Concrete issue 014 25 11 1992

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UEA's INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Ji'OURTUN

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Bridget Fonda talks about her latest film

Sweatshirts and tickets for

Centre spread Tl1e s l1ock il1S pictwre sl1owl

rgreaves

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Julian Barnes' latest novel

NoVEMBER 25,1992

cri e on e Increase

UEA student latest victim of local attacks

Vicwr: Hargreavf":_v_ __

Norwich. A second year male

was attacked the Friday before the beginning of this term in the estate at the top of Grapes Hill He was attacked by two males, both with dark hair, who slashed his side twice with a safety razor.

Richard said, "You tend to think it is fairly safe in Norwich.

I've had no opportunity to walk home alone since, and I probably would but I would be more wary and think twice about it. It was very quick and frightening". The attac,lc did not seem to worry the secondyearsomuchthough, ''I'm

Turn to Page 2, Col. 1

FATHER Christmas flew into Norwich last Saturday, eschewing the more traditional approach

involving a sleigh and reindeer. But times are hard for Santa, and the recession-hit figure had little more

give out to the rows oflittle expectant faces and outstretched hands.

was the main venue in Norwich for Sound City, and it has brought a large number of big names to the City, including TheShamen, Carter USM, The Farm, andCathyDennis;

aswell as promoting a number of local bands. In its first year it attracted 400 bands and 70,000 fans and in the past 12 months the numbers have topped 100,000.

The Waterfront to wind up?

POPULAR student venue, the Waterfront, could face closure in the New Year- after legal action was brought against the business, for debts totalling more than £55,000.

A legal petition was lodged by Customs and Excise, and supported by brewers Whitbread last Friday, however, the management of tlie Waterfront narrowly survived court action when they were granted a reprieve until January to enable them to come up with the money.

The core of the problem is the

large burden of debt which has been hanging over The Waterfront since its opening in October 1990. But Director Anne-Louise Wirgman is confident that all the debts will be paid back. in time: "We are trading very well and are quite happy with the business. We can trade out way out of this. The Waterfront is getting stronger and better every month".

The music venue currently receives an annual grantof£35,000 from the City Council and this year has gained grants totalling £30,000.

5, 000 copies every fortnight

The three candidates, Paul Harrison, Luke and Karl V. Hui began their con-

Santa Clans is flying to town!

UEA STUDENT Richard John son became another victim of a vicious attack, just days after police released figures showing crimes are on the increase in Norwich.

In the early hours of Friday November 13, at the junction of Recreation Road and the Unthank, a man approached Richard and hit him in the face.

He was grabbed by the lapels and told to empty his pockets.

Richard gave him £1.50 and a packet of cigarettes, the attacker was so disappointed that he hit him again on the side of the head before running off.

However, Richard was not seriously hurt, ''I was very lucky, I had no bruises, only a red swelling on my face and that was about it". Richard believes the attack was opportunist.

A number off muggings and sexual assaults have occurred over the last couple of months in

ELECTIONS for Societies Officer were held on Thursday Week 7, and ended with 205 votes for the victor, Luke Hargreaves.

However, Customs and Excise solicitor, Paul Ayers warned "If they have not paid by January, I would expect someone is going to wind them up".

The City Council Finance Committee Chairman, AJan Waters said thatnoincrCllseinthecoucil's grant was likely, but they are confident that solutions will be Tellched before the court deadline.

Whatever the future holds for the Waterfront, its past has been very successful. In Aprill992, it

Tel. (0603) 250558

ce:w:&ted campaign at Fifers Lane, and moved on to UH to hand out their leaflets and bolster support.

When the ballot closed, 409 student> h:td voted, and on second count, Paul Harrison (ex-Societies Officer)camesecondwith 115 votes, and Karl V. Hui gained 82 votes.

RichardHewison was enthusiastic: "there was a huge turnout for the election, l'm glad to see so many people taking an interest in the Union".

