Concrete 304

Issue

25.11.14

304

Concrete online Scan for all the latest news, sports and society blogs

UEA plans halls rent increase The University of East Anglia’s Official Student Newspaper

concrete-online.co.uk @Concrete_UEA ConcreteNewspaper

>> Rents to rise by average of £129 >> Mary Chapman Court to close Elliot Folan News editor UEA plans to increase rents for campus housing by more than the increase in the basic maintenance grant, increasing the cost of its cheapest accommodation in University Village and apparently closing Mary Chapman Court. A 3.4% rent increase is planned for 201516, despite objections from the Union of UEA Students (UUEAS), who point out that the maintenance grant is set to rise by only 3.3% and who say that they were not consulted. The university is also preparing to close down the city centre accomodation of Mary Chapman Court and increase prices in University Village housing. The changes, which were agreed in June apparently without the knowedlge of UUEAS, will result in an estimated profit of £3m per year, but Concrete has learned that none of this profit will be spent on university accommodation. UUEAS sources instead say that the profit will be spread across the entire university budget. In response, UUEAS launched an attack on UEA’s accommodation policies, claiming that university management had used “selective” figures to justify its rent increases and saying that UEA has “no plans” to deal with the fact that there are not enough cheap rooms to meet demand. Holly Staynor, Welfare, Community and Diversity Officer at UUEAS, said: “The University promised us last year that they’d work in partnership with students to do meaningful consultation on rents – looking at the costs student face and what students can afford. Instead they’ve already decided a massive rent increase behind closed doors,and can’t answer basic questions on the role of rent costs in relation to widening participation. Worse still they’re comforting themselves about price by comparing us to the 20 of the UK’s poshest universities. “We call on the University to open meaningful dialogue over rent setting, consider student affordability as a top priority and consider the role they play in anchoring

UEA marks Transgender Day of Remembrance

Bono & Band Aid 30: Lord give me strength

Special feature: student housing in Norwich

Photo: Flickr, David Terrar prices in town before slapping a rent increase onto students to plug wider university budget holes”. A university spokesperson said: “The University and the Union are currently in discussion about the rents for the next academic year. Another meeting is to be held during the first week of December when further information requested by the Union will be discussed. There are a number of alternative ways of achieving the income targets and we are seeking the views of the Union on a range of alternatives. “Mary Chapman Court is leased from the City Council and the current lease expires in 2016. No consideration has been given

to negotiations to renew or to surrender the lease. It is too early for that. “The Union is aware that the University took a decision some years ago, with the strongest support of the Student Union of the day, not to sell its residences off to a third party in exchange for a substantial capital sum. It was agreed at the time that the University would look to raise income from the residences through the rents in order to generate a cash surplus for re-investment in facilities on campus for the benefit of students”. The proposed fee rise would apply to students living in accommodation as of September 2015.

UCU suspends marking boycott following talks with UUK Dan Falvey News editor The University and College Union (UCU) voted last Wednesday to suspend all industrial action which came into force on the 6th November in response to proposed changes to the pensions of university professors. One aspect of industrial action that the UCU planned to implement was a marking boycott that would see lecturers refuse to mark students’ coursework or exam papers. The announcement of such action became the centre of a vicious row between UCU and certain universities, including UEA, after the employers announced that they would dock

100% of pay from any members of staff who did not mark their students’ work. However, following negotiations between UCU and Universities UK (UUK), the organisation representing higher education institutions, all industrial action has been suspended until after 15th January 2015 while further talks are held on how both organisations can come to an agreement over changes to pensions. In an email sent to all students UEA’s Vice Chancellor, David Richardson, said: “Any staff at UEA who were participating in the UCU assessment boycott will now stop their action. “In response to the suspension of all action, it has been agreed with UCU not to withhold pay in respect of any action taken so far as

part of the assessment and marking boycott, on the condition that any colleague who has

“One aspect of industrial action that the UCU palnned to implement was a marking boycott” taken action makes up all work missed in a reasonable period of time. “Clearly this is a welcome development which will protect the interests of students, and hopefully lead to an agreed resolution of the very real funding problems faced by USS. We will continue to press for the fairest

settlement for members of the Scheme that can be afforded”. Following the agreement to suspend all industrial action UCU and UUK released a joint statement highlighting their commitment to finding a solution that was in the interest of both higher education institutions and their staff: “Both parties are committed to seeking a joint proposal for reform that offers an affordable, sustainable and attractive pension scheme, for both current and future members”. The dispute over pensions comes just months after university professors took similar action. The refused to mark exam papers following disagreements over university staff’s pay.

Editorial

editor’s column THE

Geri Scott Editor-in-Chief

“Forget that and get down to the Waterfront for Livewire Presents...”

he end of semester one is creeping up on us much faster than anyone expected, just like it seems to every year. In fact we’ve only got one issue of Concrete left after this one before the Christmas break, which means we’re officially halfway through our time as editors. Which brings me on to a really exciting idea – would you like to be a senior or section editor for Concrete next year? Applications won’t be open for a few months yet, but it’s never too early to start boosting your chances by writing lots and signing up to events. If you want to find out more about what is involved in any of the roles at Concrete, you can always drop me, or any other editor, an email! But back to this week. Have you got plans tonight? Your dissertation? Forget that and get down to the Waterfront as Livewire Presents... is back with an incredible Battle of the Bands featuring talented local artists. The event is free and doors open at 18:30 for a 19:00 start. Last week, I told you how the wonderful Lauren Razavi would be holding a workshop, ‘From Student Journalism to National Journalism’. The turnout on Tuesday night was brilliant – despite the slight hiccup of moving rooms halfway through – and everyone seems to have got something out of the session which was informative, fun and engaging. Anyone who did attend and would like to get hold of

the slides from the evening can drop me an email on concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk and I’d be more than happy to send them over. Speaking of events, the UEA Media Collective will soon be hosting our annual Media Ball. This year we’ve been lucky enough to secure the gorgeous 47 St Giles for a threecourse meal, followed by drinks and dancing, before we head out into the city to carry on the merriment. There are now less than ten tickets left for this, so log on to ueastudent.com/ groups/concrete/events before it’s too late! Now to this edition of Concrete! It’s been a little odd having to read serious articles again after the hilarity that was the sex issue last time, but it really helps that the topics featured this time around are really accessible to lots of people. One of the articles that stands out for me this issue is in news, where Kathryn Fox and Elliot Folan report on the candlelit vigil held in the Square on Transgender Day of Remembrance. The article is well written and the event was humbling, but the quote that touched me came from Elley West, President of UEA Pride, who said that: “We will celebrate with our words and remember with our silence”. To me, that beautifully encompassed the significance that the event held for so many, and celebrated how many people felt it was important to attend.

AskMarx

Revolutionary lifestyle advice from the father of Communism

Dear Marx, My neighbours have started putting up their Christmas decorations and I feel pressured to do the same – how do I deal with this? Comrade! You are under no obligation to participate in the consumerist ceremonies of the god-fearing bourgeoisie. Put down the baubles! Unhand the fairies! Forswear the blandishiments of capitalism. Christmas is the new opiate of the masses! Do not trust it!

Dear Marx, I’m entering my last year of University and I have no idea what I want to do with my life! What can I do to avoid this panic?

Dear Marx, I’ve developed a guilty pleasure: I listen to Nicki Minaj in the office and I’m worried my co-workers will judge me. Can you help?

Comrade! There is but one path for the dedicated and class-conscious worker! Swear yourself to the cause and work tirelessly for the revolution. Take up arms and follow in the righteous footsteps of Messrs Lenin, Mao and Castro. In practice, this can mean many things. From handing out copies of Newsline in the rain to rollocking through the jungles of South America: the cause can be served in many ways by the revolutionary with fire in their heart!

Comrade! It is a little-known fact that Trotsky was a fan of Shirley Temple, the Nicki Minaj of her day. Stalin found out, and the rest, as they say, is icepicks and history. But be proud of your passion: we all have our indulgences. Wear your heart on your sleeve and your wig on your head! Yet guard against indoctrination by the nefarious forces of capitalism. They seek to steal the products of your labour, financially or musically...

Do you have a question for Marx? concrete.deputy@uea.ac.uk

Dear Marx, How am I going to deal with my withdrawal symptoms from the LCR over the Christmas break? Comrade! I can only recommend that you use your party-free down-time to swot up on the finer points of Communism. Revisit the manifesto, the greatest work of all time and the true companion of the enlightened worker. You will find that any time spent in its pages is time that you will cherish forever. All power to the Soviets!

As revealed to Peter Sheehan & Ella Gilbert

Corrections, clarifications & complaints It is the policy of Concrete to correct errors of which we become aware.

Complaints

In issue 303, the photograph above the mast head on the front page, and that on the front cover of the sex survey pull-out, were taken by Rob Drury. We apologise for omitting this credit.

If you wish to make a complaint about an article in the paper or on the website, or about a social media post, please email the editor (concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk) to explain the precise nature of your complaint and to clearly indicate the relevant article, passage or sentence. We will be pleased to respond as soon as we are able.

“Snuggling up in Japan’s first ‘Cuddle Cafe’“ (issue 303) was credited to Jodie Snow, when it was actually written by Annabel Harper. We apologise for this mistake.

In ‘Talking about sex outside your relationship’ (issue 303) the word ‘nature’ was mispelled. This has been corrected on the online version of the article.

The University of East Anglia’s Official Student Newspaper

The University of East Anglia’s independent student newspaper, since 1992

Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593466 www.concrete-online.co.uk Editor-in-Chief Geri Scott concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Deputy Editor Peter Sheehan concrete.deputy@uea.ac.uk Managing Editor Ella Gilbert concrete.managingeditor@uea.ac.uk Website Administrator Will Cockram concrete.online@uea.ac.uk News Elliot Folan & Dan Falvey concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Global Oliver Hughes concrete.global@uea.ac.uk Comment Joe Jameson concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk Features Courtney Pochin concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Science&Environment Jacob Beebe concrete.scienv@uea.ac.uk Travel Jodie Snow concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk Lifestyle Becca Bemment concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk Sport James Newbold & Kat Lucas concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk Chief Copy Editors Helena Bradbury & Frances McKeown concrete.copy@uea.ac.uk Chief Photographers Will Cockram & Jacob Roberts-Kendal concrete.photography@uea.ac.uk Distribution Manager Amit Puntambekar concrete.distribution@uea.ac.uk Editorial inquiries concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk Got a story? concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

Concrete welcomes all letters and emails, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Letters should be addressed to the editor-in-chief, and include contact details. All emails should be sent to concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk. We will consider anonymous publication, and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. Anonymous article submissions are permitted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the newspaper. No part of this newspaper may be reproduced through any means without the express permission of the editor, Geraldine Scott. Published by UUEAS Concrete Society ©2014 Concrete BMc ISSN 1351-2773

News

Students mark Transgender Week of Rememberance with candle-lit vigil Page 5

Union Council instructs NUS delegates to vote in line with UUEAS policy Elliot Folan News editor At last Thursday’s meeting of Union Council (20th November), councillors voted to endorse a motion from Ethical Issues Officer Josh Wilson that called on UEA’s delegates to the National Union of Students (NUS) conference to vote in line with student union policy. The motion amended the by-laws of the Union of UEA Students (UUEAS), to say that “all delegates are required to vote with Union Policy”, as well as setting up a committee that would interpret Union Policy and decide if it applied to policies put at NUS conference. The committee will be composed of all five NUS National Conference delegates, the Chair of the Democratic Procedures Committee (David Hall), the Chair of the Student Officer Committee (Holly Staynor), and two union councillors elected by Union Council. As Holly Staynor is both a delegate and chair of the student officer committee, a ninth member will be appointed by the rest of the committee. Proponents of the motion argued that: “delegates go to represent the UUEAS, who in turn represents the students of UEA… Union Council [which decides UUEAS policy] is the only democratic and accountable body that forms the policies and shows the views of students”. Delegates would not have to vote in line with a UUEAS policy if they included a specific promise in their manifesto which opposed that policy. When queried on whether delegates would face official consequences if they voted against UUEAS policy, Josh Wilson acknowledged that the student union would not be able to ban such delegates from standing again as has been done in the past, due to NUS rules that allow any student to stand in NUS elections. Wilson, who proposed the motion together with Postgraduate Education Officer Liam McCafferty, told Concrete: “I brought this motion to council because there seemed

On Wednesday 19th November thousands of students from across the country marched through London in protest against tuition fees. Starting at University College London and marching towards Whitehall and the House of Commons the protest, organised by the Student Assembly Against Austerity, wanted to make the government aware of their disgust at the up to £9000 per year cost of studying for a degree. In total 10,000 students are said to have joined the march which called upon the government to end tuition fees and back free higher education. This made it the largest mobilisation of students since the London protests of 2010 when students took to the streets to site their anger at the increase of tuition fees. However, riot police got involved when the scene turned nasty after some protesters began to use violent and intimidating methods of protest. Tearing down the railings protecting it, protestors took to the grass area of Parliament Square, while some campaigners threw orange

UUEAS shop to provide sanitary products at cost price The student union has announced that sanitary products such as tampons, towels and mooncups will be provided at cost price, after student officers implemented a Union Council policy to do so. Women’s officer, Dolly Ogunrinde, said: “It is a disgrace that sanitary products are being taxed at the rate of a ‘luxury item’ when they simply are essentials for so many women. I am proud to say that the University of East Anglia is now selling them at no profit and feel that other student unions should follow suit!” The decision means that, from now on, the Union Shop’s range of tampons, towels and mooncups will be sold at cost price, starting from 49p. The union says that this could mean “halving the price of a period on campus”.

Photo: NUS to be an assumption by some candidates for the NUS delegate elections that they could vote against policy, which is formed in Union Council. I think this is dangerous because, although not perfect, Council is the only democratic body that forms and articulates the collective student opinions, and attempts by individual delegates to formulate this independently has the potential to have major issues. “Such as, if a general meeting was used the make-up of and accessibility of it may be questionable. Further, certain personal opinions, not explicitly stated in a delegates manifesto, may be pushed even if they go against the views of the wider student population”. Although no councillor spoke against the motion, NUS delegate Adam Curtis has subsequently spoken out against the idea. He told Concrete: “I agree with the aim of the motion, which is apparently to prevent

delegates voting based on their connections to political organisations. But how can the Union guarantee the same issue won’t present itself on the committee which will seem to be deciding how I, and the entire student population, think? Delegates were elected directly by the students, and now the union has decided they don’t agree with the candidates who were elected. Among multiple issues, I see no mention of the apparent exemption of manifesto policy, and even if that was included, I would certainly have changed my manifesto had this union motion been passed before the NUS election”. NUS delegates represent UEA students at NUS National Conference, which makes decisions on NUS policy, as well as electing the Presidents and Vice Presidents of the NUS. The conference will be held in Liverpool in April 2015, and UEA students will be represented by Chris Jarvis, Connor Rand, Adam Curtis, Holly Staynor and Amy Rust.

