Concrete - Issue 184

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&ESTIVE FAVOURITES

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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

Issue 184

December 7th 2005

www.concrete-­online.com

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3TUDENTS VOTE TO MAINTAIN CAMPUS BAN ON .ESTLÏ 0OLICY BALLOT RESULT KEEPS .ESTLÑ FROM 5NION OUTLETS FOR ANOTHER THREE YEARS "Y *!.% $/5',!3 .%73 #/22%30/.$%.4

The students of UEA showed their solidarity towards the Union’s Nestlé boycott last week as they voted to continue the ban on Nestlé products in a policy ballot. At the final count, 824 students said ‘yes’ to the boycott and 476 op-­ posed it.

Communications Officer Andy Higson, who headed the ‘vote yes’ campaign, com-­ mented: “This shows the stu-­ dents of UEA care more about saving lives than having a chocolate bar.”

Union policy stands for three years, after which time it must be reviewed to ensure that the Union is fairly repre-­ sentative of student opinion.

The Nestlé debate had become a rising controversial issue on campus.

The sale of Nestlé prod-­ ucts is prohibited in all Union outlets because the Union be-­ lieves that Nestlé has unethi-­ cal marketing policies relating to the sale of breast-­milk sub-­ stitute formulas in developing world countries.

The World Health Organi-­ sation estimates that “1.5 mil-­ lion children die each year be-­ cause they are not adequately breastfed”;; a figure that has not been disputed. Infants fed with formula are more likely to

become ill and possibly die as a result of diarrhoea because the water it is mixed with is of-­ ten contaminated.

The problem with Nestlé arises when its marketing methods are analysed. The International Baby Food Ac-­ tion Network (IBFAN) found Nestlé to be the biggest sin-­ gle violator of the WHO and UNICEF’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-­milk Substitutes since its introduc-­ tion in 1981.

One example of this in-­ fringement is the donation of breast-­milk substitutes to ma-­ ternity hospitals in developing world countries. Campaigners, supported by medical experts, say this means that newborns are regularly bottle-­fed, result-­ ing in babies being less able to suckle and therefore depend-­ ent upon breast-­milk substi-­ tutes. Once the mother and child leave the hospital they have to purchase the formula themselves. The financial bur-­ den that this places on fami-­ lies with very low incomes can be overwhelming and some-­ times leads to malnutrition because the baby is not being adequately fed.

One second year PSS stu-­ dent summed up the UEA boy-­ cott: “One person not buying a Kit Kat will not necessarily make a difference, but as a Un-­ ion we stand out and can really make our voices heard.”

3TUDENTS CAN BE ASKED TO VOTE ON 5NION POLICY

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.EWS &UTURE OF #ONCRETE THIS PAGE .EW LICENSING LAWS THIS PAGE 7RITERS TRIP TO "ANGLADESH THIS PAGE -AKE 0OVERTY (ISTORY 3TUDENTS WIN 9OMP COMP $ESIGNATED DRIVER SCHEME %DUCATION DEBTS MOUNT .EW CODE FOR 3ANTAS

A  motion  went  to  Union  Coun-­ cil  on  Thursday  24th  Novem-­ ber  calling  for  the  Editor  of  Concrete  to  become  an  elect-­ ed  position.  Under  the  current  system,  the  Editor  is  chosen  by  a  proc-­ ess  of  application  and  inter-­ view.  The  proposed  change  would  allow  the  entire  student  body  of  UEA  to  vote  for  the  person  who  would  take  on  the  role.  The  motion,  proposed  by  Martin  Jopp,  states  that:  “Stu-­ dent  media  would  improve  by  having  an  elected  editor  of  Concrete  and  a  truly  demo-­ cratic  Union  should  have  a Â

media  which  is  accountable  to  its  members.�  Jopp  argued  that  a  student  newspaper  should  represent  the  views  of  all  students  and  claimed  the  only  way  to  ensure  this  is  to  give  students  a  say  in  who  runs  the  paper.

Speaking  in  opposition,  Academic  OfďŹ cer  Dan  Pear-­ son  countered  that  while  the  Union  Executive  are  elected  to  act  on  behalf  of  the  students  of  UEA,  the  Concrete  Editor  does  not  have  a  representative  role  within  the  Union.  He  also  expressed  concern  that  a  process  which  bypasses  the  rigorous  interview  process Â

may  not  select  an  editor  with  the  technical  skills  or  dedica-­ tion  required  for  the  job.

Concrete’s  Deputy  Edi-­ tor,  James  Conway,  drew  the  Council’s  attention  to  a  clause  in  the  resolution  which  stated  that:  “The  Concrete  Editor  shall  be  responsible  for  ensuring  that  Union  Meetings  and  Un-­ ion  elections  are  publicised  and  reported  in  the  Union  newspaper.�  He  asked  the  Union  Coun-­ cil  to  consider  whether  this  was  the  function  of  Concrete  or  Rabbit,  the  Union’s  own  newsletter.  The  effect  the  pro-­

posal  may  have  on  the  paper’s  editorial  independence  was  also  questioned.

Despite  a  lengthy  debate  a  resolution  was  not  reached  through  a  vote  as  insufďŹ -­ cient  Council  members   were  present  for  the  decision  to  count.  Concrete  understands  that  the  proposal  will  now  go  to  a  referendum  at  the  begin-­ ning  of  the  Spring  term,  when  students  will  be  asked  to  vote  on  whether  they  would  like  the  Concrete  Editor  to  be  elected  to  the  post.  The  debate  will  be  covered  in  detail  in  the  January  issue  of  Concrete.

3TUDENTS WELCOME LICENSING LAWS

(OODIE BAN AT ,ONDON UNIVERSITY %NERGY CHANGES IN .ORFOLK 5%! LITERARY FESTIVAL &EATURES #HRISTMAS IN .ORWICH 8MAS POLITICAL CORRECTNESS 2EVIEW OF THE YEAR ,ETTERS #OMMENT #HARLES #LARKE AT 5%!

5NION #OUNCIL ,IFESTYLE

"Y *!#+ 2/934/. .%73 #/22%30/.$%.4

Drinking  is  a  pastime  close  to  the  hearts  of  most  students,  so  it  is  unsurprising  that  the  new  legislation  on  late  night  drinking  has  been  well  re-­ ceived  across  UEA.  The  new  law  that  came  into  force  on  Thursday  24th  November  will  allow  many  of  the  pubs  and  bars  around  Norwich  to  stay  open  as  late  as  two  or  three  o’clock  in  the  morning.

The  Union  Pub  is  now  open  until  midnight  across  the  weekend  and  private  or  sports  club  socials  will  go  on  until  one-­thirty.

Alex  Caldwell,  PSI3,  ex-­ pressed  unreserved  support  for  the  move,  describing  it  as  “the  beginning  of  a  golden  age. Â

There  is  nothing  more  anti-­so-­ cial  than  being  kicked  out  of  the  pub  at  eleven  o’clock.�  The  following  morning  he  was  less  keen  and  conceded  that  “the  new  laws  will  have  their  ups  and  downs�.  Many  Norwich  residents  are  less  supportive,  express-­ ing  concern  about  the  social  consequences  that  may  arise  if  later  opening  times  mean  cus-­ tomers  drinking  more.  There  has  been  speculation  about  an  increase  in  alcohol  related  violence.

The  Garden  House,  situ-­ ated  in  the  golden  triangle  area,  was  denied  the  right  to  open  later  then  eleven-­thirty  on  the  basis  that  customers  leaving  the  pub  might  wake  up  residents.  Students  John  Cunningham,  BIO3  and  Rob  Baines,  HIS3,  who  live  in  the  vicinity  of  The  Garden  House Â

are  supportive  of  late  licence  They  said:  “The  noise  is  not  a  problem  and  generally  goes  on  for  less  than  a  minute.�

Landlords  are  also  un-­ convinced.  Mark  and  Maxine  Riches  of  The  Lillie  Langtry  on  Unthank  Road  believe  the  new  laws  are  “fantastic�  and  will  produce  a  more  relaxed  drinking  culture:  “It’s  brilliant!  People  are  just  taking  their  time  and  now  they  don’t  have  to  down  their  drinks  when  it  gets  to  eleven  o’clock.  People  think  landlords  forget  how  to  run  a  pub;͞  if  someone  comes  in  drunk  at  four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  they  will  be  kicked  out  and  if  they  come  in  drunk  at  eleven  o’clock  at  night  they  will  be  kicked  out.  Drunk  peo-­ ple  will  be  asked  to  leave  just  the  same  as  any  other  time  of  day.�

While  most  students  do Â

not  believe  the  laws  will  make  anti-­social  behaviour  worse,  many  are  pessimistic  about  suggestions  that  they  will  have  a  positive  impact  on  drinking  culture.  Although  he  supports  the  late  license,  Chris  Last,  LAW3,  said  that Â â€œďŹ ghts  take  place  round  the  city  centre,  not  round  local  pubs,  and  there  have  always  been  places  open  until  3am  on  Prince  of  Wales  Road  so  it  won’t  change  a  thing.â€?

Whether  or  not  the  new  late  licensing  laws  will  reduce  anti-­social  behaviour  and  pro-­ mote  a  more  relaxed  drinking  culture  is  a  question  that  can  only  be  answered  in  time.  Stu-­ dents  will  still  be  taking  advan-­ tage  and  spending  their  soon  to  be  hard-­earned  loans  on  alcohol  in  pubs  from  campus  to  the  golden  triangle. Â

(EALTH #HRISTMAS INDULGENCE 4RAVEL %XPLORING 2OME &OOD &ESTIVE TRADITIONS 4URF %COLOGICAL WRAPPING PAPER 4HE #HRISTMAS TREE DEBATE 3PORT )S RUGBY A GENTLEMAN S GAME ! GOOD SEASON FOR "ADMINTON 4AE +WON $O lGHT FOR VICTORY

"ANGLADESH EXCHANGE FOR WRITERS Three  UEA  students  have  been  selected  to  be  part  of  an  in-­ tercultural  writers  group  with  Bangladesh.  The  collaboration  is  run  in  partnership  with  the  British  Council  and  Connect-­ ing  Futures.  The  writers  will  take  part  in  a  series  of  international  workshops  in  partnership  with  a  writing  group  from  Bangla-­ desh,  using  issues  of  culture  and  identity  to  develop  their  writing  through  an  exchange  of  ideas.  The  project  was  open  to  applicants  from Â ďŹ ve  counties  across  the  East  of  England.  Four  applicants  were  chosen,  three  of  whom  are  from  UEA.  Joe  Dunthorne  and  Susan  Vit-­

tery  have  just  graduated  from  the  prestigious  Creative  Writ-­ ing  Prose  MA  and  Anna  Stew-­ ard  is  currently  completing  the  Creative  Writing  Poetry  MA.  Anna  said:  “I  am  very  ex-­ cited  by  the  whole  project.  I  hope  it  will  produce  a  life  long  partnership  of  writers  and  take  my  work  in  new  directions.  We  are  ying  out  to  Dhaka  on  the  December  9th  for  a  week  of  workshops  led  by  UK  poet  Di-­ nesh  Alirajah.  This  will  culminate  in  a  performance  at  the  end  of  the  week.  In  the  spring,  four  of  the  Bangladeshi  writers  will  be  coming  to  Norwich  to  do  a  performance  here  as  well.â€?  This  is  the Â ďŹ rst  time  a Â

!NNA 3TEWARD *OE $UNTHORNE AND 3USAN 6ITTERY project  like  this  has  been  run  and  funded  by  the  Arts  Council  in  the  East.  The  project  man-­

ager  Laura  Fellows  hopes  that  its  success  will  produce  future  projects  of  a  similar  nature. Â

4 /&84

$PODSFUF  Wednesday  December  7  2005

! MOMENTOUS YEAR FOR ANTI POVERTY CAMPAIGNERS "Y #,!)2% (/,,!.$ -!+% 0/6%249 ()34/29

/N 4HURSDAY ST $ECEM BER THE 5%! -0( SOCIETY HELD A MASS MALE LEG WAX OF EIGHT MALE STUDENTS IN THE (IVE 4HE WAXED MEN RERESENTED THE ' POW

ERS IN ATTEMPTS TO RAISE FURTHER AWARENESS AND EN COURAGE SUPPORTERS TO VOTE FOR 4RADE *USTICE BY lLLING IN POSTCARDS TO BE SENT TO 4ONY "LAIR

2005  was  selected  as  the  year  to  make  poverty  history  due  to  the  co-­incidence  of  many  inuential  and  vital  aspects  in  global  politics;͞  the  G8  sum-­ mit  which  was  hosted  by  the  UK,  the  UK  presidency  of  the  EU  and  the  occurrence  of  the  UN  General  Assembly  Special  Summit  on  the  Millennium  Development  Goals.

As  a  result,  at  the  start  of  the  year  the  Make  Poverty  His-­ tory  campaign  (a  conglomer-­ ate  of  hundreds  of  different  charities)  announced  what  they  believed  to  be  the  neces-­ sary  steps  in  order  to  eradicate  poverty.  These  were  to  cancel  the  debt  owed  by  developing  countries,  to  provide  more  and  better  aid  and  to  improve  trade  agreements  to  promote  the  economies  of  these  coun-­ tries.   The  reaction  of  the  general  public  proved  to  be  unbeliev-­ able.  By  summer  2005  it  was  impossible  to  walk  down  any  high  street  without  seeing Â

Resident  Tutors

a  ash  of  white  wrist-­band  demonstrating  the  wearer’s  support  or  to  watch  television  without  seeing  the  infamous  “clickâ€?  advert.   We  were  all  asked  to  con-­ tribute  in  any  way  possible,  from  e-­mailing  MPs  and  the  Prime  Minister,  to  travel-­ ling  up  to  Edinburgh  for  the  Make  Poverty  History  Rally,  to  which  more  than  225,000  people  turned  up.  No  gesture  was  considered  too  small.   Paul  Wolfowitz  summarised  the  ood  of  support  when  he  said:  “The  call  to  end  poverty  reaches  across  generations,  continents  and  nationalities.  It  spans  religions,  gender  and  politics.  From  concert  stadi-­ ums  to  street  demonstrations  to  high  proďŹ le  summits,  citi-­ zens  and  leaders  -­  from  rich  and  poor  countries  alike  -­  have  been  moved  by  the  suffering.  They  demand  action.â€?  Although  the  G8  summit  did  agree  to  cancel  the  debts  of  eighteen  countries,  many  have  criticised  the  economically  crippling  conditions  which  will  be  attached  to  this  cancella-­ tion.  Others  have  asked  what Â

will  happen  to  the  countries  who  owe  huge  amounts  of  money  to  the  West  but  are  not   included  in  the  drop.   Another  criticism  is  that  the  G8  debt  deal  will  provide  less  than  one  billion  dollars  this  year  -­  the  equivalent  of  no  more  than  one  dollar  per  per-­ son  in  the  countries  that  are  due  to  beneďŹ t.  Ten  billion  dol-­ lars  a  year  of  debt  cancellation  is  needed  to  eradicate  extreme  poverty.

While  these  steps  towards  debt  cancellation  are  no  doubt  a  move  in  the  right  direction,  they  are  far  from  what  was  hoped  for  and  expected.

In  terms  of  aid  the  G8  have  pledged  to  provide  a  further Â ďŹ fty  billion  dollars  over  the  next Â ďŹ ve  years.  Make  Poverty  History  claims  that  only  twen-­ ty  billion  dollars  of  this  budget  is  new  money;Íž  the  other  thirty  billion  is  simply  a  re-­statement  of  money  already  promised.   Many  academics  in  this  area  believe  that  even  if  all  the  aid  were  new  money  it  would  not  do  all  the  good  that  it  is  capable  of  due  to  the  way  in  which  aid  is  distributed  by  the  West.  They  suggest  that  the Â

time  frames  enforced  through  the  conditions  of  the  donation  are  rarely  realistic  or  suitably  long-­term.   The  economically  dam-­ aging  conditions  placed  on  these  countries  by  the  World  Bank  and  the  IMF  are  far  from  conducive  to  the  effective  use  of  the  donated  money.  Often  these  impoverished  countries  simply  borrow  money  from  one  source  to  repay  the  debts  they  owe  to  another.

It  is  believed  that  the  most  vital  aspect  of  making  poverty  history  is  to  free  up  trade  so  that  developing  countries  can  build  their  own  economies  through  growth  in  farming  and  industry.  For  this  to  hap-­ pen  the  G8  and  the  EU  must  remove  the  subsidies  they  provide  their  farmers  and  in-­ dustries  and  make  the  playing Â ďŹ eld  more  even.   The  Make  Poverty  History  campaign  worked  on  the  the-­ ory  that  the  louder  the  voting  public  shouts  the  harder  their  leaders  will Â ďŹ nd  it  to  ignore.   We  can  make  poverty  history  but  only  if  we  continue  to  pres-­ sure  our  leaders  and  get  more  people  to  shout  with  us.