He added "Heartfeltcongratulations to Luke Hargreaves, I look forward to working with him on the Executive. I'm sure he'll make a valuable addition to the team".

Luke was "chuffed" at the final result, "I've been up since 6 am and no other result would do". His aim is to "get the Union and societies working closely together". He promises the societies "I'll be seeing them soon, as soon as I'm up and running" . Paul Harrison declined to comment on the result.

Concrete, UEA, Norwich, NR4 7TJ

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' 2

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

City crimes increase

Bared necessities

Continued from Page One not scared to go walking on my own, I'm not worried about it".

Last Friday morning a girl 's body was found at the Ringland Hills beauty spot, just outside Norwich.

In September an 18-year old girl was approached on Unthank Road, dragged into some bushes and indecently assaulted, and on 21 October a 17-yearold girl was attacked at Woodcock Road recreation ground.

The Police and the ED Pare warning women to be on alert, to carry some form of defence, such as attack alarms, and to stick to well-lit area of the city after dark. Norwich is becoming increasingly dangerous for young males and females and the elderly.

New figures from Norfolk Police showed that the number of rapes in the county increased from last year's 55 to 62 . Norwich Market Place has also been the scene of a number of crimes this month, one female was dragged into

Report by Polly Graharn

the public mens toilets and robbed, while another young girl was approached in the ladies toilets, however the 12year old punched the man and ran off.

Other attacks have been in Magdalen Road, Chapelfield Gardens, Cathedral Close, Colman Road and Waterworks Road.

In June, a woman in her early 20 's was mugged on Ipswich Road, just outside City College, and in September, two male students were kicked and punched to the ground by a group of six men.

Police advice to people who are attacked is: I. Make as much noise as possible and carry a personal attack alarm, 2. Trytotalkyourattackerout of their demands, 3. If the attack continues, attempt to hit the assailant in the groin or stomach to get him to release their hold, 4. Bite and scratch if necessary. 5. Report the attack to the police who have trained officers to help.

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A STUDENT of the University of California has taken to wandering the campus with no clothes on, according to a report in The Independent.

Andrew Martinez, a 19 year old student of rhetoric, has been pushing the university authorities to the limi t by his naturist characteristics.

He insists upon wearing nothing apart from flip-flops and a back pack, occasionally resorting to a small bandana to cover his genitals. It is a common sight to see him naked, whizzing around campus on his skateboard.

Martinez, who is 6ft 4in and has a sportsman ' s phyisique, came to tl1e conclusion that clothes were "stupid". He believes that the world would have far fewer neuroses if everyone followed hisexan1ple. Unfortunately he seems to have drummed up

Fury over safe sex sponsors '

AN ANGRY protest was mounted at the University College London Students' Union, when it was revealed that Ann Summers - the sex shop chain wa s sponsoring a 'safe-sex'

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little support.

He has been suspended, pending a review of the case.

His fellow students do not seem comfortable with his lack of attire. When he appeared at a lecture, in only flip-flops, two students walked out in protest. Others have complained about his conduct, believing it is a form of sex'Ual harassment. Campus police have arrested him twice, the second time because he appeared for his court review naked. To try and deter other body-beautiful students from baring all , the university has issued a new policy, banning public nudity except for "designated clothing-optional areas", and excluding babies and young children.

It remains to be seen whether Martinez will continue his campaign with winter now approaching.

5 0 w i t h freedom c e I n d d r e s s

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week to promote HIV awareness . In defence of the protestations, the organisers stated that they merely want to make sa fe sex more appealing to students by emphasisng its 'fun' side.

This week, we continue our series on shows to listen out for on Livewire 945

House of Fear, Thursdays 8pm Spintlegrootunl"is a little known example of English's rich vocabulary, but what can it possibly mean? Suggestions are readily available on "The House of fear", where it has been postulated that the word refers to a shiny wart, growing on the upper side of your·armpit that is vaguely reminiscent of Sue Lawley.