Free Education protest and riot police clash Dan Falvey News editor

Union news round-up

paint over the entrance to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and others, wearing bandanas, lit flares in nearby streets. The Conservative party headquarters were also under attack after protestors tried to charge the offices; two of those involved tried to force their way in using a wheelie bin before being quickly arrested by police. A Starbucks store’s staff and customers also required protection from police officers after eggs and white paint were thrown over the shop’s windows. Not related to the march on free education, it is believed that the action was a spillover protest against Starbuck’s alleged tax avoidance. Both the Union of UEA Student and the NUS pulled support for the protest citing safety fears. A statement released by NUS President, Toni Pearce, at the time said: “The reality we are confronted with is that this demonstration presents an unacceptable level of risk, is not accessible, and does not meet the minimum expectations our members would expect for an action that carries NUS support.” Despite concerns for campaigners’ safety, the majority of the protest was peaceful and in total only four people were arrested.

Photo: Twitter, Zarah Sultana

Union Council hands power to authorise society air travel to societies council At their meeting on 20th November, union councillors voted to allow Societies Council to grant flight requests from societies who wanted to take air travel trips within Europe. This followed a proposal from Activities & Opportunities Officer Yinbo Yu, who sought Union Council’s permission to amend the union’s environmental policy which banned UUEAS staff or societies from taking flights within Europe.

Trustee Board upholds decision to cancel coaches to demo The decision by student officers to cancel coaches to the 19th November free education demo, on safety and accessibility grounds, has been upheld by the Union’s Trustee Board. A challenge was brought arguing that the student officers acted outside of their constitutional powers in overturning Union Council’s policy which instructed UUEAS to organise coaches. In a statement posted to the “Union Council 2014-15” Facebook group, the Trustee Board said: “The reality is not only that not all [policies] can be carried out, but that the extent to which they have been carried out to the wishes of the Council is a matter of Council judgment, which it is able to express through its accountability procedure... In the view of the Trustee Board, in reaching its decision the student officer committee acted properly within its role as the executive body responsible for representation and campaigning work and in implementing and interpreting Union Policy and coordinating action requested by Union Council”. A motion to censure the student officers and Trustee Board for their decisions was withdrawn by its proposer at the Union Council meeting on 20th November. The UUEAS Trustee Board is composed of the full-time union officers, two parttime union officers, four students elected by Union Council and four external Trustees. Union Council is the representative council of the Union of UEA Students. It decides policy, elects members of committees and holds officers to account.

News

Student union survey suggests Greens or Labour will capture UEA student vote in 2015 election Caitlin Doherty News reporter The coalition’s term in office is nearly over. With voters taking to the polling booths in less than six months time the 7th May election is quickly approaching. A recent survey of voting intentions undertaken by the Union of UEA Students, in order to raise awareness of the forthcoming election, asked the simple question: ‘If the election were tomorrow, which party would win your vote?’ The results have suggested that it will be the Green Party’s Lesley Grahame or the Labour Party’s candidate Clive Lewis that are going to win the votes of the UEA community for the Norwich South constituency, with 35% and 28% of support respectively. Lesley Grahame has said that she is delighted with the result. Speaking on the poll she said: “This was a fantastic result and let’s keep it up. The Greens are the only ones offering policies that young people want to get involved with - like abolishing tuition fees, voting from 16 onwards and protecting the future of the NHS. I’m proud to stand

for a party that offers a hopeful future for everybody”. The Liberal Democrats, whose delegate Simon Wright currently holds the seat, came fourth with the support of only 7% of the 288

The percentage of UEA students planning to vote for the Liberal Democrats in next May’s general election.

students questioned, behind the Conservatives in third place with 18% of student support and beating the UK Independence Party, backed by only 5% of the UEA population. The low level of Ukip support amongst UEA students is proving to buck the trend of the growing popularity of the party, who currently wield 15% of support nationwide. Despite the evidence that the Liberal Democrats are struggling amongst the student population, a key demographic in a city with 15% 20-24 year olds (2011 census), when approached for comment on the results of the Student Union Survey, Liberal Democrat MP for Norwich South Simon Wright was

seemingly unconcerned by the UEA findings and had this to say in response: “Liberal Democrats are the only party that can build both a stronger economy and a fairer society, and what drives us towards this is the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to choose and succeed in their own chosen path in life. It shouldn’t matter what social background you’re from, or your race, colour, gender, or sexuality. “In government, Liberal Democrats have worked to get the economy back on track and to create jobs. Unemployment has halved in Norwich since the last election. We have also introduced same-sex marriage, we are working towards putting mental health care on the same footing as physical health, and we strongly support our membership of the EU. Many students share our open, liberal and tolerant outlook and that’s why when the election comes, I am confident that our policies will resonate with students”. Six months can prove to be a long time in politics, but, for the minute at least, it seems that the Norwich South constituency may be under the control of a different political party by next summer.

Photo: Union of UEA Students

Sector leaders urge Conservatives to reconsider cuts to Further Education Amy Rust News reporter

Photo: Flickr, Policy Exchange

Education Secretary: arts subjects are not “useful” Ned Samuel News reporter Education secretary Nicky Morgan (pictured above) has caused controversy after she recently said that studying arts or humanities subjects made it harder for students to find work in later life, and they should instead study science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) subjects. “If you didn’t know what you wanted to do… then the arts and the humanities were what you chose because they were useful, we were told, for all kinds of jobs… We now know that this couldn’t be further from the truth. That the subjects to keep young people’s options open are STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths,” she is reported to have said. “The skills gained from studying these subjects will come in useful in almost any job you care to mention; from the creative and beauty industries to architecture”. The comments were delivered as part of a speech she was making on behalf of a campaign called Your Life, which aims for

a 50% increase in the number of students studying STEM subjects. The campaign is being backed by companies such as Shell, Ford and Nestlé, amid fears that businesses are being adversely affected by a lack of applicants with a background in STEM subjects; since 2002 the amount of applications for arts, business and humanities degrees has increased by 80%, while applications for science, engineering and technology degrees have increased by 20%. The campaign also aims to increase the amount of women in STEM fields. Morgan has faced a backlash from organisations such as The University of the Arts of London and the National Union of Teachers, who said “downgrading the arts is the wrong message”, as well as the comedian Josie Long, who described the government’s stance as “immense, ingrained snobbery” and raised concerns the comments might “silence creative voices”. The Independent newspaper noted a recent drop in applicants for creative arts degrees and a long term drop in the amount of pupils studying arts and humanities GCSEs.

Education leaders from across the further education sector have warned against more cuts being proposed by the Conservatives. The comments have been made after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne (pictured right), announced that to balance the books a further £30 billion in public spending cuts would be implemented if the Conservatives were to be re-elected. These cuts would see a significant reduction in the military and justice system budgets, but also affect higher education funding too. The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills is predicted to receive a large reduction in their funding, placing most of the burden on further education programmes. University and College Union General Secretary, Sally Hunt, released a statement warning that such cuts would be counterproductive: “investment in further and higher education benefits society, offers a great return for the taxpayer and should continue to be a major priority for government”. According to education leaders, although more young people are continuing education than ever before, this trend is at risk if funding is cut by the proposed 33%. Speaking on the issue, UUEAS Postgraduate Education Officer, Liam McCafferty said: “College cuts are pernicious, because they hit the poorest hardest. The fact that the government hasn’t ruled out further cuts to colleges are therefore terrifying, and will make it even harder for young people in North Norfolk to get the skills they need to get employment or access Higher Education”. With only six months to go until the general election, the Chancellor’s announcement may prove to be key when students decide who to vote for come 7th May. Prime Minister David Cameron said in

Photo: Flickr, Ewan McIntosh a recent statement that most of the recent cuts have achieved their economic aims. However, the uncertainty surrounding higher education is likely to be one of the most important issues for both local Norwich candidates and national political parties over the coming months.

News

Students mark Transgender Awareness Week

5 “We will celebrate with our words and remember with our silence”

Kathryn Fox & Elliot Folan News reporter & News editor Over the past week, the Union of UEA Students has been working with UEA Pride to mark Transgender Awareness Week, which aims to raise awareness of the diversity of gender and of the issues faced by transgender and nonconforming people. UEA Pride organised events which spanned the 17th – 19th November, including information and advice stalls in the Hive, a screening of the Channel Four documentary, All About Trans, and a candlelit vigil to commemorate transgender individuals lost to violence and stigma. The vigil, held in the square, took place as part of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which was originally started by Gwendolyn Ann Smith in order to honour the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. “Transgender” is an umbrella term for individuals who self-identify as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth; “cisgender” people are those who still selfidentify as the gender that they were assigned at birth. Some trans people decide to undergo surgery to be more comfortable in their bodies, and some do not; others take hormones such as estrogen or testosterone to feel more like themselves, while others do not. There are binary trans people – who identify as male or female – as well as non binary trans people, – who identify as genderqueer, non binary, genderfluid, bigender, agender and many others. Some trans people use traditional pronouns like he/him/his and she/her/hers, while others may use neutral pronouns like they/them/theirs, xe/xem/xyrs or ze/zir/zirs. Statistics from 2012 suggest at least 4% of UEA students are transgender.

Attendees light candles at last Thursday’s vigil for Transgender Day of Remembrance Phoebe Heaton, Concrete Photography

Peter Sheehan joined UEA Pride’s vigil on Transgender Day of Remembrance.

here was a handsome turnout in the Square last Thursday for UEA Pride’s vigil in honour of Transgender Day of Remembrance. I do not remember a more visible celebration of Transgender Awareness Week: this, along with the turnout, give

Greg Clark travels to India to mend fractured relationship with students Cameron Bradbury News reporter Universities Minister, Greg Clark, has visited India in an attempt to mend the relationship between the UK and India and reverse the image that Britain is an unwelcoming country. In recent years the UK has seen a drop in the number of Indian students attending British universities. In the government’s attempt to reduce immigration, tighter visa requirements have been implemented aimed at preventing illegal immigration and students outstaying their time within the UK. This has contributed to a 15% drop in the number of Indian students enrolling within UK university institutions. Tighter visa rules have apparently given the impression to Indian students that the UK is an unwelcoming country therefore Indian international students have been rejecting UK universities in place of other European universities. Greg Clark has led a number of university vice-chancellors to Delhi in an attempt to mend this fracturing relationship. “There have been concerns expressed in India about how welcoming we will be towards students studying in the UK”, Clark said. “We not only want to extend the most cordial of welcomes to Indian students but

we want to say further there is no cap on the number of students”. The visit will be an attempt to build on the already significant higher education links the two nations already share. This move hopes to increase numbers of academically gifted Indian students coming to the UK, which would be beneficial for the UK economy. Professor Christopher Snowden argued this move is necessary and to attract the best of the best to UK universities. He claims that this will encourage many international students to stay in the UK for a period after graduation having a positive contribution towards the UK economy. Despite the drop in Indian students over the past year, Greg Clark insists that the UK is still amongst the most popular destination for overseas students. India has the second highest number of overseas students studying at UK universities, while China is the biggest contributor of overseas students. Clark has also spoken about increasing the number of British students studying in India. At the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Higher Education Summit the minister announced a new initiative called Generation UK India which aimed to place 25,000 UK students on short term internships or teaching assistantships in India.

welcome substance to Elley West’s assertion that we are approaching a “tipping point” in terms of the acceptance of transgender people. West, the president of UEA Pride, led the vigil from the walkway. She told the crowd that, this year, there have been 226 reported murders of transgender people in Europe. The true, worldwide figure is unknown but undoubtedly larger. But the mood of the ceremony was not downcast. “We will celebrate with our words and remember with our silence”, said West.

She told Concrete: “I was very moved by the vigil. As a transwoman myself, the vigil carried a lot of emotional weight and I was touched by the respect everyone showed. “A group of students came up to me and asked what was going on, and then asked what transgender was. They were surprised that anyone would feel moved to violence over someone’s choice of identity. And I said that’s exactly why it is so important to have this vigil: to remember just how wrongly these people have been treated in their attempts to make themselves feel right”.

Norwich City Council set to vote on banning skateboards in city centre Kathryn Fox News reporter On the 25th November, Norwich City Council is set to vote on whether to implement a ban on skateboarding across numerous areas of the city. Proponents of the ban argue that skateboarders, roller skaters and scooterusers are inflicting damage upon the war memorial and War Memorial Gardens outside City Hall. The proposal has already passed through the council’s cabinet, despite cabinet member Keith Driver admitting that he couldn’t “see anything wrong with someone skating in front of City Hall and out the other side” just so long as they weren’t skating on the war memorial itself. However, opponents argue that the proposed ban would in fact include City Hall and would cover Hay Hill, The Forum, St Peter Mancroft, Gaol Hill leading towards London Street, and the War Memorial Gardens. Whilst Norwich City Council’s Labour cabinet has shown support for the creation of a by-law to ban the activities, opposition councillors have taken a very different stance. James Wright, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, has stated that the by-law would not be proportionate, and Green Party councillor, Lucy Howard, has raised concerns

over the “lack of public consultation”. Whilst she supported the need to “protect the war memorial & city hall, and to reduce risk and nuisance to residents”, she added that a “blanket ban across much of the city centre is unnecessary”. Cabinet member Keith Driver made it known that a case report at City Hall would precede any court dates for those infringing upon the ban, and that initial warnings would be given to skateboarders before any further action was taken. However, Lucy Howard viewed this “‘softly, softly’” approach as potentially leading to further “confusion for skateboarders and other residents alike”. Opponents of the ban also point to Norwich’s currently held Healthy City status, arguing that skate-related activities are free, outdoor pursuits, which encourage both physical exercise and socialisation in a time where young people can potentially struggle with obesity and alienation. Once the full council have reached a decision, the bylaw will have to be advertised for a month. The council would then need to apply to the Secretary of State for approval before the ban could be brought in. A petition of nearly 5,000 signatures has already been gathered against the proposal, and can be found at the following website: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-thenorwich-skateboard-ban

Global

Geldof neo-colonialism Ella Gilbert Managing editor It’s that time of year again, and in the festive spirit of giving, the aging Bob Geldof has rallied together another juvenile band of celebrities to raise their sagging profiles and profit from another crisis. Band Aid 30’s rerelease of the patronising “Do they know it’s Christmas” reportedly raised more than £1mn in the first five minutes since its release to help tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Although this is an important campaign, and a problem that requires a concerted effort to solve, there are serious issues surrounding Band Aid. Primarily, the song is patronising and offensive (yes, I’m fairly certain many people in Africa are aware that it is Christmas, especially those that celebrate it as a religious holiday) and cultivates the archaic image of Africa as ‘backwards’, and of Africans as ‘savages’; unable to fend for themselves and requiring the intervention of ‘white saviours’ to rescue the situation. This neo-colonialist attitude entrenches negative assumptions about Africa, and encourages broad and largely incorrect generalisations about Africans. Emeli Sande, one of the artists who sang on the record, has criticised the lyrics, acknowledging that they could be perceived as offensive and disrespectful, but highlighting that the intention of the single is to raise money where governments have responded woefully slowly. Rapper Fuse ODG pulled out of the single at the last minute, claiming he felt “awkward” about some of the lyrics, adding that the track “is quite detrimental to the continent [Africa]” and is a “quick fix” solution to a wider problem. Others have gone further in their criticism. Solome Lemma, who co-founded Africans in the Diaspora as well as the Africa

