Concrete - Issue 172

MARY QUANT FOUND LOST IN TIME

Issue 172 · Wednesday, January 26th 2005

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UEA’S AWARD-NOMINATED STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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BLOC PARTY GRADUATE Page 8

ADAPTABLE KEVIN LOADER Page 7

UEA UNPLUGGED FAULTY SWITCH RESULTS IN LOSS OF POWER FOR THE WHOLE CAMPUS Helen Pike News Editor UEA was plunged into darkness last Monday following a power cut that lasted all afternoon.

Lectures and work were thrown into disarray as the unprecedented loss of power caused upset and a little joy amongst lecturers, staff and students as UEA found out what it would be like to live without electricity.

Whilst the library was evacuated due to health and safety reasons, many lec-

tures and seminars continued in the dark, mainly due to a misunderstanding of the situation. Much of the campus consequently could not function as normal, with all of the shops closing on the street, and the beer pumps in the pub and Hive out of operation. After 3pm lectures and seminars were cancelled as classes could not function in darkened rooms and soon after, both the catering block and the Union House were evacuated.

Due to bad weather most people went home, causing

major congestion problems in the car park and Bluebell Road.

The power cut lasted until 4pm, just as forthcoming lectures had been cancelled for the day. The repercussions were only slight, and could have been much worse had the power cut continued throughout the night. The catering blocks opened as normal later in the day, as did the library. A disgruntled student told Concrete how he lost several hundred words of an essay that he had failed to save Continued on page 2

Students studying in the library were told to leave due to ‘health and safety’ measures

INSANITY OF ‘SLIM’ SENATE

MAJOR UEAID DONATIONS

Despite efforts by Concrete to approach other members of faculty, until now the only people willing to go on the record against the changes have been Student Liaison rep for the AUT, Rupert Read, and Union Academic Officer Chris Ostrowski. Although one senior member of staff who was, presumably, concerned about their job security did respond to Concrete’s request for an opionion by saying that they “...had not been in the position long”.

EXTENSIVE UEA SUPPORT SHOWN TO ASIA AID

Philip Sainty Editor The reforms to Senate reported in the last issue of Concrete have caused many in the University community to voice their concerns about the proposals. Staff and students are worried that the new structure, which drastically reduces the number of elected representatives, could seriously damage the right to self-determination of some smaller schools.

But the potentially undemocratic structure of Senate has now prompted a number of staff to add to the voices of discontent. Such is the concern, that Union Communications Officer, Cat Lumb, has joined with Chris Ostrowski to ensure that the concerns of the Union are fully known to the University administration.

Everyone now awaits the report of the joint committee on governance, which meets on March 2nd.

See Letters, Page 24

Sarah Smith In response to the Tsunami crisis the union is putting on several events to raise money for the cause. On Wednesday 26th January there will be collections and people will be selling black wristbands with all money going to the DEC. The date has been chosen to mark the one-month anniversary of

the disaster itself.

It is hoped that this reminder will encourage people not to forget about the effects as the aftermath begins to fade from the media’s view. The union is looking for volunteers to help with the collections and asks that anyone interested emails su.welfare@uea.ac.uk.

On Friday 21st many Indonesian students from UEA ran an appeal for an organisation called

Indonesian Children Relief.

The group is helping the child victims of the Tsunami. They spent the day selling Indonesian snacks to students and staff around campus and would like to thank everyone who contributed.

There are also plans for collection boxes at future gigs and RAG will be using their pimps and hos party to raise money for the appeal. On Continued on page 4

SPORTS CLUBS PREPARE FOR BUSA -SEE SPORTS PAGES

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NESTLE ARRIVES ON CAMPUS EMOTIONS RUN HIGH DURING NESTLE DEBATE

Continued from page one another positive note the box in the Concrete office has taken donations equalling £100. As well as this people have been donating £5 via their bank accounts.

On the 19th January the official reported death toll for the Asian Tsunami disaster hit 226,566. Indonesia the worst hit country reports that it has lost 166,320 people whilst Sri Lanka has reported having lost 38,195 individuals in the disaster.

The large rise in the numbers from Indonesia came as the country reclassified its missing as dead.

It is unlikely that the true number of deaths will ever be known.

On Saturday 22nd January as part of the fundraising effort 60,000 people attended a concert at the Cardiff Millennium Stadium for a concert.

Artists involved included Keane, Snow Patrol, Eric Clapton, Craig David, Goldie Lookin’ Chain as well as

Concrete Wednesday, January 26 , 2005 th

classical music from Katherine Jenkins and Aled Jones. The event organisers raised more than £1m for the cause.

This enormous sum will be added to the already phenomenal total of contributions made by people up and down the country.

The Disasters Emergency Committee expects private contributions from the British public to reach £200m.

The DEC has also broken a world record in its fundraising.

Between 6.16pm on 30th December and 6.16pm 31st December the DEC website took donations totalling £10,676,836, the most money ever raised online in a 24 hour period.

To the DEC alone there have been 65,000 donations made over the internet and 1.7m by phone.

The internet donations have not been without their problems however. On 21st January the DEC reported an attempted hack into its online payment page on New

Years Eve. Luckily the attempt was detected and reported to Scotland Yard. A man has been arrested in connection with the attempt.

However the DEC is keen to reassure people that no money was actually stolen and every penny donated has reached the organisation.

Although aid is finally reaching most areas the distribution effort has not been without its problems. There are problems reaching rural areas through lack or destruction of roads and bridges. Another problem in Sri Lanka has been caused by tensions between the government and Tamil Tigers rebels, who have protested that rebel held areas are not receiving the aid they need.

Negotiators are trying to set up a joint body to oversee the distribution of aid in the country. It is hoped that this would dispel Tamil suspicions that the government is hindering the flow of aid to these areas, accusations the government denies.

Photo by Sarah Watson

Robin Smith A debate was organised in Nelson Court Common Room B on 13th January concerning the Nestle ban in Union run outlets. The speakers were a representative from Nestle (with PR adviser in tow) and a member of the Baby Milk Action Group. The primary function of the debate was to allow Nestle to make a case as to why the ban on Nestle products on campus should end.

Baby Milk Action would then respond to the points made by the Nestle representative.

However, the meeting did not run as smoothly as was first hoped. The debate was scheduled to begin at 6pm but the Nestle representative did not arrive until ten past.

She proceeded to deliver a very slick presentation stating that whilst Nestle had in the past promoted their baby milk to Third World countries as an alternative to breast-feeding, their practices had now changed. The claim was made that Nestle now adhered rigidly to the code outlined by the World

Health Organisation. This code bans aggressive marketing of baby milk formula; prohibits pictures of infants on the packaging of the product; stops health care professionals from being influenced into suggesting that formula milk be given instead of breast milk in cases where this is not necessary, and in general protects those in developing nations. The representative claimed that Nestle was a vital employer in Third World countries and that the company was beneficial in helping the economy in certain countries.

After 40 minutes of this presentation, the audience grew restless and demanded that Baby Milk Action be given a chance to respond.

As the debate was scheduled to run only for an hour this left very little time for the respondent to put across her case. The Baby Milk Action representative readily admitted that she did not have the benefit of a huge PR support, she made a very favourable case for the continuation of a ban on Nestle products on campus. She challenged the idea that Nestle had

changed their practices sufficiently and stated that Nestle did not necessarily adhere rigidly to the WHO code. She also mentioned a meeting in Swansea in which Nestle refused to speak on the same bill as Baby Milk Action. This led the Nestle representative to interrupt and state that this claim was untrue.

With very little time left, it was decided that the debate would now allow questions from the floor.

With many of those present feeling that Nestle had attempted to monopolise the discussion for their own personal gain, the mood was distinctively sour. Questions were mainly aimed at the Nestle representative and it was clear that the majority of the audience refused to believe the claims made in her presentation. It is clear that this issue will continue to provoke controversy and high emotion.

For those interested in learning more on this matter there is a website devoted to the issue. The address is www.babymilkaction.org.

There is also information on the Nestle website.

Inside Concrete This Week Page 2: Nestle debate and Blackout ctd Page 4: Awarding firsts Page 6: Coke Boycott Page 7: DEV and African water Page 8: Leaking Library and Sustainable Transport Page 9: Gibson talks and Parents rights Page 10: Bush and Student Aid Page 11:

Adaptable Internationals Page 12: Columnists Page 13: Forgiveness in Uganda Page 14 -15: How and What to Boycott Page 16: Relgion in context Page 17: Mary Quant Page 18-19: Turf - Car Park Meeting and the Environment Officer post Page 20: Enquirer

Page 21: Travel - Havana Fashion - New Beginnings Page 22-23 Lifestyle - Carnivores vs.

Herbivores Page 24: Horoscopes and Letters Page 25: BUSA Tables Page 26: NCFC Page 27: Ziggurat Page28: BUSA Preview

The entire campus was closed following the blackout Continued from page one prior to the power cut, “we were told to leave the library due to health and safety reasons so I couldn’t make up for my lost work until much later”. Another student got stuck in a spot of bother when the power cut occurred in the middle of him taking a shower after the gym.

Other students made the most of the sudden afternoon off and weren’t at all bothered by the loss of power, except the lack of alcohol. Two first year students were notably happy at the onset of a cancelled seminar, confessing to Concrete that they hadn’t prepared for it.

The effects of the events on Monday continued throughout the week until the following Monday morning, when the whole campus was engaged with a total shutdown of power between 6:30 and 7:30am. Although at this time of day only those residing on campus were affected, the campus power supply was switched to generator power in order to minimise the amount used by staff and students, increasing the risk of losing work and slowing down the use of essential electrical products.

In an email sent to all UEA staff and students, Roger Bond, the Director of the Estates and Buildings Division at UEA apologised

for the inconvenience and thanked those at UEA for their patience. “It has been established that the problem was caused by a high voltage switch, (owned and managed by the company EDF but located here at the University), tripping out which resulted in the isolation of the power supply to the whole campus”. Mr Bond added that further to investigation “the fault has been rectified”, which resulted in the need to ensue the total shutdown. Roger Bond continued by saying that “Estates & Buildings are working closely with EDF to investigate the problem and minimise the risk of it happening again in the future”.

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ABITRARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF ACADEME

COMMENT

THE CONFUSION ABOUT INCONSISTENT GRADING BETWEEN SCHOOLS

A Sedated Senate?

Since 1249, when Oxford University became the first university established in Britain, it has long been the tradition that the teachers of Academic establishments govern the institution through Democratic procedures. But this tradition is more than seven hundred years old. Recently, universities have had to keep up with the businesses around them. Lecturers are no longer allowed to sit around gathering dust and espousing the same theories that got them the initial position; they are now required to prove their worth through research and publication. This and the increasingly inevitable move towards Top-Up Fees is a stark reminder that we live in a world governed no longer by the ideals of Academe, but by cold, hard, accountable cash.

It is in this climate that the changes to our senate have come about. And in this climate we have to question whether schools really should have a say in how they are governed; subject, as they are, to the relentless drive toward profit. In this light, the role of the VC is more akin to that of a Managing Director, and the Heads of Department increasingly like Middle Managers (but without the obligatory acne).

But if the staff were to adopt such positions, then that would mean that students would be more akin to customers and, as customers, able to seek recompense for a faulty product - the degree they seek to earn. The drive towards profit means staff would spend more time on research and less with their students. This devalued approach to students could result in some disgruntled students claiming tuition fees back from a course that failed to meet their expectations.

Before going down this problematic road, it may be worth considering why the first university chose to govern itself democratically. As an academic institution, a university is supposed to reflect the very best a society can offer.

Independent from Government, it is a university's job to practice what it preaches, to absorb and employ any progress made by the intellectuals. Whether it is sustainable transport policies, or democratic governance, if a university won't lead by example, then the consequences for society are dire.

Maybe not a first for Eddie...but he still did well

Olly Haywood

Deputy News Editor Students are beginning to show concern as the chances of getting a first class degree could be further hindered for some by unreasonable deadline demands and minimal teaching hours.

The chances of getting a first class degree at UEA is an issue which has recently been under scrutiny, and it seems that some schools in the University are making it less than easy for their students to do well.

Furthermore, it seems that policies on coursework deadlines and number of teaching hours per unit are anything but consistent.

The University’s school of Allied Health Professionals (AHP), for example, has recently changed their policy to require students to submit coursework at 10.15am and

to award 0% if work is submitted late without an official extension. This is comparable to more conventional policies such as LLT’s standard 5pm deadline and 5% mark deduction per day late.

Such drastic regulations seem to also affect the scope of academic aid offered to students. AHP personal tutors have been reported to not be allowed to help students with any aspect of academic work in the second and third year, including queries about the content and structure of assignments. This appears to contradict the students’ handbook, which states “supervisors should be allowed to advise tutees as to any aspect of the course structure and content including issues of assessment”.

Another issue of concern is of low numbers of teaching hours on some courses.

Arts students seem to be the

most affected, who, on average, have between four and seven hours of contact time per week. This compares to a full timetable for some science students, such as those in ENV. In addition, units in the School of History have recently been limited to 2 hours teaching per week to allow tutors to “conduct their research more thoroughly”.

The dramatic difference in the number of teaching hours is said to be “related to the varying requirements of different degree subjects”, with most arts students expected to do at least four hours a week private study per module. However, students left with as little as three hours teaching a week in their final year have said they are beginning to feel “isolated and unsupported”.

First-year arts students who have recently switched from twenty hours of contact time per week when studying A-levels to just seven hours teaching time at University no doubt have some problems adjusting. A first-year student from LLT said that he found it difficult to focus on his work with so little teaching time. “I’ve felt rather isolated with my academic work in that there has been little or no one-to-one contact with teaching staff and no-one to regularly monitor my progress”.

Some students have also questioned the usefulness of the current role of academic advisers at UEA. In the majority of schools, advisers tend to have a rather passive role, with students being expected to make an appointment if and when their services are required.

This differs from the role of advisers at collegiate uni-

versities, such as the University of Cambridge, where regular meetings between adviser and student are held to monitor academic progress and help with assignments. A number of students questioned said they would benefit greatly from such a service and say, “it would be nice to know someone is looking out for me”.

Students from various schools have complained that some tutors can be difficult to contact and are often already overworked with additional administrative duties and research projects.

Low levels of academic support for students from certain University schools is said to affect different students in different ways.

Some students may prefer to have less contact time and have the flexibility to be able to do the majority of their work alone. Other students may be more dependant upon support from tutors and continued academic monitoring in order to achieve their full potential.

The president of Universities UK has said that teaching times vary between different institutions, and students should be matched with institutions that are suited to their learning styles before coming to University. Professor Ivor Crewe stressed, however, that it was important that students should be “prepared to do some of their learning on their own initiative because when they leave university they are not going to be spoon-fed but expected to do research and write projects”.

AIRPORT EXPANSION SET FOR NORWICH HIGHER DEMAND INCREASES DESTINATIONS AND RENOVATIONS Helen Pike News Editor

Extra demand at Norwich airport has resulted in a £4 million plan to redevelop the terminal building.

Announced last week, the plans come at a time when estimated passenger numbers could shoot up from an average of 450,000 in 2004 to over 1 million in 2007. The bite-sized airport provides services by KLM and has recently started to provide services by Flybe and Air Wales. Despite its size, Norwich airport has experienced a surge in demand, particularly in its services to Dublin and Cardiff, and plans are underway to introduce flights to Belfast, Jersey, Glasgow and Edinburgh later in the year.

The plans have no doubt been proposed in line with an overall strategy to improve Norwich’s reputation as an attractive city to tourists. The managing director of Norwich International, Richard Jenner, hopes that this redevelopment will help to reduce congestion levels that have started to rise due to increasing demand.

Details include an extended baggage hall, improved baggage-handling facilities and new check-in facilities. There will also be improved catering facilities and more retail outlets.

The extra flight services to be introduced this year are just the first of a string of destinations to be implemented in the next few years. Within the UK this includes Exeter, Liverpool, Newcastle and Southampton. For those

Number of flights to and from Norwich airport set to increase students who can’t resist a mini-break away, destinations like France, Portugal and Spain will be considered in the development.

This extension of servic-

es is the biggest the airport has seen in years and will allow businesses, students and tourists an easier way to travel about Europe.

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TIME IS RIGHT FOR NORWICH’S WORLD OF ADVENTURES A COKE BOYCOTT PROPOSAL SUGGESTS CITY BE PUT ON THE MAP OF UK ATTRACTIONS Isabel Dyson Further information about the effects of a Coca-Cola boycott has emerged recently. According to The Ecologist magazine the time is appropriate to make a boycott of Coca-Cola effective. The statistics suggest that for every person who doesn’t buy a can of Coke, the company’s shareholders could potentially lose £2.50.

The investment activist website, KarambanQue calculates that in relevance to its share prices, sales and market capital, Coca-Cola is very vulnerable to a boycott at this point in time. With shares at $41, sales at $20 billion and a market capital of $100 billion if shares fall 10%, KarambanQue’s £500,000 base funding will make approximately £49,000 to support the campaigns of people affected by Coca-Cola.

As previously reported in Concrete, NUS Services Limited have been involved in a series of official meetings with Coca-Cola Enterprises during the past year, in a bid to resolve issues of the Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) group concerning workers in Columbia and inhabitants in India. The soft drink has already been subject to boycotts by various unions and student bodies in Ireland and the UK. The boycotts have come about after various allegations over the corporation’s activities in developing countries. In India, CocaCola extracted up to 650,000 litres of local water for syrup production, despite three years of

drought and crop failure in the area. Tests also showed the level of toxins in cans of Coke sold in India were 30 times above the legal level and contained an entire daily recommended amount of calories from sugar – 10 teaspoons.

Coca-Cola has also been accused of collaborating with paramilitary groups to remove union activists and workers from employment through intimidation and assassination.

The Columbian Solidarity Campaign (CSC) claims that a total of eight union leaders and numerous union members have been murdered through such practices.

Coca-Cola responded; “The facts surrounding the murders simply do not support the outrageous allegations that the Coca-Cola Company conspired with the criminals that committed these heinous crimes.” In 2000 Coke was also forced to pay $19 million to black workers after being found guilty of racial discrimination in its Atlanta Factories.

However, NUSSL’s boycott may be delayed from going ahead at UEA after Coca-Cola warned the Student Union of the commercial implications; CocaCola Enterprises Ltd supplies all the bar equipment used on campus, as well as soft-drink vending machines, refrigerators and a huge variety of other drinks. The Union would also lose out on a £500 pershop per-year display fee and the inability to participate in the Meal Deal at the UFO. However, the simple method of not buying a can of Coke could prove to have an immediate effect in the intervening time.

Suggestions to increase tourism for the city involve a theme park or ‘London Eye’-style attraction

Isabel Dyson Plans are in motion to upgrade Norwich to a major tourist attraction.

City tourist chiefs intend to employ the mastermind behind the London Eye and the reviver of the failed Millennium Dome to engineer a similar project for Norwich.