At first when l tuned in to '"fhe House offear", l expected something akin to it's title; a trifle macabre and maybe a tad sinister perhaps. However, it turns out to be Livewire's "official" comedy show, hosted by MC "Fluffy" Lurch, Nick the Axeman and Joel "Happening Boy" Hufford. ''The show is basically a violently sinister blend of humour, excitement, fun, laughter, titillation and sickness" explains Fluffy looking disarmingly normal all the while. And indeed it is, with everything from a recipe corner for cannibals, amazing facts in "lsn 't that phenomenal" to tips on how to increase your word-powder.

There is a basic principle, though, behind the "House" humour, as the Axeman tells me: "There is too much comedy these days which is snide, sarcastic and simply not funny when it' s perfectly possible to be funny and unoffensive". If a little crude perhaps! The style then is definately zany, wacky and without doubt extremely funny. Disconcerting too, as Lurch considers the ritual disembowelling of your cat with an electric tinopener to create a nice pot roast, in wholly suave and debonair tones. As explained, the trio tend to steer clear of satirical humour, pausing only briefly to discuss the recent spate ofbombings in London by the Grimsby Anarcho-Syndicalist and Pigeon-Damagers Democratic Front, Norman Lamont's amazing collection of bathroom fittings or the abrupt end to the rent-strike prompted by the Vice-Chancellor's threat to smack the Executives' bottoms and send them straight to bed.

The team write all their own material; so what makes them tick? "Comedy is whatever makes your trousers vibrate." ventures Lurch. Inspiration apparently comes either in the pub, or at 7.54 on a Thursday night! The Axeman refers back to his previous comment and quotes Benny Hill, Fry and Laurie as possible role models. "Aboutthe funniest guy on TV at the moment is Jeremy Beadle." he adds and their admiration for this comic Messiah becomes instantly tangible in the air.lndeed they are chronicling weekly, Jeremy' s amazing rise to fame, having so far reached the point where Jeremy leaves the evil band of child murderers that had been his family for the past six years to find his first love.

The show boasts more than can be mentioned here and I for one will definately be tuning in next week, if only todiscoverwhat Spintlegrootum actually does mean ! So, as the person in the street would say. "Listen to the House of Fear and prevent your bum falling off!"

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

3

Sabbatical walks out in UGMofarce NlCOLA Sainsbury, the Student Union's Academic Officer, walked out of last Monday's UGM, following some insulting allegations made against her.

She admitted she was "extremely disappointed" by the proceedings of the meeting.

The UGM was the latest in a series ofheadaches for the Union, following its collapse into an inquorate shambles.

Despite a confident start to the third consecutive quorate meeting this term (a record), the meeting ended prematurely withonly3itemsontheagenda

Report by Niall Hampton being addressed, much to the Executive's displeasure.

Before the fiasco set in, the Executive reiterated their belief in the Rent Strike and moved on to debate the Common Course Structure (CCS). Following an amendment by the Socialist Worker Students Society (SWSS), a motion outlining the Union'scautiontowardstheCCS was successfully carried.· This amended motion effectively prevented the Union from employing a salaried member of staff to

provide independent academic advice for students, as they originally intended, although the Union will contmue its efforts to lobby the University over the implementation of the CCS. In addition, the Union will be organising a campaign to illustrate the current cuts in Higher Education.

However, during the CCS debate, heated exchanges between thefloorandExecutivetookplace amidst much heckling. Richard Hewison, Communications Of-

More action with the community TillS WEEK, those who signed up for Student Community Action (SCA) activities back in week 4 should fmally start work on their projects, according to Union Communications Officer, Richard Hewison.

Some of the Union-sponsored projects, including the popular link-up, were unable to begin operations until now, due to paperwork and the fact that the Rag/Student Community Action worker, Beverly Price-Fox, did not take office until last Monday.

The SCAR projects are ongoing and about 100 volunteers have joined up to get involved in adult learning centres, gardening, helping with the homeless and in the Hamlet Centre, hospital visits, Link-up, school read-

By Matt Broersma ing, van driving, playing snooker and visiting the elderly. Beverly explained that although there are only 10 projects on at the moment, she hopes to get a couple more going.