WW1: the world remembers... But what if Germany had won? Tom Bedford Global writer It’s well known that in the Great War (as it was known at the time) or the First World War (as it was known once a greater war came along) the Central Powers of Germany, AustriaHungary and the Ottoman Empire, among others, were beaten at their game of war by the Allied Powers; including France, our beautiful England, Russia, and briefly the Americans, among others. If you didn’t know that, it’s basic history so you probably have a lot of catching up to do. However victory was by no means assured; initial German gains in 1914 were not truly offset until 1917, and the German 1918 Spring Offensive nearly succeeded. It was only the slow strangulation on German supplies brought about by blockade that really ended the war. An idea that has been sadly overlooked in fiction is this- what would have happened if we hadn’t won the war? How would the different parties have fared? The main character in the war was Germany, which joined the war to fulfil its alliance with Austria-Hungary. Many people like to think if they’d won Hitler would

Responds initiative on Ebola, emphasised the lack of inclusiveness of the Band Aid modus operandi, which propagates a “white saviour” narrative. She said: “the song is patronising and negative and it is sad that they haven’t worked with and included African musicians, especially from the countries affected. You have very well-known, mainstream singers, talking about Africa with very little inclusion of Africans.” Indeed, many African artists have heaped criticism on the song for its negative portrayal of Africa to the rest of the world. Carlos Chirinos, producer of an alternative charity single, “Africa Stop Ebola”, which has been written by African artists in response to the Ebola outbreak, juxtaposed the need for funding to prevent the spread of the disease with the negative outcomes of the Geldof model: “it’s worth doing it for the money and the money is needed, however it comes at a cost and the cost is the way in which Africa is being portrayed to the rest of the world.” Many of these criticisms have been around since the first release of the song in the 1980s – some of these have been humorously conveyed, such as the spoof charity song by ‘Radi-Aid’ to provide Norwegians dying of frostbite with radiators. Methods like this stress the ignorance of many people in developed countries about the inspiring and progressive things going on in Africa following years of negative propaganda, and, even, the most under-emphasised point – that Ebola has afflicted a small number of communities in a small number of countries, and that the majority of Africa is unaffected by the disease. The notion that a bunch of celebrities devoting their precious time to help ‘poor, needy Africans’ plays up to the ridiculous caricature of starving Ethiopians that the original single spread. Further, it is offensive to the vast number of ordinary people who have donated money to charities like Medicins sans Frontieres, who are on the front line

assisting with health care, and the medical professionals who have dropped everything to help looking after Ebola patients, often putting themselves at risk. Those in the UK who donate the largest proportion of their incomes to charity are in fact the poorest, yet Bob, Bono and chums can’t even summon the courage to pay their taxes. Rather than donating some of the $150m and $600m they are respectively worth, they would rather guilt trip people into forking out their hard-

be ruling England like a prison camp on robotic dinosaurs that shoot lasers from their eyes, while flying the Swastika high. What those people haven’t considered is that the Nazi party only formed after the loss of the war - it formed from the German Worker’s Party which, formed in 1919, was a Socialist challenge to the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty, amongst other things, demanded that the Germans pay reparations for the damage they caused in the war, and demanded they significantly reduce their military. By creating such terms it’s arguable that we helped create the Nazi party, and possibly the succeeding World War. Germany also lost a lot of lives due to blockades to the country after the war, limiting food supplies and other essentials into the damaged country. Without the Treaty, which also reduced Germany’s territory and kept parts of the country occupied for 15 years, the country would have likely become more stable and not succumbed to a despot like Hitler. If Britain and France had lost the war, would Germany have inflicted a treaty so harsh on us that it led to hyperinflation and economic collapse? Would we have had Scotland and Wales taken by The Fatherland? Would we be shouting “Heil Churchill?” However one of the reasons that the terms of the Treaty were such was that France had been damaged by the war to such an extent that they wanted compensation- this wouldn’t have been the case if France lost too, and the terms would probably be less severe. But of course it was a World War - other countries were affected too in their own ways: • Would France have had the money to rebuild its destroyed countryside and cities? • Would new countries, like Czechoslovakia

French worst case scenario of the outcomes of WWI, c.1915. Photo: bigthink and Yugoslavia, have ever been created by have suffered worse, being divided up and the separation of Austria-Hungary? Would annexed. We likely would have continued Austria-Hungary have separated at all? in an imperialist world but as number two, • Would USA, with its late involvement, have and with ties between our royal families, been affected at all? could conceivably have become an ally of the • Would the Ottoman Empire have disbanded, German Reich. With the US and Japan out or the Middle East left under their rule? of isolation and Communism on the rise, the • Would Russia’s western reach have been second war could well have been the British reduced, or increased, perhaps reducing and German Empires fighting against the territory of pre-existing Allied countries? Soviet Union. Would a victorious Germany have This is all speculation, of course - for all we intervened on either side of the Russian know, the Nazi Party may have been created Civil War? anyway to take over the world, or Japan may There are millions of possible outcomes for a have hosted a Samurai-led invasion of Europe victorious Germany. But historical consensus once the continent was sufficiently weakened. is (for what it’s worth) that Britain would have We’ll never know. All we can say for certain is been left with a harsh treaty, giving up vast that no-one would ever ride a laser-shooting amounts of its empire, while France would robo-saur.

Photo: Anthony England via Twitter (@EbolaPhone) earned cash on some tuneless drivel that purports to solve all of Africa’s problems. It’s ironic (and not even in an Alanis Morrisette way), given that it’s people like them that are the root of such problems – pompous wealthy white men from developed countries extolling a destructive image of people from developing countries, while contributing to an oppressive, IMF-driven humanitarian aid system that undermines developing countries’ sovereignty, autonomy and dignity.

C omment E-Cigarettes: a new way of smoking, an old way of thinking Chris Donaldson asks what can be done to close the gender pay gap Page 8

from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. With the exception of the

Brett Motram Concrete columnist

“Walking through the streets and witnessing people smoking doesn’t turn the masses into smokers”

he controversy over the recent plans to advertise e-cigarettes on TV inspires an almost transcendent admixture of curiosity and tedium. On the one side, there’s always the hope that with changes in technology and regulations, there will be accompanying changes in viewpoint. Unfortunately, this is where the tedium kicks in. When it comes to smoking, whether it’s e-cigs or the real thing, there is an overwhelmingly strict attitude on the part of the government. While I do have sympathy with the smoking ban in indoor public places, as it’s only right that people should be able to choose whether they want to be around smoke, the other anti-smoking propaganda never fails to make me smile. On every fag

last two requirements, after all, we don’t know the effects of e-cigs. The assumption of their argument is the same as it is for the influence of violent video games, or, looking further back, ‘immoral’ or ‘pornographic’ novels: if people are exposed to ideas such as these, they will blindly follow the example they present. We’ll have copulation/ mass murder and, err, smoking, in the streets! If people see others smoking e-cigarettes on TV, they themselves will immediately go and start vaping.

“No one nowadays smokes even a single cigarette without knowing that its bad for them” packet, you get a grotesque image and/or a fascinating list of statistics; ‘6mg tar, 0.5mg nicotine, 7mg carbon monoxide’ – Marlboro, for example. The mottoes are perhaps the most insightful, describing loss of virility or fertility, or lung/throat/tongue/skin/teeth damage. As someone who smokes only occasionally, ie usually less than once a week, my favourites are the somewhat gentler ‘smoking is highly addictive, don’t start’ and ‘smoking seriously harms you and others around you’, which always makes me wonder: ‘what if I’m not smoking seriously? What if it’s just for fun?’. Perhaps, the humour is hard to detect in this horror; the point here is that no one nowadays smokes even a single cigarette, or even takes a single drag of one, without knowing that it’s gravely bad for them. There are no illusions about this. In fact, the element

E Photo: Wikipedia, Tomasz Sienicki of danger is the only thing in our present culture that can make smoking even vaguely sexy. By contrast, the attempts at allure in ads for ‘healthier’, Sonic-Screwdriver-sleek e-cigs are utterly futile. Another factor working against the spread of smoking, saddening though it is in a way, is that even the glamour has been lost. Occasionally, as hinted earlier, it can be achieved, but nowadays, most people who smoke do so with no style whatsoever; gone are the days when Oscar Wilde used the curling greyish coils to add atmosphere to his after-dinner stories, or Audrey Hepburn posed with that long cigarette holder. Few, surely, are inspired by the visual example of smokers today? Or perhaps they are. If so, this

reflects a fall in aesthetic standards of taste, while being of supreme importance, right now this consideration is irrelevant. What is of salient relevance, however, is that the same concerns which prohibit smoking real cigarettes are dominating the debates over e-cigarettes too. The government temperament described above has been demonstrated by the Committee of Advertising Practice. While sanctioning the adverts, it has stated that they must not: be “likely to appeal particularly to people under 18, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture”; “encourage non-smokers to use e-cigarettes;” claim e-cigarettes are “safer” or “healthier” than smoking tobacco; or make any health claims without approval

ven if we consider the accompanying speech in the ads, this is a complete non sequitur. Enough people smoke as it is, yet walking through the streets and witnessing this doesn’t turn the masses into smokers. Neither does hearing smoking praised produce smokers. Hearing how e-cigarettes may have helped some people to wean themselves off real fags will not encourage everyone to try the same approach, though it is notable that the target market for e-cigs is existing smokers, rather than nonsmokers. In all these cases, the factors informing and determining people’s decisions are too varied and complex. If smokers want to take the unknown risks of e-cigs because they may be healthier, then they should be able to do so, just as anyone should be able to smoke if they so desire. In both cases, they will pay some kind of price, but regulations on adverts, or pressure from the government to conform and abstain, will have no effect on how people behave. Unless, that is, it causes them to exhale the bluish plumes defiantly in the martinets’ faces.

A revolution in the approach to paedophilia? Scarlet Dawson Comment columnist

here are some words that never fail to make people cringe. I told several friends that I was planning on writing for Concrete about paedophilia, which was, without exception, greeted with frowns or raised eyebrows. This is what it was like to talk about rape a few years back; we knew it was a bad thing, but it wasn’t a subject anyone wanted to get their hands dirty by touching. Fortunately this is no longer the case and, particularly on the information superhighway, discussion about consent is increasingly pervasive. If we are to ever start seriously addressing the problem, the same thing needs to happen to the issue of paedophilia. At the moment, the discussion seems to be limited to isolated events. The subject crops up with each account of child sexual abuse that makes the news, but there are thousands more that will never be reported. With so many lives affected, measures need to be taken to open up the debate and make paedophilia a more prevalent topic on the international agenda. Widespread opinion already has it that

too little is being done to protect children, especially with the recent Edward Snowden whistle blowing. The countries accused of spying and breaching privacy are now less inclined to share information about known offenders, which is attracting criticism of The Green Notice. Interpol’s system for identifying offenders is said to be outdated and

“Measures need to be taken to make paedophilia a more prevalent topic on the international agenda” inefficient, but at least it is something. Not all countries have a register of sex offenders, and of those that do only a few actually restrict foreign travel of those registered. Perhaps this deficiency in security is due, as suggested above, to the absurd taboo that hangs over the problem at hand. If we can haul this topic out of its relative obscurity, we can move on to thinking about more effective ways of preventing the sexual abuse of children. Perhaps the most difficult

but equally the most fundamental step forward would be to change the way we see paedophiles themselves. Paedophilia is a mental disorder, and concerns anyone who is sexually attracted to or has engaged sexually with prepubescent children, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSMMD). This definition makes it clear that people who do not act on their sexual attraction to children are still paedophiles, and yet we tend associate them directly with the offence, overlooking the fact that they too are human beings who can choose not to act on their urges. This does not make the offence itself any less abhorrent, but since when did the unrestricted demonisation of a group of mentally unwell people ever do any good to anyone? This stigma against paedophiles means that they are often too afraid to seek help, therapists don’t have specific guidelines for treating paedophiles who have not offended, and mandatory reporting laws require them to make a judgement call about whether or not their patient is dangerous. Furthermore, there is an alarmingly poor amount of available research on the subject. Funders don’t want to be associated with it, and some researchers who try to look into

possible cures are rejected as ‘paedophilesympathisers’. It is staggering to think that we know so little , even though a little more

“Paedophilia is a mental disorder and concerns anyone who is sexually attracted to or has engaged sexually with prepubescent children” insight into what makes these potentially dangerous people the way they are could save so many lives. Small communities and support groups can be found online. A lot of them are formed to help paedophiles deal with who they are in a world that doesn’t seem prepared to help them, preferring to leave them to their own devices, an approach that seldom ends well. There are an approximated 250,000 paedophiles in the UK and nearly 1.3 million in the US. Helping them may sound unpalatable to some, but it has to be the answer.

Comment Sam McKinty and Mike Vinti examine the difficulties facing the Conservative and the Labour parties in the run up to next year’s general election

Labour Mike Vinti

Comment columnist

s every newspaper will continue to remind you, from now until May, the general election is only a few fleeting months away and therefore we need to talk about Ed. Ed Miliband has been the somewhat retiring leader of the Labour party for around four years now and he hasn’t exactly been lighting up the front benches. Since becoming the party leader Miliband has faced criticism for everything from his ideology to the fact he looks a bit like a Wallace and Gromit character. Back in 2010 The Sun, hailed his election to Labour leader by coining the phrase ‘Red Ed’ attacking his supposedly socialist ideological roots, and from there it all started to go wrong. Upon being branded ‘Red Ed’, Miliband started his tenure as leader on the defensive, doing interviews left, right and centre to convince the voters at home and the press that he wasn’t a radical and wasn’t planning on turning the UK into the USSR, which ironically was his first mistake. Today, the party’s core membership are crying out for a ‘Red Ed’, demanding a more hard-line, or even, socialist manifesto to tackle the raging inequality and mindless austerity measures that have created havoc. To understand the current state of the Labour party we have to rewind back to 2007 when Tony Blair left Downing Street and the New Labour dream effectively came to a juddering halt. The bubble had just burst, foot and mouth swept the land and Gordon Brown was our new Prime Minister. The party had lost its visionary and with no clause IV found itself drifting somewhere between the Lib Dems and the Tories - shark infested waters if you will. Miliband was elected to leadership by the unions as a socialist leaning MP, one to combat the neo-Thatcher ideology of Cameron and the coalition and has spent the subsequent four years doing the opposite. The average

omen in the UK have been working for free for the last three weeks, not literally, granted, but according to the Fawcett Society an advocacy group for gender equality, the UK gender pay gap means women won’t be collecting paychecks for work completed from the 4th November. The Office of National Statistics (ONS), says the UK gender pay gap stands at 19.7%, a rise from last year meaning that for every £1 paid to a man, a woman gets a little over 80p. For the majority of sectors women are consistently paid less than men with similar experience and qualifications. These differences in earnings begin from the very first step on the career ladder. Studies have shown huge gender discrimination among companies. For example, in the famous 2012 study by Yale University, which sent employers exactly the same CV for hundreds of entry-level scientific academic jobs. Those with the name Jennifer on the letterhead attracted offers of $4,000 less than those with the name John. Gender discrimination exists even at the highest levels; the Chartered Management Institute recently reported female executives were paid £10,060 less than male colleagues.

