. But, be wary of jumping straight into the North Sea. Bracing yourself is mandatory.
A new way to see the USA Robert White Travel Writer In the United States, flying is the default mode of transport for crossing the vast distances between major cities. Time is a major factor in this, as rail links wiggle along old routes and are slow compared to Europe’s high speed lines. For leisure travellers however, where the fun is in the journey, Amtrak trains offer a comfortable way to travel and a chance to view the country’s scenery. They are also well within a student budget, often costing less than flying with low cost carriers. Some Amtrak routes have become tourist destinations in themselves, such as the California Zephyr, travelling between Chicago and San Francisco. Travellers often take the entire 50 hour journey just to enjoy the scenery, which includes the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada. For those more interested in cities Amtrak trains offer some convenient routes between these, which will still give a sample of scenery. One such service is the Lake Shore Limited, an overnight train offering a convenient way to get between New York and Chicago, while saving on the cost of a night in a hotel. Modern New York is a busy but
fairly friendly city, with the perception of it as cold and brash, now outdated. Museums and attractions can be expensive, especially compared to London’s numerous free offerings. For a short visit getting a New York Citypass is a cost effective and easy way to see the major sights including the Empire State building and Museum of Modern Art. Not only does it offer good value for money but it allows you to skip queues and helps structure your visit. New York has many interesting districts to explore; Coney Island is one of these and is worth the long subway ride. Out of season, the amusement park and beach resort site can be a bit vacant and surreal, which is quite an interesting experience. The journey from New York to Chicago takes around 18 hours. Ticket prices vary widely, like those of airlines, but if booked in advance it will cost little over $100. The standard seats are spacious with good legroom and are bigger than Greater Anglia’s first class seats, each with a power socket. An option is to reserve a sleeper cabin with roomettes starting at $291. Included with the Roomette are meals in the dining car, showers and a morning paper. A car attendant is also at hand to make your bed, help you with anything you need and normally enjoy a chat.
The train departs from New York Penn station, which has its own stop on the subway. Within minutes of departure you will be riding alongside the Hudson River. While arguably not an awe inspiring view it is picturesque in parts. Across the other bank you get to see the large homes of New York politicians and big shots. The dining car experience should really not be missed. Aside from the surprisingly good food, it is a great time for exchanging travel tales, admiring the landscape or discussing Prince George. The Roomette flat bed is more comfy than most student house beds, you won’t have trouble getting a good night’s rest while being gently rocked by the train. The more budget friendly standard seats are also very comfy, but shouldn’t be
considered a hotel replacement. Chicago, America’s third largest city, has a friendly Midwestern vibe. It is less busy than New York, but has just as much to offer. Although the city has featured regularly in national and global news in relation to its high murder rate, this is limited to particular areas and should not concern travellers. A Citypass is also available here which covers the major sights. Other things worth doing include; eating a hotdog at Portillos; visiting the free zoo in Lincoln Park; and playing old arcade games with a pint at Beercade. River tours are a good way to see Chicago’s famed architecture. Getting the train between New York and Chicago is a great option that makes a trip to the two exiting cities even more enjoyable, comfortable, safe and cheap.