Beverly co-ordinates with Rag, she said "it's early days yet, everyone is really enthusiastic.

Rag is exceedingly well organised, whereas the SCAR-side needs organised. Rag is already well-established and I'll just be providing them with back-up and helping with on-going things".

For Children in Need, Rag organised a pub race starting at the Vine, and 13 pubs later, ended at The Reindeer, Carrots and Peas were rumoured to be involved. December I is World

When the curtains first appeared, a letter was despatched

to the offending room which stated that the curtains must immediately be taken down or the occupant would be thrown out of the Terrace.

The warning was sent by Accommodation Centre Manager Clive Winter in accord-

IBy Nigel Harding I ance with the University's policy to "preserve the uniformity of the external appearance of residences"; the curtains clearly destroying the much-appraised aesthetic beauty of Waveney Terrace.

The curtains were indeed ren1oved, onlytoreappearin another window. The Accommodation Centre communicated the warning once again and the curtains were taken down. They are still believed to be making their way round the building.

claiming that "Ways to make meetings more constructive rather than destructive must be found", addmg that "promoting a better atmosphere with more

representation of women is necessary".

Richard Hewison agrees, addiJig that "If people want to dist1lpt meetings, then it IS h tostopthem. .iftheywant to e UGM's to shout and rant then so be it". A fortheo g meeting of the Studen Forum will be looking into ways of making UGM's mo representative and therefore essdisruptive; in Richard He\ ·son's words, the Union will be "Aiming for a different strategy next term to encoll{Bge previously excluded groups to attend UGMs."

AIDS day to raise awareness WORLD AIDS day will take place across the country and around the world on December 1, seeking to raise awareness, break down prejudices and educate people in safe sex and safe needle practices.

On a more local level the Fightback trust, a national organisation, aimed specifically at the East Anglian region is operating to achieve these aims.

With an emphasis on community commitment and support to those who have contracted AIDS or are HIV positive, the

By Polly Knewstub Fightback trust seeks to educate thecommunityinadditiontoraising funds to provide economic stability for those coping with AIDS related illnesses.

At UEA itself, RAG will be organising a day of action with numerous activities and stunts .

Dr Coathup of the Medical Centre will be getting involveda doctor of wide repute who apparently earned his I 5 minutes of fame by appearing on national television \vith only a condom

and a banana to illustrate his point.

Raising awareness and funds for organisations such as the Terence Higgins trust and the Fightback trust, the day is in a good cause and many people hope it will be a huge success.

The Norwich AIDS helpline number is 762656 and the Fightback trust can be contacted on 531300 for confidential support and advice.

Anyone who feels they can help should also contact these numbers.

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Beverly Price-Fox Aids Day, DrCoathupandmaybe someone from Act-up will be involved and a Sex and ladders game is being organised!

"Now Beverly is in office, things should get started fairly quickly", Hewison said.

The mysterious case of moving curtains A set of net curtains have been spotted moving mysteriously around the windows of Waveney Terrace in recent weeks, much to the chagrin of the Accommodation Centre.

ficer, intervened on several occasions to restore some kind of order, but was largely unsuccessful.

Following the ballot for the election of a representative to the local area NUS the meeting became inquorate, most likely due to intimidatory heckling from a determined minority which caused premature departures.

With no more voting on motions possible, what was left of the meeting dispersed.

Li.zziWatson,CommunityLiaison Officer, is concerned about the state of recent UGM's,

The epidemic has grown to such proportions that the matter is now being discussed at Tuesday Club meetings, the weekly get-together of the University and the Student's Union.

Clive Winter says that the look of the Terrace is not his prime concern. All the fittings of study bedrooms are made fire-proof and the netcurtains are an unnecessary fire-risk. He believes that the UDiversity is putting the safety ofstudents first and hopes the curtain problem will soon be curtailed.