Conservatives voter, including some of their MPs, has no idea what Labour stand for in 2014 and that is mostly Miliband’s fault having more or less failed as leader of the opposition; it would seem as though the Lib Dems have been more vocally critical of this government than Miliband.

et hope is not entirely lost and Miliband, to his credit, has started to address this. Four years late is better than never, I suppose. In a recent speech at Senate House in Manchester he revealed Labour’s strategy for the upcoming election, positioning the party in opposition to what he described as a “[a] country that only works for the privileged few”, echoing what so many on the left have been saying for years. However, over the last four years Miliband has done very little to demonstrate any kind of commitment to the values he claims to be fighting for, Labour have proved useless in opposition and Tory ideology has rampaged unchecked through our welfare system and NHS. In a recent talk at UEA, prominent author and activist Owen Jones urged students to put pressure on Miliband by voting for Labour candidates with socialist values, arguing that a strong, democratic-socialist Labour party is the best chance we have for fixing the problems of embedded inequality. It is vitally important that Miliband continues this rhetoric of fixing the inequalities in our society and pays no heed to the braying of UKIP and Conservative back benchers. If the immigration debate is allowed to dominate this election Labour will lose, those concerned about Romanians moving in next door will not vote for ‘Red Ed’, they’ll vote for Farage. UKIP have positioned themselves as the outsiders in 2015, however if Miliband wants to become prime minister it is Labour that must become the truly anti-establishment party.

Sam McKinty Comment columnist

ith a lot of recent media focus being put on the instability of the Labour leadership, with the big question being whether Ed Miliband is the right man to lead Labour into 2015, attention has drifted away from the troubles of the Conservative party. With defections to Ukip, coalition partner fallouts and EU divisions to contend with, the Conservatives are in a crisis that only decisive action on Europe can fix. The Conservatives are right to be worried about Ukip; their growth in popularity has

“No longer can UKIP be considered the protest vote of ‘fruit cakes’ ” awoken even the most apathetic politicos and their support isn’t coming from those that have never voted before. The core demographic are, broadly speaking, dissatisfied Tory voters, with the pollsters at YouGov reporting that 45% of Ukip supporters voted Conservative in 2010, whilst only 12% of the party’s supporters voted for Ukip themselves. In essence, the Tories are very clearly losing support, and although it’s not enough support for Ukip to gather together a general election win, it certainly presents an easy win for Labour. It’s abundantly clear, therefore, that the Tories will need to up their game if they’re to be seen as an acceptable alternative to Ukip as a party in favour of EU reform. It’s not just a loss of support that’s causing problems

he woes of the Conservatives don’t end at Ukip troubles. You may have caught George Osborne answering some urgent commons questions over the UK’s backdated EU bill. The exact amount that needed paying was £1.7bn, but Osborne maintained that the cost of the bill had been slashed to £850 million. It hadn’t, so he faced some tough questions from Ed Balls in the House of Commons. Although Osborne masterfully dodged his questions, and the story has sort of fluttered away, the frankly contemptuous way in which the Chancellor avoided the questions will only add to the already growing discontentment with party politics, and the public perception of politicians showing contempt for their accountability. With EU wounds not healing, this only serves to throw the Tories deeper in crisis. So with what appears to be the two largest political parties in UK heading into crises, one over leadership and one over Europe, we could be about to see a significant step change in British politics. If the Conservatives are to come out their developing crisis positively, they will need to be decisive over Europe and ensure continued respect for the electorate in the future.

Ed Miliband Flickr, the CBI David Cameron Flickr, DfID Nigel Farage Wikimedia, Dghsdfh

The gender pay gap is growing, but nobody seems to care Chris Donaldson asks why the imbalance is ignored so willingly and suggests what can be done to sort it out. However, it doesn’t stop there, if you’re a mother, you’re less likely to even receive a job offer. A 2008 study by Stanford University found childless women received over twice as many positive responses to applications as equally qualified mothers. As for men the reverse was true. A finding supported by a recent ONS report that found “men with children [were] more likely to work than those without” – it was the opposite picture for women. These findings highlight systemic gender discrimination in our workplaces. We must demand greater pay transparency

for the Tories. The former Conservative and now Ukip MP for Clacton, Douglas Carswell, sent shockwaves into the heart of Westminster politics when he became the first Ukip MP. The significance of this is obvious; no longer can Ukip justifiably be considered the protest vote of “fruit cakes” given that the party are clearly beginning to gain localised support. Ukip has developed a very successful formula for fighting in isolated seats, as they have shown in Clacton and in Rochester and Strood. If they want to compete, the Conservatives will have to shake up their image as a part of the establishment, and up their game on EU and immigration.

from large corporations and employers if we are going to change this. The Fawcett Society

“For every £1 paid to a man a woman gets a little over 80p” is calling for Section 78 of the 2010 Equality Act to be enforced, making it compulsory for businesses with more than 250 employees to publish data on pay by gender. Mandatory gender pay audits for businesses were

scrapped under the coalition government and replaced by a voluntary programme ‘Think, Act, Report’ which hoped to encourage companies to review pay data and report the findings. Disappointingly, however, few businesses have actually done this. There are two of reasons for this. Firstly, because it costs money to gather and report this data and secondly, it maintains the culture of secrecy in business that allows higher-level staff, most often white men, to retain their positions of power. What would we find if they did release these reports? If the data mirrored existing evidence, it would prove that women and people of different race in these companies get paid the least. The coalition government has done little to push for greater transparency around pay. Again the policies of this government favour big business profits rather than striving to tackle the inequalities that negatively impact upon the public. Once this data becomes freely available, policies to provide more equal financial distribution between gender and race within companies can get underway. Hopefully when that happens the underpaid will get a sense of their true worth.

Features Social media: personal or impersonal?

Gemma Carter wades through the overshares and explores privacy in the social-media age. Illustration: Saraswati Menon Illustration: Photo: Flickr, Saraswati gwilmore Menon

ong gone are the days of writing letters to our nearest and dearest to tell them about our days and any news we have, good or bad. Instead we have Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media that we use to share – or overshare – our news and thoughts. Social media makes the process of sharing effortless, just by pressing a few keys and the click of a button we’ve saved ourselves a trip to the post-box and the cost of stamps. However, are we falling into the trap of sharing a little too much information? Many of us appear to have taken a leaf out of Amanda Bynes book, who published her recent mental breakdown on Twitter not so long ago claiming her father had abused her and planted a micro-chip in her brain! A bit of an extreme example, but it puts the whole oversharing thing into perspective. I have a number of friends that air their dirty laundry all over Facebook and Twitter, clearly getting caught up in the heat of the moment. They seem to forget that tweeting isn’t the same as writing a diary as everyone can see. Although an argument with your housemate is of great importance to you, some things are better left within the walls of your own home. Not everyone needs to know that they’ve used the last bit of ketchup or left the

tap running. It doesn’t just stop at the statuses: on numerous occasions I’ve seen photos uploaded that really shouldn’t have been. The ‘after-sex selfie’ was a craze that recently swept the internet – something that I never really understood. OK, great, you and your partner/acquaintance have just engaged in

No, I don’t – and neither do the rest of your 300 followers. Social media sites just seem to be overwhelmed with statuses and tweets containing insignificant information that is better left unsaid. I can deal with the occasional pointless tweet as we all fall into that trap sometimes, but it’s when you’re provided with a running commentary of someone’s life, with

“Tweeting is not the same as writing a diary as everyone can see” sexual intercourse and that’s wonderful, more so for you than me, but posting a photo of the two of you after isn’t. Sweaty, semi-naked and grinning from ear to ear after your recent climax, or anti-climax, is not something we all need to see. What happened to privacy in relationships? It seems everyone needs to know each other’s business, with celebrity couples such as Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan sharing seminaked photos snuggled up in bed, pre or postcoitus. Cringe. It is incredibly easy to upload our thoughts onto the web, meaning many fall into the trap of oversharing. Do I really need to know you’re in chronic pain because you’re menstruating?

a tweet being posted every half hour. Yes, I follow you but I don’t need to know you’ve made a cup of tea or that you’ve used vanilla body wash today, if I did I’d ask. As an extremely nosey individual one of the positives of people posting personal information online is that I can be nosey without even having to try. I know I’m not the only one, we all do it. The indirect tweet that isn’t so indirect is a personal favourite of mine. Posting that you’re ‘so happy and loving life’ accompanied by millions of photos from all the amazing single nights out you’ve had really isn’t fooling your ex, or anyone. This is usually accompanied by a tweet a few days later consisting of song lyrics, which initially

appear to be deep and meaningful, but are probably just something Taylor Swift whipped up. Like a relationship, a break-up should be kept between those involved as it doesn’t make it any easier, and I’m speaking from experience, so trust me: staying silent is much more dignified. Many fans were left heartbroken after hearing the lovely Benedict Cumberbatch got engaged recently. However, instead of the news being posted online it was published in a newspaper, a more traditional approach. The reason for this is that Benedict sees the sharing of such news on social media as ‘impersonal’, and I’m with him on this one. The announcement of proposals, engagements and births should be shared with those closest to you first. Reading this sort of news off of a phone or computer screen separates us from reality. It slips in amongst the other statuses and tweets on our news feed, with people not doing much more than ‘liking’ it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the same effect as gathering your nearest and dearest, or writing them a letter as it lacks a personal touch. So next time, stop and think before you share instead of posting something you’ll soon regret.

Kim Kardashian’s Paper cover: what’s the appropriate response? Bronia McGregor Features writer It’s becoming difficult to find anyone who hasn’t seen Kim Kardashian West’s Paper magazine cover. The aim appeared to be to ‘break the internet’ and although it may have fallen short of that, it certainly has got everyone talking. The first few images were relatively tame but several more images were released showing Kim revealing a bit more skin and her decision to do so has garnered a mixed response online. With people both condemning and praising Kim’s decision to bare all for the shoot, what exactly is the appropriate response to something like this? Quite a number of people have voiced the opinion that she shouldn’t have done the cover on account of the fact that she is now a mother. I admit that I can sort of see where this opinion comes from, after all, who of us

would be happy finding a naked photo of one of your parents online regardless of how old you were when it was taken. However, when reading these comments the worry seemed to be less of potential embarrassment for North and more that people were concerned that Kim was stepping outside of what is expected in motherhood. To these people, it seemed that motherhood should be followed by a repression of any sexuality. She may have a child now, but why should parenthood mean that women are no longer allowed to be sexual? It’s also interesting to note that Keira Knightley recently posed topless for Interview magazine and gained a very different public reaction. Even Kim’s arguably most tame nude photo from the shoot, which only showed her from behind, triggered a horde of slut-shaming. Although the Interview shoot didn’t generate as much attention as Paper’s, the responses to Keira’s image were mainly

positive and raises the question why one is seen as empowering and artistic and the other as purely attention seeking. One major difference between the two women is their body shapes. Kim has a voluptuous figure and therefore it is easier for the media to sexualise. Keira’s body looks different to the female nudity that is more readily available, and therefore her images may be seen to make a more powerful statement. Among the negative comments to do with what women can and can’t do with their sexuality, Kim’s sex tape has also been brought into the argument more than once. People seem to be struggling to realise that someone making a choice to pose nude for a photo is completely different to a private video being widely spread without their permission. The fact that a celebrity chooses to go nude for a photo shoot or film does not in any way make any previous nudity distributed without consent suddenly acceptable.

People take different things from these photos and it’s difficult to argue who is right and who is wrong, or even if there is a right or wrong answer. If people see this as empowering and find it gives them confidence in their own body then that’s great, and if people don’t like the photos then that’s fine too. What’s never fine is slut-shaming a person for the choices they makes with their Photo: Wikimedia, own David Shankbone body.

Three things school never taught me

Features

Features writer Alice Mortimer discusses some of the valuable lessons she never learnt at school but wishes she had...

s incredibly fun as algebra was, I am yet to find a day where I have thought to myself, “Oh my, I am so glad I listened in maths” – although maybe this is just because I didn’t. However, I do frequently find myself wondering why I seem to be constantly unprepared for life and everything it has thrown, and will continue to throw, at me. Here are three top things school failed to teach us…

it doesn’t mean that sometimes you won’t cry irrationally over the fact your washing isn’t dry, you’ve run out of Co-op choc ice’s (you heard it here first ladies and gents, one pound for eight of them. Run forth, re-live your childhood), or because the LCR theme is rubbish this week and you really needed a night out after completing that dreaded summative essay. But hey, life is a rollercoaster… just got to ride it (I am so so sorry).

I wish school taught me that my life will never be perfect and that many-an-evening will be spent, at nearly aged 20, listening to Taylor Swift late at night and wondering why life isn’t like how she sings about it in her annoying, overly-animated voice that is ohso optimistic. I wish it taught me that you will never quite know what you are actually doing, or what you even want to be doing, because on Tuesday you’ll want to be in advertising but by Wednesday you’ll be looking for astronaut internships (if someone knows if these actually exists, please let me know). That the unexpected always happens, life is just so ridiculously unpredictable and nothing ever turns out how you imagine it to. That just because you will become a young adult,

Naturally, when Topshop have a sale on, you kind of forget that you have a house to heat. School taught me that a 100 – 60 = 40, but not that 100 – Topshop = overdraft. School taught me nothing about budgeting my money so that I could be housed, fed, showered, heated, and clothed as well as have the social life that university entails. I guess that’s why Primark and Tesco’s own-brand popcorn (another edible life-changer for you) exist, hey?

That life is a crazy mess 90% of the time

Budgeting money

How to be handy with a screwdriver

And generally know what to do when your house starts falling down. In week two of

term, my housemates and I had to invest in a screwdriver when the handle of our oven broke off. As you can imagine it was very traumatic, I had a pizza stuck in there and was just home after a long day trekking from CD Annex to Lecture Theatre Three. I had never used a screwdriver in my entire life, so a process which should have taken two minutes took around 20. If learning practical skills such as fixing basic household problems was taught at school, a burnt pizza and a five hour long bad mood could have been avoided. I was also concerned when it got worryingly late into my time at the house before I realised it was too cold. Algebra is great but sometimes you just need to know how to switch the heating on.