3TUDENTS 9OMP TO VICTORY

Applications  are  now  invited  from  highly  motivated,  enthusiastic  and  suitably  experienced  full-­time  students  and  members  of  staff  for  ap-­ pointment  as  Resident  Tutor  for  the  academic  year  2006-­07.  Students  spending  next  year  abroad  should  also  apply  now  for  appointment  in  September  2007.

Resident  Tutors  welcome  students  when  they Â ď€ ďŹ rst  move  into  residences,  provide  information  and  support  to  help  them  manage  the  transition  to  uni-­ versity  life  and,  throughout  the  year,  are  available  to  deal  with  issues  of  wel-­ fare  and  good  order.   By  using  their  mediation  and  problem-­solving  skills,  Resident  Tutors  help  maintain  a  balance  between  the  interests  of  individu-­ als  and  the  community  in  residences.

Successful  applicants  will  have  excellent  all-­round  people  skills,  be  non-­ judgmental,  able  to  empathise  with  the  academic  problems  commonly  ex-­ 4HE 5%! -'4 TEAM WHO WON THE %AST OF %NGLAND COMPETITION perienced  by  students,  have  good  written  and  spoken  English,  good  time  Ali  Chisolm,  Sharon  Davies,  to  present  a  sales  pitch  to  Sir  management  skills,  the  ability  to  follow  clearly  deď€ ďŹ ned  procedures,  exibility  "Y 3!2!( %$7!2$%3 Mark  Smalls,  Ashley  Smith  Robin.  The  MGT  team’s  pro-­ and  a  willingness  to  work  unsocial  hours. %$)4/2

This  appointment  will  be  subject  to  a  criminal  record  check  from  the  Crimi-­ nal  Records  Bureau.

A  team  of  UEA  students  from  Further  particulars  are  available  from  the  Dean  of  Students’  Ofď€ ďŹ ce  Recep-­ tion  or  from  www.uea.ac.uk/dos/intranet/welcome.html  (click  on  to  Resi-­ dences).

There  are  2  closing  dates  for  applications:  Friday  16th  December  2005  (ap-­ plicants  will  be  invited  for  interview  or  informed  that  their  application  is  un-­ successful  by  10  February  2006)  and  Friday  27th  January  2006  (applicants  will  be  invited  for  interview  or  informed  that  their  application  is  unsuccessful  by  17  March  2006).

There  is  also  a  vacancy  in  the  Village  for  immediate  appointment.   Please  indicate  in  your  application  whether  you  also  wish  to  be  con-­ sidered  for  this  vacancy.

the  School  of  Management  has  won  the  regional Â ďŹ nal  of  Yomping  the  Nations  2005,  a  competition  that  aims  to  teach  students  business  strat-­ egies  through  a  series  of  chal-­ lenges.  The  UEA  team  collected  a  shared  prize  of  £500  in  the  contest,  which  involved  teams  from  over  one  hundred  uni-­ versities.

Dr  Jackie  Granleese  of  the  School  of  Management  organ-­ ised  a  team  of  six  undergradu-­ ate  students  to  participate  in  the  event.  Jayne  Cardnell, Â

and  Mike  Smythe  competed  head-­to-­head  against  teams  from  Cambridge,  Essex,  Hert-­ fordshire  and  Anglia  Ruskin  Universities.

The  teams  were  asked  to  develop  and  plan  a  business  strategy  using  Yomp,  a  plan-­ ning  tool  that  simulates  busi-­ ness  growth.  Their  progress  in  the  areas  of  Marketing,  Finance,  Strategy,  People  and  Operations/Action  was  as-­ sessed  by  a  group  of  business  experts,  who  included  former  permanent  secretary  of  the  Department  of  Trade  and  In-­ dustry,  Sir  Robin  Young.  UEA  and  two  teams  from  Cambridge  were  selected  for  the  playoff  in  which  they  had Â

posal  was  chosen  as  the  win-­ ner  by  a  landslide  vote.  Dr  Granleese  comment-­ ed  that  their  victory  “was  no  mean  feat,  as  Cambridge Â ďŹ elded  mixed  teams  including  postgraduate  team  members.  Indeed,  one  of  their  all-­stu-­ dent  teams  was  led  by  Dr  Dav-­ id  Hampton  who  had  been  a  medical  research  director  in  Seattle  and  college  lecturer  before  coming  to  complete  further  study  at  Cambridge.â€?

This  week  the  MGT  team  will  participate  in  the  Yomping  Final,  representing  the  East  of  England  against  teams  from  across  the  country.  Concrete  wishes  them  the  best  of  luck  in  the  competition. Â

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.ORWICH FOR #HRISTMAS

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A designated driver scheme in Norwich was launched on De-­ cember 2nd at The Plough, St Benedicts Street with special guests attending throughout the day and entertainment throughout the evening.

The program, which works in conjunction with a number of pubs in Norwich, aims to prevent and reduce drink driving by offering free or dis-­ counted non-­alcoholic drinks to designated drivers. It seeks to encourage and reward des-­ ignated driving.

Over the Christmas period each pub taking part will be doing different variations of this scheme for the designat-­ ed drivers of the group nights out. Although the scheme has been running for six years,

this is the first time it will take place on such a large scale in Norwich.

The scheme is run by the Portman group, who are re-­ sponsible for the creation of the Prove It cards. The group strives to raise awareness about the dangers of drink driving.

Last year in the UK, there were close to 600 drink-­driv-­ ing related deaths – the high-­ est figure for twelve years. In Norfolk alone ten people are caught drink driving per day.

The “I’ll be DES” program works on an honour system due to the difficultly in deter-­ mining whether a person is genuinely a designated driver.

Pub owners in Norwich have worked hard to develop and implement the plan.

Pub owner Bob Gerrard has been a central figure throughout the campaign. Al-­ though Gerrard admits there

are some things that need re-­ fining, he believes the program will show positive results and stresses the importance that both the pubs and the driv-­ ers contribute to the scheme: “It takes two to tango. Pubs are willing to be responsible, but nothing will happen un-­ less drivers are willing to be responsible as well.”

The scheme is fronted by The Plough, with other pubs involved including The Fat Cat, The Trafford Arms, Spen-­ cers, The Murderers/Garden-­ ers Arms, Kings, The Unthank Arms, The York Tavern, The Adam and Eve, The Lawyer, The Black Horse, The Plaster-­ ers Arms, The Catherine Wheel and James I. The scheme is supported by many organisations and individuals including Charles Clarke MP, Dr Ian Gibson MP, Norfolk County Council and Operation Enterprise.

.EW STANDARDS FOR 3ANTA #LAUSE THIS FESTIVE SEASON "Y -!44 "52,!.$ .%73 #/22%30/.$%.4

The British Santa Association has laid down a new code of conduct that states badly be-­ haved and scruffy-­looking San-­ tas will be outlawed.

The BSA is concerned by falling standards amongst per-­ formers and aims to “formal-­ ise the role of Santa”. Among the issues discussed in a re-­ cent meeting at Alton Towers were the ideal beard length and stomach size.

James Lovell, from The Ministry of Fun, an entertain-­ ment production company that is behind the association, said he is concerned that the number of Father Christmas grottos is falling. He sees this new code of conduct as a way of “fighting back”.

Lovell said: “Bookings for grottos are down by about 30% compared to last year and we believe the best way to enjoy seeing Santa in his grot-­ to is to set standards.”

In Somerset, would-­be Santas returned to school to

! WELL TURNED OUT 3ANTA #LAUSE IN HIS GROTTO be trained up for Christmas shows. 20 prospective Santa Clauses studied the history of Father Christmas and reindeer names, attended a costume and make-­up workshop and studied trends in Christmas gifts.

The day ended with a graduation ceremony after which the merry Santas were sent out to take on duties at grottos, shopping malls and supermarkets.

In Oxford, the search is on

for the DNA of Father Christ-­ mas, as a team of scientists is trying to prove whether fami-­ lies with the rare surname of “Christmas” all descend from a single male ancestor.

DNA analysis company Oxford Ancestors is currently appealing for volunteers to participate in the study and is being assisted in the effort

by Henry Christmas, who has spent fifty years researching the origins and history of his own family name.

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A recent report conducted by Universities UK and the High-­ er Education Funding Council has revealed that students are continuing to struggle to pay off education debts.

Individual student debt is expected to spiral in Septem-­ ber 2006 with the introduction of tuition fees, which will start at £3000 per year.

The report was completed earlier this year but was pre-­ vented from being published around the time of the general election.

The National Union of Stu-­ dents (NUS) have labelled this a “cover up” and explained that it is hard not to view the results in light of the govern-­ ment’s tuition fee policy.

The results proved that

students are struggling to pay off debts even before the added £3000 tuition fees are introduced.

The report concluded that 70% of students were struggling to pay back debts.

Students from poorer back-­ grounds, minority groups and mature students featured heavily in this figure. Of these students, three quarters were forced into term-­time work, risking their chances of getting a first or upper class degree.

President of the NUS Kat Fletcher said: “The statistics in this report are hard to spin.

Three quarters of students working during term time are putting their degree in jeop-­ ardy.”

The government have ar-­ gued that their tuition fees will help students from poorer backgrounds but research conducted by the NUS shows that 75% of year ten students

5

applying to UCAS (Universi-­ ties and Colleges Admissions Service) in 2003 would change their minds about university at the prospect of getting into £10,000 debt.

With the introduction of tuition fees only nine months away, one cannot help ques-­ tioning whether the govern-­ ment have got it right.

Kat Fletcher added: “The government will no doubt de-­ fend student loans as “good debt” and stress that higher education is an investment.

A loan however is still money owed and with the population currently borrow-­ ing more and saving less this is extremely worrying.

Research like this proves what NUS and our supporters have been saying all along. We hope that those in power will start to listen and base their policies on evidence rather than ideology.”

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$PODSFUF Wednesday December 7 2005

7

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A ban on hooded tops and baseball caps at the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent was recently supported by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

The MP stated that hood-­ ies were part of an “intimidat-­ ing uniform” and cited the move as part of a nationwide campaign to curb anti-­social behaviour and to encour-­ age respect in communities.

Copying this highly disputed action, shops and bars all over the country have similarly banned hoodies and baseball caps worn in what is seen to be a deliberate attempt to cover the face and intimidate others.

Imperial College London have imposed a ban on all clothing that obscures the

face as part of a movement to improve security after the London Bombings of July 7th.

The campus-­wide ban takes on a more serious political scope as it also bans the wear-­ ing of the Muslim hijab by all staff and students.

In the wake of heightened security following the terrorist attacks in London, the poli-­ cies of both government and private bodies are seen as ac-­ tively reducing risks. However, the question of whether these scape-­goated items of cloth-­ ing are the reason for crime and security problems in the country remains unanswered.

The threat of terror and anti-­ social behaviour must surely run deeper than a hood, cap or religious attire.

The banning of hoodies and scarves could prove to be a dangerous move as prohibi-­ tion can easily lead to feelings of alienation and anger.

The past month of rioting

across France by its Muslim communities is testament to the dangers of blanket policies that lead to vicious cycles of crime and violence. The French ban on headscarves can be seen as one of a number of government policies which have led to the feelings of animosity from French ethnic minorities.

Not all organisations sup-­ port the ban in Britain’s shops and bars;; the most notable of which is The Children’s So-­ ciety. The society has urged children and young people to boycott Bluewater Shopping centre, calling the ban a “bla-­ tant discrimination based on stereotypes and prejudices.”

In a spirited campaign against recent measures, the first lady of grime Lady Sover-­ eign has launched a campaign to “Save the Hoodie”;; a web based petition that she will present to 10 Downing Street.

Voicing the opinions of

young people the country over, she said: “If someone commits a crime it’s not about what they are wearing, it’s about the person wearing it. A criminal is a criminal no matter what they wear. Don’t blame the hoodie, a person should be able to wear what they want!”

She added: “How can they sell them in shopping centres and then not let them in wear-­ ing them?”

Although the hoodie may have become a symbol of “chav culture”, it is easy to see that any self respecting stu-­ dent on campus is currently wearing drainpipe jeans and a grey zip-­up hoodie. Most societies at UEA also uniform their members in respective hoodies.

The hoodie-­sporting char-­ acter is just as likely to be found sipping coffee in the Hive and discussing the Beats as robbing someone.

.ORFOLK BEGINS GROUND BREAKING ENVIRONMENTAL ENERGY CHANGES

! 5%! STUDENT WEARING A HOODIE

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The phrase “climate change is the greatest challenge we cur-­ rently face” seems to have be-­ come the fashionable saying of the moment. Prince Charles has even contributed to the debate by making an impas-­ sioned plea to US business leaders to take action on the “environmental crisis” threat-­ ening the world. During his re-­ cent visit to America, Charles told an audience of 300 peo-­ ple that “we simply cannot go on as we are” and explained that the US had the chance to use its power and influence for the “greater good of the global community”.

However, America is not the only nation adding to problems of climate change and the Worldwide Fund for Nature has recently criticised Tony Blair for his lack of action on the subject. The WWF claim that the UK has wasted oppor-­ tunities available through its presidency of the EU and the G8 group of wealthy nations.

Greenpeace recently dumped coal at Downing Street as a protest against the government’s environmental record. Instead of investing in renewable sources of energy, the Prime Minister wants a re-­ turn to nuclear energy, a move that has sparked protests from several environmental groups.

In Norfolk, however, the environmental front appears optimistic as £20 million has been invested in the building of a bio-­fuels plant. British Sugar has been given permis-­ sion by King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council to build the plant on the site of its Wissington factory.

The bio-­fuels plant will process sugar beet and possi-­ bly grain to produce 55 million tonnes of bio-­ethanol a year;; a fuel that can be used in ve-­ hicles and by industry to help generate electricity.

At UEA a highly successful environment week has been followed by the news that wind power could be in the pipeline for the university. This motion will no doubt cause much con-­ troversy, especially amongst local residents who see wind

turbines as a blot on the land-­ scape, as well as organisations such as the National Trust and English Heritage.

Work began on the plans 18 months ago after an original idea to build two turbines on campus near the Colney Lane playing fields was abandoned due to overwhelming opposi-­ tion from local residents who felt that the turbines would be too near the river.

CRED are now working with a local landowner to as-­ sess the technical feasibility for two, or possibly three, tur-­ bines to be built on land about a mile from the UEA build-­ ings, at an unnamed location that local residents would find more acceptable.

Pro-­vice Chancellor for research, Professor Trevor Davies, said: “We have still to complete the consultation process but, if built, the tur-­ bines will be economically vi-­ able. Whether or not they are a blot on the landscape is a matter of personal judgement.

Personally, I think they look fine in many locations.”

Davies’ response was ech-­ oed by Environment Officer

Jenny Gellatly: “We have to start using this kind of tech-­ nology if we are to minimise the effects of climate change, which will have a much more devastating effect on our land-­ scapes in the long term than wind turbines ever could. I think UEA should definitely switch to wind power. We have to start making these changes now before it is too late.”

The costs, which would amount to two million pounds per turbine, would pay for themselves within a two-­year period. Dr Keith Tovey, head of CRED, is also in favour of the turbines being built, especially in light of a recent govern-­ ment survey which has found that the UK’s wind is better for generating electricity than that of its rivals in Europe.

Dr Tovey said: “The first in-­ dications are that if we get the turbines and also the biomass CHP, combined with the 33% saving in CO2 achieved when we install CHP, and a further 700 tonnes saving following the installation of the adsorp-­ tion chiller, we will be well on our way towards carbon neu-­ trality in terms of on-­site use.”

The UEA literary festival is re-­ nowned as an important part of the University’s events cal-­ endar. On November 25th the award-­winning novelist Rose Tremain opened the UEA festi-­ val with an impressive start at the London Savile Club.

The literary festival goes on tour each year and the Savile club, whose members have included Thomas Hardy and Henry James, was an ideal place to host the event.

Festival organiser Jon Cook said: “Our literary events at UEA are so popular now that we decided to branch out into London too. The Savile Club has been a popular historical venue in the world of litera-­ ture, and provides the perfect, intimate atmosphere to listen to some of the best writers working today.”

The line up this year in-­ cludes Sarah Churchwell, a UEA lecturer in American liter-­ ature, who also writes reviews for The Times Literary Supple-­ ment and is a regular guest on Newsnight Review.

Professor of Creative Writ-­ ing at UEA, Patricia Duncker,

will be concluding the series on May 26th by reading from her novels Hallucinating Foucault, The Deadly Space Between and James Miranda Barry. Ex-­student Jane Harris, who graduated from UEA, will also be gracing the line up at the Savile Club, reading from her debut novel The Observa-­ tions.

On March 10th Andrew Motion, an ex Professor of Creative Writing at UEA, will also be joining the festival at the Savile Club. Others who will be taking part include the Booker Prize winner Alan Hollinghurst and Creative Writing tutor Ali Smith.