An Alton Towers-type theme park or a London Eyestyle Ferris wheel, are thought to be likely contenders for tempting tourists back to the city. The newly formed organisation Visit Norwich Ltd, whose board includes David Eastwood, vice-chairman of UEA, have

held informal talks with P Y Gerbeau, the man responsible for the transformation of the Milennium Dome and Eurodisney.

Gerbeau’s company, XLeisure own the Riverside complex in Norwich and are closely involved with the Castle Mall. Tourism comprises a large area of employment in Norwich and Visit Norwich Ltd was formed to enhance the promotion of the city further through implementing new, enticing schemes as well as continuing the focus on the city’s historical charm.

With the new Chaplefield shopping centre opening next autumn and the budget airline, Flybe flying from Norwich airport later in the

year, hopes are high for the expansion of Norwich’s tourist appeal. The executive member for tourism at Norwich City Council, Derek Wood, also plans to introduce trams to the city centre which will support the transportation of tourists to and from the Chaplefield, Cathedral and Riverside areas.

However, Mr Wood’s critics at City Hall are accusing him of loitering on a “vanity project” and suggest that the new plans could stain the heritage of Norwich. Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group reported to the EDP that: “We have got an incredibly attractive city, that’s what people to come to look at – not a garish trashy

Picture:Philip Sainty artefact.”

Derek Wood argued: “The loss of 10,000 jobs in engineering makes it absolutely obvious that the way forward is to make Norwich a big destination.”

The recent boom in hotels with a planned 500 extra available rooms and the promoted status of Norwich City Football Club indicates that Norwich is gaining added attention from visitors. One Second Year SOC student said that the new plans are likely to be more beneficial rather than obstructive to the city: “If it brings jobs and a bit more excitement to Norwich then it can’t be bad. There isn’t a whole lot to do here if you are visiting anyway.”

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GOVERNMENT WATER AID AS PART OF PLANS FOR AFRICA BRUCE LANKFORD OF UEA DEVELOPMENT STUDIES CONTRIBUTES TOWARDS TACKLING WORLD POVERTY Kevin Rowe

Dr Bruce Lankford of the School of Development Studies

After the recent Tsunami disaster the people of Britain have become more acutely aware of global poverty and suffering. 2005 is a vital year with regards to tackling world poverty and a UEA academic has been asked to play a key role in the task of building a strong and prosperous Africa which forms a large part of the world-wide issue.

Dr Bruce Lankford, a senior lecturer in UEA’s School of Development Studies, has been asked to aid Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa by writing a strategy for investment in irrigation across Africa. His proposal, if adopted, would create 5 million new hectares of irrigation by 2015 to tackle the problems the Government has identified.

Dr Lankford’s proposals may cost $2 billion per year but if successful the change in the continent would be massively significant.

The Commission for Africa was established by Mr. Blair in February 2004 and has 17 commissioners, including the Chancellor Gordon Brown and Sir Bob

Geldolf, who was awarded an honorary degree by UEA last year for his work on famine relief. The commission aims to address Africa’s economic development during the current year. Gordon Brown has termed this the new “Marshall Plan” for Africa, similar to that used by the United States to rebuild postwar Europe.

Dr Lankford is a water resources expert and has 20 years experience of working in irrigation in Africa and Asia. Dr Lankford’s 27 page strategy provides a comprehensive framework for investment but emphasises the need for peer review and cautious planning to ensure projects, which may appear attractive and beneficial, are not inappropriately sited, designed or deployed. Dr Lankford said: “I was honoured to be involved and felt I could address the task in keeping with the vision for the Plan.” However, he went on to explain the difficulties in the huge task ahead, “But it is a frighteningly complicated task. It is not just a question of distributing the aid and new technology – we must open our eyes to the long-term risks as well. For example, a new irrigation scheme can deprive communities downstream of water.

Inevitably, this can lead to competition, conflict and possible failure of new schemes.”

Dr Lankford has also heard news that the Department for International Development has agreed to a further two years funding of his river basin management research programme in southern Tanzania. Bringing the total funding to £787,000 over 6 years, RIPARWIN (Raising Irrigation Productivity and Releasing Water For Intersectoral Needs) is a study of river basin management in an environment typical of bi-seasonal subSaharan Africa.

This is where formal governance structures are relatively under-developed and the challenge is to supply and allocate water between farmers, rural poor people, the environment and for electricity generation.

Prof Michael Stocking, head of Development Studies at UEA said: “We are totally committed to responding to the needs of the poorest developing countries. Bruce Lankford’s outstanding research on making irrigation water accessible to small farmers in Africa is just one example of our initiatives world-wide.”

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BRAVING THE ELEMENTS

TRANSPORT IDEAS A SUCCESS

HEAVY RAIN CAUSES LEAKS IN NEW EXTENSION

ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT IDEAS APPROVED Jeff Clayton

Library staff took emergency measures to protect the new furnishings

Helen Pike News Editor

A UEA student has told Concrete of a number of leaks that have emerged in the new extension of the library.

The second year student who wishes to remain anonymous was working in the library when some noisy drops disrupted her on the rainy Thursday last week.

On searching for the noise, the student found no more than three leaks along the ceiling and only just missing books on the aisle.

According to the student, it looked like the leaks had been there for a long while, as some water was evident on the carpet that had only been laid down some weeks before.

On notification of the leak, the librarian was evidently dismayed at the discovery of such leaks and reportedly said “you’ve got to be joking”. The situation was dealt with by placing 3 bins underneath the leaks to prevent further damage to the carpet. The result, however, was an increase in the disruption in the first place through the echoing drops of

the water into the metal bins. Consequently a number of students, including the one who reported the situation, left the area in search of a quieter place to study.

This type of disruption is one of many that the library has faced over the past year.

Although the end of the disruption will see a new section to the library in which a large amount of the university’s revenue has been invested, it is concerning to hear of imperfections that are already surfacing in what is meant to be a peaceful place to study.

A meeting held on Monday 17th January to discuss alternatives to the UEA’s proposed construction of a multi-storey car park has been deemed a success.

Students, staff and outside bodies were invited to the event hosted by the Sustainable Transport Action Group [STAG], to consider how the estimated £12m cost of the car park could be better spent.

Present at the meeting were members of the City and County Councils, bus companies, regional transport groups and entrepreneurs successfully engaged in projects such as sales of electric cars.

Rupert Read, a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and a City Councillor for the Green Party explained the nature of the problem: “We feel the powers-that-be must work together to make it possible for UEA to solve its transport problems. By considering everything much more closely, and instead of building an unsustainable car park, groups can work together to achieve their real long-term goals.”

The main worry voiced was that the new car park would similarly reach maximum capacity eventually, when other opportunities to solve the crisis will have been ignored. Beth Brockett, a student who is the main force behind the establishment of STAG, argues that the University would be sensible to allocate money to more innovative schemes.

“With an Environmental Sciences department that ranks among the best in the country, there should be no reason for this University not to produce any exciting ideas. It is disappointing to see UEA try to build its way

Passenger numbers on route 25 have increased out of this problem.”

Norfolk County Council received its Local Transport Capital Expenditure Settlement in December, in which more than £29.3m was allocated for the period 2005/6 - £9.7m of which has been specifically designated for integrated transport solutions.

But the County Council is already active in this domain. The “Park & Ride” bus project continues with the City’s sixth site opening at the A11/A47 Thickthorn roundabout in March. This will coincide with the start of a new contracts system for all P&R services – that has been won by First, Konect and NCC – for which brand new buses that conform to the latest EU Emissions Standards will be introduced. Talk of such facilities extended into possible “Park & Cycle” facilities at Thickthorn, which would establish another link to the

University. This was considered as a feasible alternative to the proposed Hospital & Research Park Access Road project, for which the County Council’s bid for funding has been rejected.

The Norwich & Norfolk Transport Action Group was represented by Denise Carlo, who comments: “We must harness positive ideas to formulate a sustainable plan for the Norwich area. We condemn unsustainable projects such as the Northern Distributor Road, which would create a link between the Watton Road (B1108) and the A47, in turn generating more traffic.

“Everyone must act now to work out how best to take greater advantage of existing resources, and we look forward to building upon the success of this meeting.”

The University declined to attend the meeting, or to comment.

AWARD FOR UEA GRADUATE MA STUDENT SCOOPS PRIZE WITH NEW NOVEL Olly Haywood

Deputy News Editor

Former UEA student Susan Fletcher, was awarded the Whitbread First Novel Award earlier this month.

Up against some of the hottest books of 2004 and beating the favourite, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Ms Fletcher’s book, Eve Green, was described by the panel, chaired by Sunday Times literary editor Caroline Gascoigne, as having a “luminous quality”.

The novel follows the

experiences of an eight-yearold girl who is sent to live an uncomfortable life in Wales after her mother dies.

Having graduated from York University with a BA in English, Ms Fletcher enrolled on the prestigious Creative Writing MA course at UEA in 2001.

Professor of the Creative Writing course Michèle Roberts, who also has a new book, Reader, I Married Him, is thrilled with Susan’s success and recognises the continuing success of many of UEA’s Creative Writing graduates.

Also short-listed for the award was UEA student Panos Karnezis, with his

first novel The Maze.

Ms Fletcher is now a member of a highly regarded group of authors who have been awarded Whitbread prizes after being involved with UEA’s Creative Writing course. Susan herself is said to accredit much of her success to the quality of the MA course itself and the motivational environment that it provided for her.

Ms Fletcher is currently up against the other four current category winners of the Whitbread prize with a good chance of winning the overall Book of the Year award. The winner is due to be announced in London later this month.

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MP LECTURE ON HOPES FOR UNIS NORWICH NORTH MP SPEAKS OUT ABOUT IMPORTANCE OF GRADUATES AND HIS CONTINUED FEARS OVER TOP UP FEES Katharine Clemow Deputy Editor

Friday 21st saw Ian Gibson, Norwich North MP giving an open lecture at UEA outlining his thoughts on the way the Government should change its attitude to graduates. He spoke passionately about the important place university graduates should and could take in the development of this country. He was vehemently opposed to the Higher Education Bill believing that Top Up Fees would be the end of equal opportunities for prospective British students.

The Bill went through in June but by only five votes.

On Friday Gibson was still saying how ‘bitterly, bitterly disappointed’ he was by what he terms the ‘rank betrayal’ of the MPs who either swapped sides or abstained in the last ten minutes before the result was decided. Had the House of Commons voted against it he says there would have been a real change in the way the Government and the

country as a whole would have viewed higher education, and graduates.

He says it ‘could have been really amazing and helped to open up the debate.’

As to the future of student applications to universities and the involvement of graduates in research and development, particularly in science which is his main interest, he says that a new kind of elitism will arise. In the run up to the vote on the Bill the Government worked hard to convince people that fees would begin at and stay around the three thousand pounds a year mark. It was widely acknowledged that this would not be the case for long with the top handful of universities eventually charging as much as ten thousand a year.

Gibson was highly sceptical of the ‘guarantees’ at the time and is now sure there will be big increases saying people ‘need to be more realistic’ and that only those students from wealthy backgrounds would be able to afford to study at degree level.

Gibson, known for his concerns about Top Up Fees The MP is heavily involved in finding out what

universities need to help them work at optimum levels

to serve the interests of both the students and the wider community.

He is somewhat contradictory in thinking that universities should be open to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities; but by being derisory of the ‘games’ that are played to get people into these institutions. He cites as examples the multiinterest degrees such as Music and Astronomy that are encouraging people who don’t have a clear direction in mind to study at a higher level rather than going straight into work.

The Freedom of Information Act figures highly in Gibson’s hopes for the British people. He admits that the majority of the population is not that interested in the latest advances in nano-technology but he does think it’s important that when it comes to issues that affect us all, such as research into the MMR vaccine, people have access to journals detailing scientific fact rather than forming their opinions off the back of tabloid newspapers.

That Gibson, a busy MP with a lot on his plate, takes the time to visit UEA to give a lecture on what is happening with higher education and what he thinks should change (even just to say how little he thinks of some of the main players in the education debate) and answer their questions, says a great deal about his commitment to the issue and his part in the struggle that’s ahead for all those wanting to pursue their studies in whatever field. It should also reassure students that while the fight against Top Up Fees was lost there is a community of MPs that cares about the future for young people and wants to make it possible for everyone interested to have the opportunity to study in well equipped, exciting institutions that are committed to a high quality of both teaching and research where the main focus is ‘getting creativity and intellectualism into people.’ Gibson lives in Norwich and worked at UEA for 32 years, he was made an Honorary Professor in 2003.

CHANGE IN CHILD CONTACT LAWS Juliet Harris Legal Editor

Mothers who don’t allow fathers to see their children, despite orders imposed by the courts, could be forced to do community work, be electronically tagged or, perhaps, even face jail under new Government proposals.

But Judges are reluctant to imprison parents for breaching contact orders as they feel it might be harmful to the children.

Parental contact with children has been the subject of widespread and fierce debate in recent times, as shown by the high-profile “Fathers4Justice” campaign.

Lord Falconer (the Constitutional Affairs Secretary and the man largely responsible for the proposals) denied that the proposals were the Government’s panicked response to this; “There needs to be change and there needs to be reform because the system is not working, not because of a campaign of civil disobedience. There is an agenda for real reform and a most profound acceptance that in very many cases the system is not working at the moment”.

Despite the emphasis on possible punishment for disobedient parents, the proposals largely aim to prevent

PAIN IN THE ARTS ARTS STUDENTS TOP ONLINE ‘ANNOYING’ SURVEY Helen Pike News Editor

A survey conducted by online insurer www.cover4students.com asked 500 students who the most annoying undergraduates were in the country.

Separated by subject, the survey concluded that art students were in fact the most annoying, followed

closely by media and drama students.

Art students have long been marred with the stereotype of lazy camp people with plenty of time on their hands. According to the survey, the one factor that annoys students most is their insistence that they are the “next creative genius to be infringed upon society”.

Another criticism that art students faced was their

“wacky” dress sense. A first year student who understandably wished to remain anonymous suggested it was the fact that art students “aren’t doing a real degree”.

Bottom of the pile were those who are studying business, leisure and tourism.

The website added that the results show that students are quick to make judgments, whilst revealing student opinion.

parental disputes over children from coming to court in the first place. Conversely, the courts are also given powers to intervene before disputes become irreconcilable. Courts are empowered to send parents to mediation and are encouraged to come up with their own parenting plans. This is reflected by the changing role of social workers, defined by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CafCass), who have moved towards writing reports for court hearings, helping parents reach agreement and following cases through to make sure these are fulfilled.

It is hoped that the hear-

ing process is also improved so that a case is heard quicker, and by the same judge, all the way through the process. This would give the courts a greater understanding of the circumstances of that individual case and would hopefully result in a more coherent and workable solution for the children concerned.

It is the focus on negotiated solutions, rather than immediate enforcement, which has disappointed groups campaigning for “father’s rights”. John Isson from Fathers4Justice described the proposals as “disappointing” and Jim Parton, of Families Need Fathers, criticised ministers

for not making mediation compulsory.

Tony Coe, President of the Equal Parenting Council said “there needs to be a statutory presumption in our law that upholds the child’s right to continue to be parented by both parents, unless either parent is proved unfit”. In the past courts focused on each individual situation before deciding what arrangements suited the needs of the child.

It must be remembered that children are the most important priority when a relationship breaks down and it is their needs, rather than parents “rights”, that should take precedence over everything else.

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BUSH INAUGURATED, AGAIN

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BUSH SPEECH OUTLINES EXPANSION OF THE ‘AXIS OF EVIL’ AND PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ...

Sam Webber Political Editor

George Walker Bush was sworn in as President of the United States of America for the second time on the 20th January. It is certainly an appropriate time to reflect on his 1st term and also to look ahead to what his 2nd term might bring. He made it apparent immediately after the election that he had gained “political capital” with the unexpectedly clear result and that he intended to spend this in his second term.

Bush’s inauguration speech focused mainly on promoting freedom and democracy across the world: “Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities” he declared. Liberation is something he sees as his greatest achievement so far, having brought an end to the tyrannical regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and bringing about the beginning of democratic governance.

Bush also called for a healing of the divisions caused

by the military action in Iraq, which had threatened to lose him the White House.

As the elections in Iraq rapidly approach, President Bush insisted that there would be no fix and that only the Iraqis themselves will decide who forms the first democratic government in that country for 50 years, saying “America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling”.

Those in the US and elsewhere who are not content with the often radical policies that Bush promises, such as outlawing abortion, will have been disturbed by his continued strong stance on this issue. He said in his speech; “Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth”.

It is widely acknowledged that much of his electoral support is from right wing Evangelical Christians in the US. Banning gay marriage and abortion would certainly be something of a reward for these crucial supporters, if not altogether in keeping with America’s record in promoting freedom of the individual.

This is not the best indication that George Bush’s second term in office will be less radical, although there had been no mention of the controversial idea to prohibit gay marriages as part of the constitution and many political commentators are wondering if he will now ignore this particular electoral movement.

Tony Blair, who may also face re-election in a matter of months, needs George Bush on side to help him in plans such as the new deal for Africa and upcoming climate change initiatives.

Many commentators are also wondering whether Bush will throw himself into resolving the Palestinian – Israeli situation which Bill Clinton came so close to doing in his second term.

Some fear that Bush and his new Secretary of State – Condoleezza Rice – will extend the ‘Axis of Evil’ to other regimes, like those in Zimbabwe, Iran, Cuba, Belarus, Burma and North Korea, as well as the previously speculated Iran.

It would certainly be risky for Bush to do this as public support for action in Iraq is already close to turn-

YOU ARE WHERE YOU LIVE POSTCODES MATTER AS MUCH AS SCHOOL GRADES Jessica Fielder Education Editor

The government would like to think that University is becoming more accessible to all. It is Tony Blair’s intention that by 2010, fifty percent of school leavers will move on into Higher Education. Yet new research shows that with only five years to go, considerable progress is still required if this target is to be met. The report, from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) states that in 2000 about 30% of eighteen year olds went to

University. At the current time it is estimated that 43% of 18 – 30 year olds either have been, or still are, at University.

The most shocking part of this report, however, centres more specifically on University entry of pupils from different regions of the country. For example, it is fifty per cent more likely for teenagers from London to go to University than it is for those in the north-east.

Without increasing applicants from poorer areas, it will be virtually impossible to meet the government’s targets. Therefore, the question over the coming year

will focus on the elimination of up-front tuition fees in September 2006 to improve the situation. The alternative is that young people continue to be put off by the prospect of paying back the cost of their university tuition over the years following graduation.

The report also revealed some other interesting statistics. Apparently, girls are 18% more likely to go to University than boys.

Perhaps more intriguing still is the finding that pupils born in September are 20% more likely to go on into Higher Education than those born in August.

ing. Anymore US military personnel returning home in body bags could cause some serious embarrassment so early on in a new Presidential term. Others would certainly want to

question the objectives for further military action as ‘regime change’ in itself is not sufficient to legalise conflict.

The coming months will prove very interesting indeed

as George W Bush, free from the worries of re-election, puts his stamp on America and the wider world in this somewhat unforeseen second term in office.