Illustration: Eunhae Lim

Photo: Wikimedia

Photo: Flickr, Bryan Ledgard

No-shoe November This week, I got to speak to someone you may have noticed around campus recently second-year Jessica Bruce, who's partaking in 'No-Shoe November' this month with two friends. What is it? Read the interview below for the facts...

To start, what exactly is No-Shoe November, and why are you taking part?

No Shoe November is basically a month where you, or we, don't wear shoes, to raise money for charity. You just go about your

Features writer Louis Cheslaw caught up with Jessica Bruce, a student who’s going shoeless for a whole month to raise money for a good cause.

daily life as normal, but without shoes. We're raising money for the Small Steps Project which helps out children and families living on rubbish dumps around the world. It's something you don't really think about, but when you see, even through videos, what goes on it really opens your eyes to something that you otherwise wouldn't be aware of.

How did it start?

We don't really know how it started as a concept, but one of my mates at a different uni told me about it and it seemed like a

good idea at the time. Maybe we regret it when we're having a tough day and a shoe suddenly takes on a heavenly glow, but it's definitely worth it.

How's it been going so far?

It's been really good so far, the good days definitely outweigh the bad. The only funny stories we have are kind of strange; like mud squelching anecdotes, shouting at each other about wearing slippers and discussing the definition of the shoe, the terror of the stone and the coining of the phrase 'shoe porn'.

Photo: Wikimedia We're also constantly talked about by passers by, which is weird.

Is there still a way for people to get involved?

People can still get involved, whether it be through going barefoot themselves even for a day, and getting sponsored, or sponsoring us at www.justgiving.com/ NoShoesNovember2014, or by texting NSNS77 to 70070 with the amount they want to donate. All the help and support is appreciated so much!

Special Feature

f you need evidence that you should use Home Run or union approved letting agencies, “Elite” Properties are all you need. The misleading and dire management from Elite meant that our 12-month tenancy was more than enough for us, and we moved to a far cheaper and better managed house that we found through Home Run. Warning signs went up, literally, when we moved into the property to find there was a rather sinister notice on the gas meter reading “imminently dangerous, do not use”. During a visit from the gas company – when we learnt that our boiler was not about to blow up – we discovered that the house did not have a valid gas safety certificate, nor a carbon monoxide detector. One had to wonder what our £165 (each) agency fees covered. We also had to have the locks changed on the back door as we couldn’t open it. We had to have one added to the bathroom door. Little bit awkward. The downstairs shower didn’t work for the first five months of our tenancy and only got fixed after we presented them with an ultimatum. We pointed out that we were paying for two showers, and if we were unable to use it then they should reduce our rent. Needless to say it was sorted quite quickly after that. Our inventory stated we would have a television: that television sat in our front garden waiting to be collected for months from the beginning of our tenancy. One of the windows in the pantry in the kitchen was broken, but never got fixed. One of the rooms was stricken

with damp; when we brought this up with them they did nothing to deal with the damp problem, which might have been acceptable were they not now trying to charge us money out of our deposit to treat the damp. We weren’t provided with a hoover, despite it also being included in the inventory. We were told towards the end of the tenancy if we did not maintain the garden, we were at risk of losing some of our deposit, yet no gardening equipment was provided until we told them it would be impossible for us to weed the incredibly overgrown garden with our bare hands. Plus the garden was not in a fantastic state when we moved in. For the first six months, communication was incredibly poor. In order to get through to our landlord, we had to first message Elite – it got us nowhere. In February the property management was handed over to the landlord, surprisingly making life no better. We still dealt with Elite properties in order to speak with our Landlord; I’m not entirely sure what difference the change made. Ultimately, we’ve left the house still fighting for our deposit through the Deposit Protection Scheme, potentially very much in debt to our gas supplier due to the archaic method of heating the house (back boiler) and with the knowledge that, no matter how nice the house looks, it is always safer to rent through a unioncredited agency – because rest assured, if an agent isn’t union-approved, there will be a damn good reason for it.

Zoë Jones recounts her experience of renting a student house from Elite Property Solutions.

Managing editor, Ella Gilbert, explores some of the radical alternatives to the traditional rented student house.

o you live in the Golden Triangle, your bathroom is covered in black mould, you can see your breath while you’re lying in bed – your bedroom happens to have the front door in it – and the landlord doesn’t give a toss. Welcome to student living, right? Well, yes, but there is another way – you don’t have to deal with the torment of numb fingers and toes, unscrupulous landlords or useless estate agents. For those who are committed to communal living as a life choice rather than a forced fact of life, radical housing solutions can make shared living a pleasant and productive experience, rather than the grimy, beer can-strewn chaos student living can occasionally become. Here are just some of the alternatives.

choice for people with few options. There are more empty homes in the UK than there are homeless people. That is a disgusting statistic. Developers frequently buy up property and leave it standing empty until market conditions mean they can get top dollar for it – meanwhile the number of homeless households has risen to 50,000, according to homelessness charity Shelter. When people are desperate, squatting becomes an alternative to living in temporary accommodation, hostels, or even on the street. This may not seem relevant to many students, but with spiralling costs of living, creeping rents, and huge student debt; particularly for postgraduates, squatting is a real alternative to student squalor. Besides, the connotations of squats as horrible, dirty, cold places full of hippies and drug addicts is pretty misplaced – squatters are often more hardworking, dedicated and politically motivated than your average Joe, and if you can deal with the transience and the instability, it can be an interesting way to spend a few months or years. Living rent-free can be a good alternative to moving back home, and can allow you to save up for a deposit in the ‘traditional’ housing market, or spend time and money doing things other than work, such as building a portfolio, working internships or volunteering. Unfortunately however, in 2013, the government criminalised squatting in residential properties despite 95% of respondents to its consultation opposing the action, so empty office blocks and commercial buildings are the only properties that can now legally be occupied. This makes the situation more difficult, especially if you’re not experienced with housing law, and the requirement to have at least one person on the premises at any one time makes the exercise somewhat exhausting.

“Radical housing solutions can make shared living a pleasant and productive experience”

Co-operatives Although housing co-ops are now few and far between, with waiting lists as long as your arm, there are a few springing up. There’s good reason why everyone wants to live in one: in addition to the cheap rent, you can throw yourself in to communal living and benefit from collective productivity – many co-ops feature vegetable gardens, beautiful DIY interiors, political activism and bangin’ house parties. Living with lots of people committed to the same sort of ideals means you can share ideas, inspiration and skills – there is always someone who can teach you how to fix the plumbing, or cook a damn fine curry. Co-ops are on the up: from our very own UEA food co-op to the (not so) Co-operative Bank, the idea is relatively prevalent and increasingly important in times of austerity. Students at the Universities of Edinburgh and Birmingham have set up their very own housing co-ops to create an alternative to the extortionate rents charged by private landlords, and poor conditions in many student properties. Next step: Norwich… Squatting Squatters have a terrible name, thanks to publications like the Daily Mail and propaganda espoused by conservative outlets. However, for many people working low-paid jobs, recent graduates, current students, the unemployed and the homeless, squatting is one of few realistic choices. Of course you get a smattering of middle-class political types dedicated to the ‘cause’ but generally, squatting is a housing

13 Holly Staynor, the union’s Welfare, Community and Diversity officer, offers her top-ten tips for house hunting in Norwich.

Look at the myth-busting video that the student officers and UEA:TV have made. This will give you a good understanding of the what is and isn’t true about housing and looking for a house. See www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=X0fCwZDjIAc&feature=youtu.be

2 3 4 5

Think carefully about your choice of housemates.

Try to make a list, with your future housemates, about your needs and wants in a house.

“We discovered that the house did not have a valid gas safety certificate”

Make sure you understand what “joint and several liability” and “fixed term” mean.

Student housing

Photo: Flickr, John Seb

Guardianship Originally introduced in the Netherlands in the 1990s as a ‘win-win’ market solution to squatting, guardianship essentially means you pay exceedingly low rent to live in, and protect property from potential vandals. This translates into keeping squatters out, pitting desperate people against even more desperate people. Despite the obvious moral challenges this throws up, guardianship can be an affordable alternative to renting, without the potential legal quagmire of squatting.

Deputy editor, Peter Sheehan, introduces Concrete’s special feature on letting agents and student housing in Norwich. etting agents: an increasingly fundamental part of the student experience. Everyone needs somewhere to live, and the ubiquity of letting agents means that you are all but certain to have to do business with them at some point. Yet almost no-one I know has a good word to say about them. Incompetence, unresponsiveness, unreliability: letting agents seem to have a peculiar ability to make the process of renting and managing a house awkward and unpleasant. I find this all the more remarkable – ironic, even – given that these agencies purport to make our lives easier. Please do get in touch if you find one that says it exists to “frustrate you from start to finish, and charge you for services you didn’t even know you needed”... Concrete has put together this special feature on student housing – timed to coincide with the union’s housing advice week – to highlight the key things to keep in mind when house hunting. One of the most important things to remember is that there is an over-supply of student housing in Norwich at the moment. Don’t let anybody rush you. Don’t feel pressured into moving too quickly. There are plenty of houses available, so take your time and don’t be afraid to be picky. Prolet, an agency that deals with lots of student housing, is so desperate for business that it’s offering financial inducements to current tenants who stay for the 2015-16 academic year, even though the union doesn’t release it’s housing list until January. Concrete contacted Prolet to ask whether these offers reflected badly on the quality of their houses and service, and whether “the only way to get students to continue renting from [Prolet] is to ‘bribe’ them”. They didn’t reply. But if agents are getting desperate, it proves that students can afford to be picky. For my part, I was unimpressed with the service that my housemates and I received from JSM when I rented one of their properties in the last academic year. For starters, they charged us a “guarantor fee” – £75 plus VAT – which we later learned was against Home Run’s rules. (Home Run is the union’s agency

accreditation scheme.) We complained to the union’s housing advice centre, who secured us a full refund. JSM said that they were aware of the Home Run’s ban on administration fees, but the message had not successfully reached their sales branch in the city from their office in Cringleford. (Cringleford, by the way, is some four miles from the city centre. You could walk it in an hour or so. Or you could just send an email.) They also put pressure on us to buy “specialist contents insurance cover” from Hepburns Insurance. Now, I had never heard of Hepburns, and I am somewhat suspicious of anyone who tells me I need to spend a minimum of £8.50 a month – that’s £93.50 over an 11-month tenancy – on something I’ve never heard of. And surely you could get this more cheaply elsewhere? Again, we queried it with the union. JSM decided that, in this instance, we didn’t have to buy the insurance. Life lesson: taking the time to make a fuss and ask questions can save you a great deal of money. When preparing this piece, I got a copy of the accounts of Hepburns Insurance for the 2012-13 financial year. They are available from the website of Companies House and cost £1. Every company registered in the UK has to provide this information. It turns out that Hepburns committed to pay the managing director of Leaders, JSM’s parent company, a “commission” of £445,348 for that year. Now, principally in the interest of avoiding legal action, Concrete does not wish to insinuate that this is against the law. But it is nevertheless interesting to find out where students’ money ends up. Concrete also contacted JSM, but they did not reply in time for their comments to be included in print. If they provide us with a response, we will be pleased to add it to the online version of this piece. We hope that the articles in this feature are helpful. House hunting can be stressful, particularly if you’ve never done it before. But remember that the union’s advice service will help you with any query or dispute, including problems that you may already have. And make good use of the housing events taking place this week. See page 11 for details.

See if you can talk to the current tenants about their experience in the house and ask for any hints or tips they may have. It’s worth asking how much they pay in bills to give you an idea of how much you’ll pay!

6 7

Make sure your landlord is using a deposit protection scheme to protect your deposit. Ask them which one they’re using.

Come to the Advice Service at the Info Point in the Hive to book an appointment to have your tenancy agreement looked over by an advice worker – it’s FREE!

Don’t rush! There are lots of properties in and around Norwich, so make sure you’re happy. Remember – a tenancy agreement is a legal document. A year is a long time to live somewhere, so be sure before you make the final decision.

9 10

Read the union’s House Hunting Guide.

Enjoy your new home – and remember, we’re always here to help!

PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE Tim Beebe describes his experience of helping his children out with student housing.

aving two children at UEA over the past few years, we have had three experiences of renting property. The first was directly with the landlord and was very straightforward. I signed a guarantee and that was it. My son’s dealings with the landlord seemed simple, and issues were resolved quickly. My experience of using a letting agent was tortuous. An initial request for a guarantor indemnity and proof of residency was received, and documents were signed and provided. I thought that would be the end of the process. But out of the blue, I then received a request for personal details from a company I had never heard of. The levels of information requested would have allowed fraudsters to take over my identity. In addition I was asked to provide proof of my income from my employer. It was only when I contacted the letting agent they confirmed this second company was acting on their behalf to undertake credit checks etc. I understand why these things are obtained, but I was frustrated that these things were not all laid out at the start. It felt as though it was just one thing after another – and there was a complete lack of communication. To get random requests

from companies you have never heard of asking for personal information is not on. The biggest issue for me, as a parent, is dealing with the independent agents. They seem to think everyone understands the process and they treat tenants with arrogance. If the property was in good condition, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But frankly, it was awful. And while some issues were sorted out, others were not. In my view, the landlord and agents did not keep to their side of the agreement – but I dread to think what plagues and pestilence would have been thrown down if the rent had been a day late. The third occasion was dealing with another agent with closer links to the university. As you would expect, the process and situation has been satisfactory. Athough I raised queries, I got satisfactory replies and felt my concerns for the students renting the property were being listened to. The challenge for the university and the union is to ensure that agents treat students fairly. Perhaps annual surveys of student and parent feedback, asking for experiences of agents and houses, would be valuable, and they mustn’t be afraid of striking an unsatisfactory agent off their books.

Special Feature

Zoë Jones recounts her experience of renting a student house from Elite Property Solutions.

Managing editor, Ella Gilbert, explores some of the radical alternatives to the traditional rented student house.

“Radical housing solutions can make shared living a pleasant and productive experience”

13 Holly Staynor, the union’s Welfare, Community and Diversity officer, offers her top-ten tips for house hunting in Norwich.

2 3 4 5

Think carefully about your choice of housemates.

Try to make a list, with your future housemates, about your needs and wants in a house.

“We discovered that the house did not have a valid gas safety certificate”

Make sure you understand what “joint and several liability” and “fixed term” mean.

Student housing

Photo: Flickr, John Seb

6 7

Make sure your landlord is using a deposit protection scheme to protect your deposit. Ask them which one they’re using.

Come to the Advice Service at the Info Point in the Hive to book an appointment to have your tenancy agreement looked over by an advice worker – it’s FREE!

9 10

Read the union’s House Hunting Guide.

Enjoy your new home – and remember, we’re always here to help!

PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE Tim Beebe describes his experience of helping his children out with student housing.

Science&Environment

magnetic China and US agree to cut carbon Sun’s field influences

lightning events on Earth

Luke Sweeney Science&Environment writer A historic agreement has been reached between China and America, the two most polluting countries in the world. With China emitting a jaw dropping 9860 mega tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2012 and America following with 5190 mega tonnes, this deal is a milestone in a long journey for a low-carbon world. However, the amazing thing about this particular deal is that in the past America and China have been consistently dragging their feet over lowering carbon emissions – we only have to look at the Kyoto Protocol for an example. In this deal China has agreed to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 at the very latest. This means that China will start to bring down its carbon emissions by 2030. As well as this, China has also announced that it will use zero emission sources for 20% of its power generation. This means that China will aim to produce 800–1,000 gigawatts of low carbon energy by 2030, which is greatly needed for the climate as China gets 68% of its power from coal, the most polluting energy source available. The 1,000 gigawatts of energy translates to enough power for the whole of the United States. China has also planned massive subsidies for green energy in the hope that green energy will be able to out-compete fossil fuels. This coupled with America agreeing that it will reduce its carbon emissions by 26–28% below its 2005 levels by 2030. In comparison to some other countries this deal may not seem like enough. But we need to take into account that, until recently, both China and America both refused to even consider reducing emissions. This deal also sets a precedent that other countries can follow particularly those who have been skeptical about reducing emissions, such as India which is the third most polluting country. Unfortunately we will need to reduce carbon emissions much more rapidly than our current efforts if we want to stay below the two-degree warming threshold. This may also encourage other nations to take carbon dioxide reduction seriously as most other countries were resistant to the idea because China and America weren’t taking part in emission reduction. This deal also sets up a very good bargaining position for America and China to try and convince other developing countries such as India to take part in an international emission reduction deal. Unfortunately there are lots of holes in this agreement, for example, aviation emissions aren’t included and this deal isn’t legally binding. However, with the EU saying it plans to cut emissions by 40% by 2030, we now have over half of the most polluting countries on some form of emission reduction plan. Finally the international community is getting their act together and if things continue with India following in 2015 hopefully the world will stay below the two degree threshold.

The presidents of the US and China toast the successful negotiation of the agreement businessinsider.com

Photo: Wikipedia:putneymark

Jacob Beebe Science&Environment editor New research, published in Environmental Research Letters, suggests that the number of lightning events across the UK has been strongly influenced by solar activity – specifically the Sun’s magnetic field. It may come as a surprise that we are still somewhat puzzled by lightning. It is not fully understood how the built up electric charges actually reach the ground, for example. This is because the air we breathe is not a good conductor of electricity. The theory that best fits at the moment is that these cosmic rays allow for the current to form a lightning bolt. The research has suggested that the orientation of the Sun’s magnetic field bends the Earth’s magnetic field. As the star spins,

percentage increase in % The UK thunder and lightning

Photo: Wikipedia, Arnold Paul

ANALYSIS Christopher Donaldson considers the political implications of the new low-carbon agreement

nce the surprise of the announcement subsided, attention turned to the viability of actually meeting these targets. For the US, the future looks grim. With the control of Congress now with the Republicans since their recent mid-term victory there is little prospect of new climate change legislation being passed – the party are notoriously anti-environmentalist and anti-regulation. However, the White House claims the new commitments are achievable under existing legislation, such as the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to cut carbon pollution from the nation’s power plants. China faces an equally pressing challenge to meet its commitments, not just from a divided political system but the technical challenge to achieve the scale of renewable energy required. A 20% increase in energy from zero-emission sources may not sound like much, but for a country with the population and energy needs of China, it is vast. Even the White House acknowledged that the renewable energy that China must generate will be “close to total current generation capacity in the United States”. On the other hand, China may be one of the only countries where this energy shift would be possible, owing to the ability of the Politburo to undertake large-scale development projects on incredibly short timescales. A short time after the agreement was announced, the White House also pledged

$3bn to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) – a global fund created by the United Nations to help lower-income countries reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and also adapt to more extreme climate conditions in the future. This pledge was immediately followed by a $1.5bn contribution by the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, showing renewed commitment by richer nations to stump up the cash for their previous carbon emissions. It is hoped that the US-China deal and the pledges to the GCF will drive momentum for the UN climate change talks later this month in Peru. Before now, the negotiations surrounding country’s plans to reduce GHGs have been slow, as lower-income nations saw little financial commitment by higher-income countries – some of the world’s biggest polluters – to tackle the problem. While promises by the world’s two largest polluters to cut GHGs emission should be welcomed, Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council said the international community needed to go further. In particular, he urged the rest of the G20 members to announce their own emission reduction targets before the crucial talks at Paris in 2015, where a global agreement to large cuts in emissions is expected. The stronger and more united the international community is in its aim to tackle climate change, the harder it will be for richer countries to continue to support fossil fuel use at the expense of people’s lives in poorer countries.

rates over five years.

sometimes the field is pointing towards the earth, sometimes away. Dr Matt Owens from the University of Reading said: “What we think is happening is that the Sun’s magnetic field is pulling or pushing on the Earth’s field and that’s letting energetic charged particles down into the atmosphere at different locations and the idea is that these actually trigger lightning”. He added: “For lightning, you need a thin conducting channel like a wire, and galactic cosmic rays can provide this thin column of ionisation in the atmosphere”. Over five years, the UK showed a 50% increase in thunder and lightning rates, which corresponds to Sun’s field pointing away from the Earth.

What’s new in science? The Philae lander has detected organic molecules on the surface of the comet. Geckos have inspired scientists to develop “Spider-man” gloves that stick to walls Research has shown that electrical stimulation of the brain can be twice as effective as caffeine

Photo: www. vox.com

Two new particles have been discovered at the Large Hadron Collider.

Photo: Wiki: Mark Sweeo

Russia may be testing a satellite capable of intercepting other orbiting craft.

union news to receive this as an email direct into your inbox every week, or to read the digital version of this, register at www.ueastudent.com

Housing Week

If you’re beginning to turn your mind to where you’re going to live next year, there are lots of opportunities for you to get help and advice this week. The Advice team and HomeRun Lettings have a week packed full of information, and they will be able to talk to you about all your questions, for example - when should you start looking, and what are the best locations? Scan the QR code for more information.

Student Experience Report 2014

Last week we launched the Undergraduate Student Experience Committee. We make 16 recommendations that are based on what students have told us. Connor, your Undergraduate Education Officer, said “We’re committed to push on the things students want like a printing allowance and more support on joint honours degrees.” Read more by scanning the code.

Student Job Opportunities

We’re looking for a few Welcome Desk Admin Assistants. For more details on the role and to apply, scan the code.

Take action

Last week we asked about education at our General Election stall, this week we’re talking about the economy and asking what your priorities are! Scan the code to find out where we are and help us build our student manifesto.

Tell us stuff

This week we’re asking a few more questions than normal about your course costs! How much was that text book? Paying for petrol for placement? Shelling out for software? Let us know in our 60 second survey!

Go beyond your degree

First aid awareness course for all sports club members Heartstart is a free first aid awareness course run by trained volunteers that covers the basic elements of Emergency Life Support; primary survey, recovery position, CPR, bleeding, choking and shock. For full details scan the code or go online. TEDX Norwich Have you been inspired by TED before? We will be organising a TEDX Norwich event and we wanted to get

as many people involved as possible. This could be as speakers, organisers, attendees. For full details scan the code or go online. SU Volunteer Personal Development Whether you are a rep or a president or just wanted to better at something that would help you, we want to support you through a number of workshops including being a better public speaker or working in your sports teams and societies. For full details scan the code or go online.

Clubs and Society events this week Sport on Wednesday 26th

> Netball 1st v Hertfordshire 1st BUCS Trophy Match, Sportspark @ 1.00pm > Men’s Table Tennis 1st v UCL 1st BUCS Trophy Match, Sportspark @ 1.20pm > Women’s Rugby 1st v Northampton 1st, Conference Cup, Colney Lane @ 2.00pm > Men’s Football 1st v Loughborough 2nd, Conference Cup, Colney Lane @ 2.00pm > Women’s Badminton 1st v Leicester 1st, Conference Cup, Sportspark @ 3.00pm

Society events

> Afro-Caribbean society event: Roller Skating: BLACK OUT! - 27 November at 7.30–11pm > Laser society event: 4th social NatSci 2k14 - Laser quest - 28 November at 8pm > The Pharmacy Winter Ball - 3 December at 7pm

Postgrad events this week Monday Football Wednesday Coffee and cake Social in

the Grad bar 1pm every Wednesday (free coffee and cake) Thursday Badminton Saturday Ale walk

LIVE! HIGHLIGHTS Tuesday Damn Good EDM UV Rave @LCR Wednesday The Crookes @WF Studio Thursday Whole Lotta Led @WF Friday Embrace @UEA Sabaton – Battle Of Britain Tour @WF Propaganda @WF Saturday TTSF Takeover Big Alabama + Delay + Little Red Kings @WF Meltdown @WF A List @LCR Sunday Beardyman @WF UEA|SU FILM NIGHTS Tuesday 25th - Silence of the Lambs

will be playing at 6pm in Lecture Theatre 2 (seating limited) Sunday 30th - PIXAR Boxset Marathon will be playing from 12:00pm to 11:00pm Lecture Theatre 1 (seating limited)

Travel

Photo: Flickr, Moyan Brenn

Instagram vs reality Travel editor, Jodie Snow, compares the Paris one finds on Instagram to the Paris in reality...

t is often difficult for world-famous cities to live up to expectations, and for an Instagram favourite like Paris this is particularly true. The city’s beautiful monuments and museums are cluttered with tourists. Paris’ promise to be the city of light, romance and beauty appears impossible to deliver, as the city is crushed by the weight of its own reputation. Upon driving into the outskirts of Paris, the city presents itself as a bleak, urban

“The city is crushed by the weight of its own reputation” landscape. The towering blocks of flats, with scraps of paint missing on the outside and windows boarded up, are a sore sight. The blocks loom over the city roads, which are rampant with cars travelling in all directions at all speeds. At first glance, Paris appears drab and uninviting. It is a world away from the romance and culture expected. As you enter the centre of the city, the buildings do become impressive. Upon leaving the metro station Palais Royal, the station nearest to the world-famous artgallery the Louvre, you are greeted with bundles of tourists in every direction. As you walk through the Louvre gardens, it becomes apparent that everyone wants to

find out what the fuss about Paris is. It shows the huge draw that Paris has on the world, as everyone, from groups of teenagers to families, crowd around the glass prisms of the Louvre and gawk at their leaflets and maps. From the Louvre, the obvious step is to venture towards the Arc de Triomphe and through the Champs-Elysees. As you leave the Louvre, Paris opens up for you, with the Arc-de Triomphe peaking in the distance, and the lights of Champs-Elysees luring the traveller closer. Walking the long street of Champs-Elysees is underwhelming. The street is cluttered with international brands and shops that are all too familiar. It becomes a road that could be found in any of the world’s biggest cities, seeming decidedly un-Parisian. Finding the Eiffel Tower is a surprisingly difficult task, given the height and fame of the monument. Walking around the various museums and streets that enclose the tower is a frustrating task, as there are no signs which signal the Eiffel Tower being close, and worryingly, no sight of the tower itself. The walk through the streets eventually leads you into the gardens of the Eiffel Tower. Masked by trees, the it is still not clearly visible. Once you have navigated through the trees and the tourists of the park grounds, you eventually find the famed tower. The tower’s foundations are a square of concrete

which are filled with shops and stalls selling various over-priced items. Whilst finally being up close to the tower, it becomes far less attractive and appealing as the photos online foretold. Stretching your neck to view

“Finding the Eiffel Tower is a surprisingly difficult task, given the height and fame of the monument” the top of the tower, it becomes unclear as to why this glorified piece of scaffolding has managed to deceive and seduce tourists for years. Unfortunately for Paris it has fallen into the trap of many a great city and has voided itself of unique charm in favour of showcasing international consumer brands and becoming a tourist-trap. Whilst all this is the case, it is to be remembered that travel is all about experiencing a city. It is far more insightful and eye-opening to visit Paris and see it in reality rather than a fantasy-land on Instagram. While the main attractions of Paris can be awash with tourists and only appear to undermine your expectations of the city, in the end it only helps you to find your own reasons to fall in love with Paris. Away from the city’s centre, a true Parisian Paris awaits discovery.

Photo: Flikr, Photo: Flickr, Kamome Ismail Mia

Travel

Harry Potter and the voyage of discovery

Photo: Flickr, MaX Corteggiano Sarah Michaels Travel writer Harry’s adventures throughout the film instalments of the popular series take him to beautiful locations, from the city-scene of Kings Cross to the hills and countryside that the Hogwarts Express coasts through. With this in mind, Concrete takes a look at the reallife destinations that can transport you to the magical world of Harry Potter.

Photo: Flickr, Scott Smith

Kings Cross Station In the first film, Harry Potter’s attention is attracted by the Weasleys running into a mysterious wall to enter ‘Platform 9 ¾’. In real life, Kings Cross Station have made use of the popularity of the film franchise and have actually marked a platform ‘9 ¾’. Fans and tourists alike can go and see the platform, which has a trolley half ‘inside’ the wall, making it a perfect photo spot to capture both your trip to London and into the wizarding world of Harry Potter.

Glencoe, Scotland Glencoe sits within the Scottish highlands and was used as the set for Hagrid’s hut in the third film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Because the set has now being taken down it is unfortunately not possible to visit Hagrid’s hut, but it is possible to take in the vast beauty of the Scottish highlands. In the Clachaig Inn, visitors can see a familiar scene as they overlook the landscape which was the backdrop for most of the third film. London Zoo The classic scene in the first film where Harry discovers his serpent-tongue abilities took place in the world-famous London Zoo. Just as Harry and the Dudley’s went to visit, tourists are able to as well. In the reptile house, the snake used in the scene is still there with a plaque just above it that informs visitors of the snake’s role in the beginning scenes of the film. Lochabar, Scotland Glennfinnan Viaduct in Lochabar provided

the landscape that the students viewed as they steamed along on the Hogwarts Express. The countryside is a great sight for hiking. Visitors

“The perfect photo spot to capture both your trip to London and into the wizarding world of Harry Potter” now have the ability to ride on the ‘Jacobite’ train which was actually used in filming as part of the Hogwarts Express. At the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone Harry remarks to Hagrid that he “was not going home, not really”. With this in mind, every avid fan of the films and wander-lusting traveller should make a trip to these magical places.