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A tour of France on a tiny budget
Anna Walker Travel Writer Combining Megabus trips to Paris with an inter-rail pass can open up a far more exciting holiday than your standard budget city break. Hostel hopping from Paris, to Nice, to Marseille and back again over three weeks in summer can prove to be both affordable and a great chance to take in more of the French country and
culture than a week in the city alone. Without a doubt one of the biggest perks of staying in hostels is the diverse array of people you meet. You could easily stay with an architectural student from Ukraine one day, Italian engineers the next and the constant influx of new and exciting people makes holidaying that little bit more exciting. Sharing a room with other travellers also means you can swap advice on local attractions, where
to go, how to get there and such like. Paris brings new surprises with each visit and a highlight was visiting the Shakespeare and Company bookshop, hidden away in the Latin Quarter; a treasure trove for any literature student. The store is laid out like a scene from a novel itself, with a piano, typewriter and even a bed hidden away in its winding rooms and hidden corners. Nice is undoubtedly a highlight of any French trip. One might anticipate a basic seaside resort to simply unwind on the beach for a few days, but the beautiful city will prove all your expectations to be wrong. Glorious as the beach is, Nice also boasts the marvellous Matisse museum (free for students) and sprawling old town which comes alive by night. Musicians, dancers and painters line the promenade and you may even have the chance to take part in an impromptu mass salsa session. If you’re visiting Nice, a day trip to Monaco is an absolute must. For just two euros you can take a bus to the principality and spend the day touring the palace, tracing the formula one route and sneaking into the infamous Monte Carlo Casino. Though Monaco has made its fortune through its casinos, it is illegal for its residents to gamble and so the principality remains the fourth richest
country per capita in the world with beautiful surroundings to prove it. Awarded European City of Culture for 2013, Marseille impressed with the number of cultural hotspots rolled out for the occasion. The Museum of European and Mediterranean Culture is a must see and around the time of the award they had just opened their Gender Bazaar exhibit. The exhibit was dedicated entirely to exploring Mediterranean notions of gender the exhibit was fascinating, incorporating film, art, politics and social criticism to present an overview of the development of European perspectives on gender. If you’re looking to visit some of France’s most beautiful locations on a tiny budget, Megabus travel and hostel accommodation is definitely the way forward. Locations such as Nice and Monaco, usually reserved for the more upmarket traveller, become accessible for the price of an Inter-rail ticket and staying in hostels will add a great social dynamic to your trip. If you’re willing to put up with the odd snorer, sourcing your local supermarket and navigating the Gare de Lyon then it’s possible to have a long French vacation on half the budget.
Jailbreak: A guide to survival and success
Niyonu Agana-Burke Travel Editor When you hear tales of Jailbreak success; stories of teams taking a free trip to Lisbon, or even receiving complimentary tickets to Dubai, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just a great way to get a free holiday. The reality though is quite different. The reality is hitchhiking at the side of motorways, being publicly turned away by airlines and generally having to continuously throw yourself at the mercy of strangers or corporations. That doesn’t
mean that Jailbreak can’t be a wonderful and enriching experience; it will be what you make of it. It just means that attitude is key; you’re reliant on the assistance of strangers so you’ll find that a smile will get you far, and be enthusiastic about your cause so that others will be too. To get the best out of the experience you have to be willing to take some time, and money to enjoy it. Whilst you can’t spend any money on travel, you can spend money on accommodation, food, and anything else. That said, you don’t need a fresh student loan in order to finance the trip (the truth is you’re
unlikely to get so far that you’d spend more than £150 getting home!) just enough to cover a cheap hostel or two and maybe a few beers. Taking a trip to a patisserie in Calais or to a pub in Dover can provide much needed respite and are a good chance to refuel and regroup. When the whistle is blown and you and your team run from the square, 48 hours seems like a wide open window of opportunity. Only when you’re 11 hours in will you realise the exhaustion of a 48 hour journey, because for 48 hours you will keep pushing, keep trying to get as far as you can, no matter how often you get turned down. In that time you will find reserves of resourcefulness and determination that you didn’t even know you had. Knowing that you are persevering not just in the interest of competition but in the name of a charitable endeavour can act as a fuel to keep you going even when you’re on the brink of giving up. If there is one piece of advice that ought to be extended to any Jailbreaker it is that companies have no heart strings to pull on. When you’re cold, hungry or lost it is people; human compassion that will give you warmth and direction. That’s
not to say that you can’t get companies to help you out; Megabus and other companies support Jailbreak by offering a number of tickets each month to jailbreakers, but companies have quotas and procedures, and people, you will find have an enormous capacity for generosity.
