Concrete 397 (Only)

The official student newspaper of the University of East Anglia | Established 1992 | Issue 397 | 14th November 2023

The new sports club on the block: UEA pg. 22 Lifting

Interview with Dr Nick Warr

pg. 12-13 pg. 21

Venue:

Taf Royale: From UEA Grad to a Rising Star

University of Suffolk's Student Union CEO appointed as UEA SU's new Chief Molly Warner

News Editor

The University of East Anglia’s Students’ Union has appointed Jumara Stone as their new Chief.

Currently, Jumara is the Chief Executive for the University of Suffolk's Student Union. Before taking up this role, Jumara has experience working as the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion manager at SOAS University of London, as well as being the Wellbeing training manager at the University of East Anglia, where she specialised in support for underrepresented people, particularly within a University setting, and she was also a project coordinator at the UEA Students’ Union.

Additionally, Jumara worked in the EDI space at UEA, and helped to develop UEA’s antiracism work, encouraging more people to speak on their experiences, and giving talks on racism and hate speech.

Jumara led the Students’ Union for over a year at the University of Suffolk, joining their team in September 2022.

Jumara will continue her role at the University of Suffolk until January 2024, where she will be taking up her new position at University of East Anglia Students’ Union.

On leaving the University of Suffolk, Jumara said: “To have led Suffolk SU as Chief Executive Officer has been an incredible chapter of my career, and it’s been a privilege to be able to do so.

Leaving

the

University

of

Suffolk Students' Union after a fulfilling year, I am grateful for the incredible experiences and lessons shared. As I step away, I do so with immense pride in the progress we've made together. I am excited to cheer on the Union from the sidelines, confident in the strength of our foundation and the limitless potential of the future leaders shaping it.

It has made me so grateful to be part of the Suffolk community, and to know that I have been at the heart of a Union which contributes so much to so many.

Jumara will be responsible for financial performance, reputation and legal compliance, delivering the strategies and visions as well as leadership every day, working closely with the SU Officers and staff. Additionally, she will be expected to build close working relationships with UEA’s Executive Team, in order to establish a good working and collaborative relationship between the two organisations.

Thank you for an inspiring journey, and here's to the continued success of Suffolk SU!

“It is the place where my journey in SUs started and a place that feels like home.”

I am incredibly excited to be coming back to work for uea(su) once again. It is the place where my journey in SUs started and a place that feels like home. I can’t wait to start and get back to supporting students and a community that means so much to me.”

Suffolk SU Presidents, Katie and Lewis, said that “It is with mixed emotions that we announce the departure of our Chief Executive,

Jumara Stone, from UOSSU. During this past year, Jumara has played a pivotal role in shaping our Students’ Union, contributing valuable insights, innovative ideas, and passionate leadership.

We are immensely grateful for Jumara's hard work, dedication, and the positive impact she has had on our SU and the student experience.

While she will be deeply missed, we respect and support her decision and wish her the very best at UEA SU. As we bid farewell to Jumara, we are also looking forward to the exciting opportunities

Photo: Innes Henry/Concrete that lie ahead. We are confident in the resilience and spirit of our SU, and we will continue to work together, building upon the foundation Jumara has helped us establish”.

The role of CEO is the head of the staff team of UEASU. “The CEO is responsible for driving forward and developing the organisation in line with the strategic framework agreed by the Board of Trustees” it says on the role’s job description.

Chair of the Board, Taylor Sounes, has said that: “We are delighted to announce our appointment of Jumara and I can’t wait to see where they are able to take us in the next phase of uea(su)’s history.

They bring an exciting vision coupled with a set of skills that I hope will aid us in making the most of our potential as an organisation. A huge thank you goes out to our Senior Management Team who have been working incredibly hard over the past year, as has our whole staff team. We would not be where we are without them.”

Additionally, the UEA SU have said that “Jumara brings an exciting set of experiences that we are confident will help to bring the SU to the forefront of the sector and to new heights over the course of her time with us. We look forward to welcoming Jumara when she joins us in January”.

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Editorial

14th November 2023

Creative communities Matthew Stothard Co-Editor-in-Chief

Image: Concrete/Innes Henry

A month to remember Eve Attwood

Co-Editor-in-Chief

As the nights darken earlier and the uni workload increases, I’ll be honest and say that my motivation hasn’t been at its highest this month. I love Autumn, watching Harry Potter films with a hot chocolate and seeing the leaves change to amber hues, but sometimes not even the ‘romanticise your life’ rhetoric is enough. Sometimes no matter how much coffee you chug or how many episodes of Bake Off you watch to try and distract yourself, the stress of uni creeps up on you and is hard to shake off.

I think what’s been on my mind the most this month is the need to make time for activities and people which provide me joy and positive energy. Sometimes the reality is that university isn’t always nights out and carefully curated brunches. For a lot of people it’s days spent hurriedly catching up on deadlines, working part-time jobs and eating slightly questionable meals when you’ve run out of your weekly shop. Many of us are struggling financially more than ever this year and making sacrifices to account for that. I want to remind other students that you are not alone in feeling this anxiety, and that if your university experience doesn’t always match the cookie-cutter version you’ve seen on Instagram, then it’s probably because that version is nothing but a myth.

This issue, we have some new members joining the team: Linda Vu, our new Home of the Wonderful Senior Writer, and Jadyn Lansana, our new Anne Glia. We also have Lisa Melo Konrad joining us as Copy Editor/Online Editor, and a new Social Media team composed of Lizzie Bray, Daisi Parker and Ellie Dharamraj. For our first year rep,

we now have Abby Eastwick, who you can get in touch with for any feedback and support if you’re a first year student wanting to get involved in Concrete. Matthew and I are really excited to welcome these new members to the team and we hope you as readers will appreciate all the work they’ll be putting in!

November is often associated with Remembrance Day and Movember, and rightly so. This issue will be published after Remembrance Day (11th November), but we have still added a poppy on the front to pay respects on behalf of the Concrete and Venue team.

Whether you have family members who have memories of wars past or loved ones who were lost, this is an important time to reflect on the consequences and effects of war globally, and the people who sacrificed their lives in the hope that peace would one day be restored.

It is also a time to celebrate Movember – an annual event involving the growing of moustaches to raise awareness of men’s health issues; physical and mental. As seen in Home of the Wonderful, there are plenty of amazing campaigns taking place on campus to raise awareness for the cause, particularly amongst UEA sport clubs. Movember is a great reminder that men have the right just as much as anyone else to talk openly about their health issues and to seek support. Masculine stereotypes do nothing but create unrealistic expectations around how men should act. There should never be stigma around receiving help when you need it. Get involved where you can and support the cause!

We hope you enjoy reading this issue and counting down the days until December. We’ll see you again with the Christmas issue next month!

This issue has been a bit of a bizarre mix of experiences. In many ways it’s been the most stressful to put together so far, and yet it’s also got my two favourite projects I’ve worked on this year so far.

Both have been fascinating, (with it being me) grounded in history and have got me thinking about the wider creative environment we’re part of at Concrete.

Firstly, this issue we’re marking 50 years since the first issue of the 1970s version of Concrete, one of our many UEA student newspaper predecessors. I was so interested to learn from one of its editors, Andy, about everything they had to go through to publish an issue, including the printing which thankfully we outsource today!

I was also amazed that they did the whole production process, from writing to distribution, in less than 24 hours! Admittedly, as Andy himself admitted, the 1970s “production methods were extremely primitive by today’s standards,” and they didn’t have to use InDesign, but I still can’t imagine turning something around that quickly.

It was also great to get to go to the UEA Archives to look at the first few issues (with the very first being featured in this issue’s archive slot). Looking through, there is so much that is different, particularly in the editors’ tendencies to joke around with their articles and make their political views clear, but

ultimately, they still had the same basic aims that we do in providing news and entertainment to the UEA community and giving students the opportunity to gain experience in journalism. I really got the sense of the wider legacy of UEA student journalism that we’re a part of, and it’s one I’m very proud to continue.

My other project for this issue has been my interview with Dr Nick Warr, one of the curators of the new Norwich Castle exhibition, Norwich Works, exploring the 1940s and 50s industrial photography of Walter and Rita Nurnberg in three of the city’s factories. I was lucky enough to be shown around by Nick, and if you get the chance to go I would definitely recommended it – the Hollywood-style glamour of the photographs makes them so much more than simply photos of factory workers. They are very artistically impressive. It was an excellent experience, and it made me feel very lucky about the opportunities that I get from Concrete.

It also got me thinking about the wider creative community and legacy we are part of in Norwich.

It’s a city of history, ingenuity and, as UEA’s own motto suggests, doing different. The Nurnberg’s photographs were certainly different to anything I’ve ever seen, and the notion of ‘doing different’ is one I like to think Concrete can be included in. I hope this issue brings you new information, entertainment, and maybe even a little inspiration…

The University of East Anglia’s Official Student Newspaper since 1992 Tuesday 14th November 2023 Issue 397 Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ www.concrete-online.co.uk Editor-in-Chief Eve Attwood Matthew Stothard concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk News Molly Warner Senior Writer: Jamie Bryson Home of the Wonderful Fiona Hill Senior Writer: Linda Vu Global Syed Hamza Senior Writer: Sankavi Naresh Features Eleanor Radford Comment Sam Slade Science Rana Darwood Senior Writer: Max Todd Lifestyle Mia Galanti Anne Glia: Jadyn Lansana Travel Cordelia Gulbekian-Faram Puzzles Cal Paul-Moola Sport Sofia Royal Senior Writer: Felix Sumner Online & Copy Editors Dan Laughlan Lisa Melo Konrad

Solutions for puzzles on page 21

Social Media Lizzie Bray Daisi Parker Ellie Dharamraj Concrete Photographer Innes Henry First Year Rep Abby Eastwick Venue Team Millie Smith-Clare Tshequa Williams Lily Glenn Sara Budzinska Sophie Handyside Caitlin Bennett Will Muncer Lily Taylor Cut-outs: Unsplash, Norfolk Record Office, Unsplash

Editorial Enquiries, Complaints & Corrections concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk

No part of this newspaper may be reproduced by any means without the permission of the Co-Editors-in-Chief, Matthew Stothard and Eve Attwood. Published by the Union of UEA Students on behalf of Concrete. Concrete is a UUEAS society, but retains editorial independence as regards to any content. Opinions expressed herein are those of individual writers, not of Concrete or its editorial team.

News

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

King Charles makes his first King's speech as he opens Parliament Molly Warner News Editor

On 7th November 2023, King Charles III delivered his first King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament.

It was the first time a King’s speech had been read in 70 years, although the monarch had previously addressed Parliament on behalf of his mother, before her death in 2022. The last King to oversee the State Opening of Parliament was George VI in 1950.

The occasion was also a first for Rishi Sunak as prime minister and outlined 21 laws that ministers intend to pass in the next year.

With the Conservatives falling behind Labour in the polls, Sunak was hoping to showcase his key policies and draw dividing lines with the opposition, in an attempt to win over the British public.

King Charles began his speech with a tribute to the “legacy of service and devotion to this country” set by his late Mother, Queen Elizabeth II. MPs and peers gathered within the House of Lords and listened as the King set out the government’s current priorities, including tougher sentences for serious offences, preventing smoking amongst children and more investment in transport.

Plans to keep the public safe and improve the justice system for victims, were a key focus within the speech, with plans to implement a bill that ensures offenders who commit murder with sadistic motives, will be spending the remainder of their life in prison. There will also be tougher sentences for grooming gang members and those who murder their partner at the end of a relationship. It is important to note that with many prisons currently being

overcrowded, there are plans for most sentences of less than twelve months to be suspended.

In turn, this means that for less serious crimes, offenders have the ability to stay out of prison, if they comply with the requirements set out by the court.

For transport, a new legal framework in Great Britain for self-driving cars will be set in place, as well as new powers for transport within London, including pedal-powered taxis.

With regard to housing, there are two bills being introduced, the first being a ‘lease and freehold bill’, which will aim to ban leaseholds for new houses, but not new flats, in England and Wales, as well as increasing the standard lease extension period to 990 years. The second bill is the ‘Renters (Reform) Bill’ which will deliver a long-promised ban on “no-fault” evictions in England, but this will only come

into force after reforms are completed among the courts.

There were a few bills that looked at making changes around social issues, such as the ‘Tobacco and Vapes bill’ – aimed at delivering plans for a phased ban on smoking, as well as enforcing restrictions on marketing and packaging. In addition, there was a ‘Football Governance bill’, a regulator for the top five tiers of English professional football.

The topic of energy and environment saw the introduction of the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill, which will ban the export of cattle from Great Britain for slaughter and fattening.

Additionally, licenses for oil and gas projects in the North Sea to be awarded annually, under the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bills.

Other items introduced are the following:

Arbitration Bill – New rules for individuals and businesses to resolve disputes without going to court.

Trade Bill – Enables the UK to join the 11-nation CPTPP trade pact with several countries in Asia and the Pacific.

Rail Reform Bill – Creating a new body to oversee the railway in Great Britain is included, however at the moment, it is only in draft form.

There were numerous items left out of the speech, including the ban on conversion therapy (promised since 2018), a bill authorising the construction of HS2 rail line between Manchester and Crewe was dropped, and a draft bill to overhaul the treatment of people with learning disabilities, that was mentioned in the Queen’s speech last year.

Pressing Questions for government as value of maintenance loan falls by £1500 Jamie Bryson

News Senior Writer

Following the release of recent research by the National Union Of Students (NUS) on the effect of the cost of living crisis on students, a lively and detailed debate took place in the House of Commons during the weekly Education Questions session on Monday, 23rd of October.

Rosie Duffield, MP for Canterbury (Labour), opened the questions, stating, “During my latest meeting with student leaders in Canterbury, they told me that often new students will visit their foodbank before they’ve even unpacked their bags. In the academic year 2021/22, 45 students visited, but by 2022/23, that number had risen to 301 - representing a rise of 650% in regular foodbank uses.

They expect a similar rise this academic year” and subsequently asked the government, “What will the govt do to help all of those, including students and staff, who are forced to use food banks?”

Robert Halfon MP (Conservative) - the government’s Minister for

Higher Education, responded: “Over this year and last, in England, the government has provided over £94 billion in cost of living support. University tuition fees have been frozen, and we’ve provided £276 million of student premiums to help the most disadvantaged students”.

However, Lilian Greenwood, MP for Nottingham South (Labour), refuted this point, identifying how “...the value of the student maintenance loan has fallen by £1500 in real terms since 2020/21”.

Ms Greenwood continued to describe that “recent research by the University of Nottingham Student Union revealed that the cost of living crisis is affecting students’ education and physical and mental health.

They found that almost 1 in 10 students had a weekly budget of £20 or less after rent, and 1 in 5 had a weekly budget of £20 or less after rent and bills. 37% had considered leaving university because of the difficulties they faced paying for essentials”.

The Minister responded: “It’s precise because of the figures she set out, which is why we’re helping students with

£276 million to try and make sure we try and help the most disadvantaged students. We will also look at the current loan repayments if (family) incomes fall below 15%. We’re doing everything we can to help students with the cost of living.” Every family has had an average of £3300 of support (over a 12-month period) with energy bills, so we’re trying to be fair to the taxpayer but also fair to students and make sure the most disadvantaged are helped”.

Representing the opposition's response, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Matt Western MP described how the recent NUS research report highlighted that almost 1 in 5 students are currently working almost 20 hours per week alongside their studies to help fund their time at university.

Furthermore, the report identified 40% of these students commenting that their paid work is having a negative impact on their studies. Mr Western went on to ask, “How does he (Robert Halfon) expect students to balance work and their studies in order to pay their bills, and does he acknowledge that this is now forcing many students out of higher education altogether?

Mr Halfon commented: “The figures are the opposite; we’ve got record numbers of students going to university; disadvantaged students are 71% more likely to go to university than in 2010.”

Lastly, Carol Monaghan MP (SNP Education spokesperson) stated, “Recent analysis shows that students that previously received free school meals are less likely to complete their degree and those that do are less likely to get a 1st or a 2:1.

The support can't stop once

they actually get to university” and asked, “can he detail what support he is giving students at every stage of their journey to make sure they genuinely get the most opportunity as those from more privileged backgrounds?”

In response, the HE Minister remarked, “There are universities who offer bursaries to their students...but we’re doing everything possible to ensure who do courses get good skills and good jobs at the end of it.

That’s the purpose of our HE reforms, which I understand the SNP have opposed”.

Image: Unsplash

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News

14th November 2023

Former Minister takes up Honorary Fellowship at UEA Molly Warner News Editor

Photo: Unsplash

More disadvantaged students go for top uni courses Molly Warner News Editor

According to newly released data from UCAS, a record number of 18-year-olds from deprived areas have applied to the most selective universities and courses.

Applications to the University of Oxford, and the University of Cambridge, for degrees in medicine, veterinary science and dentistry have increased significantly since last year, which the UCAS interim chief executive, Sander Kristel has called "encouraging".

UCAS says the number of 18-year-olds applying from areas where the fewest number of young people traditionally go to university - classified as the most disadvantaged - is up by 7% since last year. Altogether, the findings represent an increase for 2023 courses

well-off students just to live on, resulting in them graduating with higher levels of debt which is both shameful and hugely unfair" he said.

"Our previous research has found that many students are skipping meals as well as working sometimes full-time hours".

According to the Guardian, one out of five students at Russell Group universities have considered dropping out due to the cost of living crisis.

Bridget Phillipson, shadow education secretary, has said that Labour will look into how to make student loan repayments more fair and progressive if they come into power at the next general election. She said this would

from 2,950 applicants, to 3,160, for courses that are starting next year.

be accomplished by reducing monthly repayments for the lowest earners.

Alongside this finding, the UCAS analysis of October uncovered a range of other outcomes. For example, there has been a slight drop in the overall number of international applicants, with applications from all ages decreasing from 20,970 to 20,850.

As well as this, there has been a 18% year-on-year decrease in the total number of UK 19-year-old applicants.