“One, two, three, four”, Bush declares a thumb war.

STUDENT AID

CHRISTIAN CHARITY NEED STUDENT REPS Laura Palmer The international development agency Christian Aid is seeking students to take part in their new scheme called Pressurepoints.

Christian Aid is a collection of churches in the UK and Ireland concerned with global politics, particularly the relations between rich and poor countries. The agency works in more than fifty countries across the world and with over six hundred local organisations, irrespective of religion.

Under the scheme, students will be paid £5 an hour and will be expected to commit around six to eight hours a week throughout an academic year (students will be expected to commit less around exam time to compensate for work, and more in the run up to a major event).

Christian Aid Student Representatives will raise awareness of development issues and the work of Christian Aid. Student representatives will receive training, a personal mentor, access to Christian Aid resources, a free subscription to a magazine of their choice from a selection that includes New Internationalist and Ethical

Consumer, and an annual budget of up to £200 to organise events.

Christian Aid says they are looking for ‘enthusiastic, politically aware individuals who believe that global poverty is unjust and preventable’. Such campaigns focus directly on welfare issues vital to society.

Student Representatives will campaign on issues such as Vote for Trade Justice, a national effort to implement changes in current trade law, and HIV/AIDS, which is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa and is becoming a large problem in other countries in Asia and Eastern Europe.

Christian Aid give examples of planned activities that Student Representatives will take part in which include club/band/comedy evenings. Such evenings have a focused theme to raise money for Christian Aid and an artistic project called ‘Thinking positive’, which is based on the idea of memory books to raise awareness if HIV/AIDS issues.

Student Representatives will also be asked to promote Christian Aid events, carry out research among fellow students, and inform student societies and course tutors about the Christian

Aid resources that are available, through workshops and presentations.

The Reps’ personal mentor will help devise a plan for the year to ensure that targets and workloads are realistic.

Patrick Dawes, higher education officer at Christian Aid says “This is a great opportunity for students who are interested in development or campaigning as a career after university, or who are simply interested in global issues. They will gain valuable work experience, get paid and come out with a reference from one of the UK’s leading overseas development agencies at the end of the year.”

There are also positions available for students who want to get involved with Christian Aid’s work but cannot commit to a full year’s program of activities.

This can be in the form of voluntary Project Organisers. The position is not a paid one but students will still receive support, training and an events budget so rewards are still rife.

The Pressurepoints scheme is initially looking for fifteen students across the UK. For more information and an application form, please e-mail students@christian-aid.org

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FIT IN WELL

SURVEY REVEALS UEA INTERNATIONALS ARE EASILY INTEGRATED INTO CAMPUS LIFE Helen Pike News Editor

and Nadia Bennich

International Editor A recent survey carried out

by Ukcosa, the Council for International Education revealed that international students experience difficulties in making British friends.

5000 international higher education students were interviewed and the main argument concerning their difficulties was the British drinking culture, said to be one of the obstacles to socialising with fellow British students.

The report states that nearly three-quarters of post-graduate and over half of under-graduate international students have no UK friends.

In this light, Concrete interviewed several international students at the UEA to comment on the Ukcosa’s survey. The overall result showed that students here tend to feel well integrated, describing UEA as a great and welcoming environment to study. Moreover, those interviewed feel well supported by UEA staff and consider them and British students to be polite, flexible and tolerant.

The positive response students gave was marred by the fact that they agree that it’s difficult to make and hold onto British friends.

The main reason given as a barrier to social integration was the language and culture barrier hindering communication. Students from English speaking countries find it easier to make friends whilst foreign tongues find it challenging to speak in another language.

One English student at UEA felt that whilst her international classmates are friendly, “they seem rather reserved and shy to talk otherwise”.

Overseas students find it

easier to socialise with other international students given that they are in the same situation by being far away from home. One international student currently studying at UEA argued that international students who are used to foreign environments have the least difficulties in making British friends, “I’m so used to being in foreign environments that making friends of different nationalities has become second nature”. The one factor that appears to be unanimous among students is that the well renowned drinking culture in Britain is one that puts others off

socialising in the same group. This is reflected in the national survey, where students find our drinking activities a “barrier to social integration”. A common difficulty felt by international students was the age gap in halls of residence. They are often significantly older than their housemates who have just arrived at university, and the difference in priority to work also becomes a hindrance in making friends.

This social alienation is felt just as much on the other side of the spectrum.

Home students felt just as uncertain of international students’ social activities,

with some complaining that international students made limited efforts to integrate with the rest of the university, choosing instead to stay with others their own nationality.

The efforts made by the Union of UEA students to integrate international students with home students are continuous through societies and events in the LCR. Upcoming events include the International Party on 2nd March, and the celebration of Chinese New Year on 9th February, in addition to constant attention towards religious festivals.

TRAVEL SAFE: KNOW YOUR CABBIE DON’T RISK YOUR LIFE USING AN UNLICENSED TAXI Jane Douglas

If you’re vision is this blurry when you come out of the pub you should be even more careful to find safe transport to take you home.

Each year over 200 women are sexually assault by taxi drivers in London alone. The vast majority of these attacks are committed by illegal minicab drivers, who are not vetted and often have previous criminal convictions.

The university security team is reminding students, particularly those visiting who may not be familiar with the situation, of the dangers of using unlicensed cabs known as ‘touts’.

Only licensed black cabs are legally permitted to pick up customers from the streets, all minicabs must be booked either by telephone or by going to the taxi com-

pany’s office. By getting into an un-licensed minicab you risk being assaulted or having your possessions stolen, not to mention the fact that the car may be un-roadworthy and/or not insured. Men are also at risk from illegal minicab drivers as there are many reported cases of muggings each year, illegal minicab drivers also often charge extortionate fares.

When getting into a minicab: * Check that the driver has an ID badge with a photo; he will not mind if you ring the company to verify his identity, car type or registration. * Check that the driver knows your name, they should ask for your name when you ring up, if not he should at least know your destination. * Check that the cab is from

the firm you called. * Make sure the cab has a license. * Always sit in the back as you are less likely to be assaulted. * A real minicab usually has a radio and a meter. * If you have a serious problem with a driver, take the license plate number and report it to the police.

Black cabs: * Have vehicle licensing, usually on the number plate.

In London alone 18 sexual assaults are committed by taxi drivers every month; however this figure may be grossly under-estimated as many of those women attacked are too frightened or ashamed to report the assault to the police. So next time you just want to be warm and comfortable, remember that waiting ten

minutes for the bus or a licensed cab could mean that your life is not ruined.

Black cabs usually wait outside nightclubs and can also be found, during the day and in the evening, in the taxi rank outside Tesco Express in the Market Place.

The number 25 bus also runs until late and stops very near ‘Mercy’, opposite KFC. If there’s transport available keep walking down Prince of Wales Road.

There’s a taxi office located on the right, just after the train station, which is usually open and provides seating for people waiting for taxis.

Some local registered minicab firms: ABC: 01603 666333, Beeline: 01603 767676, Dolphin: 01603 633333, 5 star: 01603 455555, Bestway: 01603 666666.

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Opinion BRYAN DAVIES

BANDS OF NO AID

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o the early contender for fashion item of 2005 appears to be wristbands of varying colours, which can be seen adorning the arms of the young and trendy, many of whom are unaware of their true charitable meanings (Lance who?). I say fashion item of 2005, despite their origins rooting back to early last year.

The first bands to be issued were cyclist Lance Armstrong’s yellow ‘Livestrong’ bands in aid of his own testicular cancer charity, himself having beaten the disease before going on to win five consecutive Tour De France titles. They were a huge success in America, selling for a dollar each and being championed by celebrities and politicians. They reached England in the summer and the wrist band craze has truly taken off from there. The yellow bands have spawned a number of imitations by other charitable causes.

MATT CANTOR

P

this is poetry

oetry: an intimidating word for many of us. Personally, it makes me think of old men rubbing their chins and pondering deeply, beyond the realm of thought that any normal person can hope to achieve.

Poets have it all figured out. They’re so darn profound. They’re so smart that they have to say things in this indecipherable code they call a poem.

Or so we think.

I am here today to expose poetry to the world; or at least to those of you who read this article. It’s not so hard to understand. The first secret I will reveal is this: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Every poem ever written is simply a rearrangement of those 26 letters! If you’re Emily Dickinson, you just figure out really cool ways to organize those letters. Unfortunately, you’re probably not Emily Dickinson, as she’s no longer living. But never

ROSS GRAINGER

RICE-A-MOANEY

I

wrote in this column in November that George W. Bush’s re-election would mean more of the same from the man who once asked Charlotte Church what state Wales was in more lies, more stupidity, more death. Everything that happened between his re-election and his inauguration on Thursday (the overlyelaborate ceremony in which he officially becomes President for a second term) has made me stick with my original, albeit hate-filled prediction: more of the same.

One thing in particular has led me to this conclusion: Bush’s new cabinet, specifically the most important position in the cabinet, Secretary of State. The man who held this position during Bush’s first term was

Before I get on my soapbox, I should admit to owning a ‘Livestrong’ band, as well as a blue Radio One ‘Beat Bullying’ band. However I should emphasis both were purchased in good faith, as charitable gestures as opposed to fashion items, as both campaigns have my support.

Such bands are a technically a good idea, as they, in theory at least, raise awareness and funds for charities and campaigns. My main problem with them is that they have effectively reached saturation point, whereby arguably the majority of people wearing them have no true idea of their meanings or origins.

Using the ‘Livestrong’ bands as the most popular and obvious example, bands which were once relatively rare and meaningful have now become big business, with Armstrong’s cancer charity the loser.

A typical night on the town or at an LCR reveals that as many as a third of all people are wearing the yellow bands, and I would wager that at least fifty per cent of those don’t realise their true meaning. Most would certainly not be aware of who Lance Armstrong is or what he has achieved. I would also suggest most

bought theirs on Ebay or through an equivalent source, which is surely morally corrupt as it denies money to the charity and gives the profits to greedy mercenaries selling them for ridiculous sums of money. Perhaps the problem is that to buy them officially off Armstrong’s website, they can only be purchased in packs of ten or more. But surely even then people could buy a pack (which would only cost ten dollars after all) and distribute them amongst friends and family.

I am pleased to report that I bought mine back in the summer from Nike Town in Oxford Circus, which at the time was the only official retailer of the bands in England.

fear. Just read on.

Poems also often are arranged rhythmically. One popular rhythmic set-up is iambic pentameter. It consists of ten syllables, with accents on every other syllable, like this, from Shakespeare: a ROSE as SWEET as THEE was NEver SEEN. too BAD you LOOK like A bizARRE string BEAN. Iambic pentameter is just one of many different rhythmic schemes.

More recently, we have seen examples of more complex schemes. Take this example from the Compleat Works of Jay-Z: give me that FUNK that SWEET that NASTy that GOOSHy stuff This line contains more syllables than iambic pentameter does and the accents are less regular, creating an element of surprise that makes the poet’s work more interesting.

However, many poems, especially more recent ones, do not have regular rhythm at all, per se, and are therefore deeper. They do not rhyme and often deal with dark, sad, or scary subjects, which makes them even more profound. Many deepthinking, depressed teenagers are familiar with this category. An example poem:

Black Black is my mind Like a black labrador retriever Darkness circles my heart As I lie I wait I wait and I cry and I die I’m dead.

Studying the above poem, we can learn that the poet is very upset about something.

In this category, too, fall the poems that aren’t really poems but are actually simply prose paragraphs wherein the poet pressed “enter” a lot, so that there are line divisions:

Colin Powell, an intelligent, dedicated politician widely regarded as the most moderate (read sane) member of Bush’s administration. He was the saving grace of Bush’s first-term administration, the pretty flower that grows from a pile of elephant dung.

When Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz were clamouring for an invasion of Iraq, Powell was the calming voice that wanted more times for the weapons inspectors and actually treated war as a last resort.

Powell always said he intended to only serve one-term, but I’m not so sure. I think he was simply fed up with the people he had to deal with and the fact that his calming, usually correct views were not listened to.

Bush should have done everything he could to keep Powell in his administration, but just for a change he failed. And when it came time to name a replacement, he failed again.

‘More of the same’ doesn’t just mean the same policies and beliefs, it also means the same people.

During Bush’s first term he and his

administration were likened to “ a blind man in a room full of deaf people.” He had too many people telling him to do the wrong things, and not enough people like Powell telling him otherwise. So rather than pick someone new, someone who isn’t tainted by the lies of Iraq and who wasn’t part of the apocalyptic firstterm team, as Colin Powell’s successor Bush chose Condoleezza Rice.

W

hilst I am still very much in favour of and a supporter of Armstrong’s campaign, I am now somewhat reluctant to wear my yellow band as they have been totally devalued in my eyes. They have even become something of a ‘chav’ accessory. What is the point of some of these people purporting to be supporting charity when in reality they aren’t charitable people at all?

At the end of the day the majority of people purchasing and wearing the

Course Unit Catalogue by f. g. witherspoon spring term An introduction the the structure and function of macromolecules from the perspective of their physical properties.

Topics include protein and nucleic acid structure enzyme kinetics and equilibria

O

nce you get over the fact that Rice is the first black female to hold this vital position, you realise that her appointment is not new, forward-thinking or brave on Bush’s part.

50-year-old Rice, to be fair to her, grew up in very tough circumstances. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1954 under the blanket of segregation. Racism was a part of her everyday life, something so common she barely noticed it.

She came to prominence when she joined Bush’s administration in 2001 as National Security Advisor.

yellow bands are buying them from Ebay, which totally defeats the object and denies much needed money to Armstrong’s charity. One could argue that the wearing of the bands offers crucial exposure for the charity, but when the majority of people are unaware of the charity, what’s the point?

The recent ‘beat bullying’ bands craze is another interesting case which highlights how the whole bands phenomenon is becoming slightly ridiculous. When they were first launched in December we were treated to a number of reports that bullying on school playgrounds had actually increased due to kids wearing the bands. They have become objects of desire and derision amongst the school fraternity at whom they are primarily targeted.

The bullying bands were only available for a couple of weeks, and have subsequently become very rare and sought after, more so than the ‘Livestrong’ ones, for the time being at least. As such they are becoming items of high value. A recent check of Ebay revealed the cheapest ones are going for around eight pounds.Whilst Radio One issued the bands free of and thermodynamic properties.

T

o many the above would be simply a course description for a Biological Sciences course, but to the discerning eye it is a poem waiting to happen. Note the use of lowercase initials in the author’s name. This, again, suggests that the poet is a profound thinker, too profound for normal grammar.

Now you understand the basics of a few types of poems. Let’s end by taking what we’ve learned and using it to analyze a final poem.

A world of strangers A stranger of worlds On top of old smokey So take my money But take my hand A shortcut through A foreign land And pay my rent But help me through Roses are red, But violets are blue.

In the first two lines, the poet clearly feels disillusioned with his world. The first line implies dissatisfaction with the outer world, while the second implies that the author is an extra-terrestrial. The following line makes reference to a folk song, and the poet probably placed it there But she wouldn’t be a true Bushite without some connection to an oil company. During the 90s she was on the board of directors for the Chevron Corporation, and at one point had an oil tanker named after her (it was later changed to Altair Voyager).

During her first nine months as National Security Advisor she really should have done some more advising, something like, ‘Mr. President, al qaeda are planning an attack.’ But she didn’t, and that planned attack came to fruition, resulting in nearly 3000 deaths. Luckily, though, America decided to get behind the President and his administration with no questions asked, rather than asking ‘er, didn’t anyone see this coming?’

And what kind of advising did she do during the build up to the War in Iraq? Exactly the kind of advising Bush wanted to hear, I’d imagine. Since she didn’t have the personal connections to Bush that Cheney and Rumsfeld enjoy, she was just another yes-man, reeling off the

charge, again it seems morally wrong to be paying so dramatically over the odds for a little piece of fashion. If the people buying these bands really supported the cause, surely they could simply give a donation to an anti-bullying charity? Whilst celebrities and footballers such as Steven Gerrard and Andy Johnson continue to wear their bands, demand will grow and the wristband craze will continue to develop. With Oxfam recently releasing poverty related bands, and soon to be released Kick Racism Out Of Football bands, the charitable posturing looks set to continue, but the question has to be whether the whole thing will start to eat itself and become pointless, as the charitable aspects of the bands become more and more devalued.

Like charity ribbons and badges before them, eventually these bands will become old hat, and the majority of the wearers will continue to contribute nothing to charity. There’s nothing wrong with trying to look cool or keep up with fashion, but if you want to wear a charity related item, at least have some knowledge about the meaning of what you are wearing. to give a sense of down-home familiarity to an otherwise obtuse poem.

The next line is an obvious reference to the pecuniary difficulties of poets, or of all artists. The speaker doesn’t have much money, and he feels it was taken from him, perhaps when he chose this career. After all, he could have been a oil executive.

Thus, he is lashing out at himself for having become a poet when he could have been rich. Following this, he asks the object of the poem to “take his hand”—the poet was an avid poker player, and wanted someone to have a look at his winning hand, a royal flush. “A shortcut through a foreign land” refers to the French and Indian War, during which one soldier found an easy way to get through unfamiliar territory. The poet was deeply inspired by this—he tried to take shortcuts through his work as much as possible. “Pay my rent/ but help me through” means exactly what it says.

The final two lines may suggest that the poet was reflecting on traditional love poetry, which is in stark contrast with this poem; the contrast is emphasized by the inclusion of the traditional “roses are red…” Or else maybe he just wanted to add something cute to finish the poem.

necessary lies without a flicker of guilt. She claimed that there was a connection between Iraq, al qaeda and 9/11, and she said with utter certainty that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and that he was an imminent threat that had to be eliminated with a war.

As usual the Democrats put up a feeble effort to get her nomination blocked, but, as has been the story in the last three elections, they failed. In her Senate confirmation hearing she was grilled for two days about her role during the first term, but when it came time to vote she won confirmation by 16-2. The two Senators who voted against her were Barbara Boxer of California, and perhaps predictably, John Kerry of Massachusetts.

So she’s now the Secretary of State. Apart from the President, she is the most important and, on paper at least, the most powerful member of the administration. She’s third in line for the Presidency should Bush and Dick somehow be eliminated, and that’s a scary thought.

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To Forgive; Divine?

The Lord’s Resistance Army has terrorised the people of Uganda for nearly 20 years, but despite the atrocities soldiers fleeing the rebel group are forgiven by villagers. Kate Wilkinson looks at the power of forgiveness and what it means for the people of the war-torn regions of Uganda.

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hey abduct children, forcing them to kill, and sometimes even eat, their own families. They torture, rape, mutilate and murder; and yet many of the Acholi people of Uganda are prepared to forgive them. Why? Because often they are members of their own families, and mostly they are children themselves. Uganda’s rebel Lord Resistance Army (LRA) recruits its followers by kidnapping children from villages, initiating them through acts of violence, specifically designed to cause guilt and compliancy. 80% of LRA’s estimated 12,000 troops are children aged 6 to 17.