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3PENDING #HRISTMAS IN .ORWICH !LTHOUGH MANY OF US WILL BE RETURNING HOME FOR #HRISTMAS SOME WILL BE STAYING IN .ORWICH 3ARAH 3WALHEIM TAKES A LOOK AT WHAT OUR #ITY HAS TO OFFER DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON )CE )CE "ABY I’m  sure  all  of  you  have  noticed  the  ice-­rink  that  has  appeared  outside  the  forum,  its  lovely  array  of  lights  (30,000  of  them  to  be  precise)  making  it  an  improvement  on  last  year.  What  better  way  to  get  into  the  Christmas  spirit  than  ice-­skating  in  the  open-­air,  Central  Park-­style.  It  is  open  from  10.00am  -­  9.00pm  every  day  (ex-­ cept  Christmas  and  Boxing  Day)  weather  per-­ mitting.  It  costs  £7  for  over  18s,  but  students  can  skate  for  £4.75.

For  more  excitement  you  can  instead  take  the  Everest  Challenge,  and  climb  a  glacier.   Also  located  at  the  Forum  is  a  25ft  climbing  wall  in  the  shape  of  a  glacier,  with  four  routes  to  the  top.  For  one  session  (2  climbs)  it  costs  students  only  £3.50  and  it  is  open  from  4-­9pm  weekdays  and  10am  to  9pm  at  the  weekend  (and  week-­ days  once  the  school  holidays  begin).  You  have  until  the  30th  December  to  test  your  nerve  and  ability  -­  those  in  the  UEA  Climbing  Society  have  no  excuse!

For  something  unique,  take  part  in  the  Magical  Ice  Trail  on  the  18th  December.  It  in-­ volves  navigating  through  the  festive  streets  of  Norwich  and  experiencing  larger  than  life  ice Â

sculptures.  These  stunning  sculptures,  carved  by  artists,  will  create  a  magical  Christmas  nativ-­ ity  trail  through  the  city  centre.  A  map  of  the  route  will  be  available  from  1  December.

4AKE TO THE 3TREETS The  St.  Benedict  Christmas  Street  Fair  on  Sunday  4th  December  is  a  good  way  to  start  getting  into  the  Christmas  spirit.  Scattered  along  the  street  will  be  stalls,  food  and  drink,  activities,  and  various  forms  of  entertainment,  such  as  St  Thomas’s  Church  Choir.   In  the  Nor-­ wich  Arts  Centre  there  will  be  live  music  in  the  cafÊ  bar  and  a  craft  fair  in  the  auditorium.   Wrap  up  warm  and  go  check  it  out.

3PECTACULAR 3PECTACULAR For  those  of  you  lucky  enough  to  own  cars,  or  who  can  travel  out  of  Norwich,  try  and  visit  the  largest  Christmas  show  in  England,  the  Christmas  Spectacular  at  Thursford.  It  has  a  cast  of  over  one  hundred  professional  singers,  musicians  and  dancers  and  is  showing  now  un-­ til  December  23rd.  Shows  are  at  2.00pm  and  7.00pm  each  day,  seven  days  a  week,  but  pre-­ booking  is  essential  (call  01328  878477).

0ANTOMIME You  will  be  pleased  to  hear  that  Norwich  has  its  own  classic  family  panto  coming  to  town.   Peter  Pan,  starring  Derek  GrifďŹ ths,  Rikki  Jay,  Richard  Gauntlett  and  Rebecca  Sarker,  is  going  to  be  showing  at  the  Theatre  Royal  from  the  16th  December  to  15th  January.  Also,  the  Maddermarket  Theatre  is  showing  The  Adven-­ tures  of  Alice,  an  Adaptation  of  Alice  in  Won-­ derland,  from  the  17th  December  to  the  1st  January.  Alternatively,  why  not  try  something  different  and  see  Pinocchio  On  Ice  at  the  Nor-­ folk  Showground  Exhibition  &  Events  Centre.  It  is  running  from  the  20th  Dec  to  the  3rd  Jan. 2ELIGIOUS No  Christmas  would  be  complete  without  a  carol  concert,  and  you  could  not  pick  a  bet-­ ter  venue  than  the  Norwich  Cathedral.  On  the  22nd  December  the  Cathedral’s  own  choir  will  be  performing  a  traditional  carol  concert,  start-­ ing  at  7pm.   On  the  24th  December,  the  Cathe-­ dral  is  also  holding  a  Crib  Service  at  12  noon  and  Midnight  Mass  at  11.15pm.

5NIVERSITY The  University  has  organised  some  good  festive  events  for  its  students  this  year.  On  the  11th  December  in  the  LCR  is  the  Merry  Xmas  Everybody  Tour  2005  featuring,  you  guessed  it,  Slade,  as  well  as  Mud  and  T-­Rexstasy.  Tickets  are  £18.50  and  are  on  sale  now  from  the  UEA Â

box-­ofďŹ ce.   On  the  last  Tuesday  of  term,  the  13th  to  be  precise,  is  the  Christmas  Party  LCR.  Even  those  who  generally  avoid  the  LCR  should  deďŹ nitely  try  and  make  it  to  this,  but  be  quick  because  tickets  will  sell  fast!

For  those  of  you  still  around  after  the  end  of  term  the  Waterfront  is  having  a  Meltdown  Live  23  Xmas  special  on  Tuesday  20th  December.  It  costs  £5  to  get  in  and  will  feature  some  local  tal-­ ent  including  the  Wonderful  Allstars,  My  Visor,  The  Asleep  and  The  Marksmen.   !LTERNATIVE If  you  are  tired  of  all  the  Christmas  festivi-­ ties  already  (and  who  can  blame  you  since  it  all  began  in  September),  there  are  some  great  non-­Christmassy  events  happening  this  month  too.  The  Reduced  Shakespeare  Company’s  show,  Completely  Hollywood  (abridged)  will  be   in  town.  Having  already  comically  condensed  The  Bible  and  Shakespeare’s  Complete  Works,  the  company  is  now  exploring  the  wonderful  world  of Â ďŹ lm,  and,  to  quote  the  advert,  man-­ ages  to  condense  Casablanca,  race  through  Rocky,  speed  through  Star  Wars  and  fast  for-­ ward  through  Four  Weddings.  Prices  range  from  £4  to  £15  and  there  are  some  student  offers  available.  However,  this  fantastic  show  is  only  showing  for  two  days  (the  6th  and  7th  December)  so  book  your  tickets  now.  It  is  deďŹ -­ nitely  not  to  be  missed!

$O THEY KNOW IT S #HRISTMAS TIME It  is  all  too  easy  at  Christmas  to  get  wrapped  up  in  our  own  lives,  so  it’s  nice  to  see  that  Norwich  is  also  looking  out  for  the  homeless  or  lonely  this  holiday  season.  Businesses  in  Norfolk  are  not  only  worrying  about  Christmas  turnovers  and  proďŹ t-­margins,  but  are  joining  together  to  work  with  Open  Christmas,  a  local  organisation  which  provides  a  free  roof,  hot  meal,  warm  welcome  and  entertainment  on  Christmas  Day  for  those  who  need  it.  Open  Christmas  attracts  many  different  people  to  its  two  venues  in  Norwich  and  Yarmouth,  including  those  who  are  homeless  or  on  the  streets,  the  elderly  living  alone,  and  young  people  away  from  home,  who  often  give  their  time  to  help.  It  has  become  a  well  established  event  at  St  Andrew’s  Hall  in  Norwich,  celebrating  its  15th  anniversary  this  year.  Last  year  it  attracted  over  300  people  on  Christmas  Day. Businesses  will  help  Open  Christmas  by  giving  guests  a  food  hamper  and  presents  of  new  socks,  scarves  and  gloves  to  those  who  need  them.  Norfolk  County  Services,  Archant  Norfolk,  Virgin  Money,  Jarrold  the  Store,  Anglia  TV,  NPS  Property  Consultants,  Kettle  Foods,  Marsh  and  the  SPP  Group  are  asking  their  employees  to  bring  in  items  which  will  be  distributed  between  the  Norwich  and  Yarmouth  venues  in  the  week  before  Christmas.  If  you  would  like  to  know  more  about  the  work  please  contact  Frances  Holmes  on  01603  455654.  Â

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$PODSFUF  Wednesday  December  7  2005

/H LITTLE TOWN OF "ATTERSEA 4HE PREVALENCE OF THE 0OLITICAL #ORRECTNESS PHENOMENON IS DESTROYING SOME OF OUR lNEST FESTIVE TRADITIONS AS 2EBECCA (UNT AND -ATT 3HOESMITH EXPLAIN 3ANTA AS A SEXIST With  so  much  controversy  surrounding  the  naming  and  participation  in  Christmas  traditions  surely  it  will  not  be  long  before  other  festive  customs  are  put  under  the  PC  spotlight.  Maybe  certain  organisations  will  begin  to  raise  objections  concerning  the  man  who  brings  in  the  Christ-­ mas  goods‌  Santa.  After  all,  why  should  it  be  a  man  who  is  responsible  for  providing  the  world  with  gifts  while  his  wife  (Mrs  Claus)  waits  at  home  in  the  North  Pole,  her  only  responsibility  being  to  have  a  cup  of  tea  waiting  for  him  when  he  returns  from  his  global  time  travelling?  In  a  world  in  which Â ďŹ remen  are  now Â ďŹ re Â ďŹ ghters,  air  hostesses  are  now  air  stewards  and  chairmen  are  now  chair  persons  it  could  be  suggested  that  the  term  ‘Father  Christmas’  should  be  replaced  by  ‘Parent  Christmas’  or  the  equally  catchy  ‘Christmas  Person’.  Good  ole’  Saint  Nick  would  be  known  as  a  hermaphrodite Â ďŹ gure  who  fulďŹ ls  the  same  role,  however  he  would  have  to  have  an  alternative  catch  phrase  to  ‘ho  ho  ho’  so  as  not  to  anger  the  feminist  lobby.  He  also  may  need  to  assign  a  designated  driver  for  his  sleigh,  as  he  will  be  indulging  in  more  than  a  few  festive  tipples  on  his  travels.

4URKEY Just  when  you  thought  they  must  have  run  out  of  strength  and  retired  to  sitting  in  the  dark  listen-­ ing  to  Jeff  Buckley,  the  under-­nourished,  cardigan-­wearing,  moralising  weaklings  have  come  up  with  one  last  way  of  making  everyone  else  feel  bad.  The  ipping  vegetarians  are  trying  to  make  us  all  feel  guilty  for  eating  turkey  for  Christmas  dinner.  We’ve  all  heard  them.  “How  can  you  justify  killing  a  defenceless  animal,  man,â€?  they  whine  from  behind  an  apparently  ethically  produced  Marlboro  Light.  “Yeah  man,  animals  have  feelings  too,â€?  they  mumble,  choking  down  a  “really  tasty  protein  substituteâ€?.  Fair  enough,  we  could  all  wait  until  after  7  o’clock  when  they’ve  gone  to  bed,  but  that’s  not  fair;Íž  Christmas  dinner  should  be  eaten  whenever  one  feels  so  inclined.  This  new  wave  of  fashionable  political  correctness  is  arguably  the  most  worrying,  as  any  of  us  with  a  vegetarian  in  the  family  are  forced  to  suffer  the  image  of  a  Quorn  loaf  or  something  equally  hideous  on  the  Christmas  dinner  table.  In  fact,  if  bird  u  gets  here  before  Christmas,  we  may  well  be  forced  to  eat  some  of  it.  Most  worrying  of  all,  think  of  all  the  turkey  innuendo  we’ll  lose.  Christmas  without  stufďŹ ng  a  big-­breasted  bird?  Multi-­religious-­heaven  forbid.

#HRISTMAS TREES AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE

#HRISTMAS CAROLS

This  one  really  takes  the  assorted  shortbread  biscuit  selection.  The  traditional  Christmas  tree  is  even  being  attacked  in  the  name  of  political  correctness,  probably  by  the  same  tree-­hugging  hair-­ ies  who  oppose  eating  turkey.  Apparently,  killing  a  tree  for  decorative  purposes  is  a  crime  against  nature.  Hang  on  lads,  maybe  there’d  be  a  bit  more  nature  about  if  you  lot  weren’t  eating  all  the  plants.  Fake  Christmas  trees,  whether  green  and  scented  or  simply  made  from  tinsel,  are  becom-­ ing  more  and  more  common,  as,  once  again,  fashionable  political  correctness  looms  large  over  the  traditional  festivities  we’ve  all  come  to  know  and  love.  Would  the  image  of  presents  beneath  a  tinsel  Christmas  tree  carry  the  same  poignancy  on  the  front  of  a  Christmas,  oops,  that  should  be  “season’s  greetingsâ€?  card?  Doubtful.  And  yet,  it  gets  worse:  what  if  they  try  to  ban  mistletoe  as  well?  No  longer  will  drunken  Christmas  parties  be  graced  with  the Â ďŹ gure  of  the  lonely  weirdo  with  half  a  rainforest’s  worth  of  mistletoe  suspended  above  his  or  her  head  by  a  plastic  tiara.  That  would  be  a  tragedy  worse  than  losing  Santa  to  sexism.  Especially  as  the  Concrete  Christmas  social  is  coming  soon.

Political  correctness  is  even  threatening  to  attack  Christmas  carols,  as  the  Christian  stories  they  tell  are  deemed  religiously  divisive  by  certain  elements  of  the  powers  that  be.  Indeed,  a  survey  in  the  Times  last  year  revealed  that  one  in  four  teachers  said  their  school  would  not  be  hold-­ ing  a  carol  service,  as  non-­religious  end  of  term  celebrations  were  preferred.  But  what  possible  amendments  will  be  made?  Will  the  lyrics  to  Rudolph  the  Red-­Nosed  Reindeer  be  altered  to  al-­ low  children  of  all  faiths  to  include  Rudolph  in  the  celebrations  of  their  religion?  Will  the  school  hall  ring  with:  “Then  one  foggy  Ramadan,  Allah  came  to  say...�?  Or  worse  yet,  with  all  aspects  of  religion  being  gradually  removed  from  carols,  will  we  all  be  forced  to  hurl  a  bucket  of  water  over  a  group  of  middle-­aged  people  singing  Oh  Little  Town  of  Battersea  on  our  doorsteps?  (Concrete  does  not  condone  throwing  water  over  carol  singers.  Or  Jehovah’s  Witnesses.)  It  could  happen.  The  PC  machine  seems  to  know  no  limits,  and  will  soon  turn  its  evil  eye  to  the  singing  of  carols.  Brace  yourselves:  you  may  have  heard  Away  in  a  Manger  for  the  last  time.

.ATIVITY PLAYS

#HRISTMAS LIGHTS

We  have  all  been  there;Íž  the  makeshift  costume  consisting  of  a  few  old  bed  sheets  tied  together,  the  tea  towel  on  the  head,  Tiny  Tears  aka  baby  Jesus,  We  Three  Kings  banged  out  on  the  piano  by  your  ancient  music  teacher,  all  captured  by  your  Dad  who  is  standing  at  the  back  with  the  cam-­ corder.  Yes,  of  course,  I  am  referring  to  the  age-­old  tradition  of  the  school  Nativity  play.  However,  this  trusty  Christmas  production  is  under  threat  by  the  ultimate  predator,  political  correctness.  A  recent  survey  found  that  one  in  seven  primary  staff  claim  there  will  be  no  Nativity  play  staged  this  year  so  as  not  to  offend  pupils  of  non-­Christian  faiths.  The  alternative  is  a  non-­religious  end-­ of-­term  celebration  which  quite  frankly  does  not  sound  nearly  as  much  fun.  It  seems  bizarre  that  we  are  now  so  keen  to  stress  how  we  live  in  a  multi-­faith  and  cultural  society  yet  then  turn  round  and  ignore  one  of  the  most  important  dates  in  the  Christian  calendar.  Surely  it  would  be  more  sensible  to  acknowledge  all  major  religious  festivals  such  as  Hanukkah  and  Diwali  so  that  pupils  can  broaden  their  knowledge  of  the  different  cultures  that  surround  them.  Â

The  future  of  Christmas  lights  as  we  know  them  is  in  jeopardy  as  some  councils  in  England  have  become  possessed  by  the  monster  that  is  political  correctness.  Several  have  decided  to  cut  their  funding  for  Christmas  light  displays  because  they  do  not Â ďŹ t  with  their  core  values  of  equality  and  diversity.  Such  moves  will  leave  towns  looking  dull,  bare  and  quite  frankly  boring.  Gone  will  be  the  romanticism  of  walking  along  a  high  street  illuminated  by  a  twinkling  display  of  snowmen  and  Christmas  trees.  Additionally,  many  Z-­list  celebrities  and  stars  of  panto  will  be  feeling  the  pinch  as  there  will  be  no  Christmas  lights  for  them  to  turn  on  in  a  town  that  no  one  has  heard  of.  Already  Luton’s  Christmas  lights  have  be  re-­named  ‘Luminos’  so  as  not  to  offend  the  town’s  Muslim  population,  which  has  provoked  condemnation  that  the  council  is  showing  a  ‘total  lack  of  respect’  for  Christians.  It  seems  hard  to  imagine  that  any  members  of  a  minority  faith  would  take  real  offence  from  the  wording  used  to  describe  a  bunch  of  wires  and  light  bulbs  that  combine  to  light  up  a  collection  of  delightfully  tacky  festive  symbols.  Instead,  this  pandering  to  perceived  sensitivities  of  the  minority  could  merely  enhance  feelings  of  intolerance.