The Labour Party has also examined reinstating maintenance grants for disadvantaged students.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman and founder of the Sutton Trust, said while the increase in applications from disadvantaged UK students was "encouraging", the gap in access to the most selective courses had "hardly shifted", and that those students from under-represented areas face an "uphill struggle" once they arrive at university.

"They have to borrow more than

“A record number of 18-year-olds from deprived areas have applied to the most selective Universities and courses"

The former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament for Norwich North, Chloe Smith, has agreed to take up a three-year honorary fellowship at UEA. Honorary fellowships are awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to the university and in support of a variety of causes linked to the work of the university.

The fellowship has been awarded in recognition of Chloe’s work with the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language, and Communication Studies. Chloe will be giving regular guest lectures and seminars, on a voluntary basis, to both undergraduates and postgraduates.

The Rt Hon Chloe Smith MP is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Norwich North since July 2009. Before entering parliament, Chloe worked for an international consultancy firm, Deloitte, advising private businesses, government departments, and public bodies. Earlier this year,

Chloe covered the role of Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whilst Michelle Donelan was on maternity leave.

Chloe has announced that she will be standing down as Norwich North’s MP at the next general election and is to be replaced by Nick Rose.

On receiving the fellowship, Chloe has said “I am thrilled to join UEA, in its 60th year and as it renews its civic charter. As a Norwich MP, I have always valued working closely with the university. I am proud to be associated with the UEA and its partners such as the Norwich Research Park, as they continue in world-leading researching and engagement.

“I hope that my 15 years of constituency public service and range of experience in legislation and leadership will be of help to the next generation of bright young people in Norwich”.

UEA’s Vice Chancellor, Professor David Maguire, has also commented on Chloe’s fellowship, saying “I am delighted that Chloe has taken up an Honorary Fellowship with our School

of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies. UEA students will have the privilege of benefitting from her insights on global, and domestic political issues, as well as her perspective on Westminster and Whitehall”.

Additionally, a UEA PPL student that wishes to remain anonymous, has said that “I am extremely happy that Chloe will be coming to the University to teach both lectures, and lead seminars. With all the different positions she has held within parliament, she will have a large range of knowledge on so many topics, and I think awarding her this fellowship was a good choice from the university. I hope I get to attend one of the guest lectures when she begins her new role”.

“As a Norwich MP, I have always valued working closely with the University"

Government considers help for first time buyers in upcoming statement Molly Warner News Editor

As part of measures to help first-time buyers in the upcoming Autumn statement, the government is considering extending its mortgage guarantee scheme.

The latest data discovered by Halifax found that the average UK house price in September was £278,601 in England, but in London, is £525,678. Alongside this, a survey conducted by Uswitch claims the typical home in 25 percent of England’s postcodes will be unaffordable to local buyers by 2025, whilst Zoopla says that over a third of those earning £60,000 or more annually have scrapped plans to buy in the next ten years.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, will announce the Autumn Statement on 22nd November, just weeks after the Tories lost two by-elections to their opposition party, Labour.

The scheme, first introduced in March 2021, was designed

by Rishi Sunak when he held the position of Chancellor, in

order to encourage lenders to give mortgages to borrowers with a smaller deposit. Since the December of that year, the interest rate has risen from an alltime low, to the current 5.25%, which has meant that mortgages have become more expensive for borrowers.

“The government is considering extending its mortgage guarantee scheme" The scheme is among a range of measures that the Treasury is expected to examine and reintroduce ahead of the Autumn Statement. The department is also said to be considering a new individual savings account, also known as an ISA, in order to encourage potential buyers to begin saving for their first home.

Alongside the mortgage guarantee scheme, Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are currently under immense pressure to reintroduce the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme, launched in 2013, and used by over 350,000 people to purchase their first home. Some critics argue that the scheme is a pivotal contributing factor to soaring house prices, however many still expect an announcement in the upcoming statement regarding its return.

A Labour spokesperson has said that ”After 13 years of failed Conservative government, the dream of home ownership has evaporated for many working people, while millions of mortgage holders are paying the price of last year’s kamikaze budget.

With a transformational package of reforms to the planning system to build 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament, and new measures to help first-time buyers get on the housing ladder, it’s Labour that is the party of home ownership”.

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14th November 2023

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

Norwich Conservatives select "anti-woke" candidate Jamie Bryson

News Senior Writer

Norwich Conservative Party has selected their new parliamentary candidate for Norwich North, following the announcement that Chloe Smith MP will be standing down in the next election after 15 years.

Nick Rose a former Bournemouth councillor and children's author - said he was "delighted to have been selected" and "to continue the great work of Chloe Smith".

However, the selection had already proved controversial locally, with Mr Rose describing himself on his personal website as "anti-woke" and (referring to gender identity), "I know what a woman is".

Furthermore, the candidate also appeared to suggest he does not believe in man-made climate change, stating, “As the son of a geomorphologist and the son of an English teacher, I could spell 'interglacial period' when I was four, so I know climate change is natural”, and adding “As an

engineer, I do not agree with net-zero, particularly when it punishes our poorest.”

In response to these comments, Norwich Green Party immediately called for Mr Rose to resign, with Green city councillor Jamie Osborn (and Green candidate for Norwich South) expressing, "The fact that the Conservatives have selected a parliamentary candidate who denies the existence of human-caused climate change, in a week when the country has been devastated by flooding, shows how out of touch with reality they are...No serious politician can hold these views, and Nick Rose should stand down immediately.”

“No serious politician can hold these views, and Nick Rose should stand down immediately"

to have been deleted from Mr Rose’s website.

The constituency of Norwich North has remained a relatively tightly fought parliamentary seat between the Conservatives and Labour. Whilst Chloe Smith (Conservative) increased her majority to 4,738 at the 2019 election - with the Labour vote dropping by 6.3pc - in 2017, the Conservative lead was just 507 votes strong. Ms Smith won the seat in 2009 after Labour ’s Ian Gibson resigned over his involvement in the Westminster expenses scandal.

Chloe Smith posted on ‘ X’, “ With experience, strong record in public service and keen commitment to Norwich, Nick will make a great MP. I look forward to working closely with Nick & our Norwich Tories

“I look forward to working closely with Nick & our norwich Tories volunteer team"

volunteer team.”

In August, the Norwich Conservatives announced former local headteacher David Thomas as their candidate for Norwich South, who is hoping to become the first Conservative to win the seat since 1987. Labour ’s Clive Lewis has held the seat since 2015 - winning a strong majority of 12,760 in 2019.

To find out what parliamentary constituency you are located within, visit https://members. parliament.uk/constituencies

Faced with even tighter polling predictions than in 2017, Mr Rose will be running against Alice MacDonald (Labour) and current city councillor Ben Price (Green Party) in the next general election, which is expected in 2024. Following Mr Rose’s nomination, Alice MacDonald posted on ‘ X’ (formally Twitter), “Congratulations to the new Tory candidate. I look forward to a respectful election campaign and continuing to set out the clear alternative that Labour offers for a better future”.

These comments - along with other content - now appear

Image: Unsplash

Report finds student maintenance loans are almost entirely used up by rent Eve Attwood Co-Editor in Chief

Student housing charity Unipol has released a report which found that accommodation costs take up almost all the average maintenance loan received by university students in England. Collaborating with the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), Unipol also found that students are illegally doubling up in rooms and working.

With the average annual rent for students in England being £7, 566, whilst the average maintenance loan received by students is expected to be £7, 590 for the academic year, this leaves only £24 a year to cover other essentials. In addition, the average student rent has gone up by 14.6% in the last two years, whilst maintenance loans have risen by 5.2%, so students are paying more but receiving no additional financial support.

The Department for Education

has responded to the issue by encouraging concerned students to ask for help. In conversation with the BBC, the department stated: “Our student finance system ensures that the highest levels of support are targeted at students from the lowest-income families. If students are worried about their circumstances, we urge them to speak to their university.”

Others however, think the student finance system as a whole needs to be reassessed and rethought urgently. Unipol’s chief executive Martin Blakey commented that “The student maintenance system is broken.

Students and parents need urgent and practical solutions to delivering affordable accommodation.”

In an effort to support students, Hepi and Unipol are calling for the student finance system to be reformed. Their wish is to rebrand the maintenance loan as a “contribution to living costs” and to emphasise the importance of parental

contributions.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has also argued for maintenance loans to be brought into line with inflation, particularly as a recent survey found most full-time students are working part-time while studying. The survey, done

by Hepi, found that 55% of students are now doing paid work, compared with a total of 45% of them 12 months ago. 76% of the 10, 000 students surveyed also said the cost of living has had a negative impact on their studies.

In another similar survey by Save the Student last September, it was found that students’ living costs had increased by 14% in 12 months.

Chloe Field, NUS UK’s vicepresident for higher education, commented: “Poorer students are forced, in effect, to attend university part-time. They must juggle their studies with paid work in order to simply eat and put a roof over their heads.”

She added that “accommodation costs are pricing students out of certain universities, which will have disastrous consequences for students from poorer backgrounds being able to access education.”

As of November 2023, the average on-campus En Suite room at UEA is £180.60 per week, coming to £7, 224 for the academic year. The rise in student accommodation costs come as rental prices more generally increase across the country, with the cost of renting a home rising by 12% in the year to August 2023. Hamptons estate agency also found that the typical monthly rent of a newly-let property is now up to £1, 304.

The overwhelming response from student bodies calls upon the government to address the wider problem. A spokesperson for Universities UK said “we need government to help address

this. The 2.8% rise in maintenance support announced for students in England is inadequate and will not cover the real-terms cut to maintenance that students have experienced since inflation began to rise.”

NUS UK’s Chloe Field similarly argued that “Witwh an election approaching, and students increasingly angry at being ignored, the government must take action to ensure an affordable bed for every student.

This means a significant uplift to the maintenance loans, implementing rent controls, and overhauling the student funding system while returning to a grants system.”

For students at UEA needing to access financial support, go to https://www.uea.ac.uk/ study/fees-and-funding or for housing support, see the UEA SU’s information on living and searching for properties within Norwich: https://uea.su/advicehousing/housingsupport/.

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Features

14th November 2023

Concrete (Mark I)’s 50th A n n iversar y!

Matthew Stothard Co-Editor in Chief Concrete may have been in print for over 30 years now, but it is actually the second student newspaper with that name at UEA! This month marks the 50th anniversary of the first iteration of Concrete, which was first published on 8th November 1973.

Image: 1970s Issue 30: Autumn 1974, Image: UEA Archives

Image: UEA SU archive

The first UEA student newspaper was Mandate which launched in 1965, just two years after UEA opened. This was followed by Chips in 1966, which coexisted with Twice from 1970, and it was the merger of these two papers in 1973 which created Concrete. To celebrate this anniversary, Concrete’s 1974 – 75 Editor, Andy GambleBeresford, told me what it was like producing UEA’s student newspaper in the ‘70s.

He explained that issues were “churned out every Thursday during term time by a small but dedicated group which varied in number between 10-20 people. The editorial/reporting team and the production team were one and the same group, so multi-tasking was very much the order of the day.” In terms of his own role as Editor, Andy said, “this was pretty much a title in name only. All editorial decisions were made jointly by the team who worked on the paper,” with his main role being taking the flak for any complaints that came in!

In terms of their sources, Andy said that “Apart from obvious channels (UEASU, the University itself), we relied an awful lot on the student body in general to provide us with news stories and leads, and as a result the paper tended to have much more of a ‘local newsletter’ feel to it rather than an independent media channel.”

Image: PixaBay

Andy also gave me an overview of a typical Wednesday for the 1970s Concrete team, which shows a far more condensed schedule than the three week

cycle we work on today, and that, unlike today’s Concrete, the students were also responsible for the printing process: “1 2 : 0 0 – Ed i to ri al m e eting (inevitably in the Pub) to agree the rough format & content of the week’s issue.

“14:00 – Whoever was available would turn up at the Concrete office just above the LCR and would be pressed into either typing up the news articles on the two archaic IBM Golfball typewriters in the office or creating the week’s ads for the paper using Letraset transfer print. “ 17 : 0 0 – of articles

Proofreading and ads.

“17:30 – Typed up articles and freshly created ads were cut into columns and laid out on large A0 pasteboards. Once we were satisfied with the layout, the col-

“Multi-tasking was very much the order of the day.”

umns and ads were affixed to the boards using Cow Gum (I can still smell the awful stuff even now…).

1900 – The process of turning the pasteboards into offset litho plates began. This required someone to stand in a darkened room working over the photolitho machine, which invariably turned the room into something like a sauna after the first few plates had been created. As it took around 10 minutes to create a litho plate for a single page, this was the least popular task of the whole process.

“21:00 – Once all the litho plates were assembled, we moved to the actual printing process.

In the room next door to the Concrete office sat a temperamental offset litho printer of indeterminate age, known to all and sundry as Doris. One plate at a time, we usually ran off around 300 copies of each page.

“2300 – Once the print run of all pages was complete, the great collation process began. Piles of the individual printed pages were set up in order along the length of one or two long tables (sometimes three if it was a big issue), and we would queue up and trudge along the line of pages, picking one at a time, so by the time you got to the end of the line, you had a complete edition in your hand. This was transferred to one of two poor souls whose job it was to staple the copies together. The process was repeated – and repeated – and repeated, until the week’s run of 300 newly minted copies were ready.

“01:00 – We usually cadged one of the UEASU Transit vans plus whoever from the Exec was around and was a designated driver and hauled off to Mac’s 24 hr Café out on the Yarmouth Road for coffee and bacon sarnies.

0630 the following morning – One lucky soul each week was nominated to get back into the Concrete office, pick up the 300 copies and haul them over to Addenbrookes the (then) newsagent on the Street, so that we hit the streets as soon as the student population started to stir.

As a result of this, the final product – even back then – looked very much like something that had been put together in a garden shed: and to be fair, that wasn’t far from the truth. However, we always sold out our print run, and it was always a source of pride to see people sitting around in the LCR or the Pub perusing and discussing that week’s issue.”

The original run of Concrete lasted until 1975, when it was superseded by Phoenix, which lasted until 1987. Other 80s publications included Breezeblock between 1982 and 1986, and Broadly Speaking in 1986, whilst Insight (later Insite) was the final publication before the launch of the current Concrete in 1992.

The choice of the same name as the 1970s paper was a coincidence, but I like to think we both sit as part of a wider legacy of student journalism at UEA.

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14th November 2023

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

Sipping and Socialising: Navigating Drinking Culture Natalie Linaksita

Features Writer

Image: PixaBay

On the average Thursday, half the houses on the way to Norwich City Centre are holding pre-drinks, with their colourful LED lights turned on— and there is the average university student, holding a bottle of rum in one hand, a mixer in the other. They are knocking at one of the doors, ready to get wasted before getting on the bus (or crazily, walking) to Prince of Wales Road. Though many articles have popped up over the period of 2018 until now reporting that youths from 16 to 24 don’t seem to drink as much as the older generations, it is difficult to believe when you see the throngs of people making a beeline for the LCR on Saturday nights. It can feel difficult to believe that, reported by Barbara Ellen in The Guardian in 2022, there’s been a decline in drinking since COVID, and 26% of the 16-24 age group is teetotal. In the first month of this semester alone, there have been house parties, A-List invites and even random drunk adventures on a Tuesday evening that I have attended. In most of these parties, I’ve met freshers straight out from a week-long bender from Fresher’s

Week, and still feeling very eager to down their glass of vodka and coke.

There are at least dozens of societies and sports clubs here at the UEA, and though there are plenty of sober events, there is just not enough demand for them. Outside of religious, health or wellbeing reasons, I have rarely met a university student who is not down to drink way above the recommended drinking limit.

When I was a fresher, I often found myself being dragged to club nights by my flat mates. A way to meet new friends, generate wild university stories, have the time of your life and possibly forgetting it the next day. This took a toll on my finances and health.

I talked to some of my friends about feeling incredible fatigue, and how I was leaning dangerously close to very small double digits in my bank account.

There were some who said they felt the same, and that they stopped drinking for similar reasons. However, it can still feel very difficult to say no when it seems to be the only way to

Dr Bike in crisis Innes Henry Features Writer

In an email sent out Friday 3rd of this month, Norwich Bicycle Repairs Cooperative – better known as Dr Bike – expressed their growing concerns for their future as a service on campus.

Originally started in the 1980s by a group of students in the square, Dr Bike quickly became an interactive social and community movement where students could get adviceandhelpfixinguptheirbikes.Asanonfunded community, it ran successfully well into the new millennium, where the cabin which they now operate out of was donated.

In 2014 it became a social enterprise – Norwich Bicycle Repair Cooperative – to be funded by UEA. Recognised as an important assettostudents,UEAstaffandlocalEarlham residents, NBRC received four thousand pounds a year in funding to cover some of its services, including free healthcare check-ups and free to use equipment for self-servicing.

Head down to the cabin today and you’ll be met by Mark and Charlie; a father and son dynamic both busily at work serving customers and fixing bikes whilst offering well informed advice. Since September 2022, the future of their service has been ‘under threat by the UEA’, with increasingly poor communication from UEA, and job insecurity.

It began when UEA stated their intentions to put the bike repair service to tender in the renewal of their contract, a process which gives the opportunity to other local providers

maintain friendships. It’s difficult to say no when your friend buys you a shot in the LCR, even when you loudly proclaimed you wouldn’t be drinking tonight. It’s hard to stay sober at the SU Bar, or even in your own flat’s kitchen.

In many ways, the fear of missing out often outweighs the impending consequences of the night out.

Sober alternatives exist. After all, Equality & Diversity officers for societies and clubs are there to ensure that events remain as inclusive as possible. Things like movie or games nights and weekly sports meets are a few examples.

These sober events end up being lots of fun and prove to be a more meaningful way to form a connection.

So the next time you wake up with tequila still swirling around your stomach; or maybe you’re the one holding your flat mate’s hair back and you’re thinking, ‘God, this is awful. Is there no other way?’, perhaps consider these alternatives. You might find yourself enjoying the change of pace.