FIVE STAR TAXIS NORWICH

or 619289 or 619280

No extra charge after midnight

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UEA to Thorpe Rail Station: £3.50

4

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

HHC achieves record

Campaign to save Bosnia NUS area have donated £200 to help UEA in their support of the Serious Road Trip - a relief aid organisation, which is hoping to send a convoy of one hundred vehicles to Bosnia on November 30.

Following donations and collections on campus and in town, UEA ' s total stands at £370, but Jacqui Mackay, International Liason Officer, believes: "we should raise at least £500".

It is not only UEA which has joined the " Save Bosnia" campaign, the EDP have already sent out two lorries and three

By Georgina King more are on the way, in their ''Feed the Children" campaign.

Students helped fill tl1ese lorries with relief aid on Saturday.

As Jacqui described, " it was someiliing students wanted to do - to practically help an organi sation doing excellent work" . ll1e event which will gain ilie most publicity, however, will be a football match, on November 29 , between Red Star Belgrade and Sarajevo F.C . The

match, between a Serbian and a Bosnian team, will take place at Anfield, following a charity match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace. It is hoped it will help promote a ceasefire.

As Jacqui says, " this event is backed up by political negotiations and will also be very good at raising ilie nation ' s awareness about what ' s going on".

Jacqui summed up by saying, "everyone can give someiliing". Donations to the "Save Bosnia" campaign can be given to stewards in UH.

No Gantes for UEA students Early next year the Third Millenium Games will begin without the participation of a single UEA student.

The competition, dubbed the "First Olympic Games of knowledge" had been designed as an effort to promote among Europe 's students a greater a warencss ofother peoples, cultures and institutions in the years of European integration.

Why is it that UEA's students are not taking part in this competition, which offers trips to OpioCannes,the Club Med Village in France, Strasbourg, and opportunities to meet Jacques Delors and other prominent Europeans? It appears that the University was informed of this opportunity last year

Re port by Simon Pearlman but have obviously failed to react.

This seems especially ironic since the University has a commitment to the ERASMUS scheme, but evidently little effort has been made to promote this cultural exercise where success would also reflect well on UEA. To date I 000 students from 55 British universities have registered for the Games and will battle through the elimination rounds to the national semi-finals, before joi ning their European counterparts.

The twelve winning teams of five. one team from each EC co untry, will then be regrouped into five teams of twelve where, to avoid nationalistic sentiment, each member will be from a different country.

While the national deadline for registration has passed, the British organiser, Natalie Propper, will still welcome UEA entrants.

It appears that the student body would be receptive as summed up

by Micah Ransom who said, "[ would love to see such a scheme promoted and would be keen to take part."

For more information, contact Natalie Propper at Club Med (071225-1066).

This term ilie Horsham Halls Committee has achieved a record of two quorate meetings, writes Jlicky Whitfield.

The first was attended by 75 students and the second by 40.

The latter, held on November4 , passed a proposal for a voucher scheme at breakfast, which is now being put to ilie University.

Many Fifers residents are dissatisfied iliat tl1ey are obliged to pay £8. 12 a week for a breakfast which iliey do not a! ways eat.

It is now suggested tl1at ilie cost should be ha! ved and tickets be redeemed upon receipt of breakfast. It has also been decided iliat residents may return up to 33% of the original tickets for cash at ilie end oftenn. Also

IBy Matt Broersma I could have hoped for" said Tigger, a director ofNorwich-based 'Reforest the Earth '. "We covered about a third of the MP' s, and most of the Shadow Ministers and senior Ministers, so it' s considerably larger than we expected".

Tigger attributed the lobby' s

success partly to the fact that it was staged on the same day as the presentation oftheAutumn Budget to Parliament, meaning all the MP's were present. Those who sueceeded in contacting their ministers had the opportunity to express their concern about deforestation, Third World Debt, timber self-sufficicncy and other issues.