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$PODSFUF  Wednesday  December  7  2005

#ONCRETE S 2EVIEW OF THE 9EAR A RETROSPECTIVE LOOK AT

11

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)TS BEEN A ROCKY RIDE OF A YEAR IN BUT A NUMBER OF INCIDENTS STICK OUT IN THE MIND FOR BOTH GOOD AND BAD REASONS #ONCRETE TAKES A LOOK BACK AT SOME OF THE MORE MEMORABLE OCCASIONS THIS YEAR WITH THE HOPE THAT A FEW LESSONS HAVE BEEN LEARNT ALONG THE WAY

The  beginning  of  July  witnessed  some  of  the  biggest  and  most  impressive  music  con-­ certs  ever  staged.  Live  8  took  place  on  the  2nd  of  July  and  around  the  world  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  gathered  at  pop  concerts  under  the  banner  of  Make  Poverty  History.  Hyde  Park  played  host  to  some  of  the  biggest  names  in  the  entertainment  business  such  as  Madonna,  Paul  McCartney,  Coldplay  and  the  reformation  of  some  old  favourites  like  Pink  Floyd  and  Velvet  Revolver.  The  event  organiser  Sir  Bob  Geldof  wanted  to  raise  aware-­ ness  of  the  G8  summit,  where  world  leaders  gathered  to  discuss  global  challenges  such  as  fair  trade  and  the  world  economy.  Additionally  Live  8  received  criticism  recently  from  record  producer  Damon  Albarn  and  Jonathan  Ross,  who  both  condemned  the  lack  of  black  artists  in  the  concerts,  stating  that  the  concert  failed  to  produce  a  true  representa-­ tion  of  a  world  that  was  supposed  to  be  united  in  its  cause  for  justice. Â

The  day  after  the  capital  celebrated  its  winning  Olympic  bid  it  was  plunged  into  fear  and  grief,  as  terrorist  suicide  bombs  exploded  across  the  city’s  transport  system.  Over  50  people  were  killed  and  around  700  were  injured  by  the  attacks,  carried  out  by  British-­born  Islamic  extremists,  which  were  me-­ ticulously  planned  and  coordinated.  Subsequent  threats  and  hoaxes  brought  panic  to  all  who  travelled  in  city  centres,  across  the  country,  and  brought  home  the  fact  that  the  policy  of  War  in  Iraq  has  lead  to  a  widening  of  ter-­ rorism.  In  the  wake  of  the  bombings,  the  Labour  government  have  made  anti-­terrorism  a  cornerstone  of  their  politics,  despite  breaching  individual  freedom  on  many  occasions.

0OPE *OHN 0AUL )) (UNTER 3 4HOMPSON 0RINCE 2AINIER 'RIMALDI 3IR *OHN -ILLS ,UTHER 6ANDROSS

"IRD &LU Bird  u  is  another  possible  threat  to  the  coming  year.  This  time  next  year  we  might  all  be  clucking,  apping  and  squawking  our  ways  into  early  graves  thanks  to  those  pesky  winged  rodents  of  the  sky.  Or  at  least  we  might  not  be  able  to  have  turkey  for  Christmas  dinner.  Our  festive,  feathered  friends  might  well  prove  potentially  fatal  before  the  year  is  out,  and  if  they  do,  you  can  bet  we’ll  all  be  sick  as  parrots.  Especially  because  it  appears  that  vaccines  for  bird  u  are  in  short  supply  across  the  country.  Good  luck  to  all  you  chicken  eaters  out  there,  as  this  Christmas  turkey  could  be  your  last.

4HE ,ONDON "OMBINGS

4HOSE WHO HAVE LEFT US

3IR %DWARD (EATH 2OBIN #OOK -O -OWLAM 7ILLIAM ( 2EHNQUIST 2OSA 0ARKS 'EORGE "EST

4HINGS WE DIDN T INCLUDE 4HE +ASHMIR %ARTHQUAKE !NGELA -ERKEL BECOMES 'ERMANY S lRST WOMAN #HANCELLOR "RITAIN WINS THE /LYMPIC GAMES FOR In  Singapore,  a  host  of  British  sportsmen  and  women  gathered  to  support  the  bid  for  London  to  host  the  games  in  2012.  A  sense  of  “it’s  a  bit  early  to  be  getting  excited  yetâ€?  swept  across  the  nation  as  the  announcement  was  made  that  London  had  won  the  Olympics  in  2012,  beating  our  old  rivals  the  French  who  were  favourites  prior  to  the  voting.  Becks  hugged  Seb  Coe,  Kelly  Holmes  leapt  about,  lots  of  people  interviewed  Sir  Steve  Red-­ grave,  and  everyone  said  they’d  deďŹ nitely  get  tickets.  A  truly  magniďŹ cent  achievement  for  all  those  who  organized  the  bid,  and  something  to  look  forward  to  for  everyone  else.  It’s  not  the  World  Cup,  but  it’s  something.

(URRICANE +ATRINA People  across  the  globe  watched  on  24  hour  news  as  the  city  of  New  Orleans  was  descimated  by  Hurricane  Katrina.  Although  the  American  Gulf  Coast  is  con-­ tinually  subject  to  hurricane  activity,  the  brutal  nature  of  this  category Â ďŹ ve  storm  caught  many,  including  a  signiďŹ cant  black  population  in  New  Orleans,  by  sur-­ prise.  In  the  days  following  the  hurricane,  many  people  were  stranded  in  New  Orleans  as  the  ood  waters  made  it  difďŹ cult  for  emergency  services  to  perform  their  jobs  effectively.  This  was  compounded  by  the  sluggish  response  by  the  American  political  establishment  to  the  crisis.  In  the  wake  of  the  disaster,  many  both  inside  and  outside  the  United  States  blamed  the  severity  of  the  storm  on  global  warming,  as  warmer  seas  add  fuel  to  hurricanes.  It  must  be  hoped  that  this  natural  disaster  is  a  wake  up  call  for  the  world. Â

*EAN #HARLES DE -ENEZES The  tragic  shooting  of  an  innocent  Brazilian  man  suspected  of  being  a  suicide  bomber  by  the  Metropolitan  Police  made  the  headlines  across  the  world.  He  was  shot  at  Stockwell  tube  sta-­ tion  in  London  as  the  police  believed  he  was  an  Islamic  militant  about  to  blow  himself  up.  In  fact,  he  was  an  electrician  trying  to  earn  a  living  in  the  United  Kingdom  to  save  up  enough  to  buy  a  farm  in  Brazil.  Instead,  he  was  shot  at  point  blank  range  seven  times.  The  incident  could  yet  claim  the  job  of  the  Metropolitan  Police  Commissioner,  Sir  Ian  Blair.

Contributors  to  the  Centre  Spread:  Rebecca  Hunt,  Sian  Rees,  Priya  Shah,  Simon  Sheridan  and  Matt  Shoesmith

$ARFUR 3UDAN Although  this  conict  began  last  year,  it  continues  to  rage.  At  present,  estimates  of  the  number  of  people  who  have  died  peak  at  200,000  casualties,  and  these  are  non-­ combatants.  While  many  of  those  killed  were  murdered  by  pro-­government  militias,  10,000  a  month  now  die  from  preventable  causes,  such  as  disease,  famine  or  thirst.  The  international  community  has  been  slow  to  respond,  which  is  in  part  the  fault  of  the  Iraq  War.  It  seems  that  some  ethnic  conicts  are  more  important  than  others  in  the  mind  of  world  leaders,  as  the  United  Nations  has  done  very  little  to  abate  the  suffering  in  Sudan.

"USH lRES THAT SWEPT ACROSS 3OUTH ERN 3PAIN AND 0ORTUGAL ANOTHER SIGN OF INCREASING GLOBAL WARMING 4HE !SHES )SRAEL WITHDRAWS FROM THE 'AZA 3TRIP

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The  conict  in  Iraq  continues  to  rage,  despite  the  fact  it  was  supposed  to  have  ended  in  2003.  Now  over  2000  American  soldiers  have  been  killed  in  the Â ďŹ ghting,  but  this  pales  into  insig-­ niďŹ cance  when  compared  to  the  death  toll  of  Iraqis,  currently  put  at  between  35,000  and  100,000.  This  huge  range  is  due  to  the  fact  that  coalition  forces  have  not  counted  the  number  of  enemy  combatants  and  civilians  that  have  died  in  the Â ďŹ ghting.  Currently,  both  George  W.  Bush  and  Tony  Blair  are  predicting  some  troop  withdrawals,  but  both  acknowledge  that  it  will  be  some  time  before  the  troops  can  be  with-­ drawn  fully. Â

Although  it  occurred  in  2004,  The  Asian  Tsunami  -­  which  killed  up  to  an  estimated  300,000  people  -­  has  dominated  much  of  the  headlines  throughout  2005.  As  the Â ďŹ rst  anniversary  of  the  tragedy  approaches,  major  reconstruction  work  is  still  underway  in  coastal  areas  of  South  Asia  and  it  is  believed  that  this  work  could  take  another Â ďŹ ve  years,  cost-­ ing  a  further  nine  billion  dollars.  At  this  time  over  15  billion  dollars  has  been  raised  worldwide  and  many  trust  funds  have  been  set  up  in  hon-­ our  of  victims  with  all  proceeds  going  towards  those  affected  by  the  disaster.  For  more  information,  or  to  pledge  money  towards  the  relief  effort,  visit  www.google.com/tsunami_relief.

/SAMA BIN ,ADEN WILL lNALLY BE CAUGHT WHEN HE SMOKES TOO MUCH KIF AND FORGETS WHERE HE LEFT HIS INVISIBIL ITY CLOAK %NGLAND WILL WIN THE 7ORLD #UP IN 'ERMANY WITH 7AYNE 2OONEY SCOR ING A HAT TRICK IN THE lNAL AGAINST "RAZIL )N CELEBRATING HE WILL @ACCIDEN TALLY KNOCK 2ONALDINHO S TEETH DOWN HIS THROAT 3ADDAM (USSEIN AND 3LOBODAN -I LOSEVIC WILL PERFORM A PRISON BREAK TOGETHER BUSTING THEMSELVES OUT OF 4HE (AGUE AND ESCAPING TO )TALY

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-%229 #(2)34-!3 FROM #ONCRETE %DITOR CONCRETE EDITOR UEA AC UK 3ARAH %DWARDES

$PODSFUF  Wednesday  December  7  2005

,ETTERS

0LEASE SEND LETTERS FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE %DITOR 3ARAH %DWARDES TO #ONCRETE 0/ "/8 .ORWICH

./2&/,+ .2 4* OR SEND AN EMAIL TO CONCRETE EDITORIAL UEA AC UK

$EPUTY %DITOR CONCRETE EDITORIAL UEA AC UK *AMES #ONWAY

#HARLES #LARKE AT 5%!

#HIEF #OPY %DITOR CONCRETE EDITORIAL UEA AC UK 3ARAH -ABLEY

Andy  Judson’s  cover  story  ‘Charles  Clarke  joins  the  debate  with  UEA  students’  (Issue  183)  failed  to  mention  the  main  reason  why  the  event  was  such  a  success:  the  debate  stayed  almost  com-­ pletely  free  of  party  political  ‘point-­scoring’  and  instead  focused  on  the  pressing  theo-­ retical  problems  facing  our  democracy  in  the  UK. These  problems  com-­ prised  our  main  (debate-­ winning)  argument  against  Clarke:  that  the  combined  effect  of  globalisation  and  global  economics,  the  role  of  the  party  whip  in  parliament,  and  the  mass  media’s  distort-­ ing  coverage  of  political  news  has  driven  real  ideology  from  politics  and  created  wide-­ spread  voter  disillusionment  and  apathy.

.EWS %DITOR CONCRETE NEWS UEA AC UK )SABEL $YSON 2EPORTERS #LARE "ULL -ATT "URLAND *ULIA "RADSHAW *ANE $OUGLAS #LAIRE (OLLAND ,EE !NN 2ICHARDS *ACK 2OYSTON ,UCY 6ENN &EATURES %DITOR CONCRETE FEATURES UEA AC UK 3IMON 3HERIDAN 7RITERS 2EBECCA (UNT !NDY *UDSON 3IAN 2EES 0RIYA 3HAH -ATT 3HOESMITH 3ARAH 3WALHEIM 4URF %DITOR CONCRETE TURF UEA AC UK (ANNAH .EWTON 7RITERS -ARK (IRONS ,AURA 0ASSI 4RAVEL %DITOR CONCRETE LIFESTYLE UEA AC UK 0RIYA 3HAH 7RITERS 2OB #ASTELL (EALTH %DITOR CONCRETE LIFESTYLE UEA AC UK #LARE !ITCHISON &OOD %DITOR CONCRETE LIFESTYLE UEA AC UK *OANNA ,AMBERT 7RITER 6ICTORIA ,EGGETT 3PORT %DITOR CONCRETE SPORT UEA AC UK ,OUIS (OLDING 0ARSONS 7RITERS 7ILL !LFORD ,IZZIE (UDSON -ARCUS *ONES -ATTHEW 2EAY /LIVER 3TEWARD *EMMA 4HAKE #ARTOONIST 0AUL ,ABOND 'OZEY 0ROOFREADING &IONA "ILLINGS !DVERTISING CONCRETE ADVERTISING UEA AC UK 2ICKY ,IU $ISTRIBUTION .ICHOLAS +ENT

#ONCRETE

0/ "/8 ./27)#( ./2&/,+ .2 4" #ONCRETE IS PUBLISHED BY 55%!3 #ONCRETE 3OCIETY Š #ONCRETE )33. ,ETTERS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE %DITOR 3ARAH %DWARDES ,ETTERS MUST INCLUDE CONTACT DETAILS BUT WE WILL CONSIDER ANONYMOUS PUBLICATION 7E RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT FOR LENGTH AND CLARITY AS NECESSARY /PINIONS EXPRESSED ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE 0UBLISHER OR %DITOR 5SE OF THE NAME 4HE %VENT IS BY ARRANGEMENT WITH THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS 0LANET :OG ,TD .O PART OF THIS NEWSPAPER MAY BE REPRODUCED THROUGH ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE %DITOR 0RINTED BY !RCHANT

WWW CONCRETE ONLINE COM

Granted,  our  argument  that  the  main  political  parties  now  clamor  over  the  same  ‘center  ground’  drew  Clarke  to  defend  Labour’s  ideology  vis-­a-­vis  the  other  parties,  but  that  was  as  party-­political  as  it  got  and  in  keeping  with  our  determination  to  have  a  debate  about  the  broad  issues  which  really  matter,  rather  than  a  squabble  over  specific  policy.

Still,  given  the  party  slant  of  Andy’s  article  he  could  at  least  have  mentioned  that  Jack  was  arguing  as  a  mem-­ ber  of  the  Green  Party.

If  any  readers  want  to  learn  more  about  these  issues  we  strongly  recommend  researching  ‘Democratic  Theory’,  or  better  still  doing  the  unit  of  the  same  name  in  PSI.

+BDL (VFTU BOE +FTT %VSBOU Â 1SFTJEFOU 7JDF 1SFTJEFOU 6&" %FCBUJOH

I  feel  quite  embarrassed  for  writing  an  article  about  an  important  UEA  event,  and  then  giving  it  far  too  much  political  party  bias  (I  swear  it  was  subconsciously  done!),  especially  considering  the  letter  written  by  Jack  Guest  in  that  same  issue  about  why  we  should  stay  away  from  partisan  politics.  I  am  of  course  referring  to  my  article  in  the  last  edition  of  Concrete  on  the  Charles  Clarke  debate,  in  which  even  the  most  quickest  of  reads  would  see  a  certain  amount  of  bias  given  towards  the  Liberal  Demo-­ crats’  involvement  in  the  event.  I  would  like  to  take  this Â

opportunity  to  apologise  for  this,  and  to  make  a  number  of  important  corrections  concerning  it.

First  of  all,  I  unfairly  failed  to  note  that  the  event  was  expertly  chaired  by  DebateSoc  member  Siobhan  Moran,  whose  lack  of  mention  fails  to  give  justice  to  her  important  role  in  proceedings,  especially  considering  the  nature  of  this  particular  debate.

Secondly,  I  apologise  for  the  over-­emphasis  placed  on  the  Lib  Dems,  as  it  was  unfair,  incorrect  and  took  attention  away  from  the  Debate  Society  –  who  were  of  course  the  people  who  arranged  this  debate  and  made  everything  possible.  I  also  personally  apologise  to  Jack,  as  consider-­ ing  his  earlier  letter  calling  for  a  halt  to  party  political Â ďŹ ght-­

ing  (as  well  as  his  personal  involvement  with  the  whole  event  as  President  of  the  De-­ bate  Society)  it  was  unfair  to  try  to  take  over  the  issue.