Photo: Innes Henry

to provide this service. This means another provider would be able to trade from campus offering this service, replacing Dr Bike.

Whilst this may seem like a worthwhile sacrifice for a more ‘professional’ business, Mark warns that it may be the end of this service on campus. He said that he’s “seen this happen at Loughborough [university], a new business buys up the place and stays for 6 months.”

The high prices of these businesses drive students away and ultimately it doesn’t end up meeting profit requirements, so it shuts down.

A UEA respondent said “UEA is committed to offering a bike repair service from campus.

There will be a pause in the service for a short period in summer 2024 but a bike repair service will continue, for the benefit of both students and staff. The purpose of the procurement exercise is to implement an agreement whichholds the successful supplier to delivering a consistent and continuous service.”

Part of the central ethos at Dr Bike is its

“I get to meet so many great people from all across the world.”

close social ties with students and marginalised groups. Mark says that part of why he works there is that he “[gets] to meet so many great people from all across the world”, including refugee groups and NHS workers. Over COVID 19, he kept the cabin open and operational to offer over one hundred NHS staff with free bicycle repairs; even shelling out from his personal savings.

With the future of Dr Bike on the line, it’s not only Mark and Charlie who will feel the impact of the ensuing formal tender process. Ask any bike riding student on campus if they have relied on Dr Bike in their time at UEA and the answer will most certainly be yes. Dr Bike is

a greatly valued service, both within and outside the UEA campus. To see it go would be a great detriment to students and staff.

curement policies, as aligned with the public contract regulations 2015, state that it must undergo a full tender process.

Tenders for such services ensure How can you help? Having reached out to all value for public money and that the clubs and societies, Dr Bike are now relying University is meeting the required on the collective action of the student union due diligence with external suppliers. to elicit change. So, if you want to see change, As part of the tender process, the don’t hesitate to get involved with SU camUEA will hold a workshop for all applipaignsorevenusetheservicedownatDrBike. cants to ensure equal opportunity is offered to all potential service providers.

A UEA spokesperson said: ”In 2023, UEA has continued to subsidise services UEA informed NBRC that it would offered to students and is committed to be re-tendering for the provision of offering a bike repair service from camthe bike repair service on campus. pus. The tender process will ensure that a Due to the value of the service, UEAs’ probike repair service continues on campus.”

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Home of the Wonderful

14th November 2023

Movember at UEA- What’s ‘Give a Ruck’?

Linda Vu

Home of the Wonderful Senior Writer

If you’ve been scrolling on y o u r I n s t a g ra m , S n a p c h a t , o r Fa c e b o o k , y o u m i g h t h av e heard of Movember at UEA. Yo u m i g h t e v e n b e a s k i n g yourself what Movember is.

M o v e m b e r w a s fo u n d e d i n 2003 and is a charity that is working to destigmatise m e n’s m e n t a l h e a l t h a n d working to ra i s e fu n d s towards mental health and suicide prevention, prostate c a n c e r, and testicular c a n c e r. I n r e c e n t y e a r s , with the continuation of destigmatising mental health, universities across the nation c e l e b ra t e M o v e m b e r a n d e n c o u ra g e p e o p l e t o b e p r o a c t i v e. To l e a r n m o r e a b o u t m e n’s mental health at the u n i v e r s i t y, I s p o ke t o fe l l o w R u g b y p l ay e r, Fr e d F o l e y.

“Do you mind giving me more

o f a n i n d e p t h a b o u t m e n’s mental health on campus?”

“ I t h i n k m e n’s m e n ta l h ea l t h i s i n a m a s s i v e l y t ra n s i t i o n a l p h a s e. A s a s o c i e t y, w e almost unanimously seem t o a g re e t h a t p e o p l e, i n pa r t i c u l a r m e n , n e e d t o d ra s t i ca l l y c h a n ge our a p p roa c h t o m e n ta l h ea l t h .

Despite this universal a c c e p ta n c e to these va l u e s , m e n’s s u i c i d e ra t e s c o n t i n u e t o s oa r a n d w h i l s t I u n d e r s ta n d t h a t t h e c h a n ge i n s o c i e ta l s u b c o n s c i o u s w i l l ta ke s o m e t i m e t o e f fe c t i v e l y k i c k i n a n d c h a n ge t h e s e s ta t i s t i ca l t re n d s , w e d o n’ t h av e t h e p r i v i l e ge o f t h a t t i m e t o wa i t . A c k n o w l e d g i n g to yourself that you need h e l p re q u i re s y o u t o b e g i n t o u n d e r s ta n d t h a t t h e re’s s o m e t h i n g w ro n g t o b e g i n with. Empowering people to b e m o re o p e n a b o u t t h e i r m e n ta l h ea l t h c h a l l e n ge s similarly allows people t o c o m e fo r wa rd i f t h e i r p e r s o n a l p ro b l e m s w i l l b e

ea s i e r t o d ea l w i t h , t h ro u g h t h e h e l p o f t h e p e o p l e a ro u n d t h e m . T h e a fo re m e n t i o n e d i d e o l o g i ca l a c c e p ta n c e o f t h e i m p o r ta n c e o f m e n’s m e n ta l h ea l t h i s fo u n d , n o n e s t ro n ge r, i n m a l e d o m i n a t e d sports. All of these men, o f t e n t ra d i t i o n a l l y m a s c u l i n e a n d a rc h e t y p i ca l l y ‘s t ro n g ’ h av e t h e i r o w n c h a l l e n ge s a n d s e e m i n g l y re f re s h e d a t t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f a n a t t i tu d e c h a n ge t o wa rd s m e n’s m e n ta l h ea l t h . Fro m m y p e r s o n a l ex p e r i e n c e, w h i c h I a c k n o w l e d ge m ay n o t b e re p re s e n ta t i v e o f e v e r y o n e e l s e’s , I ’m exc i t e d t o s ay t h a t t h e s e va l u e s w i t h i n m a l e d o m i n a t e d s pa c e s a t U E A h av e b e e n o v e r w h e l m i n g l y re p re s e n t e d , c o m pa re d t o m o s t l y o f f ca m p u s s pa c e s .

I ’v e fo u n d va r i o u s s o c i a l c i rc l e s t o b e o v e r w h e l m i n g l y pa s s i o n a t e in their re p re s e n ta t i o n o f ge n u i n e a d v o ca c y fo r g rea t e r m e n ta l h ea l t h a wa re n e s s . ” S p o r t s c l u b s a t U E A h av e c o l l a b o ra t e d w i t h M o v e m b e r t h e m s e l v e s t o ra i s e m o n e y t o wa r d s t h e s e c a u s e s , ra i s i n g £ 1 0 ,1 47 o u t o f £ 2 0 , 0 0 0 t h u s fa r. I n p r e v i o u s y e a r s , s p o r t s c l u b s h av e d o n e t h e s a m e.

I n a d d i t i o n t o c o l l a b o ra t i o n with M o v e m b e r, Give a Ruck is a newly founded charity here at UEA that w o r k s t o ra i s e a wa r e n e s s o f mental health, specifically in the Rugby sport.

I also s p o ke regarding Give

to a

Fred Ruck,

who is a committee member of the c h a r i t y.

“Do you mind telling me about Give a Ruck, specifically what their goals are?”

“Whilst Give a Ruck is not a m e n’s h ea l t h o n l y c h a r i t y, i t s m o t i v e i s t o c h a l l e n ge t h e s t i g m a o f m e n ta l h ea l t h , i n a t y p i ca l l y m a c h o - m a s c u l i n e sport, aligning with the principles of M o v e m b e r.

We w o r k t o m a ke m o re p ro g re s s i v e v o i c e s o n m e n ta l h ea l t h b e h ea rd i n a n a t t e m p t t o d i s p o s e o f t h e a rc h a i c a n d self-destructive perspectives a b o u t v u l n e ra b i l i t y. G i v e a R u c k i s i n s p i re d b y r u g b y p l ay e r s w h o h a d t h e s t re n g t h a n d c o u ra ge t o s p ea k o u t .

H o p e fu l l y, w e ca n a l l l ea r n f ro m t h a t , a n d o n a n i n d i v i d u a l l e v e l , c o l l e c t i v e l y c u l t i va t e an e n v i ro n m e n t w h e re men of all socioeconomic and c u l tu ra l ba c k g ro u n d s ca n fe e l e m p o w e re d in b e i n g b rav e l y v u l n e ra b l e. ” H o w e v e r, i t ’s n o t o n l y t h e U E A R u g b y C l u b t h a t ’s d o i n g i t s b i t f o r M o v e m b e r, w i t h U E A H i s t o r y, G e o g ra p h y, F o o t b a l l , Dance Squad and Netball (to name only a few) getting i n v o l v e d i n t h e m o v e m e n t . To ke e p u p t o d a t e w i t h w h a t ’s g o i n g o n , m a ke s u r e t o f o l l o w u e a _ m o v e m b e r o n I n s t a g ra m .

If students are in need of mental support, you are not a l o n e. T h e u n i v e r s i t y h a s a Wellbeing Te a m where s t u d e n t s c a n b ra n c h o u t f o r

help or support through tough times where you can get onea t- a - t i m e t h e ra p y s e s s i o n s and workshops to help deal with s t r e s s fu l situations.

T h e r e a r e a l s o t h e ra p y d o g s on campus regularly to emotionally support students.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, there are helplines to access.

R e m e m b e r, you are not a l o n e. I f y o u n e e d t o t a l k t o s o m e o n e, p l e a s e r e a c h out to those around you.

Samaritans: (free number

116 to

123 call!)

Tex t

to

85258

A n x i e t y U K : 0 3 4 4 4 7 75 7 74 ( f r o m 9 : 3 0 t o 17 : 3 0 ) a n d a 24 / 7 c h a t b o t s e r v i c e 0 75 37 41 6 9 0 5 CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably): 0800 58 58 58 or a webchat (from 17 : 0 0 - 0 0 : 0 0 ) .

Photo 1: Concrete/ Innes Henry Photo 2: @givearuck

Looking into Trans Experience at UEA Max Wrigley

Home of the Wonderful Writer

With ‘ Tra n s Awa re n e s s We e k’ ta k i n g p l a c e b e t w e e n t h e 1 3 t h - 1 9 t h o f N o v e m b e r, H OT W w r i t e r M a x W r i g l e y re f l e c t s o n b o t h U E A a n d N o r w i c h’s d r i v e t o b e c o m e e n v i ro n m e n t s o f i n c l u s i v i t y.

Coming to university can b e a d a u n t i n g ex p e r i e n c e, especially when you are m o v i n g a way f r o m h o m e fo r t h e f i r s t t i m e. B e i n g t ra n s g e n d e r c a n m a ke t h i n g s h a r d e r, m o r e s o w h e n y o u ’r e j u s t c o m i n g out.

According to their w e b s i t e, ‘ U E A i s a w e l c o m i n g , positive and inclusive university’; which I agree with. Which other university f l i e s t h e l i ke s o f t h e ra i n b o w f l a g d u r i n g J u n e fo r P r i d e m o n t h a n d t h e t ra n s g e n d e r

f l a g fo r Tra n s g e n d e r D ay o f R e m e m b ra n c e [November] and Tra n s g e n d e r D ay of Visibility [March]?

Alongside this, the Student U n i o n h a s g e n d e r n e u t ra l t o i l e t s a n d LG BT O f f i c e r s , i n c l u d i n g o n e f o r t h e t ra n s and non-binary students, with it being up to the Officers to represent those students to help boost their voices. Last year the LG B T- exc l u s i v e c l u b n i g h t , S p e c t r u m , wa s e s t a b l i s h e d by the fo r m e r W e l fa r e Officer and this club night a l l o w s s t u d e n t s t o ex p r e s s themselves, which is brilliant fo r a n y o n e i n t h e t ra n s c o m m u n i t y w h o m ay h av e confidence issues around being judged by their peers.

As someone w h o’s t ra n s g e n d e r, b u t fu r t h e r o n w i t h h i s t ra n s i t i o n , I ’ v e f e l t

at home at UEA, knowing that other universities might not give students the level of support that UEA does. Despite starting here in the pandemic when social events were unable to happen, I’ve seen more and more around campus for the LG BT c o m m u n i t y i n wa ke o f the lifting of restrictions, especially within the Pride S o c i e t y. U n l i ke a n y o t h e r societies, the Pride Society i s f r e e t o j o i n a n d t h e y h av e regular game nights for the LG BT c o m m u n i t y t o c o m e t o g e t h e r, m a ke f r i e n d s a n d offer each other support a s w e l l a s a f r i e n d l y fa c e.

Alongside events on campus, t o wa r d s t h e e n d o f J u n e e v e r y y e a r, N o r w i c h P r i d e t a ke s p l a c e w i t h t h e p a ra d e m a r c h setting off from City Hall and w o r k i n g i t s way a r o u n d t h e city to Chapelfield Gardens,

where the main event is (including an exc l u s i v e 18+ section). Prior to the p a ra d e m a r c h , t h e r e a r e stalls in the Forum by local businesses who support the LG BT c o m m u n i t y, i n c l u d i n g support charities such as Victim Support, Mind and Samaritans. Norwich Pride a l s o h av e a Tra n s A d v i s o r y Group and are actively

SHOUT

Photo : Unsplash

looking for volunteers who identity as being part of the t ra n s c o m m u n i t y.

T h e N o r f o l k LG B T P r o j e c t a l s o h av e s e r v i c e s f o r e v e r y o n e in the LG B T c o m m u n i t y, including one-to-one support, drop-in groups, low-cost counselling, and a chance t o v o l u n t e e r f o r t h e c h a r i t y.

14th November 2023

9

A Spotlight on UEA’s Silent Support Fiona Hill

Home of the Wonderful Editor

What is the identity of the U E A? H o w w o u l d w e d e s c r i b e our community in comparison to the many hundreds of similar institutions all over the UK and the globe? These are difficult questions and ones that are challenging to answer without some level of bias. It seems probable that m o s t w o u l d r e f e r t o t h e l a ke, t o t h e va s t g r e e n e r y h o m i n g s o m e o f t h e f i n e s t ex a m p l e s of Brutalist architecture i n t h e c o u n t r y. O t h e r s t o the warm a t m o s p h e r e, the lack of arrogance and pretentiousness.

Then, of c o u r s e, y o u m ay f i n d o t h e r s

“What is the identity of the UEA?” that would be less than k i n d . . . H o w e v e r, w h a t i s o f t e n undetected when talking a b o u t o u r c o m m u n i t y, w h a t sneaks, buries and hides f r o m o u r v i e w, i s t h a t o f t h e pets and animals we find on campus and how prolifically t h e y c a n a f fe c t o u r m e n t a l health and sense of belonging.

One of the first pets that students and staff associate w i t h t h e U E A i s B o o m e r, a q u a l i f i e d r e s c u e t h e ra p y d o g who began his career at the university in 2019, through his work in developing the relationship between students and the security t e a m . Fr o m t h e n o n wa r d s h e wa s i n v o l v e d i n s t u d e n t m e n t a l health sessions, helping w i t h S t u d e n t S a fe t y D ay a n d U n i v e r s i t y M e n t a l H e a l t h D ay, as well as being a well-known, kindly presence around the S t u d e n t I n fo r m a t i o n Z o n e. I t is not surprising that Boomer was such a hit with students, with research all pointing t o wa r d s b o t h t h e b i o l o g i c a l

and psychological benefits that spending time with a n i m a l s c a n h av e. W i t h t h e av e ra g e h i g h s c h o o l s t u d e n t t o d ay h av i n g t h e s a m e d e g r e e o f a n x i e t y a s t h e av e ra g e psychiatric patient in the 1 9 5 0 s , i t i s s a fe t o s ay t h e a n x i e t y ra t e s o f u n i v e r s i t y students are substantial, with d e p r e s s i o n a n d g e n e ra l i s e d stress also being incredibly p r e va l e n t . H av i n g t h e a b i l i t y to spend time with pets on campus has been shown to lower blood pressure as well as decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

There is also the social aspect of meeting others with a similar passion for pets, as well as the friendly a n d fa m i l i a r a c q u a i n t a n c e with animals being a relief from homesickness.

Although Boomer has retired now from his s u c c e s s fu l c a r e e r, ‘ B o o m e r ’s B u d d i e s’ a r e s t i l l ava i l a b l e t o m e e t regularly in the Student I n fo r m a t i o n Z o n e.

When a s ke d a b o u t r e c e n t a n i m a l based events, Leo SchreyYe a t s , S t u d e n t I n f o r m a t i o n A d v i s e r fo r S I Z , s t a t e d t h a t ,

‘The fe e d ba c k w e’v e re c e i v e d about animals in the SIZ has been very e n c o u ra g i n g ; s tu d e n t s h av e fo u n d t h e m ca l m i n g y e t u p l i f t i n g p re s e n c e s o n ca m p u s , a necessity fo r m a n y a s t h e y a p p roa c h a b u s y p e r i o d i n t h e y ea r.

A n i m a l e v e n t s a re a l way s ex t re m e l y p o p u l a r ; s tu d e n t s a re a l way s ke e n t o m e e t o u r f l u f f y o r s ca l e d v i s i t o r s .

M e e t i n g s o m e o f t h e m o re uncommon household pets, such as s n a ke s , ge c ko s a n d c h i n c h i l l a s , i s a f re s h ex p e r i e n c e fo r m a n y s tu d e n t s .

We’v e re c e n t l y enjoyed t h e c o m pa n y o f t h e l o v e l y t h e ra p y d o g s f ro m Pe t s a s T h e ra p y, a c h a r i t y d e d i ca t e d t o e n h a n c i n g m e n ta l h ea l t h a n d w e l l b e i n g t h ro u g h a n i m a l c o m pa n i o n s h i p.

We h av e a l s o h o s t e d B e r t ’s A m a z i n g C rea tu re s , a m o b i l e p e t t i n g zoo bringing a host of critters t o v i s i t s tu d e n t s a t t h e S I Z .