The LRA is run by Joseph Kony, who took over from his aunt Alice Lakwena, a mystic who

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ers take the pick of the girls for their wives.

Children who escape flee to centres set up by aid agencies, which try to eventually rehabilitate them or return them to their villages. Although communities’ reactions vary, most have shown an enormous capacity to understand and forgive these children for the horrific crimes they have committed. In cleansing ceremonies, they step on a raw egg, a symbol of innocence for the Acholi people as it represents something that has life but is pure and has not yet been contaminated. Many children are welcomed back into their former homes or new villages, where communities do their best to help them come to terms with what they have done. In theory, the LRA is despised by the Acholi, who have lost their children, their homes, their land and their cattle to

Forgiving someone who has wronged us is one of the hardest things to do.

launched a war against the Museveni’s government in 1987. He claims to be fighting to liberate northern Uganda. He initially targeted troops but turned on civilians when the government sent civil militia after him. By recruiting children and terrorising them into killing and terrorising others in turn, he has created an army of ‘expendable’ troops, from which he and his senior command-

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them. But the rebels are their children. How can they hate them?

We all have had situations where someone has wronged us. From the rude bus driver who didn’t wait to the friend who betrayed us to the lover who rejected us. Sometimes forgiving someone who has wronged us is one of the hardest things to do. It is often much easier to hate

and resent them, as this way we don’t have to ‘deal’ with the situation. The problem with this is it hands that person the power. They will always have the ability to upset us, sometimes just by the sight of them or the mention of their name.

While they may now be in a happier situation we will still harbour bitter feelings towards them, tying up our energy in hating them, sometimes long after we’ve left them behind. Freud believed that we are born with what he called ‘little soldiers’ that we deploy throughout life against people who have harmed or mistreated us. If we use up our soldiers fighting ancient battles, we won’t have any energy left to face new challenges and people.

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see that they’re confused and in the wrong place for a relationship right now, and I don’t want to harbour resentment so I’m going to throw a big party for them’. It’s never that easy. But after the grieving is done it is important, for our own sake, to try and forgive the person, even if we never forget, by attempting to understand why they treated us this way. Even if we see that we will maybe never understand why someone behaved like they did, we can accept that there must be a reason for this behaviour, and that maybe given their life circumstances, we may have been tempted to do the same. Forgiving someone of course doesn’t mean we have to be their best friend, it doesn’t even mean we have to speak to or smile at them ever again. It simply means we try to come to terms with how we’ve been treated and move on with our lives, rather than bottling up resentment and making ourselves miserable. This way we take the power; they no longer have anything to hold over us, and if they continue to resent or dislike us, well, that’s their problem.

But what the Acholi people have done is something special. As difficult and upsetting as the problems in our society are, most pale by comparison to what the Acholi people have to

nother problem with not forgiving someone is that it doesn’t allow ourselves to try and understand why he or she treated us badly. Instead we see tend to see them as a caricature of the bad way they’ve treated us, failing to catch the subtitles of their personality or the reasons for their behaviour. Often when people are nasty it has more to do with their own problems and insecurities than it has to do with the person they are being nasty to. This of course is something that’s said all the time and I’m sure you are sick of hearing it, but it’s often very difficult to believe it. As caring people we ask whether it was our own fault that someone treated us badly, and although this is the right thing to do if we want to be selfaware, it can often lead us to take all the blame.

Many children and adults who are bullied think that it’s because they’re boring, or stupid, or ugly, or deserve it in some way. Instead of recognising that the bully may think they’re boring, stupid, or ugly themselves and so are projecting this insecurity onto someone else, the bullied party feels ashamed and humiliated. They then tend to harbour anger against this person for making them feel this way, often remembering it years after the bully has forgotten they said it. All of us sometimes behave badly and do things we may later The LRA captures children and forces them to kill wish we hadn’t. Recognising this and forgiving and maim other children, often their friends or someone for it doesn’t mean we excuse what family. they did, but it is a constructive way for us to move on. deal with. Imagine forgiving a child who had grueSo how do we forgive someone? It’s not like somely murdered your family and forced other there’s a manual. Nelson Mandela famously forchildren to do the same. You might be tempted to gave the people who had held him in captivity, by think of them not as a child, but a demon, an trying to understand the reasons for them doing incarnate of evil. That is what the British press what they did, and not letting them win by harregularly portray homicidal children as. They bouring resentment. He became so close to his would have us believe that the 10 year olds in the jailer on Robin Island that the jailer resigned the Bulger Case were born pure evil, rather than same day Nelson was freed as a mark of respect. addressing the flaws in our society, which conBut Mandela is an exceptional person and tributed to these children doing a terrible thing. few of us are as magnanimous as him. It’s imporDemonising doesn’t help the culprits change tant to remember that we are all human and their ways, and it certainly doesn’t prevent the prone to anger and resentment, and it is imporsame thing happening again. It’s high time we tant to allow ourselves time to grieve when somechanged this attitude, and what better source of one has treated us badly. No-one can be dumped inspiration than the Acholi people. and then immediately think ‘Oh that’s alright, I

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I’D RATHER SPEND MY TIME BOYCOTTING......

They lie, cheat and steal their way to massive profits, but their dirty secrets are secret no more. Concrete rakes through the muck of six corporate giants and exposes their disturbing secrets of their global success. They are stories of sweatshops, false advertising, pollution and greed. If ever a feature put us in danger of getting sued, it was this, and once you’ve finished reading there should be only one conclusion: boycott.

Parent company of

McDonalds Ross Grainger Well, where to start? The mother of all fast-food restaurants began life in 1955 after Raymond Kroc bought a hamburger restaurant from the brothers Dick and Mac McDonald. Since the first golden arches were erected in Illinois in the Midwestern USA that year the company has become the largest food service organisation in the world. In 1994 there were 14,000 McDonalds in 70 countries. There are now 31,000 restaurants in 119 countries, employing more than 1.5 million people.

So, burger, fries and a coke at a cheap price - what’s the problem?

If you need an answer to that, you’re just the kind of customer McDonalds want: hungry, poor and ignorant. Add ‘young’ and ‘powerless’ to that list and you’ve also got McDonalds’ ideal employee.

No corporation initiates the kind of loathing and activism that McDonalds does. And few companies have to deal with something as damning as Global Anti-McDonalds Day (16th of October). The golden arches – more recognisable amongst children than the Christian cross – are either a promise of quality fast-food or the symbol of globalisation, greed and corporate malice. For many it’s increasingly the latter.

You may recall the famous 1994 McLibel case in Britain in which McDonalds sued two Greenpeace activists for handing out a damning pamphlet in London called ‘What’s Wrong With McDonalds?’

The true anti-arches will tell you that, as it said in the pamphlet, McDonalds does get its beef from cattle grazed on land that used to be rainforest, and that sufficient consumption of the food at McDonalds causes cancer and other diseases. In the McLibel case, though, the judge ruled that these claims were not proved (which doesn’t mean that they’re false).

However the judge did recognise several of the other claims made in the pamphlet: McDonalds does

manipulate children with its advertising. It hooks them from an early age and, using it’s annual advertising budget of $2 billion, keeps them hooked for life. And regarding the shortcomings of such a diet, the Judge ruled that, “a diet high in fat (including saturated fat) and animal products, and low in fibre, sustained over very many years, probably does lead to a very real risk of heart disease.”

With this in mind, it’s strange, if not plain wrong for McDonalds to sponsor sporting events such as the Olympics and the World Cup (though anger must be dealt equally to McDonalds and the greedy organizations that accept their money). They are also one of the FA’s five official partners. This appalling contradiction has been pointed out before in this paper, but it’s worth re-iterating.

Having a global fast food giant sponsor athletic events like the Olympics and the World Cup is ludicrous.

It is the glut of the golden arches in Britain and the world that angers so many people. Fly half-way around the world to Sydney and there is a McDonalds. They have McDonalds in supermarkets, airports, near the Kremlin in Moscow and the White House in Washington. There is a McDonalds outside Windsor Castle.

They’ve even started putting McDonalds in hospitals. The yellow M is the most potent and negative symbol of globilisation, and one of many food service organisations guilty of fattening the western world to repulsive levels.

When some obese adults in the USA tried to sue McDonalds because of their obesity, the government quickly passed a law making it illegal to sue restaurant and food companies for the purpose of seeking damages due to being overweight.

After quitting his job playing Ronald McDonald, actor Geoffrey Guiliano said, “I brainwashed youngsters into doing wrong. I want to say sorry to children everywhere for selling out to concerns who make millions by murdering animals”.

Nestle Emma Chaloner Though the need for a Toffee Crisp, Lion Bar, Yorkie or even a bowl of Cheerio’s may be too much to bear after a day spent studying, make sure your ethical rationality takes temptation’s place. Yes, Nestle has reared its ugly head once more, for no special boycott feature would be complete without its presence.

The “mastermind” behind such products as L’Oreal and Lancôme skin-care ranges, Branston Pickle, Perrier and Vittel water and all the way through to Friskies cat food, Nestle is the mega multi-national company probably best known for the controversy surrounding its global mass production and aggressive marketing campaign of baby milk powder.

With the company controlling over 40% of the baby milk powder market it is this product it goes on to promote in many Third World countries. By doing so Nestle has helped create and encourage a society where many are dependant on Western products, some of which are simply unaffordable.

A vicious circle is thus formed, one that is difficult to break. By providing free milk powder to maternity wards in the Third World, newborn babies are routinely bottle fed. On leaving hospital breastfeeding is no longer an option for the mother as the infant is now dependant on the bottle and parents are forced to buy more of the product, a product costing in some cases up to 50% of a family’s yearly income.

Add to this the water being used to make up the milk is often dangerously contaminated and the powder so expensive that the quantities used may be below the recommended rate. This can lead to severe malnutrition, diarrhoea, dehydration and in many cases death.

According to UNICEF some

3,000 to 4,000 infants die everyday in these countries due to denied access to adequate breast milk and The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 1.5 million babies die from diarrhoea as a result from not being breastfed. Other statistics show similar results, some recording that one baby dies every 30 seconds from unsafe bottle feeding.

In countries where constant advertising of this brand implies that such a product is endorsed by the healthcare system, and with Nestle handing out free samples, parents are finding they are encouraged to bottle feed as it seems the “healthier” alternative.

It is of the utmost importance that breastfeeding is promoted as much as possible: a free, safe way of giving a baby the right start to life.

There is also evidence that Nestle has been involved with the military government in Burma (Myanmar). Nestle not only refuses to pull out of the country, but is pushing its brand by linking up with women’s groups in the country in order to send out free supplies of breast milk substitute.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. With the introduction of The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes the WHO aims to protect all mothers and babies from inappropriate company marketing practices. Since 1998, 116 countries have taken some action in response to The International Code, but the battle still rages.

So, show your support and boycott Nestlé’s products; the university already does. Put that Kit Kat back on the shelf and have a break with something else.

Starbucks Coca Cola Matt Shoesmith Coca-Cola is a seemingly unavoidable brand. Their products are stocked in almost every convenience store, supermarket, restaurant and pub. Indeed, specific contracts, or exclusive vending machines often contrive to make Coca-Cola products the only option available to consumers. However, an increasing number of Universities, Schools and other institutions are boycotting Coke, as the cleverly, or ironically initialled Colombia Action Network (C.A.N.) report on their website. This boycott is due to the conditions of workers in the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Colombia, and more specifically, to the alleged murder of Isidro Segundo Gil, a union leader, by a gang of armed militants allegedly paid for by Coca-Cola.

Allegedly. On the twentieth of April 2004, Coca-Cola released a statement, available for your perusal on their website, saying, “This is a publicity stunt. The allegations are false and it’s outrageous to believe that the Coca-Cola Company would have anything to do with this type of behaviour.” Indeed, two court hearings about the incident have failed to find any evidence of the murder taking place, or of the existence of these Coca-Cola armies. However, this does not disguise the fact that CocaCola workers in Colombia are open to exploitation by the giant company, as they have little or no union representation, as union work is a dangerous area for Colombian workers, as they face threat from their fellow workers, who want to keep large companies producing in their country, and are prepared to accept low wages, rather than none.

However, Coca-Cola kindly provide more than one possible reason to boycott their sugar-stuffed products. In March 2004, Coca-Cola removed their bottled water, Dasani, from the market, after it emerged that the source for their latest offering was

the mains pipe to their factory. In short, they were selling bottled tap water, a scheme previously devised

by Dell Boy in Only Fools and Horses.

However, even before the revelations about Coca-Cola’s cheeky rip-off were made, the water was vastly more popular than, “Peckham Springs,” as the second most popular bottled water in America, Coke were forced to write off the £7 million that they had spent on advertising prior to the UK launch of Dasani. This kind of calculated consumer rip-off certainly doesn’t improve the image of the Coca-Cola company, and if anything adds emphasis to the calls of those who claim Coke to be an unethical company.

And there’s the simple matter of Coke being unhealthy, something not even the greatest PR worker could disprove. It’s brown, carbonated sugar water, packed for the most part with ingredients the average person has never heard of. It might taste good at first, but dehydrates you in the long run, fills your body with sugar and fat, and, as many studies have shown, rots your teeth.

Unfortunately, when trying to devise a substitute for Coca-Cola’s vast product range, the ethical consumer faces a problem. One choice might be to switch to supermarket brand, or at least smaller brand drinks. However, it is difficult to be sure whether or not these firms are ethical producers. In a pub situation, it would be unlikely, and doubtlessly unhealthy for drinkers to boycott Coke by drinking their spirits neat.

Furthermore, advising the consumers to switch to the much healthier option of water creates an argument as to whether water companies are ethical or not, and the debate over the fluorine content of tap water. Perhaps in the future, an ethical soft drinks producer might compete the giant Coke corporation into non-existence, however until then, ethical consumers can play there part by avoiding Coke at all costs, although unfortunately, it is often unavoidable.

Alyssa Morrisey In all actuality, naming all the reasons why you should not buy a cup of lacklustre American coffee from Starbucks could take ages, but here is something to tame your Frappaccino craving. Though the website boasts a generous salary and benefits package for its workers, healthy products, fairtrade coffee and corporate responsibility, Starbucks has turned out to be one of the largest corporate nightmares ever.

For starters, Starbucks does not serve free trade coffee. Though the company joined the free trade band wagon years ago, claiming to pay its growers competitive wages, free trade coffee products are not served inside stores, making up less then one percent of total sales.

While corporate leader Howard Shultz cashed in at a record profit of over £1.5 million last year, coffee farmers in third world countries enjoyed a whopping 19 to 30 pounds per year.

On a budget of approximately 19p per pound of coffee beans (down from previous years), it would take an Arabica bean farmer ages to buy one cup of Starbucks coffee.

The international corporation has recently been put on trial years by fairtrade organizations, holding it accountable for unfair labour practices in third world countries that lead to the starvation and malnourishment of its workers. Activists called for a massive world wide boycott, to which Shultz ambiguously responded: ‘thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.’

If exploitation of farmers in Africa and South East Asia is not enough to convince you, Starbucks products are incredibly fattening and unhealthy. In the US, Starbucks buys rBGH infested milk; a genetically engineered growth hormone linked to increased rates of breast cancer, prostate cancer, and premature growth stimulation in children.

Reading the nutrition facts on many Starbucks products is nauseating. One Caffe Mocha has 300 calo-

ries, while a Butterscotch Pecan Scone has over 500 calories. Imagine if director Morgan Spurlock, of the film ‘Super Size Me’, had gone on a strict diet of McDonalds’ burgers and Eggnog Latte. One shutters to think.

Being a multi-national corporation, Starbucks has astoundingly predatory business practices. There are now over 6000 locations of the popular coffee shop world wide, and an average of three or more opening every day.

Once the store has made its way into a community, it finds creative means of drowning out local competition, such as paying off landlords to force other coffee shops to close down, and conveniently opening several store locations in one town.

While many Starbucks employees claim to earn competitive wages and impressive benefits, Starbucks will not allow their employees to join a union.

Several employees campaigning for a secure full-time status option, guaranteed hours, and increased pay and raises have experienced intimidation by company officials.

And the mother of all reasons: every penny of Starbucks’ profit supports Zionism. Chairman Shultz has been recognized by Israel’s Foreign Ministry for his ‘playing a key role in promoting close alliance between the United States and Israel.’ He was honoured in 1998 by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah, a fund that sponsors Israeli military arms used in the displacement of Palestinians, and the Zionist propaganda website: honestreporting.com. Starbucks is also a firm supporter of President George W. Bush’s war on terror, and wasted no time in opening their first shop in Afghanistan.

Clearly, Starbucks Coffee Company has outdone itself by going out of its way to fatten the population while famishing the pockets of its employees, Palestinians, and its coffee farmers. Do everyone around you a huge favour, boycott Starbucks.

Wal Mart Matt Cantor Wal-Mart is a giant chain that sells pretty much everything at low prices—from CDs to clothing to groceries. The company has grown since 1962 into, not only the biggest retailer in the world, but the biggest company - beating out Exxonmobil and General Electric. The chain consists of over 5,000 stores in ten countries, and according to its website, it “generated more than $256 billion in global revenue, establishing a new record” this past year. Their motto is “always low prices,” and their surprising adherence to this, as well as their variety, causes many to shop there. The company won 7.5 cents out of every U.S. dollar spent last year outside of autoparts stores. Their popularity with consumers means manufacturers want to supply the chain. FORTUNE magazine calls them “the most admired retailer.” But do they deserve this praise? Low prices can’t hurt, right?

But, “if people were only consumers, buying things at lower prices would be just good. But people are also workers, who need to earn a decent standard of living,” said economist Larry Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute. And Wal-Mart, though it’s lowering prices, is also reducing available jobs.

As a result of Wal-Mart, thousands of Americans have lost their jobs. Wal-Mart’s policy of incredibly low prices every year means they won’t pay much for their supplies, that in turn means that their suppliers have to lay off employees and move plants from America to China. At this point, it’s probable that 80% of the chain’s suppliers work principally from China.

In Circleville, Ohio, a small town of 13,000 residents, many found good jobs at an RCA plant. RCA’s parent company, Thomson Consumer Electronics, shut the plant down because the company’s production orders had been significantly reduced, causing 1,000 people to lose their jobs. Carolina Mills, which provides materials to many clothing companies that in turn supply Wal-Mart,

was forced to shrink from 2,600 employees to 1,200 as the companies they supplied shrank or went overseas.

Further, Wal-Mart is changing the social atmosphere of towns. “Mom and Pop” family-run small businesses find it hard to survive under the competition, making once vibrant communities risk a sterile environment. “WalMart stores tend to suck the economic and social life out of these downtowns, many of which whither and die as a result,” said the President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Richard Moe, to The New York Times. The Trust has put the state of Vermont on its “endangered” list because of a rumoured expansion of Wal-Mart there.

You might wonder if they can’t get jobs at their old companies, why don’t workers just work for Wal-Mart? The problem is that Wal-Mart seems to care little about its employees, providing few healthcare benefits, resulting with employees turning to state programs for insurance. According to the New York Times, a study discovered that 10,000 children of Wal-Mart workers were covered under the government’s healthcare, which meant that taxpayers were paying $10 million a year to support them. The University of California reported similar findings.