Finally,  I’ve  also  been  asked  to  distance  the  Lib-­ eral  Democrats  and  NO2ID  groups.  The  two  operate  independently  and  are  not  connected  to  each  other.  That’s  not  to  say  they  don’t  agree  with  each  other,  but  the  two  groups  are  independent.

Anyway,  I  hope  this  apol-­ ogy  sufďŹ ces.  I  promise  I  won’t  do  anything  like  it  again,  and  I  do  stand  by  my  article  as  a  whole,  as  I  felt  proud  to  report  on  such  an  important  event  at  UEA  on  behalf  of  Concrete.

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#OMMENT 5NION #OUNCIL NEEDS STUDENT SUPPORT "9 !.$9 *5$3/.

On  Thursday  24th  November,  Union  Council  met  for  another  of  its  infrequent  meetings,  to  debate  the  issues  affecting  UEA  students  and  the  Union.  During  this  meeting,  we  were  to  talk  about  what  motions  to  take  to  the  National  Union  of  Students  (NUS).  Put  forward  were  three  different  motions  to  discuss,  which  would  help  to  decide  what  important  views  we  took  forward  to  the  NUS,  to  represent  ourselves  on  the  national  stage.  But  the  meeting  never Â ďŹ nished.

Council  meetings  must  end  when  we  are  not  quorate.  What  this  means  is  that  there  are  not  enough  representa-­ tives  present  to  have  a  vote,  or Â

in  other  words  less  than  half,  and  so  there  is  not  a  working  majority.  As  a  result,  two  of  our  motions  were  missed  out,  and  we  were  not  able  to Â ďŹ nish  an  important  decision  con-­ cerning  the  position  of  Con-­ crete  Editor  (more  of  which  you  will  no  doubt  hear  about  in  the  future).  So  now  we  have  a  paltry  single  motion  to  take  to  the  NUS  out  of  a  possible  four,  as  the  next  meeting  falls  after  the  deadline  for  submit-­ ting  motions.  Yes,  we  really  will  look  good  in  front  of  the  other  Unions.  So  why  weren’t  there  enough  people  there?  Why  couldn’t  we  have  these  important  votes?  Had  a  bout  of  plague  gripped  the  Council  members?

No.  There  were  quite  a  few Â

Council  members  to  be  found  in  the  bar  that  night.  It  was  just  sheer  laziness  that  meant  our  Union  was  stopped  from  work-­ ing.  It  should  be  noted  that  thanks  to  the  efforts  of  Jenni  Carter,  a  petition  was  created  and  signed  in  the  space  of  12  hours  to  call  a  special  meeting  to  discuss  these  important  is-­ sues,  so  she  has  managed  to  make  up  for  the  idleness  of  others.  Jenni  was  able  to Â ďŹ nd  enough  Council  members  who  actually  care  about  their  Un-­ ion  and  constituents,  which,  based  on  the  evidence,  seems  to  be  very  few.

It  is  disgraceful  that  some-­ one  can  put  themselves  for-­ ward  for  Union  Council  and  then  not  be  bothered  to  go  to  one  single  meeting  every  three Â

weeks.  They  don’t  even  have  to  talk  if  they  don’t  want  to,  just  vote.  I’m  sure  it’s  possible  just  to  read  a  book  for  a  couple  of  hours  while  you’re  in  there.  But  frankly,  to  put  yourself  for-­ ward  as  someone  who  cares  about  the  Union  and  then  not  bother  means  you  let  down  those  who  you  are  supposed  to  represent.  Especially  as  there  are  a  lot  of  people  who  would  willingly  have  those  positions  and  actually  be  involved  and  care  about  the  Union.  Instead,  it  seems  the  Council  is Â ďŹ lled  with  people  more  interested  in  having  something  good  on  their  CVs  than  representation.  The  worst  thing  is  there  were  a  lot  of  non-­Council  members  present  who  wished  to  join  in  debates  about  important Â

issues.  They  were  showing  more  passion  and  dedication  than  any  of  these  so-­called  representatives,  and  they  are  the  ones  being  let  down  as  a  result.

I  urge  you  all  to  check  up  on  who  your  reps  are,  and  make  sure  that  they  are  doing  their  job.  Everyone  in  the  Un-­ ion  has  a  right  to  be  represent-­ ed,  and  if  your  rep  isn’t  doing  their  job  then  it’s  quite  easy  to  replace  them,  as  shown  in  the  constitution.  I’m  hoping  that  Council  members  will  get  the  kick  they  need  by  having  this  special  meeting,  as  it’s  actually  very  important  these  matters  are  discussed.  If  they  aren’t  interested  then  they  shouldn’t  be  on  the  Council,  because  frankly  you  all  deserve  better.

-JGFTUZMF 13

$PODSFUF  Wednesday  December  7  2005

7E ALL WANT SOME lGGY PUDDING 2ISING OBESITY LEVELS SUGGEST THAT THE CULINARY EXCESSES OF THE SEASON HAVE SPILLED OVER INTO THE REST OF THE YEAR #LARE !ITCHISON LOOKS AT THE SIDE EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH #HRISTMAS PUDDING

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is  the  season  to  be  jolly,  and  we  all  know  what  that  means.  Eating  so  much  that  we  think  we’re  going  to  burst,  having  a  sherry  or  two  with  Grandma  and  then,  strangely  enough, Â ďŹ nding  space  to  eat  just  a  little  bit  more.  There’s  Christmas  Eve Â ďŹ nger  buffets,  Boxing  Day  plat-­ ters,  and  of  course,  lest  we  forget,  the  vast  expanse  of  food  that  is  Christmas  dinner.  In  the  back  of  our  minds  we  realise  that  all  these  mince  pies  mean  we  aren’t  going  to Â ďŹ t  into  our  summer  wardrobes  until  at  least  Easter,  but  it’s  hard  to  care  when  the  festive  spirit  surrounds  us.

The  problem  is,  eating  this  much  is  just  not  good  for  you.  Your  heart,  your  lungs,  your  skeleton,  none  of  them  can  cope  with  the  strain  that  all  this  fat  and  sugar  puts  on  them.  It  might  not  be  so  bad  if  this  winter  indulgence  was  a  one-­off  thing,  preparing  ourselves  for  hiberna-­ tion  as  it  were,  but  face  it;͞  most  of  us  are  hardly  starving  for  the  rest  of  the  year  are  we?  We  all  tend  to  give  in,  some  more  than  others,  to  the  odd  hamburger  and  fries,  chocolate  bar  or  ice-­ cream  sundae,  even  though  we  know  that  it  isn’t  good  for  us.

But  if  this  type  of  food  is  so  bad  for  our  bod-­ ies,  why  do  we  want  it?  Why  do  we  crave  fat  so  much?  The  answer  seems  to  be  rooted  deep  in  our  evolutionary  past.  Six  million  years  ago,  ear-­ ly  man  dropped  down  from  the  trees  and  started  to  live  on  the  savannah.  Food  was  not  easy  to Â ďŹ nd  here,  meat  was  especially  hard  to  obtain  as  it  often  meant  tracking  your  prey  for  days  before  engaging  in  a  hunt  with  an  animal  more  than  capable  of  killing  you  itself.  If  you  did  manage  to  make  a  kill  then  you  had  to  share  it  with  any  other  carnivore  on  the  plain  and  if  a  lion  wanted  some  of  your  dinner  it  didn’t  do  well  to  argue!  Therefore  the  savannah  diet  was  mainly  that  old  favourite  nuts  and  berries  and  on  the  rare  occasions  meat  did  arrive  it  was  a  treat.  Since  meat  was  so  hard  to  get,  we  had  to  evolve  to  be  desperate  for  it,  otherwise  we  wouldn’t  have  bothered  and  the  human  race  would  have  died  off  long  ago  from  malnutrition.  Meat  is  one  of  the  few  natural  sources  of  glutamate  in  our  diet,  a  chemical  which  stimu-­ lates  that  craving  for  more.  Monosodium  gluta-­ mate  is  in,  amongst  other  things,  Pringles,  meaning  that  “once  you  pop,  you  can’t  stopâ€?.  The  early  humans  who  developed  these  crav-­ ings  for  glutamate  hunted  more  often,  ate  more  meat,  survived  longer  and  had  more  children,  becoming  our  ancestors,  passing  onto  all  their  descendants  an  insatiable  craving  for  meat  and  the  saturated  fats  that  come  with  it.  However  much  you  try  to  kid  yourself,  even  you  vegans  have  to  admit  it,  a  chunky  rare  steak,  or  a  big  pile  of  sizzling  bacon  is  always  going  to  be  more  tempting  than  a  bowl  of  nuts  and  berries.

OK,  so  it’s  natural  to  crave  fat.  What’s  the  problem  then?  Well,  as  I  mentioned  above,  it  used  to  be  very  difďŹ cult  to  get  hold  of,  the  hunt  often  using  up  more  energy  for  the  hunter  than  he  would  get  back  from  the  meat.  Nowadays  the  only  thing  you  need  to  wrestle  is  the  super-­ market  trolley  to  get  your  daily  rations  of  fat,  so  we  eat  more  of  it  and  we  burn  less  of  it  off;Íž  this  trend  is  pushing  the  scales  of  the  nation  over Â

the  limit.

But  why  should  we  care  about  being  over-­ weight?  Sure,  the  image  of  the  “perfect  10â€?  is  what  you  see  on  the  catwalks,  but  this  is  the  age  of  the  individual;Íž  if  you  are  happy  with  your Â

.OWADAYS THE ONLY THING YOU NEED TO WRESTLE IS THE SUPERMARKET TROLLY TO GET YOUR DAILY RATIONS OF FAT SO WE EAT MORE OF IT AND WE BURN LESS OF IT OFF weight  does  it  matter  if  you  are  more  Dawn  French  than  Kate  Moss?  Aren’t  they  both  beau-­ tiful,  sexy  women  in  their  own  right?  Well,  yes,  I  agree  that  they  are,  and  to  be  honest  I  know  a  lot  of  men  who  would  rather  bury  themselves  in  Ms  French’s  ample  bosom  than  get  prodded  and  poked  by  the  ribs  of  a  supermodel.  But  the  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  being  overweight  can  seriously  damage  your  health.

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besity  is  associated  with  all  sorts  of  health  problems.  First-­ ly,  your  skeleton  cannot  cope  with  the  extra  weight  it  has  to  carry  around.  You  get  back  pain  as  your  spine  compresses,  squashing  nerves;͞  the  joints  of  your  knees  and  hips  start  to  dete-­ riorate  from  the  excessive  strain,  and  the  bones  painfully  grate  against  each  other.  This  is  oste-­

oarthritis,  the  only  treatment  for  which  is  joint  replacement  surgery.  Too  much  fat  in  the  body  also  means  that  it  builds  up  in  your  blood,  and  gets  laid  down  inside  the  blood  vessels,  causing  them  to  fur  up.  This  makes  the  hole  through  the  middle  of  them  smaller,  and  so  the  blood  in  your  body  has  less  space  to Â ďŹ t  in  to.  This  leads  to  high  blood  pressure  or  hypertension.  The  arteries  can  even  get  blocked  completely,  which  means  that  blood  cannot  ow  through  them  at  all.  If  this  happens  in  the  blood  supply  to  the  arms  or  legs  it  can  cause  gangrene  which  might  lead  to  amputation,  but  if  it  happens  in  the  vessels  that  supply  the  heart  with  blood  then  the  actual  muscle  of  the  heart  can  die,  and  it  can  no  long-­ er  pump  blood  around  your  body.  If  this  hap-­ pens  you  will  get  a  heart  attack,  a  major  cause  of  death  related  to  obesity.  A  similar  thing  may  also  happen  in  the  brain  causing  a  stroke,  the  effects  of  which  may  be  total  paralysis,  loss  of  speech  or  death.

When  you  eat  carbohydrates,  a  hormone  called  insulin  is  released  which  tells  your  body  to  store  sugar  for  later.  Then,  in  between  meals,  you  can  release  sugar  slowly  as  you  need  it.  But  when  you  eat  too  much,  insulin  is  always  present  in  the  blood.  The  receptors  that  nor-­ mally  pick  up  the  signal  from  insulin  basically  get  bored  of  seeing  it  all  the  time  and  start  to  ignore  it.  This  is  type  2  diabetes,  an  extremely  serious  condition  which  can  lead  to  nerve  dam-­ age,  impotence,  heart  disease,  kidney  disease  and  blindness.  And  then  of  course  there’s  cancer.  Being  overweight  causes  your  body  to  produce  more  sex  hormones  such  as  testosterone  or  proges-­ terone.  These  make  you  more  susceptible  to  breast  cancer  and  prostate  cancer,  and  if  you  are  overweight  when  you  are  diagnosed,  you Â

are  less  likely  to  respond  to  treatment.  Add  to  that  the  fact  that  fatty  foods  are  associated  with  stomach  and  colon  cancers  and  the  outlook  is  not  good.

Lastly  and  by  no  means  least  come  the  psy-­ chological  problems  that  may  be  due  to  having  a  poor  body  image,  or  not  feeling  like  you Â ďŹ t  in  to  society’s  norms.

Add  all  those  together  and  you  can  see  that  too  much  fat  is  bad  for  your  health.  Apparently,  being  seriously  overweight  can  shorten  your  life  by  around  nine  years.  At  the  moment  the  health  problems  caused  by  obesity  are  costing  the  NHS  500  million  pounds  a  year,  whilst  about  30,000  people  are  dying  each  year  as  a  direct  result  of  being  overweight.  The  number  of  peo-­ ple  in  this  country  classiďŹ ed  as  clinically  obese  has  doubled  in  the  last  20  years,  and  if  current  trends  continue,  predictions  are  that  by  2020  a  third  of  all  adults  will  be  obese.  The  money  to  pay  for  all  these  medical  problems  we  are  going  to  have  has  to  come  from  somewhere  and  so  you  can  sort  of  see  why  overweight  people  are  being  refused  certain  operations  on  the  NHS.  Obesity  is  likely  to  be  the  scourge  of  our  generation,  having  been  brought  up  on  conven-­ ience  foods  and  on-­line  shopping.  We  need  to  do  something  about  it  now,  on  a  government,  but  also  on  a  personal  level.  After  all,  if  we  don’t  take  responsibility  for  our  own  health  then  who  else  is  going  to?

Sorry  to  scare  you,  by  all  means  enjoy  the  festive  season,  and  indulge  to  your  heart’s  content.  After  all,  it  is  meant  to  be  a  very  cold  winter  and  you  need  to  keep  warm  somehow.  But  come  New  Year,  it  might  not  be  a  bad  idea  to  think  about  starting  a  healthy  eating  plan,  or  sign  up  for  gym  membership  and  actually  go  occasionally  this  time!  Santa  Claus  may  be  coming  to  town,  but  he’s  no  role  model.

14 -JGFTUZMF

$PODSFUF  Wednesday  December  7  2005

3EEKING THE REMAINS OF AN EMPIRE /NE OF THE MAGICAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD IS THE ENIGMATIC CITY OF 2OME 2OB #ASTELL TAKES A TOUR OF THE ANCIENT CITY AND EXPERIENCES hTHE 2OMAN WAY OF LIFEv IN MORE DETAIL

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ome  remains  glorious.  Still  the  swaggering  old-­ er  brother  of  gentle  Flor-­ ence  and  rowdy  cousin  of  delicate  Venice,  the  balls  of  Rome  do  not  stop  clanging  against  the  thighs  of  Italy.  The  grandeur  of  my  rheto-­ ric  here  is  itself,  I  believe,  a  symptom  of  Ro-­ man  fever.  The  dust  of  the  forum  has  choked  my  timid  English  spirit  and  I  have  awoken  the  Caesar  within  myself.  This  is  no  travel  guide,  nor  a  quaint  story  about  ‘this  time  when  I  was  Rome’.  No,  to  dish  out  such  tedious  tips  and  trivial  tales  would  be  an  offence.  This  shall  be  a  bellowing  roar  to  sing  the  poetry  of  the  world’s  most  epic  city.