We’ l l a l s o h av e v i s i t s f ro m s ta f f d o g s , o n t h e 17 t h a n d 27 t h o f N o v e m b e r, a s w e l l a s

o t h e r a n i m a l e v e n t s b o o ke d fo r t h e re s t o f t h e s e m e s t e r ! ’ H o w e v e r, i f i t ’s t h e o u t d o o r s to which you feel more inclined, the UEA Wellbeing Dog Wa l k i n g P r o g ra m m e is your first point of call for spending time with our f o u r- l e g g e d friends, while ex p l o r i n g our b e a u t i fu l c a m p u s . T h e i n i t i a t i v e, a p a r t n e r s h i p b e t w e e n t h e ‘ To m a n d To t o’ p e t c a r e a n d t h e u n i v e r s i t y, t a ke s p l a c e e v e r y W e d n e s d ay 1 4 : 0 0 - 1 5 : 0 0 , w i t h 10-12 dogs being brought onto c a m p u s t o b e wa l ke d , c u d d l e d and petted. In reference to t h i s , S a ra h W r i g h t , f o u n d e r o f ‘ To m a n d To t o’ s t a t e d t h a t ,

‘ We h av e a b s o l u t e l y l o v e d b e i n g a pa r t o f t h e w e l l - b e i n g p ro g ra m m e w i t h t h e d o g s a t U E A . I t ’s o u r fo u r t h y ea r coming along and we meet n e w s tu d e n t s e v e r y w e e k .

M a n y a re m i s s i n g t h e i r d o g s f ro m h o m e. M a n y a re u n a b l e t o h av e a d o g a t u n i v e r s i t y or struggle to connect with n e w f r i e n d s a n d go i n g fo r a d o g wa l k i s g rea t fo r t h a t .

The dogs love it too! They ge t a l o v e l y h o u r o f fu s s a n d c u d d l e s . S o d o t h e i r pa re n t s .

T h e y a re v e r y p ro u d o f t h e go o d w o r k t h e i r d o g s d o. ’ Would an article about UEA pets be complete without some reference to Sylvester?

A n i n s t a n t fav o u r i t e a m o n g s t students, the feline shot to fa m e a r o u n d a y e a r a g o, w i t h t h e Fa c e b o o k p a g e ‘ S y l v e s t e r t h e U E A’s r e g u l a r c a t v i s i t o r ’ being updated multiple times daily with pictures of his whereabouts on campus. But what is it that so captures the i m a g i n a t i o n a b o u t S y l v e s t e r, that has made him perhaps the single most loved person a t t h e U E A? M a n y b e l i e v e i t has something to do with the community he garners, the f e e l i n g o f i n c l u s i v i t y, o f b e i n g part of the greater network that comes with spotting him. He has quickly become the hallmark of conversation starters, of creating friendships with otherwise c o m p l e t e s t ra n g e r s . T h i s m ay s o u n d l i ke l o f t y t a l k f o r t h e l o c a l c a t , b u t t h e o v e ra r c h i n g

feeling of warmth he has p a ra d e d a r o u n d t h e u n i v e r s i t y h a s b e e n p i c ke d u p u p o n l o c a l l y. T h e ex t e n t o f w h i c h his own line of merchandise wa s r e l e a s e d l a s t M ay, w i t h 10% of proceedings going t o t h e N o r f o l k a n d Wav e n e y b ra n c h o f t h e m e n t a l h e a l t h c h a r i t y ‘ M i n d ’. U n f o r t u n a t e l y, I wa s u n a b l e t o g e t a n audience with the cat himself; I can only imagine that the hectic nature of his schedule and his desire to maintain

“Having the ability to

spend time with pets on

campus has been shown to lower blood pressure and decrease cortisol”

his mysterious persona has prohibited him.

H o w e v e r, if you are lucky enough to bump into Sylvester on campus just remember not t o f e e d h i m o r p i c k h i m u p, but instead to give him a s t r o ke a n d t a ke h i s p h o t o !

Tu r n i n g a w ay from domesticated animals and looking towards the wildlife o f t h e U E A , w e c o m e fa c e t o fa c e w i t h a n a b u n d a n c e of creatures, yet nothing so iconic to the university a s t h e g r e y ra b b i t . T h e r e is something about the U E A ra b b i t s t h a t f e e l s a s i f t h e y h av e r o a m e d t h e h i l l s , s l o p e s a n d g ra s s l a n d s o f the grounds since the dark a g e s , t h a t t h e y h av e w a t c h e d everything come and go in t h e i r w a ke. T h e t r u t h i s t h e i r

a n c e s t o r s h av e b e e n o n t h e g r o u n d s f o r c e n t u r i e s , t ra c i n g back through when our site was a golf course and to the g r o u n d s o f t h e G u r n e y fa m i l y at Earlham Hall. Although t h e y m ay n o t m a ke s u c h a direct impact on student life a s B o o m e r, S y l v e s t e r a n d o u r f r i e n d s f r o m ‘ To m a n d To t o’, who would argue that they d o n’ t m a ke u s s m i l e ? At t h i s s t a g e i n t h e y e a r, i t ’s h a r d to imagine a spring morning, when the light feels brighter than just about anything seen in months and the dew s e t t l e s d o w n o v e r t h e g ra s s t o t h e l a ke, s c a t t e r e d w i t h b u n n i e s e v e r y w h e r e. I t ’s a distant thought, but one that t a ke s u s t h r o u g h t h e s e t o u g h winter months and finds its w ay b a c k t o t h e q u e s t i o n o f U E A i d e n t i t y. W e l i v e i n a period where the world is c h a n g i n g va s t l y e v e r y d ay ; t h e university itself has evolved substantially over the last few years and stability seems somewhat unreachable for o u r c o m m u n i t y. Pe r h a p s t h i s i s w h y w e t u r n t o o u r n a t u ra l surroundings, the bonds we m a ke w i t h a n i m a l s b e i n g that wholesome connection that we can firmly depend upon throughout our time h e r e a s s t u d e n t s . T h e r e f o r e, I think I speak for everyone when I thank both them and their owners wholeheartedly!

Photo 1- A Grey Rabbit: Unsplash

Photo 2- Boomer outside the SIZ: @ Boomer.uea

Photo 3 and 5- ‘Tom and Toto’

Wellbeing Walks: Sarah Wright

Photo 4 and 6- Sylvester and his

Merchandise: @sylvester_the_uea_ cat

Home of the Wonderful

10

14th November 2023

New policy on use of AI for UEA learning Eve Attwood

Co-Editor-In-Chief

A Generative AI Policy for Teaching and Learning at UEA has been developed by Professor Kay Yeoman (APVC-LRW), Dr Eloise Ellis & Prof Fabio Arico.

A UEA spokesperson said that “the purpose of this policy is to provide [students] with clarity around appropriate use of Generative AI tools to effectively support you in your studies; acknowledging that usage will differ according to discipline area.”

“The policy clearly indicates where Generative AI tools can and cannot be used to support [students] in [their] studies.”

This policy will be regularly reviewed and updated “to ensure it remains current and in line with best practice”. As stated within

the policy, the UEA Generative AI working group will also continue to meet and surface any emerging technologies, opportunities and challenges.

The policy clearly states the correct and incorrect student practice when using AI. Both are separated by ‘green light’ and ‘red light’ approaches, with ‘green light’ highlighting the methods which generative AI tools can best be used by students, whilst ‘red light’ highlights the incorrect and potentially harmful methods by which AI tools can be used.

Examples of ‘green light’ approaches which can be used by students include: Generative

AI

as

mentor

Whereby generative AI can be used to ‘gain ongoing feedback on tasks and assignments’. The policy suggests that students should ‘reflect on AI feedback and other outputs against their own knowledge and understanding and report on the guidance which has been provided and how they may or may not include it in their work.’ The feedback which can be accessed through AI tools should ‘not substitute for engagement with formative tasks, and guidance from teaching staff’.

Generative

AI

as

tutor

AI tools can also be used to provide explanations on areas students have less understanding of. For instance, if writing an essay in which you need to know the biography of a particular historical figure, you may use AI tools to search for information about the person’s date of birth, country of origin and the work they’ve achieved, similar to how you might on Wikipedia.

The policy also details how Generative AI can be used as a team member and researcher, but that students should always ‘be critical and evaluate the output before it is used’.

about themselves or others.

This is because the software will store data and information and potentially use it for other content.

Similarly, the policy outlines a code for staff practice when using AI tools. It lists a number of ‘green light’ approaches which can be used by staff, such as for teaching design, content creation, assessment, and mentoring.

However, it warns against using AI tools for generating personalised student feedback on formative and summatives, as well as for writing letters to students or staff which use personal data and information.

The policy recommends the Library

and Learning Enhancement Team’s (LET) Practical training guide on what AI tools are and how to use them to support you in your studies. This is a comprehensive guide which students and staff can refer to make sure they are using AI in the right context within their learning. Students and staff can access the guide here: https://sites.google. c o m / v i e w/ f i r s t a s s i g n m e n t / finding-and-using-information/ types-of-information/ ai-tools?authuser=0 Photo 1 : Unsplash

Photo 2: Concrete/Innes Henry

In terms of ‘red light’ activities that students should not use Generative AI for, examples include: Students should not copy and paste computer generated text directly and their assessment submitted work should always be their own writing.

Students should not use content or ideas from Generative AI without appropriate citation.

Students should be aware of privacy and GDPR and not input personal and private information

Concrete Archive: 08/11/1973 Matthew Stothard Co-Editor-In-Chief

For this issue we’re going to be looking back to the first issue of the 1970s Concrete, which turned 50 on 8th November!

The top segment of the front page outlined the new paper ’s mission statement, stating that “ This is the students’ newspaper. Our pages are open to all who wish to contribute.

Our editorial policy will not be to block freedom of expression… Our main job is to report the news, and the reporting of opinions not necessarily of our own.”

Ironically, this is followed up by some light-hearted political infighting between the editorial team (who seem to have had a flat structure rather than being led by one editor).

The other story on the frontpage seems to be a joke pretending that Princess Anne would be taking a break from

her royal duties to support the upcoming NUS Day of Action campaigning for the raising of student grants, when in reality she was doing so to marry Mark Phillips. It is a strange first front-page story which took me a little while to decipher!

Inside the writers turn to actual news, with the focus being on union and university activities, such as the report that one accommodation’s residents’ court would be convened to deal with “a girl who frequently screams in the early hours of the morning,” and someone “who was caught discharging a fire extinguisher.”

Elsewhere, a bar in the Village (then containing academic facilities) was to be closed at lunchtime due to low takings, Open Days were to be reduced to once every two years (a stark contrast to the four-ayear we have now!) and the University Senate had passed regulations on excessive noise in the Square during

the day. There was also a reviews page, including an excellently written review of the Cinderella ballet at the Theatre Royal by Peter Harris.

As today in Venue, there was also a What’s On page.

Events that week included an Env Soc open lecture on climate change, a disco in the LCR with a 10p entry fee, meetings of the Taekwondo Club and Poetry Soc, and lunchtime programmes in Union House from the student TV station, NEXUS. As today, the paper concluded with a Sport section, providing the latest news and results from UEA’s teams. Overall Concrete may be very different now, but some things never change!

(With thanks to the UEA Archives for providing access to the issue.)

1970s Issue 1: 8th November 1973. Image: UEA Archives

Global

14th November 2023

11

Deciphering the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Syed M Hamza Global Editor

On the 7th of October 2023, Israel faced one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in its history. The inhumane attack was carried out by militant group Hamas, which operates from Gaza. The BBC confirmed that the attack killed more than 1,400 Israelis, and saw 230 people taken hostage. The attack was strongly condemned by many world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who described it an “act of sheer evil”. Soon after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a public statement, stating that Israel is now “at war”. In response to Hamas’ attack, the Israeli military has been conducting air strikes over Gaza.

According to the Guardian, it has been reported that the Israeli air strikes have killed 9,770 Palestinians, including 4,800 children. The United Nations have stated that residential buildings and health care facilities have also been targeted by the Israeli military, which has led to the displacement of more than 1 million people living in Gaza.

The European Parliament, whilst condemning “Hamas’ despicable terrorist attacks”, called for a “humanitarian pause” and urged the international community to increase its humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in the region. Due to the complexities of the current situation, it would be wise to look back at the history of the Israeli – Palestinian conflict to separate fact from fiction.

The region of Israel and Palestine, once ruled by the Ottoman empire for many decades, was placed under the UK’s administration by the League of Nations after the 1st World War; through the “British Mandate for Palestine” in 1922.

Kali Robinson, from the Council on Foreign Relations, suggests that the 1896 publication of Theodor Herzl’s “ The Jewish state” (which promoted the idea of a homeland for the Jews to escape antiSemitism in Europe) and the Holocaust of the 2nd World War, were the two reasons behind the migration of an increasing number of Jews to the former Ottoman Palestine.

Palestinian resistance to Jewish immigration led to a rebellion in 1937, resulting in violence from both sides.

According to the UN, after the 2nd World War, Great Britain brought the case before the United Nations in 1947.

In November 1947, The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 181, which is commonly referred to as the Partition Resolution, to partition Palestine into 2 states - one for Jews and one for Arabs. It is pertinent to note that UN resolution 181 also stated, “The City of Jerusalem shall be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations”. This step may have been taken to reduce violence and schism, considering the significance of Jerusalem with all three Abrahamic religions.

However, the partition plan was rejected by the Palestinians. Al Jazeera reported that the Palestinians rejected the partition plan because it allotted 55 % of Palestine to the Jewish state, including a majority of fertile coastal region, and at the time, Palestinians owned 94 % of historic Palestine.

In 1948, Israel declared its independence, and soon after its declaration the first Arab – Israeli war began, which resulted in “Nakba” meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic. According to the UN, “Nakba” is used as a reference to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which resulted in the permanent displacement of more than half of the Palestinian population.

Currently the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), estimates more than 5 million Palestinian refugees are still scattered across the Middle East.

In 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) was formed and was later recognised by the United Nations as the representative of the Palestinian people in 1974, and later by the Arab League in 1988. Tension and division kept growing in the region, eventually leading to the second Arab – Israeli war in 1967. The war ended with Israel taking control of Golan Heights from Syria, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan. “Camp David Accords” brokered by the United States

in 1978, assisted Egypt in regaining control of the Sinai Peninsula. In the aftermath of the second Arab – Israeli war, Israel began constructing settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, which have been deemed as illegal by the International Community.

According to Amnesty International, there are more than 600,000 Israeli settlers residing on occupied Palestinian territory, and more than 100,000 hectares of land has been appropriated from Palestinians

by Israel. The United Nations resolution 2334, states that “the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law”. Continued instability led to the first Palestinian “Intifada” – an Arabic word meaning “uprising” - in 1987 which continued until 1993. During the first Intifada, according to the Israeli human rights organisation B’ Tselem, 1,070 Palestinians were killed, whereas 47 Israelis lost their lives. Vox claims that Palestinian casualties outplaced the Israeli ones during the first Intifada, due to heavy force being used by the Israeli military in response to the Palestinian protests and attacks. It was during the first Intifada that Hamas – the militant group responsible for the October 7th terror attack – was formed.

The first Intifada ended with the start of the Oslo Accords.

These were a set of agreements between Israeli and Palestinian authorities, organised by the United States. Unfortunately, the Oslo Accords did not prove to be successful as the second Intifada started in 2000 and did not end until 2005. According to Israeli human rights organisation B’ Tselem, the second Intifada led to a loss of approximately 1,000 Israeli and 3,200 Palestinian lives. After the second Intifada, Palestinian parliamentary elections were conducted and in 2006 Hamas, despite being declared a “Terrorist Organisation” by many countries including the United States, participated in elections. The Guardian confirmed that Hamas won a political victory during the 2006 Palestinian elections, by securing 76 votes in the 132-seat chamber. To curb Hamas’s deterrence, the

Picture Credits: Unsplash

Israeli government increased restrictions in Gaza. According to Al Jazeera, Israel placed a land, air and naval blockade on the Gaza strip in 2007. Since then, Gaza has been described as an “Open-Air Prison” for more than two million Palestinians, by organisations such as the Human Rights Watch.

The international organisation, Oxfam, claims that the blockade has “left most people largely cut off from the outside world”. According to Vox, these restrictions have made it “nearly impossible for Palestinians to leave Gaza or to access an adequate supply of essential goods”.

Picture Credits: Unsplash

Today, the conflict is far from being resolved. One should condemn Hamas for their inhumane attacks, and the Israeli government for violation of international law through illegal settlements, in addition to their repeated human rights abuses against Palestinians.

However, the objective of discourse should only be the de-escalation of the war and not further division of society.

To report any issues relating to the ongoing conflict or any discrimination experienced at UEA, please use Report and Support at https:// r e p o r ta n d s u p p o r t . u ea . a c . u k /.

INTERVIEW

14th November 2023

12

Norwich Works: Co-Editor-in-Chief new castle exhibition with

Last month saw the opening of the latest exhibition at Norwich Castle, Norwich Works: The Industrial Photography of Walter and Rita Nurnberg . Curated by UEA academics Dr Nick Warr and Dr Simon Dell, it explores the Nurnberg’s photographs of three Norwich factories in the post-war period: Edwards and Holmes’ shoe factory, Boulton and Paul, who’s constructional engineering, joinery and wire netting departments were based at the Riverside, and Mackintosh-Caley’s chocolate factory at Chapelfield. For this issue, I spoke to Dr Warr, an art historian in AMA who works primarily on 20th century art history and curation, as well as being Director of the East Anglian Film Archive (EAFA), about how the exhibition came together and why the material it displays is still so relevant today. *** After Dr Warr had curated a photography exhibition at the castle in 2019, Jenny Caynes, a curator at The Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell, told him about a file of photographs of Norwich shoe workers they held. He agreed to give some advice on their conservation, but then Covid hit. He told me that him and Caynes “lived quite close to each other, so when we were allowed out and about I would pass her in the street where we’d walk the dogs. I’d pass her everyday and we’d have a little conversation about the photographs. She was saying ‘you’ve got to come and see them, we think they’re really special,’ and I’m thinking do I want to see photographs about shoemaking, it doesn’t sound very exciting. So when the museums opened up again in 2020 I was allowed to go and see them. I opened up these quite large albums, and the first one I opened

Image: Stitching shoe linings, 1948 (Norfolk Museums Service)

up was the portraits. [He realized] these don’t look like the photographs you see on Picture Norfolk or the EDP, these look like something from a 1930s Hollywood movie! I started thinking this is not an amateur photographer, this is clearly someone who is a really welltrained expert photographer. Really luckily, the back each photograph has Walter Nurnberg stamped on it, otherwise we wouldn’t know anything.”