Tips and tricks: Get some Euros: They are used so widely around the UK they’re bound to come in handy. Light layers: A vest, tshirt, jumper, hoodie, and a coat. Crazy outfits work: Nothing says dedication to a charity like matching onesies Sweets: Quick energy boost, and they can be used to entice donations
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concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk
Issue 297
29/04/14
Lifestyle
Is the internet destroying our degrees? Eve Lacroix Lifestyle Writer If you are one of those people who will not go to a café if it does not advertise “Free Wifi”, know that you are not alone. A 2013 study showed that on average 12% of the US population showed signs of Internet addiction. As a proud Nokia user, I have often endured gently mocking comments about my old school phone. I always defend myself by saying it is it cheaper—and less heart-breaking— because I have a tendency to break phones once every 6 months. But in total honesty, I would love a smartphone. The problem is I know I would be totally addicted to it, obsessively taking pictures, sending Snapchats or checking my social media. And yet, even as I write this article on the floor 1 level of the library (that’s right, the one which blocks Facebook) I took out my trusty Nokia to check my account. Even with a little Nokia, I have Internet access. With social media being so addictive, how much time we are really wasting? More so, how much are we slacking? Back in the day when the Internet was not around, in school, instead of semiplagiarising a Wikipedia or SparkNotes summary plot, did that mean that people had to—gasp!—read all the books set in
class? Instead of reading other essays online, did students have to construct their own arguments instead of drawing inspiration from the web? Now of course, all this is to be taken with a pinch of salt. Information has never been so readily available, thanks to, for
example Google Academic to locate quotes or the Gutenburg Project to read books online. I for one am not ready to give up on my Wikipedia habit when I start writing a project—even if it is only to check a novel’s publication date. The Internet is not all bad. It might
seem counterintuitive to use the Internet to control your Web problem, but here are some examples of websites and application that can help you turn your online addiction against itself: 1. RescueTime shows you how much time you’ve been spending on the Internet and what on. If you have a major procrastination and/or focus problem, that could be enough to scare yourself into working! 2. Write Room for Mac or Dark Room for Windows narrow down your computer’s functions to just writing. Efficient! 3. Self-Control, which when downloaded for Mac, can block the websites of your choice. Now, be honest, that means Facebook AND Twitter. And you could throw in Instagram or Spotify for good measure. 4. You could try the website www. facebooklimiter.com, to, well, limit Facebook! Otherwise, in the paying category, you could try: 5. Freedom, which blocks you from surfing on the web for up to eight hours. 6. Anti-Social, that denies access to “fun” websites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and whatever other site you may specify.
A money-saver’s summer
Rebecca Bemment Lifestyle Writer With the end of term and exams fast approaching, planning the summer holiday is on most students’ to-do lists. However, with loans slow decreasing as the year comes to a close, trying to plan a jam-packed summer can be tricky, so here are some tips to having a fun summer on the cheap. Using the long break to do some volunteering work or invaluable workexperience could help you out after your degree. You probably won’t get this amount of time off again, so using it to benefit your future can be a worthwhile thing to do. For example, using the university to apply for internships are a great way to make a bit of money as well as learning skills that could prove to be of great benefit after your studies. Or if you want to completely get away from work for a bit, festivals can be a great place to volunteer as well as being a good way to see you favourite bands for free! With so many amazing festivals around, whether you want to stay local or travel a
bit further, there are plenty to choose from. For example, Latitude, a local festival in Suffolk, welcomes volunteers every year and provides them with free entrance to the festival. On the other hand, festivals in Europe can often be a cheaper alternative to ones in the UK. Croatia is a hotspot for festivals over the summer period such as Hideout and Dimensions. The fact it’s not as over commercialised compared to places like Ibiza means it’s often cheaper and less crowded.
Or if you just want to get away after a busy year of studying and completing exams, travelling with friends can be a fun thing to do. But leaving the country doesn’t necessarily mean having to put you further into your overdraft. Travel can be the expensive part of a holiday, but with the introduction of the Megabus, you can now travel to places like Paris and Amsterdam for a fraction of the price compared to other means of transport. Similarly, staying in an expensive hotel
doesn’t always have to be the answer! With lots of hostels all over the country as well as abroad, they are ideal for travelling students who don’t want to overspend on pricey accommodation. StudentUniverse, a website designed specifically to give you the cheapest hotels all over the world, provide students with a quick and easy solution to expensive accommodation. Not only this, they provide cheap flights and student deals too. Or if you don’t fancy travelling long distances this summer, then why not catch up with friends you’ve not seen for a while. Getting together after you’re all home from university and having a great summer doesn’t always mean spending lots. For example, garden BBQ’s are a great way to catch up with friends without breaking the bank. Whatever you want to do this summer, make the most of this time off. Whether that’s seeing the year’s best live music, jetting off to an exciting new place, or just catching up with friends that you haven’t seen for a while, summer doesn’t have to break your student budget.