How to travel with a food allergy Travel editor, Jodie Snow, looks into how to have a stress-free trip when you are travelling with a food allergy

or many a trip to Paris without tasting the croissants seems bizarre but all is the reality for the allergen-aware traveller. Travel and food have grown so synonymous with each other that it is difficult to have one without the other. From the floating food markets of Thailand to the café culture of Paris, food and travel go together like bread and jam. For the nut-free, celiac and lactoseintolerant traveller, a trip abroad navigating language barriers and menu lists can be a tricky one. Cities abroad are a treasure-trove of restaurants and eateries offering authentic, local cuisine. The streets of Paris are speckled with cafés, bakeries and restaurants that all entice the foodie-traveller to experience the city through taste. For those travelling a dietary-restricted road, however, this is often difficult to do. One way to overcome this is to ensure background research is done back at home before you start to travel. Having a quick search to find out more about the local dishes on offer is crucial to arm you with the knowledge required for a hasslefree restaurant experience. Knowing dishes that are allergen-free and likely to be on a menu can save you from hassling restaurant experience. In the same way, learning some keywords in the local language is a brilliant way to navigate the menus and restaurants abroad. Learning the French, Spanish or German for ‘milk’ and ‘gluten’ as well as that all important ‘no’ before it, can help no end in

communicating your dietary requirements to waiting staff. It is not necessary to be fluent in a language to have a hassled and allergen free travel experience. Whilst restaurants can have limited options for food-allergies, the supermarkets and shops offer a huge variety of options. A supermarket sweep in Europe may not seem

“For many, a trip to Paris without tasting the croissants seems bizarre” like the most satisfying of culinary delights, a pulled-together picnic whilst peoplewatching in a beautiful city is a perfectly fine way to spend an evening. Doing your research back home is often the best way to find out about specialised restaurants and shops abroad that can cater directly to your dietary needs. Though often more expensive to eat in these places, they offer a wide variety of choice and can give you peace of mind when eating abroad. It is in these shops and cafés, where the lactoseintolerant can taste an ice cream in warm Croatia, or the gluten-free croissant in Paris. Travelling the world with your taste buds can be a great experience, but it is best to remember that it is not the be all and end all. A country’s cuisine can be experienced in a variety of ways and it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Photo: Flikr, Joycln & Cathy

Photo: Flickr, Brian Hoffman

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Lifestyle

You are feeling very sleepy... Page 20

How to get philosophical... Ruth Roberts Lifestyle writer Have you ever sat in the deep dark pits of the laundry room, staring at your underwear spinning around in what seems like an infinite loop, and in-between thoughts on what to cook for dinner, been struck with awe at the amazingness of your own existence. Yeah, neither have I. I find it hard to get philosophical in a room so warm and depressing. I generally leave so bored and grumpy I couldn’t give a damn why I exist on this little pale blue dot in a mindblowingly huge and beautiful universe. I just want to get out of the room before I actually lose my mind. So here’s my quick guide to making those dreaded 2 hours slightly more interesting!

Look up. You might want to leave the laundry room for this, unless you have a particular love for white ceilings. How often do you stop what you’re doing and spend five minutes looking at the sky. Getting your Iphone out to take an Instagram of the sunset by the lake doesn’t count. I mean really look. Stop what you’re doing and just stare at the openness that every human to walk the Earth has looked up in awe at. Optimum results achieved on a clear night, nothing quite beats a window to the universe.

Watch some Youtube videos by Shane Koyczan and prepare to have your mind blown. I’m yet to hear anyone who can inspire as much awe of our existence in me with their eloquent words. (‘Shoulders’ and ‘Instructions for a Bad Day’ are two good ones to start with)

Bring a book, preferably something deep and philosophical. You’re doing your laundry, that’s productive, so I think you need

“How often do you stop what you’re doing and spend five minutes looking at the sky?” a treat. Save your studying and work for when you’re in the comfort of your own room or an air-conditioned library.

Drop what you’re doing, and go for a walk on your own. It really is a perfect time to gather your thoughts and ponder the meaning of life. Just remember to be back in 50 minutes time.

Briefly focus on your mortality. I’m going to emphasise the ‘briefly’, as I don’t think it’s practical to run around the laundry room in a radical frenzy telling people to Carpe Diem because our time is running out. It may also make the fact you’ve spent two hours of your life in the laundry room seem pretty depressing. But you probably don’t have much else to do, so why not use this time to remind yourself how precious your life is? We don’t have forever to make amends with people and tell people we love them. If you died tomorrow would there be something you wished you said or did? So try and make sure you leave the laundry room with your partially dry socks (Is this a universal problem or is it just me?), and bounce in your step and enjoy the new appreciation for your precious time on Earth.

Photo: Flickr, Sean Macentee

The best equipment for the lecture theatre Sacha Reeves Lifestyle writer It can sometimes be difficult to successfully take down everything that’s said in a lecture, particularly when you are expected to make notes for your essays or revision. With a vast range of technology available, it’s not always easy to decide what device will be most useful. It’s important to take down as much as possible in lectures, but this can sometimes be challenging if you can’t write as quick as the slides change, or your fingers just aren’t nimble enough to touch type. Dictaphone 7/10 If you aren’t a fast typer or writer, it may be worth investing in a Dictaphone. This may help you to catch up on anything that you may have missed in class or weren’t able to make a note of. It’s also really useful for revision. The only drawback is that you will either need to type it up or make notes on it later. Tablet 5/10 Using tablets are great if you don’t have a laptop or just don’t want to carry a lot round all day. If you are used to using it then it may be easy to type out your notes, however if you need to get a lot down it can be pretty difficult to tap at the screen quick enough. If you have a tablet and find typing

an issue then a tablet keyboard case may be a good way to turn your tablet into a laptop. Uploading your notes onto a computer or printing them out may be tricky, but dropbox is a good way to upload your documents and download them onto a computer. Laptop 8/10 Using a laptop is probably one of the easiest ways to get down as much as possible. You can make notes as much as you want and it’s easy to use the Internet if you get bored. It’s also handy for searching anything you are unsure of during the lecture. Typing everything up means that you save money on paper and can easily back-up all your work. However, using a laptop can become difficult when you are in a lecture room with tablechairs as you won’t be left with much space! Pen and paper 7/10 Perhaps we should stick to good old pen and paper? You don’t have to worry about charging it and writing notes is nearly as easy as typing unless you have a lot to take down. It’s much easier to keep all your work together in a folder, however, it can be difficult to write fast enough to keep up. It can also be quite expensive. All of the above can be used to take notes effectively and it may even be useful to use more than one method, but it really comes down to individual preference and what you find most comfortable to use.

The most beneficial super-foods out there! Frances McKeown Lifestyle writer Take a look at these seven foods and drinks with some seriously hot properties!

Blueberries Blueberries are a good source of vitamin K. They also contain vitamin C, fibre, manganese and other antioxidants. Many nutritionists say that if you only make one change to your

“Consumption of nonstarchy vegetables like broccoli can reduce the risk of some cancers” diet it should be to add blueberries. They are rich in antioxidants which are considered to have many health benefits, including being preventative of some diseases. Antioxidants fight oxidative stress and free radicals, levels of which should remain low in the body in order to maintain good health. In terms of disease prevention, it has been claimed that eating blueberries can help protect against heart disease and some cancers, whilst also improving memory. A British study found that participants who ate three or more portions of blueberries and strawberries a week had a 32% lower risk of heart disease than those

Pistachios Pistachios are small and flavoursome but also pack a real health punch. They contain more than 30 different vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients including lutein and zeaxanthin, two antioxidants associated with a reduced risk of age-related sight loss. They are one of the nuts with the fewest calories and fat and they make a tasty snack on their own or added to meals and desserts.

who ate them once a month or less. Although this could be due to a healthy diet and lifestyle more generally, it is definitely worth trying them out as they are packed with nutrients and taste great in cereal or porridge in the morning, and with yoghurt as a healthy and tasty dessert.

Broccoli Broccoli’s mild taste and bright colour make it a favourite in Sunday roasts, but is it worth its place? Eating broccoli can help to lower cholesterol and it’s packed with nutrients including folate, soluble and insoluble fibre, vitamins C and A, and calcium, all of which serve numerous functions in the human body. It has also been linked with preventing cancer and diabetes. Evidence has shown that increased consumption of nonstarchy vegetables like broccoli can reduce the risk of some cancers including mouth, throat and stomach. If you don’t like broccoli, try cauliflower, cabbage or even brussels sprouts, which all contain the compound sulforafane which has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. Plus, a new study by researchers at UEA has found that the compound could be the key to preventing or slowing the process of the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis.

Chocolate Chocoholics rejoice! Eating small portions of dark chocolate has been found to help reduce high blood pressure, LDL known as the bad cholesterol and can even reduce the risk of diabetes by boosting insulin sensitivity.

Green & black tea Green tea and even black tea both contain high levels of antioxidants and ECGC which is found in green tea, has been shown to lower cholesterol and inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

Mushrooms Mushrooms are mainly thought of as adding flavour with no real nutrition, but mushrooms are the only vegetable source of vitamin D.

Photo: Flickr, @rsseattle

Coffee The health benefits of coffee surprisingly far outweigh the negatives. Studies have shown that drinking coffee regularly may reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease (80% less likely to develop), colon cancer (25% less likely when drinking at least two cups a day) Photo: Liz tells Frank and it can even reduce headaches. Scientists also believe that coffee may play a role in improving memory and decreasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Lifestyle

Beat the deadline pressures: solutions for sleepless nights Gemma Carter Lifestyle writer As the end of term approaches, our routines are transformed into endless days sat in the library, surrounded by books and sat staring at our laptop screens desperately awaiting the arrival of some intellectual inspiration. The inevitable all-nighters many of us are familiar with mean that we don’t get nearly as much sleep as we should. A lack of sleep can make you feel rundown, meaning you’re more likely to become ill – which won’t make reading medieval literature or deciphering equations any easier. The last few weeks of the semester mean our minds are inscribed with never-ending to-do lists. With all these thoughts whizzing round your head you’ll probably find it difficult to drift off at the end of the day. Try making a list of all your worries and tasks, that way you’ll have a more manageable plan of action. Plus, there’s nothing more satisfying than ticking each one off and feeling the load slowly lift. Listening to music can also help you slip in to a deep slumber, so trying to make a playlist of songs which send you off like a lullaby will help. Popping your headphones on will also block out any noise that your housemates might be making, transporting you to your dreams. Alternatively, if complete silence is what sends you to sleep, purchase some ear plugs and that way you’ll be able to block out any noisy neighbours and achieve the serene silence that you desire. Deadlines can make many things fall out

of routine, but be sure not to let it affect your meal times. Set yourself a time to stop working so you can cook your dinner at a sensible time. Also, aim not to eat anything in the 2-3 hours before you go to sleep as indigestion will make sleeping difficult. Steer clear of any caffeine as the evening gets on, unless you’re pulling a necessary all-nighter, as you’ll be fighting a losing battle before you’ve even begun. Many student’s kryptonite at this time in the academic year is the danger of napping.

“Try making a list of all your worries and tasks, that way you’ll have a more manageable plan of action” The amount of hours we spend staring at a screen and reading can make our eyelids feel heavy and it isn’t even midday. Resist the urge to let your eyes close and go to sleep for a ‘few minutes’, as before you know it those few minutes will have turned in to a four hour sleep. Go and get some fresh air to inject some life back into your body and give yourself a break from your work. Keeping your body clock in sync is vital. All-nighters, in the library or down Prince of Wales, can seem like a good idea but don’t make them a habit in weeks 10 to 12. Try getting up fairly early each morning and going to bed at a reasonable time, stick to this pattern until your coursework has been handed in – giving up a few weekend lie-ins won’t hurt, promise. Your mind, body and coursework will thank you for it, trust me.

Photo: Flickr, Svein Halvor Halvorsen

Lifestylefood Broccoli and chicken risotto Rebecca Bemment Lifestyle editor With one of this week’s articles focusing on the super foods that we could be gaining lots of benefits from, some of the ingredients mentioned have made their way into this issue’s recipes! Ingredients 500g risotto rice 2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes 2 tbsp olive oil 40g butter 1 ¾ pints boiling chicken stock 250g broccoli 3 tbsp parmesan 1 garlic clove ½ onion, chopped finely Salt and pepper Method 1. Melt a bit of the butter along with the oil in a saucepan and put in the chicken to fry over a low heat for around 2-3 minutes. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until soft. Put in the garlic and continue to fry until golden. 2. Put the rice into the pan and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add the hot stock a bit at a time and stir constantly. Make sure to let the liquid absorb before you add in more. This should take about 25

Coconut and blueberry cakes Rebecca Bemment Lifestyle editor

minutes, leaving the rice creamy but with a firm texture. 3. Add the broccoli to a saucepan of boiling water and boil for approximately 1 minute. Then drain and add into the rice along with the parmesan. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, add in the rest of the butter, and enjoy!

Photo: Flickr, Andurinha

A great and easy treat which has the added bonus of having healthy blueberries in! Fun to make for the rest of your housemates! Ingredients 100g self-raising flour 125g butter 125g sugar 2 eggs ½ tsp baking powder 1 tsp vanilla essence 50g desiccated coconut 150g blueberries

Photo: Flickr, poppet with a camera

Method 1. Mix in butter, sugar and eggs together in a bowl. Sieve in the flour and baking powder and fold them in. Then add in the vanilla essence. Beat all the ingredients together until light and creamy. Add in the coconut and blueberries and put into 10 bun cases. If you’d prefer, grease a muffin tray and spoon straight in. 2. Bake in the centre of the oven for around 20-25 minutes until risen. Take out of the oven and transfer the cakes onto a wire-rack to cool.

Sport

James Newbold Sport editor

itnessing footballers pull out of international duty at the eleventh hour is becoming an increasingly common element of the modern game. At times this comes at the behest of the manager, keen to protect a prized asset from picking up any unnecessary knocks before an important upcoming fixture, but more worryingly, it is often at the player’s prerogative. QPR manager Harry Redknapp’s revelation following England’s World Cup exit this summer that “there were two or three players who did not want to play for England” during his spell at Tottenham Hotspur hints at an underlying apathy which could go some way to explaining England’s perpetual disappointments in major tournaments. There are no shortage of case studies for this phenomenon. Former England U21 boss Stuart Pearce, now of Nottingham Forest, was scathing of Roy Hodgson’s decision to hand Jonjo Shelvey a second senior cap after the Swansea midfielder refused to return to the ranks of the U21s, while Norwich keeper John Ruddy’s snub for a seat on the plane to Brazil in deference to Ben Foster, who had previously declared himself unavailable for selection, left a bitter taste in the mouth. On the face of it, Spurs defender Eric Dier appeared to be the latest in a long line of England disappointments when he

“But to accuse Dier of lacking commitment would be grossly unfair” asked Gareth Southgate not to pick him for the recent U21 friendly matches against Portugal and France. The 20 year-old, who signed from Sporting Lisbon in the summer, has generally impressed the White Hart Lane-faithful despite playing out of position at right back, but as might be expected, is still learning his craft. This was evidenced against Newcastle, when, just six seconds into the second half, he allowed Sammy Ameobi to ghost in behind him to score. But to accuse Dier of lacking commitment to England would be grossly unfair. Rather, his decision to withdraw, motivated by a desire to improve the weaker aspects of his game, shows a maturity which should be lauded. “I just felt that this two-week period gives me the opportunity to work on parts of my game that I have had problems with over the past two months, personal elements I need to work on both physically and on the football pitch that I think will make me a better player for both club and country in the long-term,” he said. At 6ft 3in, Dier’s strengths clearly lie in the heart of the defence at centre-back, although this will mean proving himself over club captain Younes Kaboul, plus established internationals Federico Fazio, Jan Vertonghen and Vlad Chiriches, at club level. All signs point to his heart being in the right place, and if Dier can fulfill his undoubted potential to prove himself an international-class defender in the years to come, it will be to his great credit.