Dr Warr spoke to his former Sainsbury Centre colleague Dr Simon Dell about the photos, but despite having over 50 years of experience working on photography between them, nether had heard of Nurnberg. Exploring his archive in Bradford proved similarly unfruitful, as all they found were negatives with no names. There was only a breakthrough when Dr Warr decided to have a look in the Norfolk Record Office (which shares the Archive Centre at County Hall with the EAFA) on his lunch break, and “within boxes that are just labelled miscellaneous factory photographs,” he found hundreds of Nurnberg’s images, including those of the chocolate factory at Chapelfield and the Boulton and Paul steelworks. Despite expecting that there would be many examples of Nurnberg’s photos from factories he travelled to across the country, in reality Dr Warr explained that “the stuff in Norwich survives by chance – the Record Office got all the stuff from the companies when they shut down and the Musuem got them as a gift. I think that’s the reason why he’s fallen out of people’s memories a bit.” Dr Warr and Dr Dell gave a talk on their research, and it was then they were asked to create an exhibition of the photos. *** On the Nurnbergs’ story, Dr Warr explained that Walter was “born in Berlin to quite an affluent family of bankers. He wanted to be a musician but he wasn’t quite good enough so had to follow his dad into banking. One of the first jobs he had was to do the books for the Reimann School of Art and Design in Berlin, which turned out to be a famous school if you wanted to be an industrial designer. There he met lots of people who had trained at the Bauhaus, a famous German art school,” and he enrolled in the Reimann’s new photography course, which taught him “all those things we think of as modern advertising photography, those slightly surreal or abstract photographs” that you see today in magazine adverts.

When Hitler came to power, the Reimann School was shut down because of its Jewish leadership, so Nurnberg moved to London and took advertising photos

Image: Portrait of a worker, 1948 (Norfolk Museums Service) for lots of big companies, including cosmetics firms, drinks manufacturers and even Vogue. His style was markedly different to what had come before so “he was hot property!” When WWII came, as a German national he was put in an internment camp, and he joined the British Army in order to gain citizenship. It was in this period he met his wife Rita, who came from a German family but was born in England. “Her father ran the company that made the photographs to go in the magazines so Walter would have known them.”

“After the war he decided he didn’t want to go back into advertising, he wanted to do something more meaningful.

So he set about trying to think about new things to photograph… If you think about Britain after the war it was rebuilding, and he wanted to find a way to capture that and to show it from the workers’ point of view, whilst inventing a new way of photographing

it. From ‘47/’48 he started shopping for commissions, every time someone was building a new factory [typically in municipal centres like Norwich rather than central London] he would turn up and ask, ‘would you like some photographs of your new factory to commemorate it opening?’” All the photographs in the exhibition come from when the factories reopened, or resumed regular production post-war, so “he captures moments of renewal and going back to a bright new future.” He worked as a husband-andwife team with Rita, as “he would take the photographs and Rita would do all the printing and processing.” Once he had taken the photographs, he would then set up an exhibition of them, inviting the local factory owners in the hope they would ask for their own set of photos.

On Nurnberg’s style of photography, Dr Warr suggested that “it is really weird, it’s extraordinary, it doesn’t look like anything else… Even though he’s

14th November 2023

13

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

Matthew Stothard discusses curator Dr Nick Warr

Image: Check weighing and closing cartons, 1958 (Norfolk Record Office) photographing in the 1940s and ‘50s, it still looks like it’s from the ‘30s and that silent cinema age.” On the subject matter, he explained that Nurnberg “ended up taking pictures of factories because no one else was. He could see the drama in it, he wrote a lot about how everyday life is worthy of artistic and creative endeavor not just pretty lakes and still lives, so he kind of invented a way of photographing everyday people.” *** When I asked Dr Warr about his standout photographs in the exhibition, he highlighted that “the portraits [of the Edwards and Holmes shoemakers, see left] are really special.” Although photos of Nurnberg’s exhibitions in local newspapers show that the portraits were their centrepieces, “they weren’t usually included when he gave over the big albums to the factory owner [because] he saw them as his own art practice.” This has made them a rare discovery, only included in the Edwards and Holmes set of photographs because they were intended as a gift to the retiring owner of the shoe factory.

More broadly, when asked about the historical significance of the photographs, Dr Warr suggested that “the stories we hear about Norwich’s industries is always them shutting. It’s a case of ‘oh I remember there used to be chocolate factory here,’ people of a certain age are nostalgic about it, and [the conversation is around] all the big industries moving out. The [typical] story of Norwich and industry is one that’s very terminal and [focused on sites] closing down.

What’s really interesting about these photographs is they tell the story of the development of modernist photography from a very European perspective, but they also show Norwich and industry at a moment when it was brand new again.

It feels very present and I think it’s an interesting way to think about heritage and history and how photography makes things more immediate. You see someone making a shoe or a chocolate in the 1940s and… they feel very fresh those photographs. You can identify with them and you feel them as present.” *** The exhibition also contains material from the EAFA (owned and managed by UEA), showing the realities of these factories beyond the Hollywood glamour of the Nurnbergs’ photographs. On the EAFA, Dr Warr pointed out that “the exhibition is a product of just how lucky we are in Norwich having these great resources, with the [Museums Service] having all the stuff about the shoes and the Record Office having [the material on the other factories featured]. The EAFA was the first regional film archive in the country, and was a real pioneer when it was started in the late 1970s by David Cleveland, who used to work at UEA, recognising that a lot of this film is just going to disappear, and that we should really be capturing it because it tells a story of the region unlike anything else. Through him and his contacts he started to build the archive which has been growing ever since and is one of the largest and most established film archives in the region. It has a really astonishing collection going back to the 1890s, so really early cinema. It has a lot of footage from early BBC and ITV Anglia, as well as lots of amateur footage, but it also made films to document these things.”

“The footage of the Boulton and Paul wire factory [included in the exhibition] is quite rare because people didn’t usually film in factories. We have a film at the centre of the exhibition which is a silent drive around the city centre of Norwich in the 1950s, so you can still see all the bomb damage, made by the City Council to show how congested Norwich was by cars. It was before they widened the roads and got rid of historic streets.

It’s a fantastic record of what Norwich looked like when the Nurnbergs were here making the photographs, and it was taken from a police car so there’s lots of hilarious moments of people crossing in front… and policemen shouting at them to get out of the way! Then the last film was made in 1995 by a film artist called Roger Hewins [who also taught media production at UEA]. He photographed the last month of the chocolate factory, and it’s really beautiful because rather than talking about the closing of the factory, the voiceover is people talking about their first day of work, which has a beautiful resonance with everything else because we’re talking about trying to get away from that idea of everything shutting down.”

Image: Setting saw teeth, 1947-8 (Norfolk Record Office) *** Finally, when asked what he hoped a UEA student visiting the exhibition would take away from it, Dr Warr said “what a wonderful institution they’re associated with, and the different type of work that’s going on at UEA. But I think a lot of people at UEA aren’t from Norwich or don’t know a lot about it, and don’t think that the

history of Norwich is for them. Hopefully what the photographs show is because they’re so stylised and artistic, it’s a different way of thinking about history and heritage and making, and actually there’s a lot of interest from students working in Broadcast Journalism or doing things like Media Practice and thinking about going into the creative industries.” They can consider “how photography and creative practice can shape not just what we think about the past but ways that we can think about the city and working around us. It’s an exhibition about creativity and work, and so if you’re looking to work in the creative industries it shows you a way of thinking about things differently.”

Norwich Works: The Industrial Photography of Walter & Rita Nurnberg is running at Norwich Castle until 14th April 2024.

All the photos on these pages were created by Walter and Rita Nurnberg.

Image: Hand dipping marzipan fourrees, 1958 (Norfolk Record Office)

14

14th November 2023

COMMENT

A Negotiated Peace is an Inevitability in Ukraine Zac Steventon Barnes

Comment Writer

Stian Jenssen’s words may have been a mistake, but territorial concessions – whether implicit or explicit – look likely to be the end of the Ukraine war.

A storm in a teacup descended over NATO over our summer break when Stian Jenssen, The Director of the Secretary-General’s Office, suggested Ukraine could give up territory in return for peace and NATO membership.

The suggestion was described as “ridiculous” by Ukrainian officials and “a bogus story” by Russian ones. Nobody seemed happy with the suggestion, and Stian Jenssen walked it back 24 hours later saying it was a mistake to say it that way.

The problem is that it is looking increasingly unlikely for Ukraine to push Russia back to the 2022 borders, let alone the 2014 ones. The much- vaunted spring counter-offensive turned into a summer trudge and now an autumn stalemate.

Ukraine’s economic and demographic situation is equally poor: Russia started the war with a larger economy and population than Ukraine.

“It is looking increasingly unlikely for Ukraine to push Russia back to the 2022 borders - let alone the 2014 ones.”

This is important – leaked Pentagon documents and nameless officials may suggest that Russia is suffering 50% to 100% more casualties but if they have twice to thrice the number of soldiers they can sustain such losses, an idea backed by the leaked documents which suggest that both side’s sustainability is “moderate”.

Ukraine’s recruiting situation is already troubled. “Those keen to fight volunteered long ago; Ukraine is now recruiting mostly among the unwilling,” The Economist explains.

Russians also fear being handed draft papers – the country has long had military conscription – but has so far largely relied on calling up reservists to fight.

The Russian government has

recently declared that they have recruited 335,000 soldiers voluntarily – enough to replace even the highest casualty figures – and therefore does not plan a further mobilisation. Whether this is true or not, only time will tell.

On the economic front, Ukraine has done much worse. The World Bank calculates Ukraine’s GDP dropped by 29.2% at the start of the war and expects it to grow by only 0.5% this year. Russia, by contrast, saw its GDP drop by only 2.1% and estimates for this year range from a contraction of 2.5% to growing by 0.7%.

Expectations of Russian factories grinding to a halt, the power grid failing, and planes dropping out of the sky, have proven optimistic.

Russia’s military production has risen substantially while Western arms shipments to Ukraine have remained sluggish, with allies running out of surplus military equipment.

Artillery shells, for instance, are one of the simplest types of military equipment produced, and yet the US has found the rate at which they have been giving them to Ukraine unsustainable.

If Ukraine is consuming shells faster than NATO can supply them, they are likely losing cruise missiles, drone munitions, tanks, and planes even faster.

The BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent recently reported the words of a Russian military analyst who said that Russia does not have the logistics capacity to effectively wage a major war in Ukraine. This has been known to anyone paying attention to the Russian army for at least 5 years now. The difference is that Russia’s logistics situation is slowly improving.

NATO’s stockpile situation has only been getting worse and – despite pledges from Germany and (more credibly) the US – looks set to continue to do so over the next few years.

“Russia’s military production has risen substantially, while Western arms shipments to Ukraine remain sluggish”

More worryingly for Ukraine, political support for a long war, as comments like Jenssen’s indicate, is running out fast. It has long been in short supply in developing nations, Brazil’s president, for example, has frustrated Western politicians by arguing that the US has prolonged the conflict.

But the situation in Gaza has kicked the loss of support into overdrive. “All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost ...

Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again,” one senior G7 diplomat told the Financial Times.

“Forget about rules. forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again” When Ukraine entered the war the governments of every EU nation were very supportive, along with all of NATO bar Turkey (which prioritised domestic aims), and even traditionally neutral nations. Only Serbia did not get involved and Serbia is in neither the EU nor NATO. But while the recent Slovak elections have not been as bad as some had feared, it has left Robert Fico, who shares Russian talking points on Ukraine, as the Prime Minister in coalition with the Slovak National Party, who share similar opinions, and Hlas who do not seem to have a strong view on the subject.

Meanwhile, in Germany, a politician and pacifist called Sahra Wagenknecht is reportedly planning on launching her own political party, one which could pick up a not insignificant amount of seats in the Bundestag – Germany’s legislature.

Wagenknecht’s pacifism is motivated by a mix of pragmatism and ideology, not Russophilia, but it will still put another roadblock in the way of Germany’s stalling military upgrades and faltering support for the war.

Ukraine does have staunch supporters in Europe, but only Poland and the UK have the power

to back it, and Ukraine recently decided to sue Poland over banning the sale of Ukrainian grain, prompting Poland to announce that they would not send any new weapons to Ukraine. Whether that will continue with the recently elected new government is unclear.

However, the US remains Ukraine’s largest and most powerful backer.

That Republicans (most notably presidential nomination front runners Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis) are at best reticent to support arms shipments to Ukraine is an issue for those who wish to wage a long war, but it is rare for a president to only serve 1 term, especially when long- and short-term economic growth remains strong.

The issue for Democrats is that they are likely to find it much harder to advocate for the war if public opinion turns against it, as it is currently doing.

Meanwhile, net support for the current or a higher level of military support for Ukraine has dropped to +8% (49% right amount or too little, 41% too much) according to one poll. It is the trend that matters in the long run, Democrats will soon find themselves in an environment where support for Ukraine is a vote loser. How many will stick with it is anyone’s guess.

What the national security establishment thinks is harder to gauge: Kremlin political intrigues may well be, in the words of Winston Churchill, “comparable to a bulldog fight under a rug” but Pentagon ones are not that much easier to understand.

The same study points out that pushing Russia back to its positions at the start of the invasion in 2022 – a major reason given for a long war – would not necessarily benefit the United States. The authors write, “the implications for [the US] interest of further Ukrainian territorial control beyond the [current] December 2022 line are not clear-cut.”

This isn’t RAND’s official position, and even if it were their advice, it is not clear the US government would take it. In one famous case at the height of the Cold War the head of US strategic bombing responded to RAND’s advocation of a restrained nuclear strategy by saying, “Restraint? Why are you so concerned with saving their lives?

The whole idea is to kill the bastards.

At the end of the war, if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win!”

He then stormed out of the room after one of the RAND staffers remarked, “Well, you’d better make sure that they’re a man and a woman.” Let’s hope the generals and politicians on both sides of this war are a little more sensible than that

However, I note that RAND (an organisation with significant influence on Pentagon thinking) published a perspective that argued that “the consequences of a long war—ranging from persistent elevated escalation risks to economic damage—far outweigh the possible benefits.”

“The consequences of a long war, ranging from persistent elevated escalation risks to economic damage, far outweigh the possible benefits”

credit: unsplash

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14th November 2023

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

Picking Apart “Improvements” Made to Twitter (X) Under Elon Musk Finley Hetherington -Aherne

Comment Writer

X, otherwise referred to by everyone as Twitter, is undergoing a period of uncertain tumult at the moment. A recent Forbes report depicted a 14% year-onyear decrease in global web traffic in September, as well as a 17.8% decrease in mobile app usage in the US alone, despite flimsy claims made by Elon Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino that usage was at an “all-time high” in July. The platform has in fact received 955 million fewer visits in the last year compared to the previous annum. So, what have the trade offs been? Has Musk achieved anything other than burrowing an already-flailing social media site deeper into the ground since his takeover?

What’s instantly clear is that Musk makes X-related decisions on a fairly spontaneous basis.

Almost all cosmetic changes

made since the takeover to the app have been met with quizzical criticism. Indeed, some of these changes have seemed a bit pointless; titles of linked pages are now hidden, quote tweets now have to be actively sought via two extra clicks, and a post’s viewing figures are now the primary metric shown to those who see it.

screen, so that a large chunk of what appears on one’s feed is not from accounts that user follows.

As toxic as TikTok has been in the moulding of a new, desecratedattention-span friendly social media design landscape, this particular feature for X does mark a step towards the weakening of echo chambers in online discourse.

A designer employed by Twitter admitted that “we know you hate it. We hate it too. We’re working on making it suck less.” The erasure of X’s former identity also appeared to happen fairly erratically and seemingly overnight - it took less than 24 hours from Musk’s announcement of the brand change to its

Responding to someone on the platform who was complaining of seeing more right-wing content, Musk affirmed, “People on the right should see more “left wing” stuff and people on the left should see more “right wing” stuff. But you can just block it if you want to stay in an echo chamber”, though this was not followed up with an official announcement of specific algorithmic change. Nevertheless, anecdotal reports of a number of people seeing more content from the other side of the political spectrum to what they normally consume have been aplenty.

implementation, with a ludicrously oversized strobe “X” sign bolted on to the company’s San Francisco headquarters in the same week.

In terms of algorithmic tweaks, a TikTok-style “For You” page now appears as the default home

For some, this represents the most discernible improvement to the platform. However, it’s an issue that broadly speaking didn’t require fixing. The notion of “echo chambers” in digital spaces has been shown in multiple recent studies to be serially overblown. Though an attractive metaphor, a 2021 study found that communication effects on opinion expression are much more complex than the reductive term “echo chamber” suggests.

more information purposely designed to counter their attitudes would be a panacea for political polarisation, and that when such schemes were attempted on Facebook, the opposite of the intended result occurred: “What happens when you see 26% more content from people you don’t agree with? Does it help you empathize with them as everyone has been suggesting? Nope. It makes you dislike them even more than you did in the first place.”

Other contemporary analyses find similar results, and that though the modern media environment allows is one of high choice, audiences’ selectivity of their own consumption has not reached a point where people in general only seek information that supports their own attitudes or beliefs, nor actively avoid the opposite.