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concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk
Sex and sporting women
Holly Wade Lifestyle Writer It comes as no shock to say that women are often under or misrepresented in the media, and sport is definitely another facilitator to this. Female sports are rarely televised and sexism and misogyny in the media are still rife. The London 2012 Olympics were a huge affair for Britain, with athlete Jessica Ennis appearing as the face of the Games. This was great for women, except for the fact that Ennis was so obviously chosen for her beauty. Despite being an acclaimed heptathlete Ennis doesn’t have an overly muscular body like some female sporting stars, an attribute still seen as abnormal for a woman in society. Sportswomen are often highly sexualised, leading them to feel upset about their figures, despite their bodies being those of champions. Rebecca Adlington is just one sporting idol to fall prey to the toxic female beauty regime injected into our current society. Speaking out on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, she said that next to models she felt “insecure” and that she was “not the prettiest”. Why should beauty matter
to Adlington when she has two Olympic gold medals under her belt and is highly successful in her field? Because women are misrepresented in sport, they are still judged on their attractiveness as opposed to their sporting prowess. When has male beauty ever been an issue in the sporting world? Female sporting sexualisation stretches into motorsport too, an area already underrepresented by women as they struggle to gain sponsors. If you Google Image search NASCAR star Danica Patrick
you’ll be met with a plethora of images of her in her underwear draped over cars. Patrick is the most successful American woman in open-wheel racing history and yet her publicity remains focused on her body on top of the car instead of her expertise within it. Aspiring Formula 1 star Susie Wolff was even forced to drive in a pink car during her DTM years and consistently comes under scrutiny for her abilities because her husband also works in Formula 1. Moving onto football there is a clear
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lack of female coverage on mainstream terrestrial television. The Women’s Football Show seems to have been entirely hidden away, the new series recently airing on BBC3. BBC Sport came under fire for their lack of publicity for the show as they posted its iPlayer link the following day instead of supporting it live. Sexualisation of women remains rife within football. FIFA president Sepp Blatter claimed that female footballers are “pretty” and that they would enhance the sport if they wore “tighter shorts”. Then there was the 2011 sexism incident on Sky where Andy Gray was immediately sacked for his offensive comments relating to women and the offside rule. This is not to say that everything surrounding female sport is wholly negative. Presenting legends Sue Barker and Clare Balding are certainly waving the flag for women with their enthusiasm and dedication to sport. Perhaps this is down to the influence of the BBC who, as an esteemed channel, often pave the way for the new and original. Let’s hope that women can start being represented more equally in the sporting world, be it as athletes or journalists.
Shiki Japanese Restaurant Ellen Musgrove Lifestyle Writer Shiki Japanese Restaurant is situated in an old, redbrick corner building in Norwich’s beautiful Tombland area. Upon entering, one is greeted by simple, elegant surroundings. Clean white walls, dark wooden furnishings, and golden fairy lights sparkling in the reception area make for an immediately positive impression. The delicious cooking aromas build significantly on this. Through a wide doorway is the small but well-spaced dining room, furnished with squared-off wooden benches and tables. The effect is simplistic, elegant, and creates a comfortable and communal atmosphere. The staff are very friendly, though not ingratiating, affording just the right level of attention to their customers. The food itself is delicious. The range of options, from simple rice-based mains to endless varieties of sushi and sashimi, resulted in a lot of deliberation. My eventual choice, the teriyaki salmon, had a perfect, melt-in-the-mouth texture. The teriyaki marinade had just the right level of saltiness. The rice, served in a small separate bowl, was almost sticky - but not cloyingly so. My fellow diners and I
braved it with chopsticks, but cutlery is available on request. This dish was perfectly complimented
by a bottle of Kirin beer. In addition to wine (including plum wine), Japanese beers and the usual selection of soft
drinks, there is a diverse range of sake options available. Be warned, though - at £4 for a bottle of beer, the drinks prices are not student-friendly. Private functions are also available. One party which arrived during our meal were led through the main dining room to a separate one. Closed off by a curtain, we were able to see the occasional burst of firelight, and a lot of curious chopping noises (not as sinister as it sounds), which I believe may have been a Teppanyaki cooking demonstration. We were left to stay at our table and talk as long as we liked before paying the bill at the till. I would note that Shiki isn’t suited to a regular student budget; your average main will come to about £10. It is well worth the extra few pounds, though, if you’re looking for a something special, or if it’s on the parents. Lots of other customers ordered sushi share platters, which may well end up cheaper depending on how many people are dining and how hungry you all are. There is also a very good lunchtime deal available, running from 12-2.30pm, which this writer intends to check out very soon. Forget the rushed, commercial environment of Wagamama: Shiki outstrips it by far.