The  coppers  and  dimes  are  thrown  a  thou-­ sand  times  into  the  tourist-­stained  waters  of  the  Trevi  Fountain.  The  Spanish  Steps  spill  over  with  empty  bottles  and  ‘last  nights  on  the  town’.  The  tired  trawling  of  heart-­felt  art  critics  and  easyjet  weekenders  makes  the  muddled  maze  leading  up  to  the  Vatican  seem  a  dizzy-­ ing  convoy  of  culture  soldiers.  But  this  is  not  Rome.  This  has  become  the  ‘Rome  experience’,  the  pub-­quiz  pop  version,  the  brochure  specta-­

cle  sold  to  those  who  would  laugh  and  poke  at  an  old  bear,  stronger  than  stone  but  weighed  down  by  time,  trapped  in  a  tourist’s  cage.  Rome  was  the  capital  of  the  world  and  is  now  the  capi-­ tal  of  Berlusconi’s  shambled  face-­lift.  Mussolini  too  forgot  Rome’s  history,  ploughing  through  the  ancient  forum  where  Mark  Antony  once  stood  and  rallied  an  angry  crowd.  Now,  the  Via  Dei  Fori  Imperiali  cuts  crudely  through  the  site  of  Roman  ancestry,  all  for  a  megalomaniac’s  view  of  the  Colosseum.  Such  pomp  has  been  the  driving  force  of  so  much  of  Rome’s  vast  ar-­ chitecture.  Pope-­power  conjured  into  existence  the  magniďŹ cent  Basilica  of  St.  Peter.  Emperors  built  their  temples  and  statues  and  ooded  the  piazzas  just  for  the  glorious  game  of  history,  in  celebration  of  their  gods. Â

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ow  though,  the  surviving  mon-­ uments  to  all  these  moments  of  glory  have  grown  wiser  than  their  makers.  They  have  be-­ come  the  gods  for  whom  they  were  made  and  frown  on  the  frills  that  threaten  to  diminish  them.  They  will  stand,  reminding  us  of  a  city  founded  by  the  son  of  Mars,  a  city  for  which  enough  blood  has  been  shed  to  ood Â

the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  a  city  that  became  an  empire,  an  empire  that  became  the  shaper  of  the  world.  But  this  Rome,  this  epic  warrior,  is  becom-­ ing  a  tired  whisper  that  is  harder  to  hear.  It  is  in  the  silence  of  an  empty  Sistine  chapel,  but  I  can  only  imagine  that  it  is  so.  It  is  impossible  to  know,  when  the  frustrated  cries  of  those  who  wish  its  beauty  to  remain  are  forced  to  cry,  ‘No  pictures!’  again  and  again  and  again.  Like  the Â

4HE SURVIVING MONUMENTS HAVE BECOME THE GODS FOR WHOM THEY WERE MADE AND FROWN ON THE FRILLS THAT THREATEN TO DIMINISH THEM throb  of  a  headache,  minutes  with  Michelange-­ lo  are  taken  away  by  the  pounding  of  shufed  feet,  reminding  each  dreamer  that  they  are  only  a  ticket  stub,  no  pope,  no  profound  player  in  the  sacred  sands  of  time.  The  whisper  of  Rome  is  in  the  heavy  breathing  of  the  Pantheon  at  night.  The  old  and  sighing  stone  soldier  of Â

the  ancient  city  deďŹ es  the  eroding  inuence  of  man’s  foolishness.  Open  to  the  elements,  it  has  stood  for  thousands  of  years  and  will  stand  perhaps  until  all  our  years  have  been  used  up.  The  whisper  of  Rome  is  in  St.  Peter’s  square,  but  it  does  not  echo  in  time  with  the  banners  waving  at  mass.  It  is  in  the  surprise  precision  of  Bernini’s  mathematics,  his  architecture  making  the  impossible  delightful.  It  drifts  too  through  the  walkways  of  St.  Peter’s  Basilica,  in  the  un-­ worldly  space  beneath  the  great  dome  that  is  the  taunting  whisper  of  the  Papacy  –  who  dares  argue  with  such  a  God? Wandering  through  the  grasses  of  Villa  Borghese,  the  ‘central  park’  of  Rome,  you  can  feel  the  city’s  handsome  power.  Like  the  sin-­ ewy  form  of  a  renaissance  sculpture,  there  is  beauty  in  the  beast  that  used  to  rule.  It  is  found  nowadays  in  the  bulging  muscles  of  the  moped-­prowlers,  the  testosterone  junkies  that  excitably  throw  their  own  balls  around  the  sexy  city,  high  on  its  formidable  charisma.  But  the  Rome  to  look  for  is  in  the  legends  that  are  etched  into  the  oldest  buildings,  when  all  the  noise  and  chaos  of  the  day  has  evaporated.  It  is  a  dusty  and  magniďŹ cent  soldier,  its  tired  eye  gazing  with  a  calm  but Â ďŹ ery  wisdom  on  the  rest  of  the  world.    Â

"ACKPACKER 4IP OF THE &ORTNIGHT .O

Italy  was  one  of  the  six  countries  which  signed  the  1951  Paris  Treaty  setting  Europe  off  on  the  path  to  integration.  It  has  been  staunchly  at  the  heart  of  Europe  ever  since,  but  in  recent  years  there  have  been  watchful  eyes  on  the  inuence  of  right-­wing  Eurosceptics  in  the  Berlusconi  government. Â

7HEN IN 2OME DO AS THE 2OMANS DO 4RY THEIR @SUPPLI A RICE CROQUETTE MADE UP OF MOZERELLA RICE AND TOMATOES IN DEEP FRIED BREADCRUMBS )T IS A RARE TREASURE KNOWN ONLY IN 2OME

Population:  57.2  million  (UN,  2005)  Capital:  Rome  Area:  301,338  sq  km  (116,346  sq  miles)  Major  religion:  Christianity  Life  expectancy:  77  years  (men),  83  years  (women)  (UN)  Monetary  unit:  1  Euro  =  100  cents  Main  exports:  Machinery  and  transport  equipment,  chemicals,  clothes,  wine  GNI  per  capita:  US  $26,120  (World  Bank,  2005)  International  dialling  code:  +39 President:  Carlo  Azeglio  Ciampi  Prime  minister:  Silvio  Berlusconi Â

3OME )TALIAN &ACTS AND &IGURES

-JGFTUZMF

$PODSFUF  Wednesday  December  7  2005

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%ATING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND #HRISTMAS WOULDN T BE #HRISTMAS WITHOUT A DAY OR TWO OF OVER INDULGENCE 6ICTORIA ,EGGETT TAKES A LOOK AT THE WORLD S FOOD RELATED FESTIVE TRADITIONS

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hristmas  is  traditional-­ ly  a  time  of  indulgence,  particularly  when  it  comes  to  food.  This  ex-­ travagance  is  a  way  of  celebrating  Christmas  as  well  as  supposedly  being  an  attempt  to  bring  opulence  to  win-­ ter  when  all  around  you  is  dreary  and  lifeless.  The  food  eaten  during  the  festive  season  has  become  just  as  traditional  as  a  nativity  scene,  decorating  a  tree  and  gathering  together  with  family.  We  all  know  the  traditional  English  Christ-­ mas  meal:  turkey  and  stufďŹ ng,  potatoes,  pigs  in  a  blanket  and  Brussels  sprouts  (or  some  vari-­ ation  on  that,  seeing  as  no-­one  actually  likes  sprouts).

After  this  comes  the  Christmas  pudding  and  mince  pies,  if  you  have  room!  According  to  historians,  these  two  dishes  have  similar  origins.  Both  were  originally  meat  dishes  in  me-­ dieval  times.  Christmas  pudding,  or  plum  pud-­ ding,  was  originally  made  from  chopped  beef  or  mutton  and  onions,  whilst  mince  pies  involved  minced  meat  such  as  liver:  both  were  enriched  with  dried  fruits.  Christmas  pudding  was  origi-­ nally  served  before  the  meal,  and  neither  had  a  particular  link  with  Christmas.  As  more  dried  fruits  entered  the  country  they  were  added  and  gradually  the  meat  was  replaced.  It  wasn’t  un-­ til  around  the  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  century  that  they  became  associated  with  Christmas  and  even  up  until  the  eighteenth  century  Christ-­ mas  pudding  was  still  being  served  as  a  fore-­ runner  to  the  main  meal.  Christmas  pudding  and  mince  pies,  as  we  know  them,  only  date  back  to  around  the  nineteenth  century.  The  pudding  itself  seems  to  be  more  of  an  accidental  Christmas  tradition  than  a  symbolic  one;Íž  however  the  preparation  of  the  pudding  has  acquired  some  festive  signiďŹ cance.  Accord-­ ing  to  English  folklore,  Christmas  puddings  must  be  made  by  the  last  Sunday  before  the  beginning  of  Advent,  “stir  up  Sundayâ€?,  when  families  gather  together  to  take  turns  stirring  the  pudding  with  a  wooden  spoon,  a  reminder  of  Jesus’  crib,  whilst  making  a  wish.  Some  say  the  spoon  should  be  stirred  from  east  to  west,  to  honour  the  journey  made  by  the  Three  Kings. Â

Some  traditions  suggest  the  pudding  should  be  made  using  thirteen  ingredients  to  represent  Jesus  and  his  twelve  disciples,  whilst  the  light-­ ing  of  brandy  to  create  a  ame  on  the  pudding  is  said  to  be  symbolic  of  Christ’s  passion.  Different  countries  have  different  traditions  when  it  comes  to  food.  In  Germany,  like  many  European  countries,  the  main  feast  is  eaten  on  Christmas  Eve,  and  usually  involves  goose  rather  than  turkey.  Their  traditional  Christmas Â

! COUPLE OF MINCE PIES AND A WARMING DRINK ARE THOUGHT TO SEND THE BIG MAN OFF TO THE NEXT HOUSE WITH A SKIP IN HIS STEP ALTHOUGH BY THE END OF THE NIGHT IT S PROB ABLY MORE OF A STAGGER cake  is  Stollen.  Stollen  is  a  rich  fruit  cake  from  medieval  times  containing  dried  fruits  and  warming  Christmas  spices  like  cinnamon,  nut-­ meg  and  cloves.  This  was  traditionally  eaten  at  Christmas  because  the  rich  ingredients  made  it  an  expensive  luxury.  Cooks  would  save  their  best  ingredients  and  use  them  to  celebrate  dur-­ ing  the  holidays.  The  cradle  shape  of  the  stol-­ len  is  thought  to  be  symbolic  of  the  baby  Jesus,  swathed  in  his  manger.  Stollen  can  be  found  all  over  German  Christmas  markets  during  the  festive  season,  from  Cologne  to  Munich,  along  with  other  festive  foods  like  zimtsterne  (cinna-­ mon  stars)  and  lebkuchen  (gingerbread).

In  the  seventeenth  century,  gingerbread  making  was  restricted  by  law  to  professional  bakers  in  France  and  Germany.  However,  these  rules  were  relaxed  during  the  holiday  season  when  anyone  could  bake  it  -­  perhaps  explaining  why  there  is  such  an  abundance  of  gingerbread  men  and  houses  (a  tradition  apparently  began  by  the  Grimm  Brothers)  at  this  time  of  year.

No  Christmas  market  is  complete  without  Gluhwein,  the  German  equivalent  of  mulled Â

2ECIPE FOR -INCE 0IES This  recipe  was  donated  by  my  wonderful  housemate  Adam  Burton,  who  suprised  us  all  when   we  got  home  one  afternoon  to  be  greeted  by  warm  mince  pies  and  a  cup  of  tea.  I  suppose  it’s  cheaper  than  buying  presents  for  your  housemates.  Or  a  good  way  of  sweetening  up  the  neigh-­ bours  before  your  Christmas  party.

Ingredients  for  20  -­  24  pies: Mincemeat  (I’ve  heard  some  stories  so  I  will  mention  it:  it’s  not  the  butcher’s  kind  of  minced-­ meat,  remember.)

Shortcrust  pastry:  350g  Plain  Flour    75g  Butter/Margarine   75g  Lard     Water   Optional:  Milk/beaten  egg  to  glaze  Icing  Sugar  to  top First,  make  the  pastry.  Sift  the  our  into  a  bowl  and  rub  the  butter  and  lard  into  it.  Add  cold  water  and  knead  until  the  mixture  has  a  doughy  consistency.  Put  it  in  the  fridge  for  30  minutes.

Roll  out  and  use  a  large  cutter  for  the  pie  basins  and  a  smaller  one  for  the  lids.

Grease  the  baking  tray  (we  bought  a  12  pie  tray  for  £1  from  a  popular  budget  retailer!)  and  lay  the  larger  circles  into  the  tin.  Fill  each  with  a  generous  scoop  of  mincemeat.  Put  the  pastry  lids  on,  using  water  to  stick  the  pastry  together.  Pierce  each  pie  and  glaze  with  milk  or  beaten  egg.

Bake  in  the  oven  (180  -­  220oC)  until  golden.  Allow  to  cool  and  dust  with  icing  sugar.

wine,  a  rich,  warm,  spiced  wine,  ideal  in  the  bit-­ terly  cold  winters  of  Germany.  The  French  Christmas  cake  is  the  Buche  de  Noel,  or  Yule  Log.  The  origins  of  this  treat  are  supposed  to  lie  with  the  Pagan  tradition  of  burning  a  log  on  the  winter  solstice  to  repre-­ sent  the  sun  returning  amidst  the  barren  win-­ ter.  The  French  adapted  this  into  a  sponge  cake  which  was  rolled  into  a  log  shape  and  covered  with  chocolate  buttercream  to  resemble  bark.  As  with  mince  pies  and  Christmas  pudding,  this  version  of  the  yule  log  did  not  come  into  common  usage  until  the  nineteenth  century‌  does  anyone  else  get  the  impression  that  the  people  of  the  nineteenth  century  had  a  really  sweet  tooth?

T

he  main  Christmas  feast,  as  well  as  traditional  Christmas  cakes,  also  varies  around  the  world.  Ours  is  eaten  on  Christmas  Day  itself,  as  it  is  in  Australia  and  South  Africa.  But  whilst  we  sit  in  the  freezing  cold  gorging  ourselves  on  anything  that  gives  us  a  warm  and  cosy  feeling,  the  Australians  and  South  Africans  are  entering  into  a  scorching  summer.  Because  of  this  the  Australians  are  the  envy  of  many  as  they  eat  a  barbeque  on  the  beach  or  they  switch  our  hot  meal  for  a  cold  version  with  turkey,  ham  and  salad,  perhaps  with  plum  pudding  and  ice-­cream  to Â ďŹ nish.  In  some  cases  a  traditional  English  Christmas  dinner  is  still  eaten,  as  it  is  in  South  Africa,  quickly  followed  by  a  surf  to  re-­ lieve  that  ‘I’m  going  to  explode’  feeling.  We  just  wallow  in  it.  In  many  European  countries,  the  Christmas  feast  takes  place  on  Christmas  Eve  to  mark  the  evening  on  which  Jesus  was  born.  As  a  mainly  Catholic  country,  many  Italian  families  fast  on  Christmas  Eve  -­  choosing  not  to  eat  meat  -­  so  their  meal  features Â ďŹ sh  instead.  Whilst  fast-­ ing  is  less  common  now,  it  was  originally  seen  as  a  way  of  getting  closer  to  God,  and  since  Christmas  is  such  an  important  religious  event,  it  was  particularly  important  at  this  time.  The  Christmas  fast  has  also  been  seen  as  a  way  of  showing  that  Catholics  know  what  is  important  at  Christmas  since  over  indulgence  has  tended  to  replace  any  religious  signiďŹ cance.  The  French  see  their  Christmas  feast  as  a  family  orientated Â

event.  Only  the  closest  family  members  join  together  after  midnight  mass  on  Christmas  Eve  (once  the  fast  has  ended)  to  eat  the  tradi-­ tional  turkey.  In  Sweden,  families  sit  down  to  a  Julbord,  a  lavish  smorgasbord  of Â ďŹ sh,  ham,  potatoes,  cabbage  and  meatballs.   Since  Christmas  has  become  as  much  about  the  arrival  of  Father  Christmas,  or  Sinter  Klaus,  or  Santa  Claus,  or  even  the  Hus  Tomte  (House  Gnome)  as  it  is  about  celebrating  the  birth  of  Jesus,  the  food  and  drink  left  out  for  your  favourite  Christmas  apparition  has  be-­ come  a  great  tradition.

I’m  sure  we’ve  all  left  a  couple  of  mince  pies  and  a  glass  of  sherry  out  for  Father  Christmas  at  some  point  (my  Father  Christmas  always  man-­ aged  to Â ďŹ nd  the  dishwasher  to  put  the  glass  away.  Magic!)  and  some  may  even  admit  to  still  doing  it  after  a  few  drinks  at  the  Christmas  LCR.  A  couple  of  mince  pies  and  a  warming  drink  are  thought  to  send  the  big  man  off  to  the  next  house  with  a  skip  in  his  step  (although  by  the  end  of  the  night  it’s  probably  more  of  a  stag-­ ger).

In  Ireland,  they  vary  the  offering  slightly  by  leaving  a  pint  of  Guinness  for  Father  Christmas  -­  it  does  give  you  strength  after  all  -­  whilst  in  New  Zealand  a  cooling  pint  of  beer  is  offered  to  help  counteract  the  hot  summer  tempera-­ tures.  Scandinavian  countries  choose  to  leave  one  of  their  traditional  treats  for  the  Christmas  gnome:  rice  pudding.   Christmas  foods  are  a  highly  valued  part  of  Christmas,  whether  they’re  eaten  as  important  religious  symbols,  an  excuse  to  bring  the  fam-­ ily  together  or  simply  as  a  celebration  of  the  fun  festive  season.  Maybe  this  year  you  won’t  roll  your  eyes  quite  so  exaggeratedly  when  your  mum  breaks  down  because  the  mince  pies  have  burnt  to  a  crisp  –  and  for  goodness  sake,  help  her!  -­  The  largest  ever  Christmas  Pudding  was  made  in  Lancashire  in  1992  and  weighed  a  whopping  7,231  pounds  (the  weight  of  about  three  small  cars!)