X under Musk is still very much moving with training wheels, but his journey to making it “the everything app” for payments, news and food orders etcetera has gotten off to a far-from-explosive start. Musk’s leadership resembles that of a newly-elected populist president; grand future visions and clenched-fist promises to fix problems that don’t really exist, all the while creating unnecessary new mechanisms to supplement ultimately meaningless rhetoric.

In 2020, Meta executive Andrew Bosworth challenged the belief that actively serving people with

Trans Rights in the Wake of the Conservative Party Conference Max Gowers

Comment Writer

It’s a Wednesday morning in early October. I’d been awake for a few hours and decided to scroll TikTok. I open up the app, and I’m faced with a BBC News video of Rishi Sunak at the Conservative Party conference. A caption over him reads “A man is a man, and a woman is a woman”. watch the video, in a sort of numb shock. Sunak complains that “we”, referring to cisgender, non-trans allies, are being “bullied” by those who do simple things like use gender-neutral language. He argues that his perspective should be “common sense”.

I’m simply in disbelief of this man. This man, who actively disapproves of my existence.

Before I came out as nonbinary in summer 2022, I had

only a vague idea of how rights are being stripped away from trans people. Now I know all too well that this government doesn’t care about us. A day prior to this speech, Suella Braverman had taken to the stage, and discussed, among other things “gender ideology” - the notion that having a gender identity different to your birth-assigned sex simply isn’t real. Andrew Boff, a longstanding Conservative MP was heard saying “There’s no such thing as gender ideology”, and was promptly approached by officers and removed from the venue.

A BBC political correspondent who was sitting next to Boff later noted on Twitter/X that he had made the remark in a “very soft tone”. In an interview with the BBC afterwards, Boff

cemented his position, stating that “This home secretary was basically vilifying gay people and trans people by this attack on LGBT ideology, or gender ideology. It is fictitious, it is ridiculous”. I respect him so much for this. He is willing to attack his own party for their ways and make it clear that the party he is a member of has changed beyond recognition.

Boff has been a member of the Conservative Party for 50 ears - so him speaking now out speaks volumes.

There’s also a small, but horrifying detail I noticed in the aforementioned BBC News video. In it, after Sunak makes his remarks, it shows a close-up of a woman in the audience. We see her clapping, and slowly,

a smile forms on her face.

And this says far too much about the climate which we find ourselves living in.

She’s smiling as Sunak declares that he simply does not believe we should be catering to trans people. She probably has no idea that hundreds of thousands of people are scared after these comments. Scared for their rights. Scared for their safety.

She was not alone, of course.

Hundreds of people in the room clapped along with her, all complicit in their denial of these people’s existence.

I had a conversation with my (also trans) housemate a few days back about this story. We talked seriously and genuinely about what we could do and where we could go if this

government made our existence unsafe. Scarily, it could be a reality if this government continues their aggressive attack on us.

It truly makes me fear. Not only for my future but for the future of all my trans siblings living in the UK at this precise moment.

This cannot continue. But, in the eyes of Rishi Sunak - I don’t exist. So it’s not like he’ll listen to me anyway.

It truly makes me fear, not only for my future but for the future of all my trans siblings living in the UK at this precise moment Photo credit: Unsplash

16

SCIENCE

14th November 2023

Opinion: Is HP actually trying to destroy the planet?

Zak Steventon-Barnes Science Writer

Or do they just not care? – With HP you no longer own your printer. It owns you.

So, when I was moving to university, I got a printer – an upmarket HP device, which has worked… well, fine.

It doesn’t offer Bluetooth, so I have to connect to it by WiFi, disconnecting from university WiFi in the process, but besides that, I have no complaints.

It did, however, come with a trial of an HP servicecalled‘instantink’forawholeyear.

After that, my understanding was the following: I would pay a flat monthly fee and whenever my printer was running low on ink, provided my usage had been in line with my plan, HP would ship me some new ink.

So, 1 year on, I go to cancel, not letting free trials carry on into recurring monthly payments into the great void.

But, upon clicking ‘cancel’ I am greeted with a message telling me that HP would basically brick (a term meaning ‘to render as technologically useful as a clay brick’) the cartridges I already had. Anyone nearby may have heard a long string of rather loud invective. I apologised to my grandfather and explained what I had found out. “They can’t do that,” he says.

“Oh, yes they can,” I reply. Then I describe the pantomime to him.

HP cartridges are equipped with a chip that identifies them to the printer.

The printer then communicates with the internet to find out details about the chip - an Instant Ink cartridge won’t work without an internet connection. Then, if it can’t link it to your account, it won’t use the ink.

In effect, the ink in the cartridge isn’t really yours. It, and the ink in it until it reaches the paper, belongs to HP. I think the thing that struck me first was how bad this must be for the planet. Perfectly good cartridges are being rendered useless just because that makes HP’s shareholders a bit more money. HP even has the brass neck to pitch instant ink as the environmentally sustainable option.

When asked about this by The Guardian, HP pointed out that the cartridges can be “returned to HP for recycling via the postage-paid envelopes provided.”

Though, as these ‘envelopes’ can’t simply be slipped into a post-box, I wonder how manypeoplejustthrowtheminthewaste.

Even if they are returned, topped up, and shipped off to someone else, the return address is in another country: the cartridge-miles (to coin a phrase) racked up in the round trip must be enormous.

Science Editor

The tool of the X-Ray forms an integral pillar of diagnosis in modern medicine, being used by doctors daily across the globe to help identify broken bones, tumours, pneumonia… the list goes on.

We are so accustomed to their extensive use across medical practices that they’re honestly easy to take for granted. Rarely do we think about what we would do without X-Rays, but back then all you really had was your doctor’s ‘best guess’ or an invasive physical examination.

So, what changed? Way back on the 8th November in 1895, German Physicist Professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen was having a normal day in the lab working on cathode ray tubes, where electrons are emitted and travel through a tube as electricity is

applied to produce an image (all the rave in physics at the time of course).

However, he noticed something strange after coating the tube in heavy black paper and passing a high voltage through it. Now what he didn’t expect to see was a green fluorescent light shining through and illuminating a fluorescent screen in the corner of his eye, sparking a curiosity in him to further experiment with it and later replace the screen with photographic paper, leading to the world’s first

“ X-Rays are critical to our medical toolbox...”

Photo: Unsplash

I am certainly used to companies damaging the environment to make a profit. But when a company hits upon a scheme as odious as this, you have to ask, “Is HP actually trying to destroy the planet? Or do they just not care?”

Besides, one has to wonder if Instant Ink is good for the environment at all.

Customers are billed a flat fee however much they print, encouraging them to max out their printing allowance.

There is no incentive to use ‘eco’ printing modes as a page costs the same whatever the content.

Writing for the Atlantic, Charlie Warzel describes it as feeling like his printer was trying “to shake me down like a loan shark.”

At the rate I’m using ink, buying it from HP for the rest of the time I am at university would cost the same as I spent on the printer.

I briefly considered third-party ink, but as part of the process of getting

Instant Ink, I agreed only to use original HP ink for the lifetime of the printer.

I certainly felt a right wally.

HP has also been attempting to block the use of third-party cartridges through a ‘feature’ they call ‘dynamic security’.

Consumers have been campaigning to get the Competitions and Markets Authority to rule this anti-competitive.

It certainly seems that way, printers have been used with a variety of inks for some time, but now HP is forcing consumers to purchase from them.

“... I certainly feel Graham Cluley, former editor of like my printer is Naked Security, complained that dynamic security’ might put users holding me hostage .” ‘off genuine security updates.

Finally, I look at pricing. As I will only

This Month in Science: Photographing the invisible Rana Dawood

Photo: Unsplash

X-ray: an image of his wife’s Anna’s left hand (image to the right).

A way of “Photographing the invisible”, you can imagine the exciting ripples of discussion this discovery caused among scientists at the time.

Roentgen was awarded the first Nobel prize in physics for his discovery in 1901, a discovery which he never patented, strongly believing that it should be freely available to all.

X-Rays are critical to our medical toolbox and have sparked the creativity and invention of numerous other imaging techniques to be developed since.

An accidental discovery turned into a life-saving technique, it’s certainly one to remember.

be able to buy HP ink, the one set of cartridges I used this year will cost me £92.99. In contrast, a 50-page-a-month yearlong subscription (for basically the same amount of ink) will cost me £35.88.

I’m stuck with Instant Ink whether I like it or not.

I recalled the joke about how a tech worker only has a phone, a computer, and a printer in their house, and keeps a gun next to the printer in case it makes any noises they don’t recognise, to which someone responded, “no, you keep the gun as far away from the printer as possible – you are only giving it a weapon to use against you.”

It may not have a gun, but I certainly feel like my printer is holding me hostage.

Photo: WikiCommons

14th November 2023

17

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

Climate Corner: Drugs of Waste- How Your Unused Medicine Destroys the Environment

Photo: Unsplash

Elena Timoshenko Science Writer

We have all heard about the importance of pollution, with the usual topic of conversation touching on carbon emissions, plastic, and fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, chemical drug pollution is out of the spotlight, secretly leading to tragic environmental consequences.

In the UK unused prescription drugs cost around 300 million pounds every year.

An unnecessary sum spent by your healthcare.

And it’s not all about money.

According to the PABG in 2021, 1 in every 10 people in the UK flush expired medicine down the toilet, with another 41% throwing medicine out with their general waste.

Those wasted drugs include everything from painkillers, to contraceptives, to antibiotics,

and even to antidepressants.

When those drugs are washed down the drains, they inevitably end up in natural water resources, such as lakes, streams and rivers, with a gross 80% of pharmaceutical pollution coming from domestic sources.

Medicine-water pollution causes the extinction of flora and fauna near “drugged” bodies of water.

They poison plants that absorb the toxic water, cause uncontrolled growth of some aquatic species while killing others, produce skewed sex ratios in newborn aquatic animals and destroy whole

“... 1 in every 10 people in the UK flush expired medicine down the toilet...”

food chains and ecosystems.

The expired drugs must also not be disposed of as general waste. Although the risk of water contamination is lower, those drugs can end up buried in the soil, burned, or found by other people, animals, or even kids.

Now you may ask yourself: “But what about water filtration?” Well… it doesn’t help. The wastewater filtration system is designed to filter out organic matter. Meaning that most of our synthetic drugs are not filtered out and move directly into aquatic ecosystems.

Another issue with water pollution is that inevitably, because of the poor filtration systems, some of

those drugs can still end up in drinking water, making every one of us consume some of the secondhand drugs through tap water.

The government has long been aware of those effects, however it has found itself “on the end of the pipe” with the difficulty of imposing proper laws to control domestic waste, ensuring safe disposal.

At this point, I believe you are likely asking yourself: “But why can’t drugs just be recycled?”

It is not a widely known fact, but once a drug has left the Pharmacy, it can’t be reused. The returned medicines, even if are unused, unopened, and not out-of-date, must be disposed of by law.

You may be wondering, what

can I do now? I would like to direct you to the Medical Waste Campaign, which is active allaround the UK working towards informing people of the ways to properly dispose of medicine.

Here are 3 things that you can do in your daily life to decrease drug pollution. 1: Only order/ buy medicine that you need. You can consult with your GP or pharmacist, and check if you already have that medicine at home. 2: Keep in mind that medicine cannot be recycled.

Dispose of your medicine by bringing it back to the pharmacy.

And finally, 3: Unused medicine is a safety risk. Do not stockpile the medicine. Return unused medicine to the pharmacy for safe disposal.

Bizarre Science: Cyber Skin- Touching the future Max Todd

Senior Science Writer

How do you touch? It’s pretty likely that right now you’re either touching the In-Print edition of Concrete or scrolling on a keypad or phone screen. Now think about what that means you’re actually doing.

If you’re holding the paper, how hard are you holding it, how are you distributing that pressure, how are you sliding the pages? Normally, you wouldn’t think of these things at all, they would just come, well, naturally.

But how is your body doing that?

is able to detect many kinds of forces across its surface that enable it to hold seemingly mundane objects, like a glass of water or an egg, that have been infamously tricky for robot limbs to grasp.

It uses weak electric fields to detect objects first at a distance, and then along and into their surface to calculate the right amount of force and apply it where it needs to be. The sensor is made from silicon rubber, soft to the touch, the same material used for life-like prosthetics, from its use for medicine to movie-screens.

And if you can begin to understand how miraculous it is that your body can do it, how enormous is the task of getting a robot to mimic that same response?

The implications of this breakthrough aren’t just massive for tech giants, but for restoring movement and function in patients with lost and damaged limbs, affording them the gift most of us take for granted.

On the 25th of October 2023, scientists at the University of British Columbia and within Honda’s research institute published a paper showing that they can in fact do it.

This breakthrough skin-like sensor

The team of engineers developed this technology in collaboration with Honda, a company that has famously been investing in robotics since the 1980’s, and invented the well-known ASIMO robot. Honda

has also conducted research into technology that can assist walking, and created a buzz with their futuristic Honda Avatar Robot.

Despite the revolutionary design, the sensor is remarkably simple to assemble, the team that designed it are hoping it will be adopted by 2 companies that are trying to simulate life-like robotics, and assist hazardous and monotonous tasks that require human dexterity.

However, the technology still has its limitations. Human skin remains on top with over a hundred times

“...breakthrough skin-like sensor is able to detect many kinds of forces... ” more sensory points on the tip of your finger than the device, allowing us to undertake even more tactile

tasks like lighting a match or sewing.

Furthermore, the technology can be supplemented with sensors that detect heat and damage, senses that are seemingly obvious to a human being. Earlier this year, a team at Stanford University revealed a ‘self-healing electronic skin’ that could synthetically realign itself when damaged, however, it lacked the functionality and ease of assembly of this new technology from UBC and Honda. There remains a gap to bridge these two sensors and apply it to real-life examples.

However, the pattern is obvious.

Technology, though still far off, is accelerating towards mimicking human capabilities.

Then, how far away is it from exceeding those capabilities when combined with machine learning?

When dealing with as powerful a sense as touch, a feeling central to what many integrate with the human condition, will this technology redefine what it really means to be a human in a robot’s world?

Photo: WikiCommons

18

LIFESTYLE

14th November 2023

Why do we dress up for Halloween?

Mia Galanti

uploading a video. Consequently, more people than ever are posting content, and more people than ever are watching content. It is an ever-expanding feedback loop benefitting both creator and consumer.

Lifestyle Editor

Halloween has just come and passed, and with it another year of incredible costumes and parties. Every year social media burns hotter and hotter with Halloween fever, especially with the emergence of TikTok as more people share funny videos of themselves dressed up, to the point where the hashtag #halloween has over 200 billion views. But why do we dress up? And what’s the point?

According to LiveScience, the celebration of Halloween has its origins in the Iron Age, and was initially believed to be the day spirits passed over into the next realm.

As a result, people decorated and dressed accordingly in spirit-like, spooky costumes to both honour the dead and ward off evil spirits.

Later, in the 1920s, capitalism did what capitalism does best and realised there was a market to be cashed in on, and companies started selling all sorts of costumes, not just scary ones like skeletons and ghouls. Some hundred years later, and Halloween is now barely connected to its spiritual roots: instead, it is the one evening a year children and adults alike get

Credit: Unsplash to dress up as much or as little as they want with no societal judgment.

But why do people still care about Halloween? It is not the only holiday to have secularised and drifted from its roots – see Christmas – however every year thousands of people still gather for Mass and put on nativities, whereas these days it appears hardly anyone honours October 31st as a day of spirits.

I’d argue that there are two reasons: social media, and indulgence in the whimsical.

Social media has been around for the better part of over two decades, but in the last five years it has truly

exploded in popularity, due in part to the pandemic lockdowns that meant the world was for the first time, overwhelmingly and listlessly, at home with nothing to do. TikTok’s expansion has been nothing short of explosive and revolutionary, changing the whole landscape of social media and how we consume content. Importantly, what sets TikTok apart from its contemporaries like Instagram and YouTube is the democratisation of virality. No longer do you have to grind for years and steadily build up an audience to achieve success: now, anyone with a phone can snag their five minutes of fame on the app simply by virtue of

As a result, every Halloween more and more people post photos and videos of their costumes, and every Halloween more and more people view these photos and videos.

The loop expands as what was once a Halloween sequestered to only seeing the costumes of

"Halloween, at its core, is about play and fun" your next-door-neighbours as you trick-or-treated, probably just as homemade as your own, now becomes an interconnected Halloween of watching beauty gurus meticulously create casts of their own faces to build realistic-looking prosthetics.

The ante is upped every year, and every Halloween more and more people want to join in to commemorate their favourite movie character or pop star or Internet viral moment.

Which leads to the second point: indulgence in the whimsical.

Especially as adults, it isn’t often that we get to let loose. Most “let loose” occasions involve a weekend and a bottle of wine, which, while occasionally needed, sometimes isn’t the release we need. But Halloween is an occasion to truly indulge in the childish parts of our brain that still want to play dress-up, where there’s no such thing as going “too hard”. There’s a reason tabletop RPG games have gained such traction in the mainstream in the last few years: people, at their core, like to have fun and play pretend. It’s an opportunity to break free of the capitalist restraints that force people to be in smart casual five days a week or frown upon vampy extravagant makeup in public. Halloween, at its core, is about play and fun.

The phony promises of plastic surgery Ore Adeyoola

Lifestyle writer

When I was sixteen, as soon as I was old enough to open a bank account, I started secretly saving for cosmetic surgery.

Looking back almost five years later, this breaks my heart. I was a legal ‘adult’ but still a child, still growing. I wanted a liposuction so I could fit into what I perceived as beautiful. Ironically, this is also the time I was adamantly supporting the body positivity movement. I liked and shared Instagram infographics about the importance of loving yourself and self-care, I reblogged Tumblr posts celebrating the beauty of women across all sizes, I took the steps in correcting my linguistics when talking about “good” or “bad” bodies. These sentiments rang true to me, it wasn’t all performative. I practiced loving myself and selfacceptance, but how could I turn a blind eye to the plain and simple fact that those who fit a certain beauty standard are treated better?