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Lifestyle
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Warm lemon and courgette salad Lydia Clifton Lifestyle Editor This is a great start or side with summer coming up and a great way to stay healthy and alert during the exam period. Easy to make, it’s perfect to share with a group of friends or family and is bound to impress. Ingredients • 2 courgettes • 1 tbsp olive oil • 1 lemon • 1 garlic clove, crushed • ¼ small pack basil, roughly torn
Book preview: Elizabeth is missing Stephenie Naulls Lifestyle Writer UEA alumni Emma Healey’s debut novel Elizabeth is Missing, is set to be one of the biggest novels this year. Emma grew up and studied in London before moving to Norwich in 2010 to do the MA in Creative Writing at UEA. In her book she thanks Andrew Cowan, her other tutors and her workshop peers for their help on the manuscript. Emma is among the many MA graduates that have had their work published, including Ian McEwan and Kazuo Ishiguro. Elizabeth is Missing is a truly gripping read, following the story of the endearing
and loveable Maud as she struggles with dementia. The one thing Maud is sure of is that her friend Elizabeth is missing, and she is determined to find out what has happened to her. Somewhere in Maud’s damaged mind lies the answer to the seventy-year-old mystery that everyone has forgotten about… Emma will be launching the book at the Castle Street Waterstones in Norwich on the 3rd June, followed by an appearance at Norwich Writers Centre and Jarrolds later in the month. The launch is free to attend and will include a short presentation followed by a signing and refreshments. The book is released on the 5 June. (Viking Hardback, £12.99)
Method 1. Use a vegetable peeler to slice the courgettes into wide strips, discarding the central, seedy part. 2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the lemon zest and garlic, and fry over a medium heat for 1 min. 3. Add the courgette strips and cook, stirring regularly, for a further 1-2 mins until the courgettes are slightly softened. 4. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and toss the basil through.
Vegan chilli Ciara Jack Lifestyle Writer This recipe is incredibly cheap and great for reheating the next day – don’t let the V word put you off! Ingredients • 1 can chopped tomatoes • 3 tbsp tomato puree • 1 onion • 1 garlic clove, minced • 1 red pepper, diced • I stick of celery, sliced thinly • 1 jalapenjo, minced • 1 can kidney beans • 1 can haricot beans • 2tsp cumin • 2tsp cinnamon • 1 tsp oregano • 1tsp dried corriander
• 1 red chilli or 1 or 2 tsp of chilli flakes • 1 cup of vegetable stock Serves 4 Method 1. Sautee onions and garlic in a large saucepan until translucent. 2. Add pepper, jalapenos, chilli and celery and fry until soft. It’s up to you whether you leave the seeds in or not - chilli flakes will be hotter than a deseeded chilli. 3. Add chopped tomatoes, puree and stock and bring to a simmer. Then throw in the beans. 4. Add cumin, cinnamon, oregano and carriander. 5. Simmer for around 15 minutes or longer. 6. Serve with either rice or tortilla wraps and enjoy!
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concrete.sport@hotmail.co.uk
Issue 297
29/03/14
Sport
Student Voice with...Korfball’s Joe Skeet Andy Murray to find the right coach, especially as he is coming back from injury and has slipped to number eight in the world. Ivan Lendel managed to get the extra few per cent out of Murray’s game. The men’s game is incredibly competitive so he must make the right choice if he has any chance of retaining his title.
Editor’s column
C: What do you make of Manchester United’s sacking of David Moyes and who would you tip to succeed him?