After each discussion, a corn-

V I E T NA.IIIA ESE

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3. BO XAO MANG (tender

men! form was given to the minister so that he could rel ay his feelings about the Charter's provisions.

The forms will be returned to Reforest The Earth, where they will help gage Government support for environmental issues.

Future actions may include further lobbying and demonstrations toward introducing the Forest Charter as a Parliamentary Bill.

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B R E A K E RS

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Delegates from the National Union of Students met at UEA for the first Regional Conference on Thursday October 12, writes Gill Kara Penn

Fen wick.

plrumed is a petition for a better bus service.

In ilie past ilie only success ilie 1-lliC had was in organising extravaganza parties in K-Block, but under Kara Petm as Chair, tl1e I IHC are at last able to propose improvements for a better life at Fifers (witl1 tl1e help of iliose students who turn up to ilie meetings).

Lorna Fitzsimons, NUS National President, lain Pigg, National Secretary, Martin Lindsay, Vice-President Welfare and Liam Jarnecki , Executive Officer were all present.

Lorna explained iliat tl1e structure of tl1e conferences have changed from an rumual meeting of 900 delegates

By J ulia Smith

-r'FJ'Ufl.~ ~ o~c

THURS 26 NOV

delegates visit UEA

Worn ens Day

Green students lobby MPs FIFTY UEA students spent a day at Parliament to lobby support of the UK Forests Charter on November 12 .

The students joined a gathering of 200 from all across Britain to raise Governmental awareness of environ mental issues. They aimed to debate with their MP's face-toface . "The day was really a tremendous success, better than we

NUS

B R E AKER S

IN AN attempt to promote the safety of women and to highlight key w omen's issues, UEA is holding a Women's Day on Novem ber 25 (VVednesday Week 8).

This is just one event in a much larger campaign which is aiming to create a more positive image for the rights and opinions of women .

Posters advertising the central themes have already been displayed around campus, and the hard-hitting messages are sure to provoke some interest and discussion.

The " No means No" campaign, dea ling with the highly controversial subject of date rape will perhaps be the most discussed as it is an issue which is currently being dealt with on a national level.

Along with this campaign the organisers , notably Shelley Wright, NUS Officer. and Polly Knewstub, a candidate for the post of Women ' s Officer, hopes to be able to educate men in a non-confrontational manner, about how to make women feel safe .

There will be stalls in UH, along with self-defence classes and other p romotional activities in the Bill Wilson Room and rooms !.28 and 1.33.

There will also be workshops for men, a free showing of Thelma and Louise, and a video on abortion.

Additionally, this event coincides with the Irish referendum on abortion and it is hoped that some solidarity will be shown for the women involved in Ireland.

Lorna Fitzsimons which costs about£ 160,000 , to smaller regional delegati ons.

Priorities for the forthcoming year , what they had achieved so far, problems and feedback were all discussed.

Lorna outlined ilie main aims for ilie future; ftrstly to make ilie NUS and Student Unions stronger, secondly to continue ilie process of reform, and fmally, to creat common ownership of ilie NUS and student movement.

At the Conference, thirtynine delegates for ilie National Council were elected, and Richard Hewison, Union Communications Officer was voted to be tl1e East Anglian representative.

Richard said he was very pleased to be involved, ' 'I'm pleased I managed to convince people from oilier colleges to vote for me. I look forward to attending ilie meeting on December 9".

As a representative of the National Council, Richard will be able to comment on what ilie NUS is doing nationally, criticise and if necessary censor and refer back.

Richard said, " I shall enjoy holding ilie National Executive accountable, like students hereholdmeaccountable. lt ' ll be nice being on ilie oilier side ofthe fence for a change".

Lorna Fitzsirnons will be representing ilie NUS on November 26 when she will be appear on ilie BBC's Question Time programme , chaired by Peter Sissons.

She hopes to "get the Union noticed. I want to get a positive message across".