Full-time employees of Wal-Mart cannot receive health care coverage until they have worked for six months at the store, while part-time employees must work for two years.

Wal Mart now owns the British supermarket Asda so over the next few years we can expect the same ads ‘Always Lowering Prices’ (complimented with animated smily face rolling back prices) and the same practice of setting up a mega store without any regard for the mammoth footprint it stamps on the local community.

Wal-Mart may be appealing for its low cost to consumers—but the cost to workers and towns is much too high.

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A Different Kind of Cubism UEA has many famous alumni, but a celebrity walks among us.

Jeff Clayton talks to a fellow UEA student whose passion is for all things cubed… to share tips and advice for solving these puzzles with new people, just as those already involved in the game have with him.

“It’s mostly thanks to the internet that I’ve progressed to where I am now, though I feel that Speedcubing has room to be an even greater success in the future.” Features on local and national media further help Dan’s cause, including an appearance on the BBC’s Blue Peter on Monday 19th October – the show’s 46th birthday.

He has created his own website dedicated to his many ventures and conquests in Cubing.

On a visit to www.cubestation.co.uk, the viewer is greeted with a plethora of manoeuvres, challenges, profiles and videos. The site itself looks like a Rubik’s Cube, and is a veritable pictorial and written diary of one young person’s ever increasing accomplishments in the field of mathematics, logic and puzzles.

If you are interested in finding out more about the sport, you can get in touch with Dan by e-mail: dan@cubestation.co.uk. He promises not to go into too much detail too quickly!

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u s t think to yourself for a moment, why you decided to come to this institution in Norwich. We, as University students, will all reflect upon our graduation, that the proverbial journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It will be an accomplishment of which we will all be forever proud. One man from nearby Gorlestonon-Sea is on his way to realising that dream, but a different tale of inspiration, ambition and dedication began two and a half years ago.

Dan Harris, 19, is a second year student reading Meteorology & Oceanography. His interests primarily revolve around sport, including pool and snooker, swimming, dance machines and – perhaps most notably for him – cycling.

Notable because a biking accident in April 2002 resulted in a badly broken jaw and it was during his stay in hospital that Dan found a Rubik’s Cube nestling in the bedside drawer. “I had a go, trying for ages to solve it though really thought nothing of it.”

But once Dan was fit and well again, he toyed with a computer search engine to find out more about the Cube. Points of interest included the Rubik’s Cube actually having been invented in the 1970s by Erno Rubik, a Hungarian obsessed with 3D geometry, who started visualising his 3D cube in late 1974. Interestingly, it was a mathematician who brought the cube its first significant public attention outside of Hungary. David Singmaster found the mathematics of the cube engrossing. This led to an article and front cover picture of Rubik’s cube appearing in Scientific American in 1979.

Dan discovered that an American ‘Speedcuber’ named Chris Hardwick once solved the 3×3×3 puzzle in 17.83 seconds. Initially unbelievable and surely untrue, Dan realised with some more research that it might just be possible. “I found a solution, learnt it, solved a Cube, and it’s worked ever since.” He goes on to explain that “most people are quite happy to stop at knowing how to solve the Cube at a leisurely pace, but I want to work on my performance and improve my technique, because my aim is to be the best in the world.”

Dan does devote considerable time and effort to this cause -most recently he attended the 2004 European Rubik’s Games Championships in

Amsterdam, held at the Nemo Science Centre in early August. The event, to which competitors from nations far and wide flocked, was organised by Ron van Bruchem, a Dutch speedcuber whom Dan has come to know through online networking.

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espite Dan’s University course involving a lot of mathematics, he maintains that grasping the concept of speedcubing isn’t as difficult as it sounds. “You don’t have to be good at maths to be able to solve a Cube; you just need a good memory. For instance if you can learn how to play an instrument, then you can probably learn how to solve a Cube too.”

Nonetheless, Dan proved in Amsterdam that his understanding of logic and patterns comes in useful, as his application of the most efficient methods in solving a Rubik’s Cube earned him no fewer than six British national records. These include the first recorded instance of a 3×3×3 Cube being solved by a Brit in less than 20 seconds since its invention almost a quarter of a century ago. Dan completed that puzzle in 18.7 seconds.

He came away from the Netherlands ranked number 1 in the United Kingdom, 8th in Europe, and 13th in the world.

An undoubtedly impressive feat and one that anyone might happily walk away from knowing that some phenomenally fast times have been set. Until, that is they hear of Shotaro Makisumi – a young Japanese man who at an international tournament held in the spring this year, set the fastest 3×3×3 time in the world, at 12.11seconds, a whole 6.59 seconds faster than Dan’s British national record. The UEA student has a new challenge on his hands.

Although a competitive character, Dan is keen to continually promote the sport and also extend the Speedcubing community. He is eager

Dan prepares for battle in Amsterdam

THE BIG SIX: DAN’S BRITISH TITLES

First recorded instance of a 3×3×3 Cube being solved by a Brit in less than 20 seconds - 18.70s The Best Average Time in solving a 3×3×3 Cube – 21.11s The Best Time in solving a 4×4×4 Cube – 116.82s The Best Average Time in solving a 4×4×4 Cube – 130.92s The Best Time in solving a 5×5×5 Cube – 357.01s Solving a 3×3×3 Cube in the Fewest Moves – 42.

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The First Lady of Fashion After dismantling the swinging Sixties as a mythical construct on the course ‘British Fiction of the 1960s’, Tali Beesley, Victoria Brierley and Sarah Griffiths travelled to London to meet the fashion designer and sixties phenomenon Mary Quant. Expecting an enlightened artist, they found a paradoxical icon stuck in time.

Mary Quant at the Museum of London

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he auditorium of the Museum of London has drawn a crowd of young women, fashion students and Mary Quant fans, all buzzing with anticipation to hear the icon reveal her secrets. Is it 1964?

Have we been transported back in time? No. Actually it’s 2004, but with all the retro clothing you almost forget this.

‘The Sixties was a complete revolution in art, music, fashion,’ says Britain’s first lady of fashion, who, to make sure we get the joke, has dressed up as Mary Quant. Besides the spectacles of nostalgia, she’s wearing a modified version of the sharp geometric haircut given to her by Vidal Sassoon: the five point cut. Two intelligent eyes, still containing a sparkle of youth, are set in a sympathetic face.

Quant’s enthusiasm for the age that she helped create, and that created her, remains undiminished: ‘It was an unusual time. A fatal change happened in everything. But you can’t have a revolution all the time. You want evolution.’

As part of the exhibition ‘The London Look’, currently on at the Museum of London, Quant takes us on a tour of her life and career. Quant, a Londoner, was born in 1934. She was an evacuee during the War, and returned to London afterwards. Despite her working-class origins she was brought up in an intellectual and liberal milieu, and educated at Goldsmith’s Design College, where she met her future husband, the upper-class Alexander Plunkett-Green.

‘Everything was stuck,’ she says, affirming the stereotype of the fifties as a decade during which nothing happened. They opened their first boutique, ‘Bazaar’, in Chelsea’s the King’s Road.

It was 1955, Mary was 21 and Woman of the Year. The rest is history.

The exhibition leaves no doubt about Quant’s significance. From the Regency dandy and the Burberry coat to punk and the new romantics, London has always produced a particular Zeitgeist. But it was Quant’s style that was unique and aesthetically innovative. Like Giorgio Armani, also 70, Quant goes for simplicity: ‘Simplicity is very powerful and opens up many different possibilities. And it can be very sexy.’

Despite being part of the upper-class elite that determined what we now conceive of as the

“

‘swinging sixties’, her work was anti-establishment. In 1966, she boldly stated that ‘in this new Britain we belong to a kind of meritocracy. And whether you like it or not it is here to stay.’ Mary was on a mission to take ‘the snobbery out of fashion’. To tease London’s City types, she used Harrods tweed to have Mr Curry (yep, an Indian immigrant) make women’s suits called the “Bank of England”. This outraged the double-breasted bowler hats.

Plunkett-Green and Quant were experts at promoting their merchandise. Waterproof mascara was marketed with a close-up of a crying woman and the text ‘Cry, Baby.’ This undercuts the stereotype of women as hysteric weepers, while keeping the idea they are not allowed to show their emotions in public. Quant explores this tension between rebellion and conformism until this day.

You cannot but revere her as an artist, and she’s clearly a sympathetic woman who unendingly tells anecdotes about fellow icons such as ‘hair artist’ Vidal Sassoon (‘a brilliant genius’) and David Bailey (‘simply brilliant’), whose photos would make girls come alive. She has had an enduring influence on many designers; everyone

S

uddenly there’s something surreal about the whole event. No one seems to mind the irony that the event is held in a museum, exhibiting Quant herself as a museum piece. Quant doesn’t seem to mind this role, and keeps spooning up stories about the revolutionary sixties, while it is obvious that these stories are part of a popular mythology exposed as highly subjective.

Sure, the sixties were revolutionary in that many changes occurred simultaneously. But they were part of an ongoing historical process. And books such as Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange (1962), Nell Dunn’s Up the Junction, (1963) and Angela Carter’s Several Perceptions (1968) predicted the downside of the booming consumer culture, the sexual revolution and the negative effects of the fashion industry on women’s lives.

The evening reveals Quant also as a tragic figure: she actually believes the swinging sixties myth.

Like a scripted robot she talks of the unending parties, dancing and celebrities: ‘We would work all day and dance all night.’ Her tale contains hardly any hardships or nuance. Her sixties is a story she has told so often she thinks it’s true.

No wonder she is stuck in time. Just as Suzie Mackenzie recently stated about Armani, Quant ‘prefers to live smiling behind the walls of [her] reputation, securely hemmed in by [her] achievement.’

She’s complicit to this process. This becomes clear from the promotional films from the sixties Quant shows, revealing her as the willing participant in the mythification of herself. In the background looms the well-connected puppeteer Plunkett-Green.

Quant has become the victim of the very thing that brought her greatness: fashion. Asked what inspired her to make the miniskirt, Quant

Clothes, as writer Angela Carter says in her article ‘Nothing Sacred’, are many things at once: ‘Our social shells; the system of signals with which we broadcast our intentions; often the projections of our fantasy selves…Clothes are our weapons, our challenges, our visible insults.’ A similar philosophical take, as a defence against those rampaging feminists and the PC-police out there who vent at Quant for subjecting women to the male gaze, remains absent: ‘I designed what I wanted to wear, and what my friends wanted to wear, for the kind of life that we led.’

Quant, who thinks of make-up as a means to sculpt the face, also admits: ‘Vidal Sassoon created me.’

Ironically, this affirms what first lady of modern feminism, Simone de Beauvoir, said, in The Second Sex (1953): women are not simply born but created - by men.

Obviously, her intentions are good.

She tried to convert the male dominated fashion world, stating: ‘A breast is not shaped like a tennis ball but like half a lemon.’

Ideally so, but in these days of silicone madness, the average breast is more likely to look like a stressed-out football.

The self-proclaimed feminist also created the highly embarThe iconic rassing ‘Daisy’Wool doll, a superJersey model with an Dress “English Rose” face in a trailertrash style gingham skirt. Hardly revolutionary.

She could even be held responsible for the installation of what Naomi Klein in No Logo calls branding: not only did the daisy become her trademark, she herself became a brand. Still adored in Japan, where she owned 200 Quant shops, Quant resigned as Director of Mary Quant Ltd after a Japanese buyout in 2000. But perhaps this first female multinational is a good thing. And the Mary Quant we see is staged. But her performance is so good that it raises the question whether there actually is a real Mary Quant behind the facade.

In the meantime her passion for fashion remains undiminished, and she’s excited about contemporary developments: ‘We have now arrived at an exiting stage as well: the scene is extremely rich but also very complicated.’ And a shimmer of the original Sixties spirit is detectable when Quant is asked what her advice is to young fashion designers: ‘Do it yourself! It’s the only way.’

Quant...keeps spooning up stories about the revolutionary sixties, while it is obvious that these stories are part of a popular mythology exposed as highly subjective. has worn something inspired by her.

Quant continues: ‘Chelsea was our patch, the centre of our lives.’ A restaurant, ‘Alexander’s’ was opened under Bazaar: Mary was literally on top! It became a hit with A-list celebs such as Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot and Grace Kelly.

Her logo – a daisy – was lodged firmly into the British psyche. Two years later a second boutique in Knightsbridge was opened. The American department store JC Penny asked her for designs which caused her commercial break. Clearly overwhelmed by the USA, Quant states: ‘You can’t say no to the Americans.’

After this, ‘Mary Quant’ became a growth industry and things became a bit bizar. She continued to successfully design clothes and makeup, but during the seventies branched off into insanely coloured carpets and upholstery, interior decorating, vitamin pills and a home ware range.

She even created a fashion doll, called Daisy.

grins cheekily, and states: ‘Legs. I had good legs.’

More flesh exposed meant more power for women: they were in control of their bodies and sexuality. They could control men. As one of her working class south London girls says in Dunn’s Up the Junction: ‘Seduce me.’

But the sexualisation of society had its downsides. The question whether her miniskirts were just a new way to objectify women falls on deaf ears: ‘I wouldn’t know what to say, because my skirts were empowering.’

According to the famous 1966 article in Time magazine that proclaimed London the “swinging city”, ‘a typical secretary or shop girl, earning $31 a week, will spend at least $17 of it on clothing, which leaves her with a cup of coffee for lunch— but happy.’ Skipping lunch in order to fit into unaffordable mini skirts and tight clothes sported by hunger artist Twiggy would have been considered a bonus. So much for taking the snobbery out of fashion.

”

‘The London Look: Fashion from Street to Catwalk’ is on until 8 May 2005 at the Museum of London, London Wall, London, EC2 £5 Adult/£3 Concs For information: 020-08704443851 or www.museumoflondon.org.uk

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C U T S H O RT

YOUR MOVE

CAR PARK ALTERNATIVES

Your move would like to focus your attention to all the issues raised today in this issue. There are so many important campaigns and projects that need encouraging, and too often these groups are suffering at the hands of an apathetic student body.

There are some truly dedicated people out there, giving all their free time to make the changes they believe in. But it does not always require this much effort.

Read through Turf today and

I

t has been suggested that new Government legislation will soon enforce public bodies such as Universities and Hospitals to meet tough sustainability targets which, when it comes to transport at UEA, will likely mean an

yourself what it is you're doing about it?

Maybe there is a cause that you feel isn't being fought at all.

Maybe you could spare a few hours to aid in an existing cause.

Or maybe you feel it is time to make a stand and become the next Environment Officer, using the union to help you achieve your aims.

about the way in which the project is being developed. When no one is ready to defend the position, it does not lend weight to their argument.

A further meeting strengthens the car park opposition - Jack Guest attended From the meeting a working party is to be set up to put alternative solutions to the University administration before they decide whether to go ahead with the car park as planned in 2007.

Lets hope the University accepts a sustainable alternative as I for one don't actually want to put my moral appreciation of 'direct action' into practice and thus have to lie in front of a bulldozer, dig an elaborate underground tunnel network or grow dreadlocks.

GM: SCANDAL AFTER SCANDAL

decide what it is that you feel strongly about, and then ask

enforced reduction in the number of cars coming onto campus.

This suggestion was made by Professor Tim O'Riordan, a member of the Government's Sustainable Development Commission, when he chaired a meeting held on Monday to

look at alternatives to UEA's proposed multi storey car park.

The meeting was organised by STAG (UEA's Sustainable Transport Action Group) and was attended by sixty five people representing various organisations and businesses including Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, First Eastern Buses, Anglian Buses, the University Bicycle Users' Group and local residents groups.

Proponents of trolleybuses, supertrams and electric cars gave short presentations on how their technology could be used at UEA before Bus companies Anglia and First announced a willingness to work further with the University to encourage public transport use, possibly in the form of greater ticket subsidies.

A number of practical suggestions to increase numbers cycling to UEA were also made, these included the provision of more cycle facilities such as a dedicated 'cycle centre' to provide loan or hire facilities, a cycle workshop to provide basic maintenance and services, and a substantial increase in cycle parking facilities.

The meeting was not attended by any of the university body responsible for car park plan. This has furthered complaints

T

he reputation of genetically modified products continues to get worse and worse. The science has always been worrying to many people, and many governments have been criticized for the lack of research that has gone on.

What really concerns people is the complete lack of ethics in the actions of most of the big GM companies. This new science has been portrayed as one that will help the impoverished farmers, boost struggling economies and end third world hunger. Yet countless stories have been coming to light, revealing how big biotechs have been trampling over farmers to get their way.

Last week the world heard about the injustice suffered by Ignacio Chapela.

Once a professor of microbial ecology at Berkeley university in California, Ignacio was fired from his job after questioning

donations to the university from major GM companies and completing research that showed GM contamination in his home country of Mexico. It became clear to him the university was being funded to help excuse the biotech businesses from ecological damage.

Even without the news of cover-ups like this, the current science is unnerving.

GM material has been contaminating crops all over the world, and it is of no surprise when the facts are examined.

Considered that dust from the Sahara desert has been found in great Britain, and GM crops are grown out in the open right next to normal plants. The biotech companies hold no responsibility for containing their produce. There was the shocking story of Percy Schmeiser, a Canadian farmer growing crops next door to the GM giant Monsanto. When his crops were contaminated he was ordered

to pay $140,000 for "patent infringement", for growing the company’s GM products with out permission. Percy has been in and out of the courts for over a year attempting to get the matter resolved. He is 73.

Also disturbing is the flimsiness of the EU legislation. The European Union allows a load of grain to be up to 1% GM and still declared GM free. This is obviously incredibly misleading, for as described before, this is easily enough to contaminate many fields.

It would be nice to believe that genetically modified crops would solve all the world's problems, but it seems that the whole industry is yet to put a foot right.

The biotechs have tried everything to prove the worth of this new science, yet until success stories begin to replace the tails of corruption it will never be a popular alternative.

GM MAIZE

FUNKY FAIR TRADE

F

air-trade is one of the most pertinent issues at UEA. It is a subject that regularly swings in and out of the student consciousness, but some important events are on the horizon now.

There have been many members of the University campaigning to get us fairtrade status. A range of fair-trade products can be found on site, and over the last year fair-trade coffee machines have been phased in. But due to the bureaucracy involved in passing any such legislation, we are a long way from becoming a fair trade university like Edinburgh and others.

Now something has come along that may help this long running campaign the formation of a fair-trade society.

Although the group is yet to become an official university society, they have the 30

members required and are waiting on the unions response.

All this will come together when the biggest fair-trade event of the year is launched at the beginning of March. Fairtrade Fortnight is a national campaign aimed at promoting all the issues involved and last year UEA had a big part to play.

There were two weeks of activities here on campus, taking over LCR nights and using the whole square to raise the campaigns profile. This year promises to be bigger and better, and plans have already begun.