Will Medlock Sports Editor It almost seemed like it was going to be the most dramatic of resurrection weeks sport has known for some time. As the England and Wales Cricket Board, like a force from above, rolled away the stone to let Peter Moores emerge from the cavern of past coaches for a second stint in charge of the England side, there was the tongue in cheek suggestion that Sir Alex Ferguson might step back in for the final four games of Manchester United’s desperate league campaign. Miracles do happen, but not even Ferguson can usher away the limp resignation that United’s 2-0 defeat at Everton was doused in, and turn them into world beaters once more. Instead, Ryan Giggs, the effervescent cornerstone of the club, took up the mantle, supported by his class of ’92 teammates in what looks like a scene from a football purists’ dream; the crux of one of the most superior British teams in recent history returning to coach the new batch of aspiring champions. The return of Moores to his role as head coach of English cricket always seemed a more conceivable outcome than that of Ferguson dusting off his hairdryer. The former Lancashire coach has been praised for the dignity he showed when he was first relieved of the England job in 2009, making this particular resurrection less of a surprise and more of a formality the closer the announcement day came. However, Kevin Pietersen’s most loyal disciples may have to accept that there will be no second coming for him. Instead, they must look to a new, perhaps as of yet undiscovered, talent who combines cricketing aptitude with the bravado befitting of the game’s poster boy position. In truth, it is the resurrection of the struggling England cricket team that must take prominence and be well on its way by this time next year. Miracles do happen, after all.
Concrete: With Andy Murray currently searching for a new coach, how important is getting that decision right if the Scot is to defend his Wimbledon crown in the summer? Joe: I think it is really important for
J: I think Moyes should have been given more time, but if he has lost the dressing then it would be very difficult to win it back. Based on the results, I think Man United have no choice but to go for a proven trophy winner for their next coach. I tip either Carlo Ancelotti or Louis van Gaal to succeed Moyes. Although, I would like to see Jurgen Klopp, currently at BorussiaDortmund, get the job, even if he has ruled himself out.
J: I would put our success down to how well we get on with our team mates. The players work really hard for each other and also pick each other up when results don’t go our way. Also, our coach Rob has invested a lot of time and effort into training and games, which means it is a great atmosphere in which to learn and improve whilst also being challenged. C: Other than Korfball, what has been your UEA sporting highlight from 2013-14, and why? J: It has to be the nail biting Derby Day win, especially the Pool team bringing the results home. It was a great achievement to win away from home for the first time in a while.
C: After a great UEA Korfball season, what would you put your success down to?
UEA Ice Hockey narrowly miss out on semi-finals Paul McDermott Sports Correspndent In the culmination of a difficult season, the UEA Avalanche Ice Hockey team went to Sheffield to compete in the British University Ice Hockey Association’s Nationals Competition on the second weekend of the Easter break. They were looking to prove themselves after a spate of unfortunate defeats earlier in the season. During their first game against Newcastle Wildcats, the team failed to compose themselves early on. Taking an unlucky penalty within the opening moments of the game set the tone for rest of the match. UEA, struggling with a missing player in defence, were unable to recover and took a heavy 4-0 defeat. UEA went into their second game against Birmingham Lions with a fresh sense of determination. Impressive attacking and strong forward plays eventually paid off for the Avalanche , with a backhanded goal from captain Richard Brookman giving them the lead. After conceding a penalty to Birmingham, UEA were unable to stop a power play goal bringing the score to 1-1, where it stayed for the remainder of the game. Next was a crucial match against Sheffield Bears late on Saturday evening. This had to be won in order to stay in contention of advancing from the group stages. After a close start to the game, two
goals from Paul McDermott gave a clear break. Sian Ridley, in goal, turned away multiple shots from Sheffield to hold the score line at 2-0. The Avalanche started the second day of competition with another impressive result, beating the Manchester Metros by a single goal; a rebound tucked away by John Ballinger. Only a strong performance from the Manchester goaltender could keep this game close as UEA outshot their opponent 12-3. UEA went into the final group game knowing it promised to be their toughest yet. The Bradford Sabres were undefeated in the competition and no team had been able to find a way to put the puck past their netminder. UEA played well but could not hold out against Bradford’s onslaught, conceding two goals from many more shots. Rallying back with a goal from Brookman, UEA fought hard till the end
in search of a draw. Their efforts were unsuccessful and the score finished 2-1 to Bradford. UEA narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals – finishing in a threeway tie for second place in the group, their progression was halted due to goal difference. Despite this heart-breaking finish the team has taken away many positives. These include being the only team to score against the eventual winners Bradford and a great performance from goaltender Sian Ridley who did not concede a single goal throughout her two appearances. This is an impressive feat for a team with no home ice rink; the Avalanche are forced to travel to Peterborough to train since the closure of the Norwich rink in 2012. With a fresh taste for victory, UEA look forward to their next game away against Manchester Metros on 2nd May.