-­  The  biggest  mince  pie  weighed  2,260  pounds,  measuring  6.1  metres  x  1.5  metres  (that’s  wider  than  the  height  of  a  double-­ decker  bus!).  It  was  made  in  Leicestershire  in  1932. Â

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$PODSFUF  Wednesday  December  7  2005

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4HE WRAP THIS #HRISTMAS

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he  place  to  start  making  a  dif-­ ference  is  at  home,  so  take  on  board  some  of  these  handy  tips Â

that  will  save  your  money  and  our  planet!

The  season  of  giving  is  here  so  make  sure  you  remember  the  three  Rs: Reduce,  Reuse  and  Recycle!

FOOD: *  Plan  your  Christmas  food  shopping:  much  surplus  food  is  thrown  away.  Do  you  really  need  everything  you  buy?  *  Avoid  buying  products  which  are  over-­ packaged.  *  Take  your  own  re-­usable  bag  with  you  to Â

,AURA 0ASSI SUGGESTS SOME FRIENDLIER VERSIONS OF UNRECYCLABLE PLASTICISED FESTIVE WRAP

W

rapping  paper  is  an  essential  part  of  Christmas  day.  It  adds  to  the  excitement  of  receiving  a  present  and  provides  extra  festive  decoration  under  the  Christmas  tree.  Friends  of  the  Earth  estimate  that  8,000  tonnes  of  wrapping  paper  will  be  used  this  year,  which  is  equivalent  to  50,000  trees.  Unfortunately,  the  majority  of  paper  we  use  to  wrap  presents  isn’t  recyclable.  This  is  due  to  the  plastic  which  is  used  to  coat  the  pa-­ per  and  give  it  a  glossy  look.

Few  high  street  shops  sell  a  huge  selection  of  recycled  paper,  and  the  more  environmental-­ ly  friendly  paper  available  is  often  more  pricey.  With  time  and  money  being  tight  around  the  festive  season,  hunting  down  environmentally  friendly  Christmas  wrap  just  won’t  be  a  priority  for  a  lot  of  us.  That’s  why  many  people  save  wrapping  pa-­ per  to  re-­use  the  following  year.  Consider  trying  it  yourself;Íž  it  will  not  only  clear  your  environ-­ mental  conscience  but  save  you  pennies  next  year.  This  will  be  made  easier  by  avoiding  the Â

TONNES OF IT A YEAR STRAIGHT TO THE BIN use  of  the  all  too  familiar  Sellotape  and  using  removable  tape  instead,  which  is  like  the  sticky  part  of  a  Post-­it  note.

There  are  lots  of  ideas  for  alternative  wrap-­ ping  paper,  which  are  very  ecologically  friendly.  Re-­using  paper  that  you  already  have  is  an  ex-­ cellent  idea  and  much  of  it  can  be  recycled.   So,  why  not  entertain  yourself  this  Christmas  by  making  your  own  wrap?  If  you’re  feeling  crea-­ tive  and  responsible,  get  together  with  a  few  friends,  a  bottle  of  mulled  wine  and  you  can  all  customize  your  wrap  together.  Here  are  a  few Â

ideas  to  get  you  started:  Newspaper  pages,  add  glitter  to  give  it  an  unusual  edge;͞  Collages  of  celebrity  faces  or  other  magazine  pictures,  ide-­ al  for  those  Heat  fans  ;͞  Old  pieces  of  material,  from  all  those  fancy  dress  costumes  acquired  over  the  year;͞  Brown  paper  bags  or  parcel  pa-­ per,  with  coloured  stamps  on  it  for  some  messy  fun.

Break  away  from  the  corporate  mould  and  have  a  merry  Christmas,  knowing  that  you  per-­ sonally  helped  the  environment,  by  making  your  own  Christmas  wrap.

the  supermarket. Â

.UCLEAR ROUND TWO

*  As  much  as  20%  of  what  is  thrown  away  could  be  compostable  -­  have  you  got  a  composter  or  can  someone  help  you  compost  ?  *  Try  to  use  returnable  or  reusable  con-­ tainers.  *  Buy  goods  in  reďŹ llable  containers  e.g.  washing  powders  etc.  *  Avoid  disposable  goods  where  they  aren’t  necessary  e.g.  disposable  razors. Â

PAPER: *  Reduce  unwanted  junk  mail  -­  join  the  Mailing  Preference  Service.  Check  it  out  online  at  http://www.mpson-­ line.org.uk Â

GENERAL: *  Can  it  be  repaired?  Think  before  you  bin!  *  Donate  rather  than  dump  e.g.  through  jumble  sales  or  charity  shops.

3ELLAlELD NUCLEAR POWER STATION AND 'IPPSLAND S COAL POWERED STATION

-ARK (IRONS REPORTS ON THE RESURFACING OF THE NUCLEAR DEBATE

F

ew  can  doubt  the  seriousness  of  global  warming;͞  the  last  three  years  have  been  the  hottest  on  record  and  10%  of  Swiss  glaciers  melted  in  the  summer  of  2003.  These  are  just  two  of  the  factors  worrying  scientists  and  politi-­ cians  alike.  With  the  impact  of  climate  change  becoming  increasingly  tangible,  the  UK’s  com-­

mitment  to  cut  CO2  by  20%  by  2010  and  pre-­ dictions  of  power  outages  over  the  winter,  it  is  hardly  surprising  that  the  nuclear  debate  has  resurfaced.  In  recent  years  nuclear  energy  has  supplied  up  to  a  quarter  of  Britain’s  energy  demand.  The  problem  arises  as  present  stations  are  coming  to  the  end  of  their  serviceable  life  and  North  Sea  oil  and  gas  reserves  are  running  short.  Un-­ less  nuclear  power  is  renewed  and  expanded,  the  energy  deďŹ cit  left  by  the  end  of  nuclear  power  will  have  to  be  met  by  other  means.  Other  means  could  include  the  presently  insuf-­ ďŹ cient  renewable  energy  sources  such  as  wind Â

and  solar,  or  importing  conventional  fuels  from  abroad  –  probably  Russia  and  Nigeria.  Nuclear  power  is  created  by  nuclear Â ďŹ ssion  whereby  an  element  such  as  Uranium-­235  is  split  which  releases  energy.  A  key  argument  in  the  nuclear  debate  is  the  role  that  it  can  play  in  reducing  CO2  emissions.  The  process  of  creat-­ ing  energy  by  nuclear Â ďŹ ssion  is  carbon  free  but  strong  and  robust  opposition  to  this  argument  is  that  the  mining  of  Uranium  to  fuel  the  proc-­ ess  produces  huge  amounts  of  CO2.  Carbon  dioxide  is  not  the  only  pollutant  resulting  from  nuclear  power;Íž  disposal  of  radioactive  waste  that  remains  dangerous  for  250  000  years  is  a  crucial  and  expensive  problem.  Financially  a  nuclear  future  is  unclear.  A  leaked  memo  from  the  government’s  chief  scientiďŹ c  adviser  suggests  a  levy  on  consum-­ ers  utility  bills  may  be  required  to Â ďŹ nance  new  nuclear  plants.  Sir  Bernard  Ingham  points  out  that  ministers  have  already  poured  billions  into  renewable  sources  that  are  still  unreliable  and  intermittent.  Reliable Â ďŹ gures  for  the  total  elec-­ tricity  that  renewable  power  could  supply  do  not  yet  exist,  so  anyone  can  claim  anything  and  they  do.  Arguments  concerning  social, Â ďŹ nancial  and  environmental  impacts  of  nuclear  swing  to  and  fro  with  politicians  clutching  at  what  the  most  recent  research  suggests.  Energy  efďŹ ciency  in  the  home  could  be  re-­ alistically  improved  by  installing  mini  wind  tur-­ bines  and  small  “combined  heat  and  powerâ€?  boilers,  reducing  our  demand  from  big  fossil  fuel  power  plants  by  40%  by  2050.  It  may  be  too  much  to  hope  that  the  government’s  latest  energy  review  is  going  to  be  impartial  and  bal-­ anced,  and  include  such  domestic  reductions  rather  than  the  feared  smokescreen  for  the  pre-­ empted  pro-­nuclear  decision.   Â

$PODSFUF Wednesday December 7 2005

$REAMING OF A GREEN #HRISTMAS #AN YOU TELL WHICH IS REAL AND WHICH IS FAKE 4HE ANNUAL #HRISTMAS TREE DEBATE CONTINUES OVER WHICH IS MORE FRIENDLY TO THE ENVIRONMENT

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35--%$ 50 Amount of wrapping paper used in the UK each year =

Amount of chilled mackerel products bought by the UK every year =

Amount of spent nuclear fuel shipped

eal or artificial? When it comes to choosing a Christmas tree, most people have a definite preference.

Many people like the traditional cut trees. Scotch pine, Norway spruce, Douglas fir and Balsam fir are some of the pop-­ ular species of Christmas trees.

There are pros and cons for both real and artificial Christmas trees. The argument for us-­ ing cut trees often points out that Christmas tree farms offer several benefits. They provide oxygen, remove carbon dioxide and other air-­ borne pollutants, stabilize soils, help to reduce flooding and provide shelter for animals.

If removed with the root ball they can then be planted after the season has finished. But this requires more effort than most are willing to put in.

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Tree farming is a temporary land use as the trees are grown to be cut down and when they decompose they release carbon back into the environment.

Most Christmas tree farms use pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, all of which negatively impact the environment, but if you look hard enough it is now possible to get organically grown trees.

Artificial trees are not without their prob-­ lems either. Probably their major fault is that they are made from plastics and metals, thus using more of finite resources that aren’t read-­ ily biodegradable. Often it is not possible to separate the plastic from the metal so they are eventually disposed of in landfill, but they will not fully biodegrade and will release harmful gases as the plastics begin to break down.

On a more positive note, using an artificial tree means that you can re-­use it each year. If your artificial tree lasts for 10 or so years it will be less expensive than purchasing a real tree every year and will not be reaping the environ-­ ment of anything for that period. This does not apply to the new phase of optical fibre trees, which not only look tacky but use electricity for a pointless cause!

However, this is not taking into account the process used to make artificial trees which pro-­ duces emissions of CO2.

The choice often resides in what factors you deem most important: for example, the period of use, or the emissions in production/ growth?

Read the table below to make your decision about what type of tree to buy!

from Japan to Europe for reprocessing since the 1960s =

TONNES

Number of UEA students who voted against the Nestle Boycott (824 voted to keep it) =

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Production Stage • Normally takes place in countries such as China, • The majority of Christmas trees are grown for 7-­10 Taiwan and South Korea. Such countries generally years and need maintenence over that period have less stringent environmental regulations, so • Fertilisers are often used to increase growth rate emissions standards, where they apply, are much and to enhance a ‘rich green’ colour. While a portion lower than deemed acceptable in the UK. of the nutrients are taken up by the trees and into • Most manufactured trees will have travelled thou-­ the soil, some can be washed via overland flow into sands of kilometres to the UK, leading to further watercourses, potentially leading to nutrient loading. emissions of CO2.

• Chemical herbicides are used to keep shrubs down • Oil is the main ingredient in plastic trees. Use of a around trees to allow farmers easy access to them for finite resource for a non-­essential good is condem-­ maintenance mend by many.

• Improper use of pesticides can have potential health • Energy from fossil fuels is required to manufacture risks and implications for water quality, aquatic fauna, and transport the manufactured tree and wildlife • Local economy will not benifit from the production • Christmas trees are grown relatively locally, so theo-­ or sale of the fake tree. retically, transport emissions are lower.

• Due to their hardiness, Christmas trees can be grown in regions where few other plants can.

Consumer Use • The materials used in artificial trees can provide • Under certain circumstances, real Christmas trees health risks: can present problems for consumers.

• PVC is a major constituent of artificial trees and • If allowed to dry out Christmas trees can pose a contains Phthalates, which accumulate in body tis-­ potential fire hazard -­ a dry Christmas tree can fully sues and can damage the liver and lungs. ignite in 15 seconds!

• Lead, a cumulative poison, is sometimes used as a • Real trees can be problematic for allergy sufferers. stabilizer in PVC. • The smell of a real tree is considered important to • Artificial trees are reuseable for an average of 10 many people. years.

Disposal • Plastic and metal used in most artificial trees can-­ • Real trees can be shredded and used as mulch. not be separated, making the trees unfit for recycling. • If disposed of at a tip which takes garden waste they • This means that fake trees need to be put into land-­ can biodegrade, but decomposition releases carbon. fill or incinerated, releasing carbon.

Number of people who sustained injuries on the lavatory in 1994 =

Number of people per medical consultant in Sweden (2350 in the UK) =

Number of world cities that have a popu-­ lation larger than 1 million =

Number of pubs and clubs in the UK that have been granted a 24 hour drinking license =

Number UK MPs that put their name to a motion to put more pressure on the US to ratify the nuclear Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty =

18

41035

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The International Olympic Committee has gone soft on the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs because it does not want “problems” at the Winter Olympics to be held in Turin in February.

Part of the problem, from the IOC’s point of view, is that using performance enhanc-­ ing drugs is against Italian law, with any athletes who test positive risking police raids and prison sentences.

Outside Italy athletes are only stripped of their medals and then punished by their nation-­ al federations (whatever the sport), which at worst means a two year ban from compet-­ ing and a fine.

Although no specific rea-­ son has been given, it is be-­ lieved that the IOC fears that athletes will either protest or boycott the games because of the threat of criminal ac-­ tion. This in itself is surpris-­ ing, as one would assume

that athletes are all clean.

Unfortunately the days when only cycling was seen as the “cheaters’ sport” are long gone. Cyclists are still being caught, such as Heras, who within cycling is seen as an equal of Lance Amrstrong in terms of status, but now many other sports are proving to be infected by drug-­cheats.

If you’re a Tottenham fan, look away now, as their raging pitbull in midfield, Edgar Dav-­ ids, has been banned for Nan-­ drolone use whilst playing for Juventus. Indeed, a few years back there was consterna-­ tion in Italy when all the urine samples from the Juventus football team went missing on the way to be checked at the lab. I don’t want to be sued for speculating why, so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

English football has not been exempt, with Abel Xavier recently being caught for ster-­ oid use. Finally a phenomen until recently only found in cycling has appeared for the first time in football: young men in full health, with clubs having the best medical facili-­

ties to boot, dying from heart attacks in their sleep. David Di Tommaso, a 26 year old Frenchman who played for FC Utrecht in Holland, died in his sleep early last week. The club were quick to point out that he “didn’t dope himself”.

Although there is no es-­ tablished link between doping (which is so hard to detect) and top level athletes dying from heart attacks in their sleep when under 30, its fre-­ quency is surprising;; in cy-­ cling at least once a year, often twice. It is alleged that some professional athletes sleep with their heart rate monitors on to wake them up (through an alarm system) if their heart rate gets too low.

It appears to me that the International Olympic Com-­ mittee seems to trust athletes as honest people, who should therefore be protected from over-­keen (now that really is a first) Italian police. The truth is it’s a shame that the coun-­ try which first started to use steroids in large quantities is now being penalised for doing something about it.

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If we cast our minds back to August 1999, we find England defeated in a home series by an average New Zealand team and officially (by the ICC’s ranking table) tagged the “worst team in the world”.

What has caused such a dra-­ matic change over just six years?

Many things can be point-­ ed to;; the emergence of a few better class players (Flintoff, Trescothick, Harmison), Dun-­ can Fletcher’s arrival as coach and the reality that the only possible direction for the team so awful even Zimbabwe were ranked above them was on-­ wards and upwards. However, the turn of the millennium saw a fascinating and, in English cricket, unprecedented move: the introduction of central contracts.

A central contract is award-­ ed to a player, on top of his county contract, who will play, more or less, all of England’s test matches over the com-­ ing year. The advantages are numerous. It pays the players better than their county con-­

tracts (thus, with just 12 avail-­ able, competition for them is fierce, leading to improved-­ performances and more mo-­ tivation for fringe players). It effectively makes the England team the “19th county team”.

The team spirit and ‘bubble’ around an England team of familiar players playing con-­ stantly together has been es-­ sential to their success. Taking notes, Sven? The contracted players are also looked after by the England team’s excellent physios and other background staff all year round.

However, the most inter-­ esting aspect of central con-­ tracts is the power it gives the England management over the player and his participa-­ tion in his county team. On the spur of the moment, Dun-­ can Fletcher is entitled to ask, say, Middlesex to rest Andrew Strauss from their next game to keep him fully fit for his Eng-­ land appearances. Over the course of this Ashes summer Andrew Flintoff played all sev-­ en test matches for England but only four out of a possible 16 first class matches for his county team Lancashire. It’s a given fact that a fresh player is a better player.