Any suggestions are welcome and all the groups involved will be looking for volunteers. Contact Turf for more information on any fair-trade issue. Fair-trade is an important campaign, and needs all students to keep the project going.

Plans have been released that outline the building of a new road and over 72,000 homes in Norfolk. A consultation meet ing was held in Norwich by the East of England Regional Assembly, with some seeing it as a much needed boost for the region, while environmentalists were concerned over the lack of sustainability involved. All sides agree that the plans require much further development.

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Concrete Wednesday, January 26th, 2005 Throwing paint away is almost impossi ble. You shouldn’t put in your rubbish bin because it’s toxic and for the same reason it can’t go out with the recycling.

But Norfolk charity has come up with the perfect solution. Community Re>Paint is run by Mini-Scrapbox, a charity which collects, stores and then passes on a wide variety of materials from local busi nesses. Anyone can drop off unused paint at B&Q on Boundary Road, in Norwich. They prefer only half tins or more of domestic paint.

A sixty year old anti-hunt protester sustained head injuries and whiplash after being hit by a horse at a private meet last week. Around 20 protesters wearing bal aclavas confronted 35 huntsmen riding with hounds and a leading member of Dunston Harriers today said a counterclaim of assault would be lodged after protesters allegedly whipped a huntsman in the same clash. A police spokesman said that officers were called out to nearby Eccles Road, East Harling, following reports of a breach of the peace.

The Government has announced that it wants to fine companies up to £550 if their buses fail to leave depots within five minutes of their timetable. Norwich county council has spent £9million improving the roads for buses over the last two years and feels it had done its bit. They want the First bus company to now uphold its part of the deal by provid ing a service the public can rely on as a reliable and environmentally friendly transport option.

ARE YOU OUR NEXT ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER? Turf turns its attention to the election - from the selection of candidates to the result itself

great precedent set by Ruth Cole. When this occurs, there are by-elections later on in the term, and last year this second round saw much more exciting action.

The election was a close race, with Andy Higson winning by less than ten votes.

This year Turf has spoken a number of times with Andy, following the implementation of his manifesto and seeking his opinions on a variety of environmental matters. Here he is again, offering us an insight into his job so far, and explaining why you should stand for the position this year. s the Environment Officer, Andy explains, you get to "campaign on the most important issues facing our planet and the people who live on it". He admits this may be a little dramatic but feels that this is ultimately "what it all boils down to". But he does stress the importance of having the "opportunity to use the union as a resource" for all kinds of environmental campaigns." As well as heading their own campaigns, the Environment officer acts as a point of contact for students who want to know how to get things done and who want more involvement in all the issues facing the student body. "You meet with people from the University to improve things on campus...ensure the Union and all its facilities are as environmentally sound as they can be".

As well as whatever individual interests and policies the next Environment Officer wishes to persue, there are a couple of big issues that are bound to have a big impact on their year. Obviously the car park debate will continue to rage on, and although the University may not begin the project within the year, there is a lot that the Environment Officer can still act on. How this is done, and how publicity is arranged may well be an election topic.

Another matter that has seen less attention in the recent weeks is the University’s stance on fair-trade (see opposite page). The Environment Officer will be heavily involved with the referendum on the Nestle Boycott, and the University needs someone strong to continue work on the University's fair-trade

A

E

lections are looming.

Yes, the much criticised Iraqi one, but also one a little bit closer. The Union Council Elections are just around the corner, and the next few features in Turf will be following the process, paying particular attention of course to the selection of our new Environment Officer.

Firstly we need some candidates. If you were thinking of applying for any position on the council, then you had better make a move soon as the deadline for nominations is the 2nd of February. By

the time Concrete next goes to print all those running will be known. The whole paper will be reporting on the choices, but Turf will offer you a full breakdown of that most prodigious seat, the Environment Officer. The issue after that will hit the shelves after the results are known, and once again Turf will be there ready to interview the winning campaigner. But this week we examine what the job actually entails.

Last year there was a serious cause for concern when nobody decided to stand as an Environment Candidate in the first round of elections, with everyone seemingly too afraid of failing to meet the

TREE OF THE FORTNIGHT The team that produce Tree of the Fortnight are regularly approached by animated young students demanding to know why the tree that they have always most admired is yet to make into this section. It is only with our deepest regrets that we are unable to portray the beauty of every tree in this magnificent world, and while we do our best to bring you only the most worthy specimen, it must be acknowledged that some delightful trees will have to go unproclaimed for now. But please reflect upon the caliber of tree that does get selected. Take this weeks Tree of the Fortnight. The Ilex Aquifoliun. The English Holly.

Don't begrudge it those spiky leaves. Pity it, for those spikes have only evolved to protect it from the bellies of malicious herbivores. If you were to climb the branches of a Ilex Aquifoliun until you were out of the reach of pesky critters, you would discover that the top leaves are enchantingly soft. But please don’t eat the berries.

Height: Up to 30ft Spread: Varied Shape: Varied - often as a hedgerow Foliage: Leaves can be shiny, leathery or waxy, and are spiny Flower: Small white flowers Fruit: Red berries - poisonous

Ilex Aquifoliun

status.

But it's not all a selfless mission there is a lot to be drawn from the experience of Union Council work. Andy describes how he "found out about environmental and ethical issues in more depth than ever before and met a lot of great people". He lamented that his time was coming to an end and encouraged everyone to take advantage of the opportunity now available to them.

He was also ready to offer a small warning, pointing out that the role isn't all plain sailing and at times can even prove very taxing. "I was surprised by the amount of work the most innocuous

“The Union can be an amazing resource for campaigns and solving problems” looking things take", he cautioned. He explained how hard it can be to find the time to get everything done and balance your Union responsibilities with your academic commitments. He says he’s learnt some very useful lessons in time management since he took up the position a year ago. But he finished by letting us know that the time and effort are “more than worth it."

Being a member of the Union Council does come with a lot of responsibility, and a decision to run for any position should not be taken lightly. However, the dividends can be enormous. Turf would like to encourage all readers to consider the option - the wider the choice of candidates the better the election.

Don't be put off if you feel you do not know enough about the issues. Andy himself has often described his job as a learning curve. All you really need is a dedication to the environment and the ability to motivate others.

And finally, good luck. Turf looks forward to speaking to all the candidates soon, and offers our support to anyone trying to make a positive change.

SUMMED UP The number of homeless households in England = The number of children being counselled by Unicef in Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu for trauma due to relatives lost in the Tsunami = Weekly print run of entertainment and gossip magazine HEAT =

100 000

Number of complaints received by the BBC over the screening of the Jerry Springer Opera = How much a Welsh boy conned out of peopleon eBay = The contents value of the average British home =

45ooo Children orphaned by Aids in sub-Saharan Africa =

Afghans registered to vote =

Death toll in Congo following 6 years of conflict=

3.8 million

“They were just keeping me warm”

BBQ SWAN SPEAKS

SCHOOL’S OUT UEA discombobulated as department turns out to be bogus

Your Problems Solved Prof.

Roderick Mulhapton Filkington-Phipps, Rodders to his friends, senior economic adviser to the World Bank and the IMF gives informed counsel to your personal problems.

Dear Rodders

Down and out: A ‘sign’ of things to come? Ho ho ho UEA was licking metaphorical wounds caused by actual embarrassment last night, as it emerged an entire department may have spent the last 25 years teaching a wholly fictional subject.

A top secret report has confirmed what many had suspected for some time - that the University's once prestigious Discombobulation Studies programme genuinely is a joke. Lectures are to be stopped immediately and the department's 31 teaching staff have been sent on paid leave. More than 300 hundred students nervously await news of their future.

A class trip to Swaffham Aerodrome will still go ahead.

Discombobulation was introduced to UEA in 1980 by Prof. Johnny Van Doughnuts, an Armenian Academic with seemingly flawless, now probably fabricated, credentials. Van

Doughnuts pitched his subject as an exciting new combination of prose mathematics, contact philosophy and lacrosse. It proved extremely popular, and by the mid-nineties UEA Discombobulators were amongst the most sought after graduates in both the fisheries industry and the London variety circuit. In recent years, however, doubts were being voiced as to how seriously a subject that consisted largely of aggressive tanning and shot-by-shot analysis of world championship snooker finals should be taken by the academic world.

It is thought the deception slipped through UEA's rigorous quality control processes because of Van Doughnuts' devious ploy of using two spellings for 'Discombobulation' on his application form, making it extremely difficult to check in an illustrated

encyclopedia.

The full effects of the deception will not be known for some months.

Any former Discombobulation Studies students with concerns regarding the sudden, total worthlessness of their degrees have been advised to "stop moaning because there are plenty of people far worse off than you." One of those people is understood to be the Discombobulation Dean who was overheard to announce, "My whole life has been a sham." His upcoming Discombobuation text book (provisionally titled New Approaches to Moon Killing) has been postponed indefinitely.

Professor Van Doughnuts was not available for comment, as he is currently fulfilling a three-month singing engagement on a cruise ship in the Adriatic Sea.

No one expects to get younger and I am now of an age where my youth visibly dwindles with each passing minute. I have put away my childish things and with them has gone my acne and my over-active libido. I have become tired and write to you now as one whose daily forays into the bathroom are greeted with a reflection in the mirror that grows increasingly weary of seeing itself in the mirror, the image being merely a sharp reminder of how bloated and balding I am becoming.

As you surely know, age brings with it memories steeped in regret and the mind does nothing but torture us with the way that things could have been. But this mental anguish is nothing compared to that most feared of aged affliction. I speak, of course; of piles.

For the last year I have felt this affliction arrive and have attempted to hold it off by the purchase of increasingly softer toilet tissue (with the result that I am now a regular user of Pampers wet-wipes). But I fear the time is approaching where I will hobble to and from my seated positions like a cheap hooker plying her trade after a football match.

With your great esteemed knowledge, surely you can suggest some way in which I can stave off this wretched affliction. If you are unable to help, then I am sure I will have to adopt the ‘John Wayne’ approach and learn to hold soft eider between by clenched buttocks.

Yours, Tender Dear Tender Though your pain transcends the written word, I have no advice on this matter.

IT’S OVER: BRIAN & BETTY SPLIT Brian yesterday After weeks of rumour and speculation it's finally official - UEA couple Brian Wilkins and Betty Serpico have called it a day.

A source close to both parties told the UEA Enquirer, "In the end they just drifted apart as people, neither one is blaming the other,

and they're going to stay close friends."

While the announcement still comes as a shock, the writing was on the wall for the four-month relationship last Thursday, when Brian was spotted laughing with an un-named brunette woman after a Business Studies lecture. Residents of Brian's Norfolk Terrace residence hall said they hadn't seen Betty in almost a fortnight.

So what really went wrong for UEA's Golden Couple? The Enquirer has the inside story.

Brian Wilkins and Betty Serpico both arrived at the University of East Anglia as freshers in September, Brian from Milton Kenes to study Business, Betty from Leeds to study Literature; but in their search of knowledge, they hadn't bargained on finding

love.

The pair first laid eyes on each other across a crowded LCR dance floor and were instantly smitten. Months later Brian would remember, "I thought she was dead fit."

However, their romance had to wait as Betty puked all over her shoes.

After that initial hiccup (or chuck-up), they moved fast, first appearing in UEA society as an item just two weeks later. Friends commented that it seemed like a match made in heaven. One said yesterday, "They were at it all the time."

But happiness rarely lasts, and over the Christmas period the strain was beginning to show. Brian was said to be "disappointed"

by Betty's gift of a book, while Betty expressed her disapproval of Brian seeing an

ex-girlfriend when he went home of the holidays.

In the end it may have been the pressures of work that drove them apart. Betty often had to read two novels a week for her course, and Brian is believed to have an essay due at the end of January. There just wasn't time left for each other. Our source suggests it was Betty who first decided it was over.

Many on campus are devastated. One tearful student told us, "If Brian and Betty can't make it, what hope is there for the rest of us." The University has set up an advice centre for anyone who feels they need help.

A spokesperson said, "People need to remember that, in the high-stakes world of education, love sometimes has to take a back seat."

Concrete Wednesday, January 26 , 2005

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TRAVEL

A night in the life of Rob Castell

‘G

uantanamera!

Guajira Guantanamera!’

By far the most enjoyable line to sing from Jose Marti’s glorious poemturned-song that is now the unofficial anthem of his homeland, and in my case, the Proustian madeleine of an inspiring night in Havana, Cuba. If you can imagine a room not much bigger than a dorm in Waveney filled with a group of octogenarians singing that chorus with more fervour than the entire cast of the original Band Aid single (the original, yes, we’re talking HIGH energy) then you can begin to imagine the scene. Add to that rum-on-tap, the haze of ridiculously strong cigarettes and a man who should be a pop star playing an out-of-tune guitar in the corner and we have atmosphere as well as energy.

Add two sunburnt but euphoric English students and finally you have the full picture.

At the time, my travelling friend Tim and I were on our way home from the rather depressing tourist centre of Old Havana, where you get the package version of Cuba – the brochure photos in 3D, just as you’d

around the disorientating streets in the vague direction of our casa particular (effectively a hostel) we came across the sound of fun. Singing, whooping, laughing, a guitar, bottles clinking, this was definitely a party and we were in the perfect mood. Day three of the holiday, having spent hot and heavy days absorbing the dusty bustle of this bizarre city we were feeling that the time for a groove had come. We ventured down the street in the direction of the noise and found ourselves in a fairly dirty side street, with one door that kept swinging out into the street and looked as though it could swing off its hinges at any given moment. Panic struck as I realised we were about to enter somewhere that certainly wasn’t listed in the ‘Places to go’ section of my Lonely Planet. I decided to

at the tentative stage of our travels, but nevertheless poked our heads around the door to take a closer peek.

As soon as we did so we were thrown into the room described above, greeted with cheers and pats on the back, given a seat and a paper cup (soon to be filled) and allowed to join.

In fact, made to join. As I took in the scene, I realised we were in a circle against the walls of the room, the dance floor in the middle and we were going around one-by-one, each person delivering a song that we would then all get carried away by and freestyle with for a good few minutes. A chorus of ‘Guantanamera!’ was the default setting if ever there was a dip in the energy. Our turn came and Tim and I delivered a finely executed bit of harmonising from a South African reggae song (we were listening to it a lot at the time) and it was received with smiles and applause.

As the evening went on each of these fantastic old characters that had adopted us as grandchildren for the night came out with a story or song, dance or joke. I discovered later from Rodolfo, a sturdy and handsome man of around seventy-five that this was the normal course of events for a Sunday evening. He seemed to be in charge of rum distribution while two excitable ladies seemed to organise the chaos and ensure everyone got their turn and had enough to drink. These were old friends who had seen Castro come and would probably see him go and provided the onlooker with a paradoxical reaction. Here was

‘We were about to enter somewhere that certainly wasn’t listed in the ‘Places to go’ section of my Lonely Planet.’

hoped, smiling hombres with loud shirts shaking maracas and cocktail waiters salsa-dancing their way to your table under the colonial arches (sadly we have no photos). After a hasty exit and a good half hour of winding enjoyably

go against my instincts though and told myself reassuringly that I was probably going to have a ‘life experience’.

Student-paper-sarcasm aside though, there wasn’t an immediate air of welcome about the place and we were still

Fashion Resolutions: Have More Fun With Fashion This Year!

the dream of Cuba as I had read it in books about Che Guevara, a trusting and safe environment where no significance was given to anything material, everyone listening to each other, everyone with an equal fill of food and drink, where strangers would be welcomed from the street. However, here was also the defiant dance of the frustrated masses, the solidarity of those whose equal fill of rum could only be afforded once a week and whose songs and energy were unlikely to ever be felt outside Havana. It’s hard to witness anything in Cuba without using it to continue the debate with oneself about whether or not the Romantic Revolution has in fact been realised or not. This was one such occasion, with my thoughtful student hat on, asking myself ‘hey, should I be dancing here or trying to understand these peoples’ underlying suffering?’ I quickly berated myself for this and settled back into the beauty of the night that easily topped any trip to the LCR, even though the average age of the dancing girls was around seventy-two.

Half way through singing a freestyle in Spanish about how happy we were to be in these people’s company I lost my thread and cried ‘que mas?’ in exasperation, which means, ‘what else?’, as in, ‘what else can I say?’

The reaction I got from the entire group of our hosts always makes me laugh, they chanted it back at me, ‘Que mas!’, with accompanying hand gestures as though they were the heckling hip-hop crowd at the end of ‘8-mile’ and as I felt the force of that wonderful moment I felt the most alive I did all year without a doubt. Such positivity, such energy and warmth, such fun. I hope I’m that cool when I’m old.

FASHION

Forget those fashion fears of last year and instead of ignoring the idea of turning over a new leaf, embrace it by redoing your wardrobe, re-vamping your style and taking fashion on in 2005!Haven’t Got Anything To Wear? Can’t Shut Your Wardrobe Doors?

Kathryn West, Gets To The Bottom Of It! Instead of telling you what’s ‘in’ fashion at the moment, here’s some thoughts on how to handle those fashion movements by starting in the right place…

1

Clean out your

wardrobe!

It has to be faced: sort out those clothes!

Having lots of clothes does not necessarily mean you can be more fashionable than someone with less. Most of us pick and mix our clothes so that we actually buy our clothes because we wanted to wear them (and not to let them gather dust in the wardrobe). Re-doing your wardrobe means you can re-vamp your style and welcome in fashion trends that take your fancy. So, a great place to start is to get to the bottom of your clothes and throw those ill-fitting garments away. If they’re out of shape or out of style, put them out of sight!

2

Get the basics

Think of the simple garments that

will virtually go with anything you own, for example, a white top, black top, one solid jumper, black wraparound cardigan, white, black and khaki knickers, denim jeans…you know the requirements. Get these basics because the secret to them is that they are timeless. Everyone knows that fashion changes - even the cutest trends have a short life cycle, but these classics will never fade and are a must have for your wardrobe of 2005. As you can see, such basics are required for every look, perhaps because they can rescue any style.

Simple but effective.

3

Select and Reject

This may seem like a contradiction to enjoying, buying and wearing the fashions, but be trend picky! Are the ‘in’ trends our ‘rule book’ for what we should be wearing? Avoid fashion mistakes. It seems the purpose

of fashion is lost when clothes are chosen because they look trendy, which over-rides the idea of personal taste and style. Let the trends of 2005 influence, but not consume you and your budget!

4

Accessorize, Accessorize,

Accessorize Jewellery is often forgotten or over done. A matching turquoise beaded necklace and bangle can be the finishing touches to a plain out-fit.

Some might say the essential finishing touches.

Accessories also say originality.

And they are a celebration of femininity. Shall I even venture into the girl’s world that is shoes and bags?

Well, you can prepare for the months that follow by having that bag at hand and making sure you are one step ahead with what shoes to wear.

Experiment. And shop. Have no time?

Nonsense! The January sales

are a perfect time to hunt for accessories that will make every out-fit of 2005 complete from head to toe. Many of us add that little something, which matches the out-fits colour or style or so on, in a way that transforms our look. This is because accessorizing so fantastically perfects a look, whether it is a dressing up or dressing casual one. Perhaps a variety of accessories at your fingertips will allow you to achieve that finished look stress free.