My feelings around my body have shifted and morphed over the years, and although my relationship with myself isn’t perfect, I look back at the diary entries full of self-hate and bitterness that I wrote when

I was sixteen and feel a strong disconnect from the girl I used to be. I never got the lipo, by the way. I didn’t know it yet, but saving isn’t exactly my strongest skill.

Liberal feminism has taken an interesting twist as a reaction to the normalisation of cosmetic surgery. Influencers now flock to TikTok and Instagram to breakdown the process of their plastic surgeries: from price, to appointment, to surgery. They say that they’re doing it for themselves; to give them confidence. What’s the harm in fixing an insecurity if you have the money? The comment sections are usually flooded with praise - thank you for being so

"There's a booming industry that depends on ensuring we never feel good in our own skin" honest! - and girls sixteen and younger gush about how they plan to get the same surgery as soon as they’re old enough. It’s empowering.

It’s personal. It has nothing to do with the hierarchy of desirability, or the societal pressure to achieve perfection, or the celebrities who grace our screens every day with faces sculpted to the tune of a million dollars.

The truth is, if an idealised version of beauty wasn’t being constantly pushed on us, plastic surgeons everywhere would go bankrupt.

There wouldn’t be women risking their lives for Brazilian butt lifts abroad or chancing literal shock over a liposuction. These insecurities we have don’t spawn out of nowhere. They’re created to push consumerism and it works. According to Statistica, the beauty and personal care industry is priced at $625.70bn globally and is projected to increase by 3.2% every year, whilst the cosmetic surgery industry is projected to reach over $200bn by 2031.

There’s a booming industry that depends on ensuring we never feel good enough in our own skin.

Body positivity didn’t work for me.

The overly shiny and toxic mantra of telling myself I’m beautiful even when I don’t feel like it never cut deep, never addressed the root of the problem. Body neutrality: the act of taking a neutral stance towards your body- both

emotionally and physically. The concept of constantly holding myself up to a standard of beauty that was assigned to me by a system rooted in white supremacy and exclusivity is something I have abandoned, for my own

"It'll help me maintain a much healthier and sustainable relationship with my body"

sanity. Besides, it’s an investment that loses its value quickly. We’re already seeing celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner reduce their BBLs to emphasise thinness as well as their impossible curves. When the female body is commodified, we see trends and cycles of what body type is ‘in’ or ‘out’. Although my simple attempts to reject the pressure for perfection will not change the world, it’ll help me maintain a much healthier and sustainable relationship with my body.

I’ll try saving for a holiday or something else that makes me happy instead.

Credit: Unsplash

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

Anne Glia Your Agony Aunt

Q: Ever since it’s started getting darker earlier, especially with daylight savings, I can feel my mood getting lower and lower. I miss the summer and the winter just makes me sad. What can I do to make myself feel better?

A: This is totally normal! A lot of people struggle with seasonal affective disorder or something similar during the winter, where the lack of light and the cold temperatures make us feel sluggish and miserable. So don’t

"Don't worry,

you're not alone"

worry, you are not alone. If your symptoms get worrying, then definitely book an appointment with the UEA Medical Services GP, however small things you can do to hopefully alleviate the misery are: Try and go for a walk every day!

It can be tricky especially since it’s been so wet recently, but

getting outside and getting some fresh air will at least switch up your environment from your room and can provide a boost of endorphins which can in turn boost your mood.

Q: I’ve started uni this year and I had to go long-distance with my boyfriend and I miss him so bad.

We’ve never done long-distance before, how can I make it work?

Work near windows if possible!

Again, every little helps, and if the weather is too cold to go on a walk sitting in front of a window and getting some rays can also help massively. Whether this is rearranging your room so your desk is in front of your window, or keeping your curtains open throughout the day for some light. Alternatively, the UEA Library is a very spacious place to work full of natural light.

My personal favourite place is the second-floor silent study area, where you can sit in front of the windows and see the whole of campus.

A: Communication is key! Switching from in-person to long-distance can be tricky but it also can be done, and it can actually be beneficial for your relationship in the longrun as it tests your commitment, your patience and your dedication.

To be successful you must be communicative and open.

Make intentional time for each other, whether that’s scheduling in a FaceTime date every week where you cook and eat dinner together, or watching a show together over Netflix Party, or sending each other five things from your day that Practice self-care! This is a time for made you happy every evening. indulgences. Get yourself that little sweet treat throughout the day; buy Also, visit each other! With apps that hot chocolate at Unio on your such as Trainline and National way to a lecture. If we give ourselves Express, travel across the UK to things that provide us pleasure different unis can be relatively and joy, even if it’s something cheap (if not very quick). Take turns small like a warm beverage or spending respective weekends chocolate bar, it can give us things at each other’s places, or during to look forward to during the day reading week if you don’t have a and provide some optimism in a lot of work plan a trip somewhere! season that can feel very gloomy. The key is to stay connected, stay interested and stay responsive, and then you have everything sorted.

Credit: Pexels

The pros and cons of hookup culture Max Wrigley Lifestyle writer

Navigating my way around dating sites as a gay guy who had never been in a relationship before was challenging because I found a lot of guys only wanted this thing called “fun”. I soon realised that “fun” meant sex, and very few guys on the site actually wanted a relationship.

For someone who doesn’t pay a subscription to the site, you’re very limited on what is available to you, and any likes are silhouettes. A handful of sites allow you to message people without liking them, but I’ve had more likes than messages (including messages of general conversation that I’ve sent out that have just been ignored). As far as chat-up lines go, in the gay community, they appear to be pretty much non-existent.

However, the worst chat-up line I have ever had is: ‘top or bottom?’ I instantly knew the guy in question only wanted sex and automatically assumed that I also just wanted sex.

It became apparent that, while dating sites were once upon a time an

actual dating site, the hookup culture has now expanded from Grindr (a hookup site predominantly for gay and bisexual guys) and taken over most, if not every, dating site. As a result, those of us who actually want a relationship are left out, making it harder for us to find partners.

While hookups seem like the way forward as they don’t require longterm commitment, one person backing out can lead to the other being ghosted. It also may require secrecy if you live with others and, if

"Those of us who actually want a relationship are left out" you want to experiment having sex with the same sex as yourself but are not out, people may find out. Not to mention, if your hookup is with the opposite sex and you don’t use protection, you still run the risk of

Credit: Unsplash

pregnancy even if you “chance” it. If you don’t use protection, pregnancy is inevitable - and imagine having to tell the child, when they reach 18 (and they can legally find out who their other parent is), that their other parent is someone you had a hook up with. How awkward would that be, especially if your child begins to think differently of you because of it?

But hookups can allow people to experiment different things with different people, finding out what they like and what they don’t. This could be a great thing for someone who is still a virgin, hasn’t had sex in a long time or simply wants to spice things up in the bedroom.

There are, however, risks imposed with hookups: legal and health.

With more and more schoolchildren becoming young parents, those who are underage and want sex because those at school are doing it may turn to websites for a one-night stand and lie about their age to join. While they may only get a lecture and a grounding off their parent/s, for the older person, the consequences will be more serious, dealt with in line with criminal law. The age of consent is 16, though it still remains illegal for an underage

minor to be on a dating site. However, some minors may bypass this and, like they do on social media platforms, may lie about their age just to gain access to the dating site. (This applies to looking for a partner as well as a hookup.) While it won’t have any legal impact on the minor, it will have a legal impact on the person in charge of that minor and may include imprisonment.

The other risk is that of STIs, especially if people haven’t disclosed their status or tested recently. If you hookup with someone and they haven’t told you, or have lied about their status when

you ask them, you will be running the risk of something that could change your sex life forever, even when the disease has been treated.

Overall, while there are pros and cons of hookups, I wouldn’t personally recommend them as your health takes priority over the prospect of “fun” and I think sex should be an enjoyable time with the right person, not the first person you can find off the internet for a one-nighter. However, that said, I do respect everyone’s own opinion so long as there’s an open line of communication and honesty.

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TRaVel

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

Bike Packing In Wales: Finding Meaning Beyond Material Culture Innes Henry Travel Writer

Our bikes lay against the bike shop exterior, a pile of grease, metal and weather worn rubber. In their shade sat Jesse, topless, in shorts and bracing in pain as Tristan plunged the tweezers deeper into his foot. He had been complaining of a sharp pain in his foot for hours, only to discover that a thorn had made its way deep into his calloused sole.

It had been yet another day of sweaty pedalling along the Welsh coast, with the sun beating on our backs and a salty breeze wisping at our sides. We had been fortunate with the weather so far; the worst was yet to come.

Wales wasn’t going to let us off that easy. It was the fifth day on the road, and we were just getting into the flow of bike packing. Our legs were feeling strong; we had already covered great ground that morning and despite Jesse’s thorn, moral was sky high.

But why? We were tired, hungry and by this point carried a hefty stench. We didn’t know where we were going to sleep that night or indeed how many more miles it would take to get there.

Out on the road we were constantly problem solving and readjusting to

Photo: Innes Henry

new situations. So why then, had we chosen this for our holiday? And why on earth does anyone do this for fun?

Unlike interrailing, island hopping or luxury hotels, bike packing offers a raw and unforgiving slice of life on the move. It’s a way of travelling that combines a love for the outdoors with an unfiltered account of local culture.

Imagine; you’re a nomad exploring new land on your own steam. It’s hard work both physically and mentally – and by no means is it for anyone – but by

"Bike packing

offers a raw and unforgiving

slice of life"

embracing the chaos and excitement that flourishes in the unknown, I believe you can find meaning, self-fulfilment, and appreciation of life beyond material culture.

You will often hear that travelling is all about making memories and collecting

experience. And it is! When are you going to have the same amount of time and disposable income for the rest of your life – not until retirement if you’re lucky. But most advertised travel experiences have irrevocable ties to the world of consumerism and material culture. They want you to believe that experience comes at a price. However, whilst the human experience, let alone travelling experience, is one of materiality, there is a lot to be said about the immaterial of travel. By that, I mean the pain, mental challenges, beautiful personalities, and tender emotions that come with travelling in a raw way such as bike packing. Being in touch with your natural surroundings, watching for signs of bad weather or appreciating the conversations with friendly strangers is just the start. There is a rich and organic energy that can be found intertwining nature and culture whilst travelling like this, and it doesn’t take long before you are reminded of your primordial roots.

We can become so caught up in our fastpaced lives, focused on goals contained in our capitalist-oriented mindsets, that it is easy to forget where we came from.

And so, I return to outside the shop, where, scattered amongst our dormant vehicles we basked in the early

afternoon sun as Tristan performed his botched surgery. Whilst I crossed the road and looked back to capture

"we discover what meaningful life experience is"

the scene, the moment unfolded before me: a metaphor of our epic journey so far. Stripped of the usual material possessions, daily routines and commitments that govern our lives, we are left in a very basic form: one that only really needs sustenance and sleep. We become increasingly mindful of our physical surroundings. We pay more attention to the way that we interact with it and each other, and we begin to unpick the many layers of ourselves and discover what meaningful life experience is.

Budget Friendly Travel Cordelia Gulbekian Faram

Travel Editor

I’m sure many of you reading this will have had the struggle of searching for cheap flights, incognito mode on, cookies cleared, then scraping Airbnb or Hostelworld for the cheapest accommodation - but what about other ways? Ones where you can travel and experience living in different countries without spending all your hardearned money at once? Next time you’re thinking of travelling on a budget, and don’t mind getting your hands a bit dirty, consider WWOOFing, Workaway or HelpX. The acronym of WWOOF stands for the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms and connects a network of volunteers with organic farms across the world.

As a volunteer, you stay and work a few set hours a day in exchange for food and lodging.

For anyone interested in food, wine, immersing yourself in local culture and — maybe most importantly — cheap travel, it’s a standout option.

WWOOF as an organisation aims to teach about and support organic and sustainable living.

But you don’t need to have any experience growing your own vegetables or milking goats to get involved. You will, however, need to be prepared to get your hands dirty. It’s not the only option for this kind of work exchange, there’s also similar organisations like Workaway and HelpX on offer.

for work, such as working with families and homestays, hostel work, animal sitting and environmental projects, plus much more. So, if the idea of wading through mud and distributing hay isn’t your ideal getaway, don’t worry, there’s many other options for consideration.

I have used these organisations as way to meet people, learn about farming and food and travel for next to nothing in both Europe and America, and both experiences were some of the most memorable of my life.

In Tennessee I milked goats at dawn, dug up vegetables, made goats milk soap, shot at rats with a BB gun and drank moonshine.

In Italy I picked olives and saw them being pressed into oil at the mill, then drank wine and stuck labels on bottles at a vineyard.

laden with goodies, the system does allow for some less-thanideal working relationships.

If you feel uncomfortable with your sleeping conditions (sometimes male and female volunteers are bunked in the same accommodation), or you feel that your host is asking too much work of you, it’s important to know that you can just leave. If the experience isn’t serving you, get out of there and move on to the next place!

So, next time you’re planning a trip abroad and are on a tight budget, consider these options. Finding exchange work abroad through these organisations is a great way to travel, experience different cultures, and meet locals and other travellers.

All whilst also providing a low-budget travel option!

"Finding exchange work abroad is a great way to travel on a budget" If you’re considering partaking Workaway is available across the globe, from Canada to Vietnam to South Africa, there’s a huge list of locations available. If you’re not feeling up to the farming lifestyle, there’s a variety of different possibilities

in any work through these organisations, remember: WWOOFing, workaway, HelpX and similar organisations rely on an honest exchange between the volunteer and the host. While most hosts will only ask you to work 4-6 hours a day and have a fridge Photo: Eluned Gulbekian

Puzzles & Games

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@ConcreteUEA

SPORT

14th November 2023

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T he New S po r t s C l u b o n t h e Blo ck : U E A L i f t i ng Eve Attwood Co-Editor-in-Chief

I f you v is ited the Sports Fair i n S e ptember o r have be e n o n I n stagra m rec ently, you m ay h ave s een the arrival of a b ra n d new UEA s ports club – U E A L ifting . In prev ious yea rs , UEA’s Weightlifting s o c i ety wa s lef t dorm ant and students had no lifting co m m unity to get involve d w it h. This yea r howeve r, i t h a s been renewe d and re d i s c overed by a w h ole new pa s s io n ate a nd enthusiastic co m m i ttee lo o king to build a s u p p o r tive enviro nm e nt for n ew a nd exper ienc ed lifte rs.

“It has been renewed and rediscovered by a whole new passionate and enthusiastic committee[...]”

Photo: UEA Lifting

S p ea k ing to UEA Lifting ab o u t the o r ig ins of the clu b, I wa s to ld it e m e rge d f ro m a Co nc rete Co n fessions Fac e b oo k gro up post whe re P res i d e nt, Ros ina Polle r, as ke d if anyo ne would be i nte rested in c reating a lifting s o c i ety at UEA. The re plies the n ro lled in, w ith m any ex p res sing their desire to se e this i d ea beco me a reality. I t wa s t h ro ugh this post that the s o c i ety began to take shape and it s co mmittee m e m be rs ca m e to the forefront.

I wa s keen to k now how the clu b h ad been received by the stu d e nt co mmunity since it of f i c ia lly became a UEA Sport tea m. UEA L ifting answe re d that the res po nse from stu d e nts ha s been ‘nothing s ho r t of amazing ’, w ith it only be ing a s mall g ro up in the ea r ly sta ges, to now be ing ove r 80 members ‘ranging f ro m exper ienced li fte rs to beg inners’. It’s this growth w hic h the club feels ‘refle cts the d e ma nd fo r a fr iendly and s u p p o r tive lif ting c o mm unity at U E A’, a space w here pe ople ca n l ear n and train without ju d ge m ent. Citing their m ock powe r lifting meet f rom last yea r, t hey reflec ted on how ‘ hea r twa r ming ’ it had be e n to watch ever yo ne che e r eac h other o n, how it’s that ‘p os i t ive energ y we want i n ou r club’. Inclusiv ity and ac c e ptanc e s eem to be at the h ea r t of UEA L ifting , with the co m m i ttee keen to emphasise ‘ Eve r yone is we lcom e, rega rd less of their s kill leve l’.

B u t h ow do UEA L iftin g d iffe r f ro m other spo r ts clubs, and w hat ac tivities do they run w hic h yo u ca n get involve d in?

Fo r

sta r ters,

UEA

Lifting

Photo: Unsplash

of d ai l y l i fe’, an d i t’s t h i s pas s i o n fo r t h e s p o rt t h at s h e want s to i n st i l i n ot h e r stu d e nt s . Fran c es ca e m p h as i s e d t h at t h e c l u b’s p ri o ri ty ‘ i s to c reate a safe s pac e fo r eve ryo n e to c e l e b rate becoming st ro n ge r b ot h p hys i cal l y an d m e ntal l y.’ ‘ T h e c l u b i s s o w h o l es o m e, ’ s h e ad d s , ‘ [ i t ] h as s u c h a s u p p o rt i ve c o m m u n i ty – I ge n u i n e l y wo u l d n’ t c h an ge a t h i n g .’

Lo o k i n g fo rward , U EA L i f t i n g to l d m e t h ey ’re ke e n to ‘ex pan d [ t h e i r] reac h’ an d ‘ ke e p g row i n g [ t h e i r] m e m b e rs h i p’.

In te rm s

hold s two ge n era l l i f t i n g sessions at the S p or t s pa r k we e kly, which th e c om m i ttee have highlighte d i s a great opportunity to acc es s ‘a s pac e for frie ndly conversat i on s and ad v ice on d i f ferent lifts’. A side from gen era l we ightlifting, th e c l u b a l s o offe rs powe rlifti n g s es s i on s at I ron Wareh ou s e gym eve ry Sund ay, a n d Ol y m p i c we ightlifting ses s i on s at Ad i ra Gym twice a week. I f you ’re ke e n to get to kn ow m ore society m e m be rs , t h ey a l s o offe r sobe r an d n on - s ob er socials on a regu l a r ba s i s , such as pub q u i z zes , S p or t s Night outings a n d b owl i n g.