Photo: UEAWFC

Cup run masks league loss for UEAWFC Kat Lucas Sport editor UEA Women’s Football are through to the next round of the cup after a 2-1 win in extra time against Nottingham Trent thirds. Despite a number of questionable refereeing decisions going against them in the first half, UEA broke the deadlock, Sammy Algar with the opening goal. The home side were unlucky not to add a second to put the game to bed, with Maite Martinez just missing out after some impressive build-up play. In fact, UEA’s passing looked to have drastically improved following the disappointment at Bedford a week before. Though they at times looked reluctant to shoot, they nonetheless found themselves in good positions. Trent fought hard to get themselves back into the game, and were rewarded after the interval with the equaliser. UEA appeared to be flagging going into

n intimidating atmosphere at Celtic Park did nothing to prevent a strong England performance as they overcame Scotland 3-1 in Tuesday night’s grudge match. Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got the Three Lions underway with a first-half header, before a brace from Wayne Rooney sealed a morale-boosting result. Scotland opened the game up briefly on 83 minutes with an excellent team goal finished off by left back Andy Robertson – his first for the national side – but it was short lived, with Rooney finishing the game off just four minutes later. Although only a friendly, the match highlighted many positives in the newlook England squad. Considering England had, on average, the oldest team in the 2010 World Cup, they now have a much younger and more energised team, thanks to the emergence of players such as Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck, and Adam Lallana. Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal summed up perfectly the renovated team, with Jack Wilshere supplying a perfect ball into the

extra time, but were rejuvenated by the fresh legs of substitute Abbie Knell, who lit up the pitch despite playing out of her usual position. Elsewhere, there was a solid performance from Jess Keeling and Jess Conroy at the back, while left-back Caron Hutchinson put in a full 90 minutes despite having sustained a sprained wrist in training. With penalties looming, the Yellows survived an early scare as Trent hit the crossbar, before Algar hit home for UEA’s winner and her second of the match. Sadly, it was there that their luck ran out as UEA went down 2-0 in a BUCS match at home to Northampton, despite a spirited display against the league leaders. In their previous outing, Northampton had put 18 past Bedford 2nds, leading UEA to line up in a 4-5-1 formation to frustrate the away side. However, it took just seven minutes for them to open the scoring with a strike that found the top corner. Despite the psychological blow of conceding early, UEA kept themselves in the game and looked particularly dangerous on

the break, with Algar breaking through the defence only to squeeze her shot just wide of the post. Northampton then doubled their lead after 62 minutes with a driven shot from the edge of the penalty area. UEA’s Rachel Voyce then came closest to halving Northampton’s advantage when the ball fell to her from a corner, but her shot was cleared off the line. Admittedly, UEA expected a tough test against Northampton, but can be proud of their performance nonetheless. Head Coach Lee Hamilton told Concrete: “We looked strong on the counter-attack and we knew that Northampton would be extremely difficult to beat. “There is still a long way to go in the season and it’s clear the players are really starting to gel”. The Yellows may have had an indifferent start to the league season, but will be boosted by an impressive cup run. UEA will play Nottingham Trent’s second XI away in the next round on Wednesday 26th November.

COMMENT Isabelle Wilson praises England’s youngsters after ‘friendly’ win in Scotland box. The Ox, optimising his pace, met it with a perfect glancing header into the bottom right-hand corner; the younger players – who, incidentally, are Arsenal teammates – seem to have developed a coherency and understanding of each other. Additionally, they seem able to play without the enormous pressure that was placed on the Gerrards and Lampards of the team in years gone by. This looks like a group willing to take risks. However, the quality and experience of players like Rooney certainly cannot be overemphasised. Scotland’s late goal had the potential to unnerve England, but Rooney showed his class and stepped up to score the all-important final goal. It was matched by an equally impressive celebration (a perfectly executed cartwheel from Rooney), which showed the unity in the squad, with the young players clambering to get a hand on the captain. For the first time in a long while, all the components of a top international side seem

to be falling into place for the Three Lions. Regardless of the quality of opposition, England were playing with flair and style, and the passing was quick and accurate. The addition of Luke Shaw and Nathaniel Clyne added speed down the flanks and Wilshere, playing as holding midfielder, was able to disperse play while protecting the centre backs. Raheem Sterling and Lallana also did well after coming off the bench to add an injection of pace against a jaded Scotland in the second half. England currently sit top of their group in the Euros with maximum points from their first four games. This is certainly an exciting time for England, admittedly in something of a transitional period from the ‘Golden Generation’ to our emerging and talented youth. Although still a little inexperienced on the world stage, this is certainly a team that can succeed at the Euros. No one can accuse this England team of being boring!

Sport

UEA Swimming Team fielded an unprecedented 33 competitors in the recent BUCS Short Course Championships UEA Swimming Team

UEA Swimming pull in the points George Evans, Grace Hubbard & Clare Bartington Sport writers

EA Swimming Team enjoyed a strong performance at the BUCS Short Course Championships in Sheffield last weekend, making the finals in two individual and two relay events. Competing alongside a number of GB swimmers (some of whom had recently appeared in the Commonwealth Games), UEA fielded an unprecedented 33 competitors, almost all achieving at least one Personal Best time (PB) over the weekend. Among the standout competitors were Alison Binns, who finished tenth in the Women’s 200 metres Individual Medley and Nicola Buchanan, who finished 14th in the Women’s 50 metres Butterfly, both swimming in finals.

Similarly for the men, Ewan Laing just missed out on making the final in the 200 metres Individual Medley, placing 11th, and George Evans capped off a terrific weekend with a storming swim to a lifetime best of 1:00:58 in the 100 metres Backstroke. This was matched by exceptional team performances in the relay events, finishing

“The combined efforts ensured UEA improved considerably on last year’s BUCS point tally” twelfth in the women’s 200 metres Freestyle Relay (consisting of Alison Binns, Nicola Buchanan, Clare Bartington and Jess Sullivan) and then topping that by finishing

ninth in the 200 metres Medley Relay (Jenny Seaman, Bartington, Buchanan and Binns), both times swimming in finals. This represented an incredible achievement considering that their competition included the likes of Loughborough, Bath, Edinburgh and Swansea – teams with a long and distinguished history of swimming success. The combined efforts ensured UEA improved considerably on last year’s BUCS point tally for the event to draw level with Oxford and just one point behind Sheffield in the overall standings. The weekend also provided a timely confidence boost ahead of the BUCS Team Championships in a week’s time, held at UEA, that will see such titans of the sport as Bath and Cambridge lock horns in Norwich’s very own pool. UEA Swimming currently sit in division two, but this year’s competition represents

an excellent chance to achieve promotion to the top division and head to the final in Sheffield next year. “‘Obviously, the chance to compete against other universities in our own pool for the first time since Derby Day 2012 is incredibly exciting, and and I am delighted that UEA sportspark will welcome some of the very best swimmers in Britain,” said Vice-President Simon Tate. “Hosting this competition is a huge coup for the Sportspark and our club, and I would like to thank both the current and previous committees, as well as those running the Sportspark and volunteers from City of Norwich swimming club for all the hard work that they have put in to make this possible”. UEA Swimming Team compete in the BUCS Teams Swimming championships at UEA Sportspark on 30th November from 12:00 - 17:00. Go along and lend your support!

Competitive showing in Cambridge for UEA Boat Club Katie Godfrey & Ruth Underwood Sport writers UEA Boat Club’s rowers, coxes, and coaches faced an early start as they headed to the Cambridge Winter Head to race competitors from various categories, universities, and clubs. Whilst they have had the chance to take part in some smaller local races, Cambridge was the first real test of the year as UEA challenged over 200 boats. The Winter Head also marked the first taste of competitive rowing for the new members who only started at the beginning of the semester, giving them the chance to show not only the senior rowers, but also their competitors what they could do on the water. The category system meant the beginners were racing against other crews

new to the sport, giving them the same chance of success as the senior rowers. And they did not disappoint; new cox Krish Desabelle-Mulligan steered the men’s beginner four to victory by a dominant 19 seconds in her debut race, even overtaking a struggling eight crew, while the men’s beginner eight took home a very strong fourth. It had been a mixed term for the women’s squad with disruption to training and a lack of coaching interrupting their preparations, but the beginners eight showed true determination against the odds to secure a well-deserved win against 13 other crews. At just one second, the margin of victory couldn’t have been much closer as cox Max Fancourt managed to coax every inch of power from the girls. Women’s captain, Katie Godfrey commented, “I have immense pride in the beginner boat. I couldn’t be

more pleased with the result and am eager to see their future successes”. Despite disrupted preparation in the weeks leading up to the race, the novice eight (a mix of new and more experienced rowers) also gave a gutsy performance and achieved a very respectable time for a race on the Cam. The day also showed strong finishes for UEA’s more experienced rowers, with the men’s first four showing their strength cohesion to gain a fourth place finish against tough competition. This was followed by the tenth fastest time of the day for the first eight, in a performance which delighted men’s captain Andreas Krohg Stabell. He praised cox Georgie Chapman for “finding good racing lines despite all the sharp curves along the course, whilst the crew accelerated the boat quickly from the start and settled into an

efficient rhythm”. Finally the women’s senior boats demonstrated gumption and drive in holding their own and helping to make a name for UEABC on competitive waters. The senior eight drew on all aspects of their training with a calm and technical row to place an impressive 3rd, a result matched by the senior four, just six seconds behind the winning crew in a result which bodes well for the year ahead. “I’m sure the women’s squad are going to have a positive year, training hard and reaping the results we rightly deserve”, said Godfrey. The day as a whole is one that UEABC can be proud of. Looking forward, the club has a number of smaller races this semester before the New Year brings bigger and more exciting events including several competing on the Thames in London against crews from across the country and beyond.

Sport

SPORT

Issue 304

25th November 2014

concrete-online.co.uk @Concrete_UEA ConcreteNewspaper

Wayne Rooney is on course to become England’s record goal-scorer after his brace against Scotland Flickr: Brent Flanders

Home Nations impress in Euro qualifiers James Chesson Sport writer Amid widespread criticism of the expanded format for Euro 2016, you could forgive fans of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland for their silence on the matter, given the way qualification has begun for the Home Nations. To explain the changes: a tournament that previously featured 16 teams will now comprise of 24 nations, a number which does not fit entirely with the traditional setup of groups of four teams, with the top two progressing to the knockout stages. As a result, four of the best third placed teams will also escape their groups as well, resulting in a mere eight teams exiting at the group stage. Before any of that, however, there is the issue of qualifying for the tournament. The top two teams from each qualifying group will advance automatically to the tournament, along with the best third placed team across the groups, with the remaining third placed teams taking part in play-offs against each other, with one of the nations progressing. Crucially, this grants the likes of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, who rarely get to compete in major tournaments, the best chance they have had in a long while to do just that. England look well positioned to grab top spot in Group E, with only Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania and whipping boys San Marino standing in their way. Manager Roy Hodgson has set his sights on going unbeaten through the entire campaign, which should be achievable, barring any dramatically dire performances. England’s group is comfortable to the extent that they can play poorly, and still win with relative ease, as has been the case in the first four

games. Their chief rivals Switzerland have begun slowly, but possess enough quality to usurp England if the Three Lions slip up. The only foreseeable issue is that complacency could set in and result in a lack of concentration, something Hodgson will be keen to guard against. After netting a penalty in the 3-1 win over Slovenia and two in the friendly against Scotland to increase his tally to 46, captain Wayne Rooney looks on course to become his country’s record goal scorer during the qualification campaign. If he does so, he will become the first Englishman ever to score 50 goals for his country. Wales last qualified for a major tournament in the 1958 World Cup, but currently occupy second place in Group B, behind Israel, who

“Wales last qualified for a major tournament in 1958” have a game in hand to play against Belgium. Chris Coleman’s Dragons are unbeaten in their first four matches, with narrow 2-1 victories over Cyprus and Andorra coupled with credible 0-0 draws with Belgium and Bosnia-Herzegovina. World Cup quarterfinalists Belgium will be expecting to advance from this group, but other than that, it could be a very open contest as Wales, Israel and Bosnia compete for the remaining spots. Of course, Wales can boast the presence of the most expensive player in the world, Gareth Bale, among their ranks, and will be hoping that he can fire them to France 2016. Nonetheless, the Real Madrid winger will need the supporting cast of Premier League talents Joe Allen and Aaron Ramsey to hit their best form to see Wales in a major tournament for the first time in a generation.

Scotland’s most recent major tournament experience was the 1998 World Cup. They currently sit third in a tough Group D containing World Cup winners Germany, Poland and the Republic of Ireland, in addition to minnows Georgia and Gibraltar. A cruelly late defeat away to Germany in the group’s opening match, a marginal win over Georgia, an entertaining 2-2 draw with Poland and a crucial victory over Ireland – thanks to an exquisite curled finish from Shaun Maloney – have all inspired belief that Gordon Strachan’s men could push the bigger sides all the way. The automatic qualification spots may well seem out of reach, but a place in a play-offs is still a very real possibility. Northern Ireland were presented with a comparatively straightforward group, featuring Romania, Hungary, Finland, Faroe Islands, and Greece. Spurred on by the goals of Norwich City striker Kyle Lafferty, the Windsor Park outfit swept to three consecutive wins to begin their qualification efforts, a run that included credible away wins against Greece and Hungary. A 2-0 away loss at the hands of Romania has since dropped them to second in Group F, but there should be a genuine hope for Michael O’Neil’s side to reach their first major tournament since 1982, particularly with three points expected in their upcoming fixture against the Faroe Islands. It would be an extraordinary achievement if all four Home Nations were to participate in the finals of Euro 2016, but for once it seems a genuine possibility that England will not be the only representatives in a major tournament. Whatever is said about the virtues or vices of the altered format, France 2016 presents a fantastic opportunity for nations who, realistically, are unlikely to reach a World Cup, to partake in a major international tournament.

Photo: Wikimedia, football.ua

England-Scotland report Page 22

Photo: Reece Parker

UEA Swimming report Page 22

Photo: Olivia Saunders

UEA Boat Club impress Page 23