22 concrete.fashionlifestyle@uea.ac.uk

Y

uck…. Another LCR. Another vodka-fuelled hangover. I slowly emerge from my bed in an oath-like state, avoiding the mirror at all costs, stumble into the kitchen, find the Alka Seltzer, plonk, plonk, fizz….

Vision starting to return, headache is still present, light is still hurting my eyes… There’s only one thing for it.

Frying pan. Bacon. Butter.

Ketchup. Ooooh yes, that’s the stuff. And slowly, as I tuck into my greasy culinary treat, I emerge into my regular goddesslike self! Magic. Like all meateaters, I widely acknowledge the fact that there is no better way to get over a hangover than having

people choose to give up such delights as the bacon buttie or a glorious Rodney burger?!

I think it started at a young age, when my best friend, with whom I had shared numerous chicken nugget and chips, decided to become a veggie after watching some TV show. Gone were the days when she could just pop round to mine for tea; she was all into veggie burgers and soya sausages. I remember once trying one and, being a child with very little decency or manners immediately spitting it out and demanding true meat.

The thing is, I’ve always been a great meat eater. My parents always encouraged me to eat meat so I could argue the main reason that I love my meat is because it’s what I was brought up on. Every Sunday, roast chicken with all the trimmings. Every Thursday night, Bangers and mash. In fact there weren’t many days as a child that I would go

How can people choose to give up such delights as the bacon buttie or a glorious Rodney burger? a big, greasy bacon buttie. No, let me retract that, there is no better way to start ANY day, hungover or not, with a bacon buttie.

You just can’t beat it.

Vegetarianism has always baffled me. OK, so I know this is rather un-PC for me to state, and I will probably be heckled by hoards of veggies as I next enter the Hive and tuck into my chicken salad bap, but vegetarianism… I just don’t get it. How can

Meat-based Recipe For all you budding Delia’s!!!

without consuming some form of meat.

However, my love for meat goes so much further than this. I love my food. And in my opinion, there is not much more satisfying than tucking into a great meat dish. Roast chicken, put it with some potatoes, some steamed vegetables, and you’ve got a wonderful, nutritious meal.

Try comparing that to Quorn burgers. Mmmm(!)

To warm your cockles on those cold winter’s nights!

50g Cheddar (Mature) 200ml Beef Stock 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil 1 tablespoon Flour (plain) 1/2 teaspoon Rosemary (dried) 1/2 teaspoon Thyme (dried) Salt Black Pepper

You will need:

Method:

500g Minced Lamb 800g Potatoes 1 large Carrot 1 large Onion 60ml Milk 30g Butter

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (gas mk 6, 400°F). Dice the onion and carrot. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion and carrot. Fry for 5-8 minutes stirring occasionally

Shepherd’s Pie:

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MEAT IN OR

As vegetarianism is now a way of life for so many, Donna Boam takes a moment to remind everyone about what they’re missing out on.

Meat and two veg???

Yes please!!!!

Concrete Wednesday, January 26 , 2005

www.concrete-online.com

The rise in vegetarianism over recent years has caused much concern amongst British farmers, many of whom believe that the increase in vegetarian products on the market has contributed considerably to a decline in sales of fresh meat.

Things are looking up though - celebrities such as Madonna are leaving their vegetarian diets behind and favouring meat. It appears there is a gradual realisation that meat is an excellent addition to any diet, providing a good source of protein which is vital to any diet and something that vegetarian substitutes alone cannot provide. Whereas a meat eater is in little danger of missing out on essential nutrients, a vegetarian has to be very careful to eat the right foods in order to get enough of them. It was recently discovered by the TNS Family Food Panel that one in five so-called vegetarians admitted eating poultry and over half ate fish. Gone are the days when vegetarianism was the ‘hip’ thing to do. Vegetarianism is on the out dahling! Chicken is the new black.

T

hen there are the vegetarians who follow a strict vegetarian diet because they don’t believe in the way some animals are treated. This is a fair comment, and KFC has recently (and rightly) come under fire for providing poor conditions for its chickens to live in. However, many of these vegetarians still continue to wear leather shoes.

Surely if they were that committed then they would give these up too?

Many people take up a vegetarian diet because they believe it will be healthier. Yes, it is certainly fair to say that many meat dishes do contain a large amount of fat, but many vegetarians eat a lot of cheese and cream-based dishes, resulting in a diet extremely high in fat. As Sarah Stanner, of the British Nutrition Foundation explains, “You cannot assume that by taking meat out of your diet you are necessarily going to be healthier. It depends upon what you replace it with. People cannot just take something out of their diet and not replace the nutrients.”

Following a vegetarian diet is also no cheap feat. The vast majority of meat-substitute products are considerably more expensive than normal meat products, something that I, as a cashstrapped third year, cannot afford.

I am prepared to concede a certain amount and state that, despite horrid recollections of spitting out a veggie sausage aged 7, I recently had a Quorn burger and discovered that I actually quite liked it. It was relatively tasty, yet it just did not compare to your regular quarter pound beefburger. There’s no changing me – I will always be an avid meat eater.

I do admire vegetarians. They

The ultimate BBQ

until the onion is lighlty browned. Meanwhile, skin quarter and boil the potatoes in water until softened.

4. Mash the potatoes with the butter and milk until smooth.

Grate the cheddar and mix into the potato with a pinch of salt.

2. Add the minced lamb to the onion and carrot and fry for a further 10 minutes, stirring and breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon.

5. Check the lamb for seasoning, adding salt if necessary (be careful with the salt as your beef stock will already contain salt).

Spoon the lamb into a baking dish, and cover with the mashed potato. Use a fork to draw ridges across the top if desired.

3. Stir in the flour. Add the beef stock, rosemary, thyme and tomato puree. Season with black pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.

are certainly a lot stronger willed than I am; I really don’t think I could go for a whole two days without eating meat! I respect the wishes of all veggies, for I am close friends with a few, but surely it is time for a Carnivore Society. The veggies have got their Vegetarian Society, us meat eaters should to unite and declare our love for meat!!! Call me ignorant, call me rude, call me blood-thirsty, I’m just going to go and tuck into my bacon sandwich. Delightful.

6. Bake the shepherds pie for 35 - 40 minutes until the potato is lightly browned.

Concrete Wednesday, January 26 , 2005

VEG OUT? W hen a vegetarian is asked “So, what exactly do you eat?...(as if meat is the only food substance on the planet), to answer in a few words “Well, nuts, lots of vegetables..,” is about as interesting as a dry crust. It is hard to express the range of delicious foods that vegetarians can and do actually eat. Millions of us are vegetarian, and they are not people reluctantly munching away on ‘rabbit’ food, lentil burgers and nuts, hating every minute. As Juliet Gellately from‘The Vegetarian Society’ states: “Vegetarian eating is about imagination and expermentation, diversity and change.”

‘Change’ is perhaps the word to express such a diet,one without meat. ‘Change’ is what is taking place - a food revolution. It is true to say that vegetarians are becoming more widely understood and accepted. A decade ago vegetarians were seen as “weirdos” but today everyone seems to know one - perhaps because almost four million of us are one.

The idea of cutting down on meat and animal products and eating more fresh vegetables and fruit (as well as lots of bread, pasta and pulses) in our meals is becoming very popular. The statistics of a recent major Vegetarian Society food survey (by Bradford University) show that apart from 28,000 becoming vegetarian every week, over 4 million people eat no red meat and over 9 million have drastically reduced their meat intake. The change is definately growing fast, a firm 40 % of the population have considered becoming vegetarian.

Vegetarian cookery is a whole new world for some of us, one that can be as mouth-watering and variable as meat dishes.

Although this may be a shock to many meat-mad students, vegetarian eating can suit all tastes, pockets and occasions. As with many students, if you leave writing your essay one day before the deadline, cram your revision and study late into the night (after partying first) it is vital that you eat a well-balanced diet, whether you eat meat or not.

Students, like ourselves, who have moved away from home and into university may find these upheavals difficult alone, without having to think about converting to non-meat eating as well. Although being a vegetarian means you do need to consider ways around not eating meat, by thinking again about cooking, eating out and choosing what to buy when cruising the aisles of the supermarket, it is not as difficult as it may seem at first. If it was that much of a hassal we would start to wonder if students would bother at all. But they do...

concrete.fashionlifestyle@uea 23

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VEG OUT...it’s the ‘in’ thing! Be inspired by taste...try the vegetarian option, and don’t let the veggie way vex you!

Kathryn West tells us why Vegetarianism is a lot more than a load of old vegetables!

So why do people become vegetarian? Many are simply repulsed by ‘humane’ slaughterhouse methods and believe killing animals and eating them is wrong.

Many children become vegetarian when they learn that even leftover lips, eyelids and other scraps of the corpses are made into sausages for them to eat.

Some become vegetarian due to environmental concern or becuase of Third World Impoverishment, while others believe it is healthier.

“I have been a vegetarian all my life, so it seems completely natural to me. In some ways because I have never eaten meat, I don’t know what I am missing. I am very impressed by people who have eaten meat for years then given it up. All my Anna Steward Fashion Editor

Whatever the reason is for becoming vegetarian, one of the main concerns is whether vegetarian diets are actually less healthy because of the absence of meat. It has been argued that a vegetarian diet can be equally as healthy as a meat“Iam vegeterian being difficult! It’s based one; the nutribecause British meat is less fun when your’re ents given your food and that meat provides can dangerous, I was eatbe found in other ing poisioned beef for are explained that it foods. Across India ten years until I found is “special food for and the East, millions out.

Who knows what’s special people” - but of people eat nothing poison today? For the on the plus side you but vegetarian food, first year of giving up always get served whilst the Japanese diet contains meat I dreamt of bacon first.” very little meat and tra- sandwiches, but I am James Conway ditional African and no longer tempted by a Turf Editor Middle Eastern foods I have been a bacon butty. It is great are largely meat-free. vegetarian all my life, 19 years. fun going on planes This shows there are My Mum thousands of ingrediand being vegeterian ents from around the is vegetarian because her Mum because it is always fun world, (ones most is and my family were meat-eaters ignore, some might brought up that way. It’s Kat West argue), for us all to experience. a thing that has passed Fashionista ‘Cauldron,’ a food company, down believes that “if you want to reduce, or cut our family generations. out the meat in your Well, on my Mum’s side daily eating, you anyway. shouldn’t have to eat My Dad’s side is a little meat substitutes, or different, and his Dad compromise on the taste or the actually owns a chicken texture of your food. farm! However, this differThere are so many ence delicious alternahas never been a problem tives.”

Therefore, being a vegetarian has a lot more to offer than dreary nut cutlets or lentil hotpot. One could actually live for months on sucha range of delicious and colourful dishes, without noticing an absence in meat. So if you are one of those meat-mad students, “I gave up meat at the why not try sometender age of seven. I saw thing different - you cannot say until you a graphic documentary try it out, and it can on whaling and decided I be quick and simple would never eat another (and yummy) when animal again. My mom is you know how! a vegetarian anyway so Delete the meat from your diet and VEG OUT...you might just never look back!

she didn’t mind. The rest of my family and friends thought I was nuts and have been trying to slip meat into my food ever since. Going to barbe-

and my parents let my sister, brother and I decide if we wanted to Ross Grainger Features Editor continue being vegetarian when we were older. I wanted to continue

ques can be pretty awkward, and sometimes the vegetarian alternatives are pretty gross but I have never looked back. I am a great advert for vegetarianism, I am a pillar of health and a prime physical specimen (see attached photograph).

family are vegetarian, there is no need for me to eat meat as I have a healthy balanced diet without having to cause additional deaths. Ecosystems are so effected by farming and pesticides that I cannot claim to have a clear conscience, but I choose the lesser of two evils.”

because I learnt about the cruelty to animals that is involved in eating meat. Plus, I’ve never eaten meat and I’m fine and don’t feel I’m missing out, so why should I start now? When I’m back home, the meat eaters of my family, my Dad and brother, happily eat vegetarian family main meals nearly every day, or instead we cook a vegetarian dish and a meat dish and sit to eat our seperate meals together.

24 concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk

Concrete Wednesday, January 26 , 2005

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HOROSCOPES Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19 You’ll find the strange melancholy of “missing cat/dog” posters overcomes you this fortnight and make it your mission to hunt down every wayward pooch and puss. It’s thankless work, and you’ll soon learn to ignore the pleas of heartbroken pet owners.

Cancer Jun 22 - Jul 22 The stars have some surprises in store for you, pet! You’ll be approached some time next week by a tall man or woman claiming to have the answers to all your questions, follow them and they’ll lead you into a labyrinth of revelation in which you’ll lose your soul.

Libra Sept 23 - Oct 23 This fortnight you must go camping to fully realise your purpose in life my sweetpea. No more duvets and wall to wall carpeting for you, they’re only obstacles shielding you from true happiness. Fashion a tent from duffel coats and take a packed lunch.

Capricorn Dec 22 - Jan 19 Tut-tut, you Capricorn you!

You’ve spent so long on campus you’ve neglected your loving relatives back home.

So many long overdue phonecalls to be made! Make them all gifts fashioned from plasticine and hope they learn to forgive you some day.

Lucky Words: cupcakes smupcakes

Lucky Words: candy, strangers

Lucky Words: Conrete duvet

Lucky Words: artistic grovelling

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20 As a feel-good pasttime this fortnight, find a intellectually gifted pal and persuade them to let you disguise yourself in their clothes, attend their lectures and bathe your ego in the awe their huge brain inspires.

Tape record yourself doing so and then watch repeatedly.

Leo Jul 23 - Aug 22 Wear red to the next LCR and the movement of the planets will leave you irresistable to members of the opposite sex, wear green and you’ll end up exchanging witty banter with the glib and charming alike.

Don’t wear fuscia, you’ve been warned.

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 21 The stars have shown me that you’re feeling underwhelmed with your tedium drenched existence.

Quench your thirst for excitement by changing your middle name to “danger” by Deed Poll. Then show your new passport to passers-by, asking their opinion.

Aquarius Jan 20 - Feb 18 This fortnight you’ll feel the urge to relive your youth. Spend all night on a street corner drinking economy cider, then get up really early the next morning and put on your old school uniform, then loiter in a friend’s back garden smoking cigarettes that aren’t yours.

Lucky Words: incognito ingenius

Lucky Words: Lilac and mauve = ok

Lucky Words: Officially interesting

Lucky Words: Happy Birthdays!

Gemini May 21 - Jun 21 This fortnight you’ll feel an immense bubble of tranquility protect you from all life’s woes. You can hide in this bubble all fortnight and escape from the madness surrounding you.

Virgo Aug 23 - Sept 22 This fortnight you’ll be at your most energetic, only good things will befall you and all your foes will become your friends.

Probably a good time to buy a lottery ticket. Smiles!

Sagittarius Nov 22 - Dec 21 Stretch your creative muscles, darling.

You’ve always had an artistic streak in you. Sell tickets to your own exhibition in the hope you’ll pull it all together on the day.

Pisces Feb 19 - Mar 20 Mystic forces reveal you’ll have several rude awakenings in the coming weeks.

Ride the fortnight out and you’ll feel much rosier come Febuary.

Lucky Words:novacaine nonchalence

Lucky Words: all of them

Lucky Words: Luck of the draw

Lucky Words: none, none at all.

Letters...

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Please send letters attention of the Editor, Philip Sainty, to: Concrete, Union House, UEA, Norwich, NR4 7TB, or email: conerete.editorial@uea.ac.uk

Writers:

Disappointed Staff To the Editor, Concrete, We are ten Lecturers/Professors from several quite different Schools across the University, and we are writing because we were all very disturbed to read in your pages recently of the Governance Committee’s proposals for the radical transformation of Senate, from a broadly-based democratic body of over 100 members, the vast majority of these elected, to a committee of 28 with no elected members except for the 3 student reps.

Any Senate worthy of the name surely needs to have the clear majority of its members elected, rather than appointed by the administration or by the Deans of Faculty.

Furthermore, Senate will fail to represent UEA adequately if it does not have on it at least one academic from every School in the University. Under the current proposals, many Schools may – in fact, will — be entirely unrepresented in the new Senate.

Preserving these two principles – the election of most members of Senate and the representation of every School on Senate – would suggest a Senate with somewhere between 35 and 50 members. This is not, we submit, unduly unwieldy, and still represents a massive (and, on balance, welcome) decrease in size from the current Senate.

We urge staff (and students) across UEA to ensure that, when the Governance proposals come to Senate, they are amended in roughly the way we are suggesting here. Allowing the proposals to go through as they stand would, by contrast, mean in effect the renunciation of the most basic principles of academic governance at UEA. Such a move would in the end benefit no-one: not the reputation of the University, not staff, not students, not even the administration itself.

Margit Thofner (ART), John Greenaway (PSI), Ken Lodge (LLT), Paul Chilton (LLT), Ken Cole (DEV), Jock Cameron (DEV), Barbara Goodwin (PSI), David Seddon (DEV), Rupert Read, (PHI), Johannes Siemons (MTH).

Matt Cantor Emma Chaloner Bryan Davies Alyssa Morrisey Simon Sheridan Matt Shoesmith Kate Wilkinson

Disappointed Student Union Dear Concrete, The student’s union are most disappointed by the proposed reforms agreed by the Joint committee on Governance on the 10th December 2004 (your report in the last issue) The student’s union support the idea that the university Senate needs reform but such a radical reduction in numbers means that vast chunks of university staff, both academic and non-academic, will not be represented in what is the highest academic decision-making body at UEA. The fact there will be only twelve academics is unfortunate as it means that there will be some schools which will have no representatives at all sitting on the new Senate.

And it gets worse! As these twelve professors and lecturers will not be selected or chosen by their fellow academics means that they will have not a mandate to represent their fellow academics, they will just be appointees (selected by the Faculty Deans, their bosses). This undermines the basic principle of democracy that you have to be elected the people you are supposed to represent.

The students feel that these changes will result in a decision making process heavily dominated by a management style, narrow based group.

The collegiate responsibility, and broad based decision making, that is essential for the academic wellbeing of the university is being compromised.