Sport
Issue 297
29/03/14
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UEA SEASON REVIEWS 2013/2014
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By Will Medlock
MENS FOOTBALL (1ST TEAM) The title was there for the taking on the final day of the Midlands 2B season. Three teams realistically stood a chance of taking the championship, with UEA’s opponents, the Bedford 2nd team, possessing a highly superior goal difference heading into their clash. It was disappointing, then, that such a congested fight for top spot should be resolved in such an emphatic manner. Bedford hit UEA for five to claim the title on home soil by three points, with the visitors finishing the campaign in
third place. Nonetheless, UEA enjoyed a successful season that included a three month unbeaten run, ultimately ended by Derby in a thrilling five goal cup match; a loss that would prove the catalyst for two straight defeats in the final matches of the season. The men’s Derby Day draw against Essex seemed a fitting reflection of the season as a whole. A promising first half, in which the team led 2-0 at the interval, was countered by a second half comeback from the home side. The UEA captain Gwion Ap Dafy conceded after the match, “After leading 2-0, coming off the field at the end with a draw feels like a loss.” Indeed, events in Colchester mirrored the last few matches of the league season, in which two straight league defeats condemned the side to a third place finish.
HOCKEY (MEN AND WOMEN) Despite finishing the season 11 points off the Midlands 2B pace-setters Nottingham, UEA comfortably staved off relegation to finish on 14 points. The other Nottingham outfit, Trent, finished 12 points behind UEA in fifth, meaning that the team were never in any real danger of dropping below the dotted line. An up and down league campaign was reflected in the defeat to Essex on Derby Day. The visitors dominated for long periods of the match in Colchester, but conceded on every rare occasion that Essex crossed the half way line. A
consolation goal from Jessica Wilson did little to comfort the side, although the partisan UEA following kept spirits high. Perhaps the fixtures against Nottingham Trent and Loughborough in November best encapsulate the lack of rhythm that UEA were able to find in the league. After trouncing Trent 5-0 at the Sportspark, UEA were routed themselves by an equally ruthless Loughborough. With inconsistency a major factor in the mid table finish, the women will be hoping for a more settled campaign when the new season begins in October. The men’s first team enjoyed an enthralling season, missing out on the title by a point. UEA, Nottingham and Wolverhampton were the teams involved in the race for the title, with Wolverhampton visiting the Sportspark on the last day of the season. An impressive 6-3 win for UEA wasn’t enough to stop the away side winning the title. However, the team finished the campaign with a six game winning run and will hope to carry this momentum into October. The men’s second team enjoyed an even better campaign, clinching the title by nine points in their 5A league.
WOMEN’S RUGBY An incredible 2013/2014 season for the women’s team was capped off in a stunning 44-0 Conference Cup victory over Leicester at the end of March. The Cup win at Colney Lane ensured UEA completed somewhat of a grand slam, having already won their Midlands league on goal difference and won convincingly against Essex on Derby Day. Nina Crowther’s powerful runs stole the headlines in Colchester as the team ran out 71-0 winners. Just two weeks later, the league title was secured by winning 67-7 at Anglia Ruskin. Five days after that match the destiny of the Conference Cup was also confirmed. The vocal home support were treated to 44 points without
reply and confirmation that UEA will be the team that everyone will want to beat next season. The league campaign was almost faultess, with only one defeat recorded in amongst seven impressive victories. Perhaps the highlight of the season was the resounding win at Northampton in December. If the rest of the league weren’t aware of the threat posed by UEA already, then the 154-0 win will have caused them to sit up and take notice. Cup competitions can often be seen as unnecessary distractions to league matters, however UEA progressed to the Conference Cup final with ease, conceding only 17 points in the whole competition. Summer reinforcements are likely to ensure that this talented group of players will be in pole position for trophies next season, too.