Financial compensation

keeps the counties happy and provides them with extra mo-­ tivation, with money in cricket scarce, to produce future Eng-­ land players, aiding the wellbe-­ ing of the junior game in this country. Win-­win, surely? When a contracted player plays for his county, the county will also benefit from having their best players improved still further by the England team’s coach-­ ing. County teams’ funding is also provided by and directly affected by the England team and their performances.

With the football World Cup fast approaching, imag-­ ine the benefit to Sven Goran Eriksson and the England team if he had the power to rest Frank Lampard or Wayne Rooney as he saw fit? A hollow Carling Cup final appearance or a chance to stick their weary legs up and prepare to take on the best players in the world?

Realistically it will never hap-­ pen;; English football clubs are far too powerful and hold more influence over their play-­ ers than cricket counties do theirs. However, it would be an interesting and, arguably, positive experiment. For the benefit of the England football team, surely there’s no harm in Sven asking…

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“Football is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans.

Rugby, a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen.”

So goes the old adage regarding Britain’s two most popular winter sports. How-­ ever, in recent weeks I have become less convinced of its credibility. Over the course of a hectic schedule of Autumn internationals, three events have brought into question just how “gentlemanly” rugby players are, and whilst I am by no means seeking to defend the pitiable actions of many footballers, I would like to of-­ fer a counter balancing argu-­ ment.

Firstly, on November 10th Welsh Captain Gareth Tho-­ mas, who also led the Lions in the last two tests against New Zealand, was, along with two previous club mates, found guilty of assault in a French bar. One team mate was also charged with sexual assault.

Now compare the relatively sparse coverage of this trial with that received by Chris-­ tiano Ronaldo when he was surrounded with allegations

of rape. I appreciate that these were serious allegations, but many people immediately condemned the Manchester United winger simply on the basis that he is a footballer and therefore must have done it. The charges have subse-­ quently been dropped, though this hardly seems to matter to many who have already catalogued the incident in the ‘typical footballers’ file.

Little over a week later, a New Zealand centre executed a quite brutal tackle upon an Irish opponent, lifting him up and letting him drop to the floor on his head. Fortunately no severe injury was caused, though Brian O’Driscoll was not so lucky when he dislo-­ cated his shoulder as a result of a malicious tackle by New Zealand captain Tana Umaga in the first Lions test earlier this year. Neither All Black player has been punished which, in the case of Umaga, is quite deplorable as video evidence clearly shows him driving O’Driscoll into the ground. There is, I feel, some sort of acceptance that be-­ cause rugby is such a physical sport -­ which on the whole is played fairly between teams that respect one another -­ that events like this will occur. Yet

such disregard for the safety of an opposing player should be unpardonable in a sport supposedly played by gentle-­ men.

The succession of in-­ cidents was of course con-­ cluded with the violent scenes witnessed between England and Samoa, when a highly physical game erupted late on into a mass brawl. Whilst two players were sent off and the whole episode was generally denounced, at least one player (Samoa’s number 7) escaped punishment and it again ap-­ pears as though the affair is al-­ most being treated as simply a case of tough men doing what tough men should do.

I have an infinite amount of respect for rugby players, who must control their ag-­ gression in a highly charged sporting arena, and as a foot-­ baller, I may be deemed to be protective and empathetic to the plight of those who play with a round ball. Nonethe-­ less, I think it is necessary to realise that the men with the oval ball can also act in highly reprehensible ways and we should perhaps try to apply more even-­handed judge-­ ments when criticising the lat-­ est misdemeanour by a pro-­ fessional sportsman.

41035 19

$PODSFUF Wednesday December 7 2005

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UEA men’s badmington Nottingham

5 3

The UEA men’s badminton team recorded yet another victory to extend their 100% winning streak to six games at the expense of close rivals, the University of Nottingham.

This latest win follows an amazing run of form that has seen UEA badminton catapulted into first place with promotion to the first division

looking all but sealed.

UEA’s latest victory comes after demolitions of Not-­ tingham Trent and Du Mont-­ fort, Bedford and a walkover against De Montfort Leicester 2nd.

The University of Notting-­ ham proved to be UEA’s ster-­ nest challenge to date and the match didn’t start well when UEA’s singles player, Matthew Reay, missed a host of easy shots and lost his first game.

Dung Dang, playing his first BUSA match for UEA, restored parity with a scintillating dis-­ play to demolish their second

singles player. UEA’s doubles partnerships were equally clin-­ ical as they both won their first games in style and potentially set UEA up for an easy win.

After another win in the doubles for UEA’s strongest pair and, so far this year, un-­ beaten partnership, of Chris Armstrong and Joe Webb, UEA led 4-­1 and a draw was at least ensured. But UEA were not to settle for a draw and they pushed hard for glory.

Ian Jameson and Iain Bayes fought off a barrage of superb attacking badminton from Nottingham but even-­

tually met their match in the doubles, losing a frustratingly tense match.

Dung Dang ran his heart out against Nottingham’s first singles player but to no avail and lost his match to set up a nervous finale. Nottingham had reduced the gap to 4-­3 and victory was beginning to slip away. It needed some-­ thing special to ensure that UEA’s hearts were not to break and Matthew Reay produced it with another sublime display to run the legs off his oppo-­ nent and set up a wonderful 5-­3 win.

It was a day of epic propor-­ tions and UEA now only need a draw in their penultimate

game against Lincoln Univer-­ sity to take them to the top division.”

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P W D L F A Diff Pts 1 East Anglia

5 4 1 0 21 11 10 16* 2 De Montfort. Leicester 6 4 1 1 35 13 22 13 3 Nottingham 2nds 6 4 0 2 38 10 28 12 4 Derby

5 3 1 1 26 14 12 10 5 Lincoln

4 2 1 1 19 13 6 7 6 Wolverhampton 6 2 1 3 12 28 -­16 7 7Nottingham Trent 2nds 6 1 3 2 22 26 -­4 6 8De Montfort, Leicester 2nds 5 1 0 4 8 32 -­24 0* 9De Montfort, Bedford 7 0 0 7 11 45 -­34 0 *=walkovers/points deduct

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UEA men’s 2nds XI football 6 De Montfort 0 Due to their late arrival, UEA turned up half changed at De Montfort (Leicester). After thrusting the final items of kit on and stumbling their way down the rather rickety pa-­ vilion steps they found their pitch which, by all accounts, had just been vacated by a herd of cattle.

Given such inadequate preparation and surface, the team found it difficult to find any coherence early on and it was De Montfort, through their rotund striker, who made

a few early queries of debutant goalkeeper Dan Littleholes.

James Havers was also called upon to make a Moore-­ esque tackle in his own pen-­ alty area to deny what would have been a free shot at goal from 8 yards. Then at the other end he was inches away from executing a diving header at the back post.

Equally close to an opener was Nick Gaskell who lashed a pinpoint cross from Paolo Cerroni over the bar, a chance which hinted that the second half could be good for the UEA team.

Nonetheless, UEA could not have predicted just how easy the second period would be. An early hoof forward from back was flicked on by a com-­ bination of UEA and De Mont-­

fort heads and suddenly Jon Richardson found himself free as a bird. The rutted surface was not conducive to a placed finish so Jon seemed to decide simply to lash at the ball and hope for the best – fortunately it paid off and UEA led 1-­0.

The second goal highlight-­ ed the abominable state of the pitch to an even greater extent.

An horrific clearance by the opposition goalkeeper fell to Nick Gaskell who scuffed his return shot. The ball seemed to alter its course several times as it trundled through muddy grooves, then bounced off one post, trickled along and finally flopped over the line.

However, after a some-­ what barren spell anyone would have thought Captain Gaskell had scored a stunner

as he celebrated with unneces-­ sary vigour. The game was put beyond doubt with a standard Dave Yeomans strike – cutting in from the left he despatched a shot into the far corner of the goal.

Having assisted the pre-­ vious goal, Richardson made himself a sure fire certainty for Man of the Match by compos-­ ing himself in the penalty area and half volleying home with his left foot. Although the best goal was yet to come: Chris Gunn and Gaskell combined to shift the ball from left to right and substitute Tom Thornton tucked the ball home for a goal on his BUSA debut.

De Montfort provided some amusement, with cries of, “let’s go down together” and other similarly heartfelt

statements. UEA made certain that they were indeed going down together with Gaskell claiming his second of the game.

This completed a remark-­ able second half blitz by UEA which, in all honesty, has been on the cards for several weeks and will most likely continue if UEA’s clinical finishing re-­ mains in tact.

UEA men’s 2nd XI football 3 APU

1 UEA followed up this win with a 3-­1 home victory over APU. A scorching start brought goals for Thornton and Gaskell, but a second half recovery saw APU claw a goal back. How-­ ever the victory was sealed when Gaskell converted from a cross at six yards.

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P W D L F A Diff Pts 1 Northampton 4ths 6 3 2 1 11 8 3 17* 2 East Anglia 2nds 7 5 1 1 18 6 12 16 3 De Montfort, Bedford 3rds 7 5 1 1 15 5 10 16 4 De Montfort, Leicester 2nds 7 2 1 4 9 19 -­10 7 5 Leicester 2nds 7 0 1 6 5 14 -­9 1 6 Anglia Polytechnic (APU) 6 1 2 3 9 15 -­6 -­1* *=walkovers

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UEA Ladies have maintained their control of the East An-­ glian Cross Country League (EACCL) with a storming per-­ formance at RAF Honington in the fourth race of the series.

The course route was less

than ideal, with army training taking place around the run-­ ners. The sound of gunfire and sight of flares in the sky certainly led to fast times. The team also had to contend with bigger fields, especially in the men’s event.

In the Ladies A-­team, club President Jess Trowbridge dodged the bullets to make it three wins in a row with

another superb run. Jemma Thake came home in second to make it another one-­two for UEA. Nicola McIvor had a brilliant debut run to make it into the A team by finishing in seventh position.

In the Ladies B team, So-­ cial Secretary Sian Loveless continued her excellent form from the Great Yarmouth race to finish in tenth. She was

joined in the team by Emily Wildon who finished in 16th and Lisa Sammons who came home in 32nd.

Despite having a depleted men’s team there were some fine performances.

Cross Country Team Cap-­ tain Calum Nicol put the frus-­

trations of the Great Yarmouth race behind him to finish in an excellent fourth position, his highest placing of the series.

Rob Green once again put in a first-­class performance to fin-­ ish in sixth place.

Johnny Lee, running de-­ spite a considerable lack of sleep, ran well to cross the line in 14th place. Club Treasurer and mini bus driver extraor-­

dinaire Ali McGeoch-­Williams put in a solid performance to finish in 28th.

The team are now looking forward to their home fixture which takes place just before the end of term on the 14th December. The races start at 2.30pm at Colney Lane playing fields.

All support for Team UEA will be much appreciated!

an early two goal lead. Goals from McSheffrey and Adebola put Coventry 2-­0 up within ten minutes. The Canaries had left themselves a mountain to climb. However, just before the break Calum Davenport headed home at the far post to give Norwich a lifeline. With just seven minutes remaining, Peter Fleming completed the come back with a mis-­kicked equaliser. City even thought they had the three points but a last minute winner was disallowed. The players had

showed tremendous endeav-­ our and heart to come back from a two goal deficit.

Norwich then continued their Jekyll and Hyde season with a poor performance away to an extremely competent Derby side. On-­loan defender Andrew Davies scored either side of half time to condemn City to their eleventh away defeat of the season. The Ca-­ naries away form this year has been absolutely dreadful. Safri did hit the bar for Norwich but in all honesty Derby fully de-­

served the three points.

It seems that just when the club have turned a corner they produce another terrible display. They certainly need to cut out this inconsistent form if they are to have any hope of climbing the table. I’m an avid fan of Worthington, but he must be running on borrowed time at the moment. City are now only four points off the relegation zone in the Cham-­ pionship. Let’s just hope that Santa brings a few presents over the Christmas period.

Men’s cross country

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Norwich City’s poor form con-­ tinued in recent weeks as they gained only one point from their last three games.

The club have been strug-­ gling all season and their last three performances have only worsened their position to-­ wards the foot of the table.

City now lie in 18th place in the Championship and they seem to be looking down rather then

After the morale-­boosting win at home to Luton, Wor-­ thington’s side had four away games ahead of them. First up they travelled down to London to play Millwall. The Canar-­ ies produced a hard working performance, but never really created any clear-­cut oppor-­ tunities. Millwall are having a nightmare season themselves and are currently at the bot-­ tom of the table. However, they took the lead in the second half through a Marvin Elliot

strike. City piled forward in the last twenty minutes and were denied a stone cold penalty in the last minute. Huckerby was challenged from behind in the area, but the referee didn’t give it. As many clubs can vouch;; the luck never seems to go your way when you’re struggling.

The following match for City was against Coventry. The match produced a 2-­2 thriller and was a contrast to the dull game in midweek against Mill-­ wall. Coventry surrendered

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The Eastern Region Open Style Martial Arts competition kicked off on Sunday 20th No-­ vember at City College. UEA Tae Kwon Do club’s team of 13 fighters were all prepared to do battle for the honour of UEA and the chance to get their hands on a big shiny tro-­ phy.

Entering the women’s low-­ er-­grades over 5ft 6 were the tall, blonde Maren Witt and the feisty Hollie Bainbridge who fought their way to the final.

The two were well matched and it was a close finish with Witt first and Bainbridge sec-­ ond. In the women’s lower-­ grades under 5ft 6, Gemma Wilks and previous champion Nicola Thomas did the club proud. Thomas’s trademark roundhouse-­kick won her third place and fiery Wilks, after re-­ ducing one opponent to tears, won second, only losing first place over a disputed point.

Phillip Linter in the men’s lower-­grades under 5ft 8 was one to watch. Having trained with the Tae Kwon Do club for a mere eight weeks, he faced a considerably more experi-­

enced opponent;; and, without losing his cool, kept the scores nail-­bitingly close and walked away with a well-­deserved sec-­ ond-­place.

The lower-­grade 5ft 8 and over men were totally domi-­ nated by UEA’s Alex Dunn;; now three times champion of the category. Perfectly execut-­ ing his signature move, the Deadly Head Kick, (scored at three-­points a time) Dunn racked up the points to a swift finish.

Jon Clemo, despite being the lowest grade in the catego-­ ry, fought spiritedly to an im-­ pressive second place. Mark

Concrete Prize Crossword #73 ACROSS 1) Link in a song or road (6) 4) A Tolkien Shire creature (6) 7) Surgical room, Drama (7) 9) Collaborator, Partner (4) 11) Grows from an ugly duck-­ ing, To flounce or strut (4) 13) Striped, big cat (5) 15) Curve (3) 16) Talk quickly to music (3) 17) Jumping marsupials (9) 18) A Rugby touch down (3) 19) Cured Pork (3) 21) Transport network for motor vehicles (5) 22) Confine, enclosure (4) 24) Apple’s MP3 Player (4) 25) Requests, Attractions (7) 28) Jangle, Unnerve (6) 29) Fashionable (6)

DOWN 1) Yellow Caribbean crop (6) 2) Tax on foreign goods, obligation (4) 3) Optical sensor (3) 4) Success, violent action (3) 5) Honey making insects (4) 6) Arrive, Hem on the bottom of trousers (6) 8) Annoy, provoke (9) 10) Missing something (7) 12) Adore (religiously?) (7) 13) Printer or Copier ink (5) 14) Plant base, origins (5) 18) Heart, Clock (6) 20) Noon (6) 23) Compass bearing (4) 24) Isle (4) 26) Pastry with meat or fruit filling (3) 27) Creative skill, painting (3)

Tobin, always a skilful fighter, took his first opponent apart before being unlucky enough to face Dunn, who he vows to bring down in the in-­club championship next year.

Kin Tang, renowned at the UEA club for his sparring, took away third place in the under 5ft 8 men’s higher-­grades.

Rob Cook, Sam Fagence and John Kontoghiorghes valiantly took on the men’s higher-­ grades 5ft 8 and above catego-­ ry, and despite walking away empty handed, demonstrated some of the most competitive fighting in the whole competi-­ tion. Kyle Cunningham, a new

member of the UEA club and black-­belted in Kung Fu, bat-­ tled his way to the final of this category. Using his height and crisp style and despite suffer-­ ing a nosebleed, which should have led to his opponent’s disqualification, he scored a respectable but taxing second place.

Team “Love Pirate”, featur-­ ing Witt, Dunn and Cunning-­ ham, took part in the Team Competition. Blood-­streaked Cunningham fought defiantly in the wake of his acclaim in the previous category. Witt, at a considerable disadvantage as the lowest graded member

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in this category, fought like a Trojan, using a beautiful head-­ kick to keep the scores tanta-­ lisingly close throughout the nerve-­racking combat. Dunn, also out-­graded by his oppo-­ nent, won easily, though un-­ der more pressure than in his prior category.

In total, UEA walked away with ten trophies and Dunn is now in line for Eastern Region Champion. Fagence, Club President, remarked, “We have achieved a significant haul of trophies but aside from that, I feel everyone who fought at the competition really gave something. I am very proud.”

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