Yours Sincerely Chris Ostrowski, Academic Officer, Union of UEA Students Cat Lumb, Communications Officer, Union of UEA Students

Crossword:

Abigail Foldes

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Concrete Wednesday, January 26 , 2005

concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk 25

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BUSA TABLES (UEA TEAMS) BUSA Midlands Division One BASKETBALL MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION ONE (A)

P W D L GD PTS Wolves 7 6 - 1 125 18 ----------------------------------------------------Birmingham 7 5 - 2 121 15 UEA 7 5 - 2 26 15 Warwick 5 2 - 3 42 6 ----------------------------------------------------Cambridge 5 1 - 4 -34 3 Oxford 2 7 0 - 7 -280 0

FENCING MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION ONE (A)

P W D L GD PTS Birmingham 6 6 0 0 395 18 ----------------------------------------------------UEA 7 5 0 2 83 15 L’borough 6 4 0 2 98 12 Oxford 2 6 4 0 2 -48 12 Leicester 6 3 0 3 89 9 Warwick 6 2 0 4 -143 6 Cambridge 7 2 0 5 -155 6 Nottingham 2 6 2 0 4 -176 6 S’shire (Stoke) 6 0 0 6 -132 0 * only play each other once

FOOTBALL MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION ONE (A)

P W D L GD PTS Lincoln 7 5 1 1 12 16 ----------------------------------------------------Birmingham 7 4 1 2 5 13 Cambridge 7 3 2 2 1 11 Warwick 7 3 1 3 -2 10 ----------------------------------------------------UEA 7 2 0 5 -8 6 DMU (Bed) 7 1 1 5 -8 4

HOCKEY WOMEN MIDLANDS DIVISION ONE (A)

SQUASH WOMEN MIDLANDS DIVISION ONE (A)

P W D L GD PTS Notts Trent 7 6 0 1 38 18 ----------------------------------------------------Nottingham 6 4 1 1 10 13 UEA 7 4 0 3 0 12 Warwick 7 2 1 4 -3 7 ----------------------------------------------------Derby 7 2 0 5 -27 6 S’shire (Stoke) 6 1 0 5 -18 3

P W D L GD PTS Oxford 6 5 0 1 23 15 ----------------------------------------------------Cambridge 4 4 0 0 10 12 Warwick 5 3 0 2 -1 9 Nottingham 2 3 1 0 2 -7 3 Oxford 2 5 1 0 4 -15 3 ----------------------------------------------------UEA 5 0 0 5 -10 0 * 2 matches with teams withdrawing under review

RUGBY MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B)

TENNIS MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B)

BUSA Midlands Division Two BADMINTON MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (A)

GOLF MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B)

P W D L GD PTS L’borough 2 7 7 0 0 44 21 ----------------------------------------------------Nottingham 2 7 6 0 1 30 18 UEA 7 3 0 4 6 9 Notts Trent 2 7 3 0 4 -16 9 ----------------------------------------------------Derby 7 2 0 5 -16 6 Lincoln 7 0 0 7 -48 0

P W D L GD PTS UEA 6 5 0 1 14 15 ----------------------------------------------------S’shire (Stoke) 5 3 1 1 6 10 Lincoln 2 6 2 2 2 1 8 Nottingham 2 5 2 0 3 0 6 DMU (Lei) 6 0 1 5 -21 1

BADMINTON WOMEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (A)

P W D L GD PTS UEA 7 5 2 0 41 17 ----------------------------------------------------Warwick 6 3 3 0 14 12 Leicester 7 3 2 2 -2 11 Ox. Brookes 7 2 1 4 -13 7 Derby 6 2 0 4 -14 6 ----------------------------------------------------Nottingham 2 7 0 2 5 -26 2

P W D L GD PTS Warwick 6 3 1 2 10 10 ----------------------------------------------------DMU (Lei) 5 3 1 1 8 10 UEA 5 2 3 0 8 9 Aston 5 1 2 2 -4 5 Lincoln 5 0 1 4 -22 1

FOOTBALL WOMEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B)

HOCKEY MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B)

P W D L GD PTS Nottingham 2 7 5 0 2 12 15 ----------------------------------------------------L’borough 3 6 4 1 1 27 13 Ox. Brookes 7 4 1 2 17 13 Oxford 5 3 0 2 0 9 ----------------------------------------------------UEA 7 2 0 5 -4 6 Lincoln 6 0 0 6 -52 0 * 2 Oxford match withdrawals under review

P W D L GD PTS Nottingham 2 7 6 0 1 78 18 ----------------------------------------------------L’borough 2 6 5 0 1 166 15 Coventry 7 3 0 4 -49 9 UEA 6 2 0 4 -6 6 ----------------------------------------------------Northampton 7 2 0 5 -122 6 DMU (Bed) 5 1 0 4 -67 3

NETBALL WOMEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B)

P W D L GD PTS UEA 3 3 0 0 127 9 ----------------------------------------------------Nottingham 2 4 2 0 2 39 6 DMU (Lei) 3 1 0 2 -23 3 Derby 1 1 0 0 15 3 Lincoln 3 0 0 3 -158 0 * Derby withdrew from 4 matches, which are all under review.

P W D L GD PTS Nottingham 2 6 6 0 0 140 18 ----------------------------------------------------L’borough 2 7 5 0 2 120 15 Notts Trent 7 3 1 3 2 10 UEA 6 2 1 3 -12 7 ----------------------------------------------------Lincoln 6 1 0 5 -113 3 DMU (Lei) 6 1 0 5 -137 3

RUGBY WOMEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B)

P W D L GD PTS Nottingham 2 5 4 1 0 30 13 ----------------------------------------------------Nottingham 3 5 4 1 0 22 13 DMU (Lei) 5 3 1 1 20 10 Leicester 4 2 1 1 12 7 Notts Trent 5 2 0 3 -4 6 Leicester 2 5 1 0 4 -22 3 Lincoln 5 1 0 4 -30 3 UEA 4 0 0 4 -28 0 * 1 match with a withdrawal under review

BUSA Midlands Division Three to Five (UEA 2nd Teams) HOCKEY MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION THREE (B)

P W D L GD PTS UEA 2 7 6 1 0 39 19 ----------------------------------------------------DMU (Bed) 6 5 1 0 32 16 Northampton 6 4 0 2 -3 12 Leicester 2 7 2 0 5 -10 6 DMU (Lei) 7 1 0 6 -23 3 Coventry 3 7 1 0 6 -25 3

NETBALL WOMEN MIDLANDS DIVISION FOUR (D)

P W D L GD PTS DMU (Bed) 2 7 7 0 0 137 21 ----------------------------------------------------DMU (Bed) 3 6 5 0 1 82 15 Warwick 3 6 5 0 1 65 15 UEA 2 5 2 0 3 58 6* N’hampton 2 6 2 0 4 -25 6 Leicester 2 6 1 1 4 -75 4 Coventry 2 5 1 0 4 -39 3 Coventry 3 5 1 0 4 -96 3 DMU (Lei) 2 4 0 1 3 -107 1 * only play each other once

RUGBY MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION FOUR (B)

P W D L GD PTS UEA 2 5 3 0 2 25 9 ----------------------------------------------------DMU (Bed) 2 5 3 0 2 10 9 Warwick 3 5 3 0 2 -2 9 Coventry 2 3 2 0 1 1 6 ----------------------------------------------------N’hampton 2 6 2 0 4 -40 6 Cranfield 4 1 0 3 6 3 * 5 matches with withdrawals under review

FOOTBALL MIDLANDS DIVISION FIVE (D)

P W D L GD PTS UEA 2 6 6 0 0 29 18* DMU (Lei) 3 5 3 0 2 3 9 ----------------------------------------------------Leicester 4 6 2 1 3 0 7 DMU (Bed) 4 6 2 1 3 -11 7 APU (Cam) 2 5 0 0 5 -21 0 * Group Champions and qualified for BUSA Vase

26 concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk

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Concrete Wednesday, January 26 , 2005

CITY MUST FILL THE GAP BEFORE ITS TOO LATE

th

Amazing comeback by Canaries fails to hide the cracks in the City wall that could cost Norwich their Premiership status

Drury and Mcveigh celebrate the dramatic 4-4 equaliser last

Marc Dudley Sports-Editor There is never a dull moment at Carrow Road and Saturday’s amazing comeback was another example of the Canaries’ fighting sprit.

The “never give up” attitude of the players and the passionate hearts of the

“real” fans (the disgraceful fans that left when City were 1-4 down should think about all the true Norwich fans that were left outside without a ticket for the game!) that got behind the team when they needed them the most sends out a determined message to the rest of the Premiership.

However, a good fighting

spirit on its own will not keep you up. The view of the public could have been so different if Adam Drury had not headed in the equaliser in the dying minutes of the match, and there is a clear problem at Carrow road and it is the team’s poor defensive display.

Dean Ashton is an excellent signing for the club, but his natural scorSaturday ing instinct will not help a bit if goals keep on leaking in at the other end. They have given away too many goals cheaply this season, and they will be playing Championship football next season if they don’t start getting their act together. Yes, on Saturday they were extremely lucky to get one point, but if it hadn’t have been for the poor mark-

ing in the area for two of the goals on Saturday, City could have been celebrating three points for only the third time this season.

Now, the defensive responsibility is mainly down to the defenders but it is not really fair to criticise only the City defence. The City defence does lack Premiership quality, yes, but without some help from the midfield the Canary defensive wall will be broken down quite easily.

This is where the problem lies; the midfields lack of defensive responsibility.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of quality in the Norwich midfield, but Mulryne, Francis, Johnson, McVeigh, Safri etc. all have the strengths in the final third of the pitch. The only City midfielder with good defensive skills is Gary Holt and without him the link between the defence and midfield seems to have been lost.

Holt’s lengthy lay-off due to his recovery from a haemothorax suffered in

November, left a gap in the teams link-up play. Francis has the determination to succeed in Holt’s role, but City can’t afford to lose his surging runs into the box, which has seen him net five times this season. Every team needs a player that can play between defence and midfield, a player that helps out the defence and links the defence and midfield.

All teams need to have a player with this responsibility and without them, they often struggle. Holt’s endurance is amazing and he runs around like a Duracell bunny constantly trying to close down the attacks of the opposition. That’s his main job on the field and when he is not playing, the other midfielders are too committed forward and it seems nobody wants to take full responsibility in that position. With 46 goals against, they have the worst defensive record in the league, and it may not be the most glamorous of positions on the field, but without someone taking the

pressure off the defence, City will not survive. The whole midfield needs to take a bigger responsibility in their defensive duties and now that Holt is back, his presence on the field will hopefully rub off on the rest of the players. He is an important part of the City team and like any team, if you are missing a part, it does not work.

Finally, if Norwich can also improve on defending set pieces then maybe the Canaries can survive.

Worthington does like his players to play attractive football, and although it is great to watch, it does not always get results. Unless City can stop giving away silly goals, and start taking more responsibility in their defensive duties then the points won’t come. Like Worthington said “There are 14 cup finals left” and City must win the majority of them if they are to keep their Premiership dream alive.

On Saturday 4th December the UEA Korfball club played host to the BSKA Southern Championship.

Teams from across the southern region of the country came together to compete in a tournament to determine the seedings for March’s Nationals competition. The hosts were set to defend their Southern champions title for the third year running, and competed against 6 other university sides; Cardiff, Bristol, Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Cambridge and Canterbury.

The UEA team went undefeated thoughout the whole tournament, winning their matches 8-0, 6-2, 9-0, 5-2, 4-2 and 8-2 respectively, going on to collect the trophy. The squad; Luke Jeffrey, Adam Preston, James Phillips, Paul Beale, Nick White, Neil Wakefield, Amy Samson, Alice Tomlinson, Ami Broughton and Laura Jedrzejewski, captained by Sophie Robins, all contributed goals towards the result and are coming together successfully with the aim of winning the Nationals having been

pipped to the post as runners-up for the past two years.

Alongside the main competition the club ran a separate competition for the second teams from the various universities. UEA entered two teams from the current club and many ex-UEA players returned to form an Old Boys squad. The UEA teams played well and the club succeeded in promoting the sport within the university, whilst proving their capability to host a further friendly tournament in February.

HOSTS UEA WIN FOR THIRD YEAR RUNNING

Concrete Wednesday, January 26 , 2005

concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk 27

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HEARTACHE FOR BLUES IN JUNIOR CUP EXIT UEA footballers suffer cup defeat and now face a tough battle against relegation in BUSA

Action from UEA’s 2-1 home defeat to Lincoln in the BUSA

Ross Grainger UEA’s men’s football team had a disastrous fortnight as they crashed out of the Junior Cup at home to Deedeedomdee.

After winning the trophy last season there was huge disappointment amongst the players after losing at home 2-0. UEA must now turn their attention to their BUSA campaign, where they have

strength squad for the first time in weeks. Firstyear centre back Paul Andrews had recovered from a broken toe in time to take his place alongside Pendry in the centre of defence. Dan Petto, Tom Burton and Duncan McHardy were the frontmen in a 4-3-3 formation, the formation used when UEA brushed aside Cambridge in the BUSA league and Earlham in the last round of the cup.

But there would be no walkover for UEA on Saturday. They came up against an unfancied, but determined Dersingham side who wanted that trip to Carrow Road as much League Midlands Division One (A) as UEA did.

The first half was a just three matches to climb scrappy affair, with neither out of the relegation zone. side creating many clear-cut Keeper Henk van Dalen chances. The standard of and left-back Dan Ward were play was not helped by the the only absentees for cap- Colney Lane field. Heavy tain Lee Pendry, who was rain the night before meant able to pick from a near full- the pitch was soggy and

ALL HOTTING UP IN ZIGGUARAT GAMES Marc Dudley Sports-Editor

The battle for the top spot in the Ziggurat University School games is as close as it has ever been with many schools still in with a chance of being named the best sporting school at UEA. Last years winners CAP have slipped down to sixth position, but they are still in with a chance as they have only played one of their jokers. BIO, who won the competition in the first year it was run in 2002/03, currently top the school charts.

However, only one of their main rivals have played both their jokers, so everything is up for grabs if schools like ENV and MED can play their jokers in the right event.

The mixed Netball is finished this week with the knockout stage of the event getting underway. A sportsrep of one of the schools, who wishes to remain anonymous, says that the previous winners of Ziggurat are the teams to beat, and that most of the schools want a different school to win this year. “BIO and CAP are the Manchester United’s of Ziggurat and everyone

loves beating them. It would be great if someone like ENV could win, as they might not have the talent, but they certainly have the commitment and that is what Ziggurat is all about!

With the games only at the

half-way stage, a lot can still happen. The schools at the bottom of the pile will want to avoid the wooden spoon, and currently the old EAS school is looking in danger of picking that up.

Current Ziggurat School Standings 1.

2.

3.

4.

BIO (Biology) (JJ) 986 ENV (Enviromental Studies) (J) 880 MED/HPP (Medical/Health Policy & Practice) (J) 875 AHP/CMP (Allied Health Professionals/ (JJ) 796 Computing Sciences) 5. DEV (Development Studies) (J) 771 6. CAP (Chemestry & Pharmacy) (J) 744 7. MTH/NAM (Mathematics/Nursing & Midwifery) (J) 677 8. EDU (Education & Lifelong Learning) (JJ) 671 9. LAW (Norwich Law) 652 10. PSS/SWK (Social Work & Psychosocial Studies) 479 11. HIS (History) 475 12. LLT (Language, Linguistics & Translation) 410 13. ECO/PHI/PSI (Economics/Philosophy/ 402 Political, Social & International) 14. MGT (Management) 310 15. WAM (World Art & Music) 242 16. AMS/FTV/LIT (American/Film & Television/ 121 Literature and Creative Writing) (J) = One Joker Played (JJ) = Both Jokers Played

Remaining Ziggurat Events Mixed Netball Finals Tuesday 25th January (5-7pm) Obstacle Course Relay Tuesday 1st February (5-7pm) Women’s Netball Tuesday 8th February (5-7pm) Women’s Squash Wednesday 16th February (1.40-5pm) Mixed Rounders Wednesday 23rd February (1.40-5pm) Mixed Archery Wednesday 2nd March (1.40-5pm) Suprise Bonus Event Sunday 13th March (9am-5pm) Mixed Tug-O-War Wednesday 20th April (1.30-3pm) Women’s Athletics Wednesday 20th April (3-5pm) Men’s Athletics Wednesday 20th April (3-5pm)

worn by the time the match kicked off.

In the second half UEA continued to press but could not stamp their authority on the match. Right-back Rob Moore went off injured, as did midfielder Sven Siegin. It was shortly after these two forced substitutions that Dersingham took the lead. A cross-shot from the left was parried straight into the path of one of the Dersingham strikers who tapped into an empty net.

UEA battled to try and salvage extra time, but with just ten minutes to go Dersingham scored a wonderful second to put the match out of reach.

All that remains now is for UEA to avoid relegation from the BUSA Midlands Division One (A). With four points up to Warwick, UEA have all to do in their remaining matches and they must put the shock of their Junior Cup exit behind them.

TEAMS CLOSE IN ON BUSA SUCCESS Continued from back page Four of our second division teams are in with a chance of a promotion playoff spot with the women rugby and football teams currently topping their groups. The golfers and women's badminton team are also enjoying success, and all four teams would qualify for the BUSA Shield if they managed to succeed in becoming Champions. The men's hockey and rugby teams and the netballers face relegation battles, and will be hoping not to drop down to the 3rd Division.

Three out of UEA's four second teams are also topping their groups, with the men's footballers already confirmed champions. A place in the BUSA Plate awaits the three teams if they manage to finish as group winners.

With only three weeks to go before the end of the BUSA group stage, all UEA's teams will be hoping to either gain promotion or avoid relegation and it is important we all get down to the matches to support them.

Knockout competitions will take place after the BUSA league matches are over and hopefully there will be some UEA success to celebrate.

All BUSA Tables on Page 25

INSIDE City’s problems overshadowed by amazing comeback

INSIDE Korfballers BUSA southern champions again

SPORT

UEA CLOSE IN ON BUSA GLORY

Sports teams face promotion and relegation battles as the BUSA season draws to a close Marc Dudley Sports-Editor The BUSA season gets under way again this week with UEA teams involved in promotion and relegation battles.

All our university 1st teams are either in the Midlands first or second divisions and the step up to

the Premier Division just seems to far. However, one of our teams are hoping finally make it to the Premier League promotion playoff after some impressive form.

With three games to go the men's basketball team lie in third position and are battling it out with Wolverhampton and Birmingham for the one pro-

The men’s fencing team have been impressive all season

motion playoff spot. With their two rivals facing each other in their final game, UEA must fancy their chances of making up the three point gap and clinching the playoff spot.

However, since their goal difference is their worst among the three teams, they must really not draw level on points with their rivals if

they want to succeed. The Panthers already have a place booked in an end-season knockout tournament, as finishing second or third gives the Panthers a place in the BUSA Shield.

The UEA panthers face Cambridge and a trip to Oxford before finishing the season at home to Warwick on the 9th February.

The only other team with chance of getting a Premier League playoff spot is the women's hockey team, who still have a slim chance of success. This week's home tie against leaders Nottingham Trent will either make or break their bid, but finishing in the top three will guarantee them a spot in the BUSA Shield. The only team

to have already qualified for the BUSA Shield are the men's fencing team, who with their impressive 2nd place must feel confident of maybe going all the way.

Elsewhere in Division One the men's football and squash teams face tough relegation battles. continued on page 27

UEA women’s rugby team will be hoping for promotion to the BUSA 1st Division

GOT A SPORTS STORY FROM YOUR CLUB? E-MAIL US AT CONCRETE.SPORT@UEA.AC.UK Concrete Prize (Cryptic) Crossword #62 ACROSS

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