LACROSSE (MEN AND WOMEN) The women’s lacrosse side earned a mid table finish in their Midlands 2A league, but were only six points off the top spot at the season’s conclusion. The team lost three of their last four league matches to damage their chances of taking the title from eventual winners Nottingham. The champions won 16-3 at Colney Lane in February to knock the hosts back with just two games remaining. Fifth placed Beford finished 15 points behind UEA, ensuring that the yellow and blues were never in contention to face relegation. However, there were plenty of positive signs throughout the season that next year could prove to be more successful, particularly after the team won their Derby Day match against Essex.
A 9-3 win on Colchester soil proved to be a crucial point as UEA won back-toback Derby Day titles. The Essex side, top of their BUCS league, were favourites to claim victory and raced into a three goal lead. However, Susannah Cant converted to kick-start the comeback for UEA, with the visitors’ first official victory of the day being secured in emphatic fashion. The men’s side weren’t able to emulate the successful league campaign that the women enjoyed, as they finished second from bottom on nine points. League winners Oxford ran away with the title, although second placed Cambridge finished just seven points clear of UEA. The team were also beaten in their Derby Day match against Essex.
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Norwich City in serious danger as season comes to a close
SPORT
Issue 297 29 April 2014 Ice Hockey
Page 22 Student Voice
Katherine Lucas Sports Correspondent Norwich City’s impossible dream of Premier League survival looks increasingly distant after defeats to Liverpool and Manchester United left them staring down the barrel at Championship football. After spending so much of the season hovering perilously close to the relegation zone, the Canaries must know a miracle will be needed if they are to avoid the drop for the third time in just under 20 years. The Canaries succumbed 3-2 to Liverpool last weekend despite a gallant fight-back, a result which put the Reds a step closer to their dream title but simultaneously pushed Norwich towards a nightmare end to the season. Liverpool got off to a flyer after goals from Raheem Sterling and the ever-controversial Luis Suarez put them two up after just 11 minutes. Gary Hooper offered a smidgeon of hope with a rare goal, before Sterling got his second to put any hopes of a revival to bed. Even a Robert Snodgrass header was not enough to alter the inevitable,
and as has been the way for Norwich this season, it proved to be too little, too late. One area the Yellows may be left to rue was the sacking of Chris Hughton in early April. The Fulham game was dubbed ‘must-win’ by both sides before kick-off, but Hughton’s replacement Neil Adams cut a forlorn figure on the touchline as his side went down 1-0 at Craven Cottage. Question marks remain over the timing of the change, especially with no obvious replacement. City’s travelling contingent may have shared some kind words with their Manchester United counterparts over the bizarre manner in which they have both chosen to part company with their respective managers. However, if Norwich were buoyed by David Moyes’ acrimonious midweek sacking, it would appear United were even more so. United caretaker boss Ryan Giggs admittedly handed the visitors an olive branch in starting Tom Cleverly over Juan Mata, but after a slow start from both sides, even that was not enough once United came to life through a Wayne Rooney penalty. Spurred on by a rejuvenated Old
Trafford faithful, Rooney doubled his tally before Mata came on as an impact substitution to score twice and make it 4-0. For all their troubles this season, once United awakened it provided a stark reminder of what has gone wrong at Norwich this season. After scoring against Liverpool, Hooper was dropped in favour of Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who has notched up one goal in 26 appearances. City have not offered enough going forward all season, perhaps unsurprisingly with a collection of summer signings who promised fairly little and delivered even less. Their predicament is made worse by the fact that the teams around them – Fulham, Cardiff, and even rock-bottom Sunderland - seem to be picking up points here and there, although Fulham threw away a twogoal lead against Hull. With no let-up in the fixtures – Norwich’s remaining games pit them against Chelsea and Arsenal – it looks ever more likely that next season Carrow Road will not be graced by Arsenal, Tottenham or Manchester City, but Brentford, Huddersfield and Middlesbrough.
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