Starting a U E A S p or t s c l u b from scratch is n o ea sy feat though, and I wa s i nterested to know m ore a b ou t t h e m otivations that l ay b eyon d the origins of the c l u b. H ea l t h and Safety Off i c er, Morga n

Ta n n er, tol d m e t h at h e got i nto l i f t i n g a s a way to ‘get a b rea k f rom s c h ool wor k[. . . ] to have a place I can put my music on a n d wor k ou t’. Morga n d oes n’ t s eem to b e a l on e i n t h e op i n i on t h at l i f t i n g i s a for m of h ea l t hy es ca p i s m , a n d i t’s n o won d er h e ad m i t s ‘ fa l l i n g i n l ove wi t h t h e envi ron m ent , t h e c om m u n i ty, a n d t h e wh ol e at m os p h ere’.

Ma ny l i f ters c i te t h e s p or t a s b en ef i c i a l for t h ei r overa l l m enta l h ea l t h , a n d Morga n c on f i r m ed t h i s , c l a i m i n g h e c ou l d n ot b egi n ‘ to say h ow m u c h i t h a s h el p ed wi t h [h i s ] a n xi ety and d ep res s i on . ’ Fra n c es ca Bon d , on e of t h e c l u b’s Power l i f t i n g C a pta i n s , s h a red m a ny of Morga n’s vi ews on h ow p os i t i ve t h e s p or t h a s b een b ot h for h er p hys i ca l a n d m enta l h ea l t h .

Li ke m a ny of u s , Fra n c es ca

sa i d s h e i n i t i al l y jo i n e d t h e g y m ‘ to get f i t an d l os e a l i tt l e we i g ht’, b u t t h at i t was t h e ‘st re n g t h bas e d sty l e of t rai n i n g ’ w h i c h b egan to m ot i vate h e r to tu rn u p to t h e g y m m o re an d ‘ac tu al l y l ook fo rward ’ to s es s i o n s .

S h e refe re n c es l i f te rs l i ke S op h i a El l i s an d Jes s i ca Bu ett n e r as p owe rl i f t i n g i n s p i rat i o n s w h o m ot i vate d h er to i m p rove h e r st re n g t h week by we e k , watc h i n g ‘ t h e we i g ht o n t h e bar i n c reas e’ g rad u al l y. S i m i l arl y to M o rgan , Fran c es ca s e es l i f t i n g as a fo rm of ‘ t h e rapy ’, ad d i n g : ‘al l i t c ost s i s a g y m m e m b e rs h i p’ an d t h at t h e res u l t s an d b e n ef i t s a re wo rt h eve ry p e n ny. S h e d es c ri b es eac h p owe rl i f t i n g s es s i o n as ‘a p ri v i l ege’ an d a n ‘o p p o rtu n i ty to take a step bac k f ro m t h e st res s es

"It has such a supportive community - I genuinely wouldn’t change a thing." of eve nt s , t h ey want to ex p l o re t h e p os s i b i l i ty of l arge r c o m p et i t i o n s , as we l l as stay i n g ‘c o m m i tte d to p rov i d i n g a s pac e w h e re eve ryo n e can p u rs u e t h e i r l i f t i n g goal s an d b e part of a v i b rant an d e n c o u rag i n g c o m m u n i ty ’. T h ey m i g ht b e t h e n ewest s p o rt s c l u b o n t h e b l o c k , b u t i t l o o ks l i ke U EA L i f t i n g i s h e re to stay.

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

The Greatest To Ever Do it? Messi Wins Ballon d’Or 8 Felix Sumner

c l u tc h e d the Bal l o n d ’O r fem i n i n e af te r s e e i n g s u c c es s ac ros s h e r s eas o n w i t h i t s p ea k, w i n n i n g t h e Wo m e n’s Wor l d Cup with S pai n .

Ot h er s u c c es s es of t h e n i g ht saw Real M ad ri d s e n sat i o n , J u d e B e l l i n g h am , w i n t h e Kopa t ro p hy ah ead of fo rm e r i nter n at i o n al team m ate

Senior Sports Writer

What wo uld yo u rathe r win?

A Wo r l d Cup o r a historic t re b le? That is w hat was b e ing decided at this year ’s Ba l lo n d’O r ceremo ny in Paris w h e n A rgentine, L io nel Messi g ra b b e d a reco rd-breaking 8t h t it le a s the wo r ld’s best, a head of M a n City s upe rstar Er ling Haa land and form e r PS G tea mmate Kylia n Mbappe.

The 36 - year-o ld fo und him se lf ove r 1 00 po ints ahead of s e c ond place Ha aland in t he of ficia l sta ndings and a fu r t her a lmost 2 00 points a head of M bappe, in third . This a lo n e is statement e nough to ex p lain the eno r mous and p rest i g io us ac hieve m e nt of M essi’s season.

Howeve r, des pite his ac c omp lis hments, the re i s g row ing debate that a c e r ta i n City str iker was ro b b e d of a first Ballon d’Or. Eve n a s a M an Unite d fan, I ca n n ot under mine what Er ling H a ala nd ac hieve d last s ea s on, s co r ing a w hopping (a nd rec o rd break i ng) 36

goals in the P re m i er Lea gu e alone and that’s j u st on e of the m any things h i m a n d h i s team won. A lea gu e t i t l e, FA Cup and Champ i on s Lea gu e would sure ly be en ou gh to se e the 23-year- ol d c rown ed king of the gam e wi t h t h e pinnacle of i n d i vi d u a l awards? But it wa s n ot . More was be ing asked a n d on l y Le o Messi had t h e a n swers .

"It also shows a preview and appreciation for footballing talent in the future[...]"

For the past d ecad e, wh at would Messi be wi t h ou t h i s com petitive c ou nter pa r t , Cristiano Ron a l d o?

Wel l , 2023’s ce re m ony saw h i m abse nt as he fai l ed to rec ei ve any nom inati on s wh i c h sparke d som e c ont roversy am ongst his fa n s .

Most notably Ronald o took to I nstagram to exp res s h i s thoughts of Mes s i ’s vi c tor y afte r com m e nti n g on a p ost with laughing e moj i s . C r y pt i c or salty? On e ca n on l y im agine what he t r u l y t h i n ks of se e ing his r i va l ’s wi n .

I n te rm s of the ot h er awa rd s of the night, Ai ta n a Bon m at i

As t h i s year ’s c e re m o ny i s n ow c o n c l u d e d i t w i l l go d ow n as o n e fo r t h e h i sto ry b o o ks af te r l i ke l y s e e i n g M es s i re c e i ve h i s l ast Bal l o n D ’O r b efo re h e ret i res , b u t i t al s o s h ows a p rev i ew an d ap p re c i at i o n fo r fo ot bal l i n g tal e nt i n t h e fu tu re, eve n i f t h ey m ay h ave b e e n ro b b e d t h i s t i m e aro u n d .

Photo: Unsplash

a n d tal e nt Jam al M u s i al a.

Fel l ow wo rl d c u p c h am p i o n , E m i l l i an o M art í n ez g rab b e d t h e Lev Yah s i n t ro p hy af te r a fa ntast i c year w i t h Asto n Vi l l a an d of c o u rs e Arge nt i n a.

Photo: Unsplash

Inside UEA: An investigation into the sexism plaguing women’s sport on campus Sofia Royal & Katherine Hutchinson

Sports Editor & Sports Writer

It goes without saying that sexism in sport isn’t anything out of the ordinary.

A survey taken by the BBC back in 2020 reported that 65% of women faced sexism within sport and only 10% felt willing to report it. Sport teams are a great way for women to express themselves and show their passion for their sport, yet they can find themselves met with sexism on campus.

In order to investigate how sexism is affecting women on campus, we spoke to a group of students in UEA sports clubs, giving sportswomen the opportunity to anonymously express situations where they were impacted by sexism. We asked the students whether they have received sexist or prejudiced comments based on the sport they do, to which they all said they had some experience with this. Many of the students opened up about personal experiences, with one response alleging that they had “often been doubted on my ability due to being a woman and I have also been told I must be a lesbian to enjoy doing [sport].” In light of this, some of the responses reflected how their ability in sport had been doubted

due to being a female and a further portion of respondents mentioned how their sport has caused assumptions of their sexuality. Another respondent stated: “when I was 10 a parent asked my dad who his daughter was on the pitch, my dad pointed at me and the parent said ‘you know she’ll be gay, right?’” The same respondent also claimed that when they “asked to set up a girls team[at their primary school], they said they didn’t have the time or the money” and that the respondent wasn’t allowed to play the sport with the boys as the respondent was “too weak and would get hurt.”

Asked if they had received sexist and prejudice comments as a result of their sport on campus, particularly during sports nights, several of the students claimed that they had been privy to or victim of sexist comments.

One respondent alleged that a specific sports team “in the LCR were laughing and talking down to me because I was a girl doing [sport].” Another respondent claimed that the team “have zero respect for you and refuse

to interact with you as you’re too hard to try and sleep with (their words)”.

Some teams “don’t like doing socials with us due to the assumption that we are all gay and that it will be boring as they can’t get with or sleep with us.”

However, when asked if respondents had experienced the same type of of sexism outside of university, the answers began to differ. A portion of the respondents had not experienced sexism within their sport off campus and one student suggested it was due to the “lad culture of university sport” that has impacted how women’s sports are perceived on campus. Others claimed that off campus, there is a “bias over body type” by not conforming to a specific body shape to play a certain sport, with others alleging that there are “sexual comments” about body types as well. Other respondents claimed that due to doing their sport in a “more female environment”, sexism is not something they are faced with and that it is “much more supportive all round”.

Whilst UEA offers training facilities for all students and teams, outside of campus

women have been faced with a “lack of training facilities” and having to have a “parent coach for year due to a lack of investment in the women’s team”.

Several responses claimed that men would would get priority over pitches and women’s teams weren’t allowed to use them over “fears of damaging it”.

One respondent claimed that a specific sports team on campus believes “they can take [sports facility] bookings from us as we don’t have enough people”, they however claim that their team has “doubled their numbers some weeks”.

The responses from this survey, convey that the outcome is blatant -- facing sexism is a common occurrence for women and it can come in a variety of forms. It is no surprise that femaledominated clubs have experienced sexist comments, and the answers we received from students provides an insight into the experience of women in sport at university.

With responses reporting that their ability in their sport has been questioned and doubted by the male

counterparts of the same sports, it raises the question of why is the sports community like this towards women?

And more importantly, will it ever stop?

A UEA spokesperson responded: “uea+sport recognise this is an issue that exists in sport, both externally and in higher education settings. To build on the existing training and support given to sports clubs, we have recently started an inclusive sport working group and we are developing further training and resources to support female athletes, starting with a workshop and open forum on the 5th December. For further information on these initiatives, please contact studentsport@uea.ac.uk.

“To report any issues of sexism at the UEA, please use Report and Support https://reportandsupport. uea.ac.uk/.”

For complaints relating to sexism in sports clubs, contact the SU or UEA Sport.

24

SPORT

14th November 2023

F1 Recap: Verstappen makes history, Perez risks his seat and a new team joins the grid Sofia Royal

Sports Editor

It’s been a busy three weeks for Formula 1, with the drivers heading across the pond to the USA, Mexico and Brazil, as the final leg of this year’s season is imminent.

Starting at the Circuit of the America’s (COTA) in Austin, Texas, Friday saw a free practice session topped by Redbull’s Max Verstappen, followed by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Due to another sprint weekend, qualifying for Sunday’s race took place later that day.

Three-time WDC winner, Verstappen, qualified in a surprising sixth after having a lap time deleted due to exceeding track limits. This meant Ferrari’s Leclerc took pole position for Sunday, ahead of Brit’s, Lando Norris and Hamilton. It was however, the beginning of a bad weekend for Aston Martin, after Friday’s qualifying showed both Alonso and Stroll suffer from a double Q1 knockout.

On Saturday, drivers took to the track for the sprint shootout, in which Verstappen took pole position with Leclerc and Hamilton behind. Mercedes’ George Russell was also faced with a threeplace grid penalty for impeding Leclerc in Q1. Unsurprisingly, Verstappen took a comfortable first in the sprint race, with Hamilton in second and Leclerc behind in third. After suffering with brake issues during the sprint shootout, Lance Stroll had to retire due to further complications with his breaks, with no opportunity for extra points in this sprint weekend for Aston Martin.

On to race day, and the four drivers of Magnussen, Hulkenburg, Alonso and Stroll were to start from the pit lane due to elements of different specifications to the ones originally used being installed during parc fermé conditions. COTA saw three DNF’s after an accident between McLaren’s, Oscar Piastri and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon during the opening lap.

Piastri’s collision with Ocon’s sidepods caused a water leak and damage to his radiator forcing him to retire by lap 10, with Ocon retiring three laps beforehand.

It was a weekend to forgot for Alonso after he too, suffered DNF after failures to his rear suspension and floor. Despite break issues, Verstappen still took pole, claiming his 15th win of the season, with Hamilton and Norris behind. However, post-race plank tests, discovered that both Hamilton and Leclerc were both in breach of plank test requirements, resulting in disqualification. This meant that Norris placed in second with Carlos Sainz Jr. in third. Logan Sargeant also achieved his first points in F1, becoming the first American to do so, since Michael Andretti in the 1993 Italian Grand Prix.

With the mention of Andretti, this also brings on recent news of Andretti’s pursuit into Formula 1 with his team Andretti-Cadillac. After a sevenmonth battle to break into the sport,

the governing body of Formula 1 -- the FIA -- have approved Andretti’s request. It is said that the team is aiming to be racing in the sport by 2025, should they also get approval from Formula One themselves. In a recent statement, the sport said: “We note the FIA’s conclusions in relation to the first and second phases of their process and will now conduct our own assessment of the merits of the remaining application.”

Will Perez maintain his second place, or will Hamilton race his way to second best?

The following weekend, drivers headed south to Mexico City. With no sprint weekend, qualifying took place on Saturday, as usual. After an outstanding lap, Charles Leclerc took pole position ahead of his Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz with Verstappen just behind. Beforehand, Fernando Alonso spun during Q1, warranting a yellow flag, which saw an end to the first sector, meaning that Sargeant was unable to set a lap time, joining Norris, Stroll, Magnussen and Ocon in a Q1 exit. Daniel Ricciardo took viewers by surprise after qualifying in fourth, AlphaTauri’s highest qualifying all season.

For Sergio Perez, it appeared that he was keen to make a lasting impression during his home race. However, an incident on turn one during the first lap when he turned into Leclerc, resulted in Perez going off track and straight onto retiring from the race.

Many fans left after the incident, during a virtual safety car caused by Leclerc’s endplate which had fallen off on lap five due to the collision. By lap 33, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen faced left rear suspension failure, leading to a crash at turn nine, bringing out the safety car. One lap later, and a red flag was called, in order to give marshals plenty of time to clear and debris from Magnussen’s car and repair a section of the barrier. On lap 47, Alonso retired once again, due to damage; followed by teammate, Lance Stroll after a collision with Valtteri Bottas. There was more bad luck for Sargeant, who also had to retire on the final lap, caused by an issue with his fuel pump. Following a tumultuous race, Verstappen claimed his 16th victory of the season, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. Notably, Ricciardo finished in seventh- AlphaTauri’s best result of the season, proving that he’s fighting more and more to keep his seat in F1.

To São Paulo now, where Perez and Hamilton are continuing their battle for second in the championship. After several reports that RedBull would fire Perez should he lose second place in the championship, it seems that he came back this weekend hoping to prove that he can drive Adrian Newey’s mechanical masterpiece.

Photo: Unsplash

Photo: Unsplash

Friday’s free practice saw hopes for Ferrari with a 1-2 result from Sainz and Leclerc, and George Russell in third.

The downpours of Brazil hindered and helped drivers in qualifying. By Q3, drivers were struggling, with Piastri unable to set a lap time after slipping off track, leading to a yellow flag which forced Perez to slow down setting both drivers in ninth and tenth.

Eventually, heavy rain forced a red flag, calling-off the rest of Q3 with four minutes remaining. This led to Verstappen taking another pole, with Charles Leclerc in second and Lance Stroll in third- achieving his best starting position since the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix.

Saturday’s sprint shootout saw Lando Norris on pole, with both RedBull’s behind. An accident involving Alonso and Ocon during SQ1, showed the Alpine drive into the Aston Martin

breaking its front left suspension, whilst the Alpine went straight into the wall.

Later that day, Verstappen took P.1, with pole sitter Norris, behind, as well as Perez -- his first podium since Monza.

Sunday’s race started during the formation lap, when tragedy struck for Charles Leclerc, who crashed out due to a hydraulics problem. Moving all drivers up by one position, upon lights out, Magnussen made contact with Albon, causing both to retire. As a result of the debris, a safety car was deployed, later resulting in a red flag. With Piastri and Ricciardo hitting debris from the crash, both cars suffered damage, but were able to get their cars fixed promptly before the race restart from the pit lane.

Throughout, Verstappen was able to maintain pace, widening the gap between himself and Norris, who later pulled ahead. Hamilton was heard over his team radio on several occasions,

struggling with his tires, allowing Perez to overtake. Alfa Romeo suffered a gruelling race, with both drivers retiring on laps 24 and 39. This was later followed by Russell who retire on lap 57, due to overheating. After struggling with first-lap damage, Ricciardo and Piastri finished one and two laps down.

Verstappen took first, with Norris eight seconds behind. As a result, Verstappen claimed the highest percentage of race wins per year since Alberto Ascari, the record being held since 1952. He also overtook Alain Prost with a total race win count of 52. However, it was the battle between Perez and Alonso that proved more entertaining than anu other record-breaking statistic, as both drivers duelled for third place. It was by the final lap that Alonso had viewers on the edge of their seats, overtaking Perez for a final time, reaching for third by a gap of 0,053 seconds.

As the final races of the 2023 season approach, Las Vegas lays bare its strip for a whole new atmosphere of racing. Whether Verstappen will claim another win is yet to be said.

But with only two races left, will Perez maintain his second place, or will Hamilton race his way to second best?