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

5

Changes at NUS go to Disabled the Careers Manchester Awareness Centre ewstub Day Cresswell

By Polly

160 meet on Womens issues Report by Polly Knewstub

Changes at UEAs Careers Centre are afoot. Whilst they will be offering the same services to students their opening hours will be extended to 8 o'clock each evening from Monday to Thursday.

Th.is is due to high demand from students even this early in the academic year.

While there will be no Advisers on hand during the extended hours there will be two Student Advisors available, Maura Grant and Rachel Macklehose.

They will be able to help with any technical problems students may have with using the career centre facilities such as the videos and computers. They will also be on hand to dispense full advice.

In addition to the information available there will be a number of career talks being held this month with representatives from bodies such as the NHS and the police; these will take place on the

16th and 17th ofNovember respectively.

Th.is term there will be two information fairs being held in the LCR, the frrst being concerned with fmance and commerce. There will be representativesfrommostofthecountry's banks and building societies and will be held on the Tuesday of week 7.

The following week will see the science environment fair where scientists' employers will be available to assist students with career aspirations in the field of science. Both events take place in the LCR between 1130 and I 500 hours.

So with the Careers Centre available into the night, well at least the evening, there' s no excuse for not sorting out what you want to do when you leave this bastion of acadernia and how to go about it.

Black law students discriminated against Report by Sanjay Magecha

The Society for Black Lawyers has accused the Council of Legal Education( CL£), which trains students for their bar examinations, ofoperating an exam system which discriminates against Blacks.

This accusation comes after the publication of the resit summer 1992 bar fmal exams for Barristers, where ofthe 300 failed candidates, 200 were Black.

Ofthe 71 passes, only 8 were by Blacks compared with 63 by Whites.

Ademonstration was held outside The Strand, in London in late October, Black bar students were campaigning for an immediate overhaul and review of the current examination system.

According to the Society, around 80% of Black resits and frrst-timers failed the course this year, compared to only 20%failurerateforWhitestudents. Of the Blacks that failed, 98% did so on vide<rrecorded practical exercises such as advocacy and client conferences.

Peter Herbert, the Society's Chairman, said; "The extent ofracism being prac-

tisedattheCLE leaves us in no doubt that a fundamental attempt is being made to block the progress of Black lawyers and prevent them from qualifying as Barristers."

The Society criticised the Councils marking system which they claim relies too heavily upon individual discretion of the practitioner- tutors with little teaching experience.

The Society also claims that the Council is guilty of racism in its admissions policies, which, it said, indirectly discriminates against Blacks.

Passes for the bar fmals are graded on 3 levels; competent, very competent and outstanding. No ethnic minority student was ra led ou!standing, and a white student was four times more likely to be rated very competent.

The CLE's Chairman, Mr Justice Phillips, has asked the Commission for Racial Equality to help with a full review to assess the allegations against the Council.

Wednesday Week 6 saw the Aggregate Womens'Conferance of the NUS. Taking place in Manchester their University House saw the convergance of approximately 160 representatives from Universities as far flung as Aberdeen, Kent and good old UEA. Tackling issues from women killing their husbands after years of physical and psychological abuse to Reproductive Rights the day was divided up into a number of workshops designed to educate and encourage NUS Womens' Officers to promote and campaign for the furtherance of NUS mandates.

Particularly relevant was the

By Amanda

upcoming Irish Abortion Referendum,to take place on the 25th of November, only a day before Irelands General Elections.

Pro-Choicers from around Britain and Ireland will be campaigning to ensure the rights of Irish women and attempt to combat Prolife organisations such as SPUCs' efforts to influence the vote in their favour.

UEA itself will be holding a Womens 1 Day on the 25th November,(Week 8),and in addition to highlighting issues such as womens ' safety and self defense,will be expressing their solidarity with the Pro-choice and pro women movement in Ireland.Elections to appoint a Womens' Officer to the Executive will also take place an the day.

1

A Disabled Awareness Day is to be held on Week 2 of the next term. The Community Liaison Officer, Lizzi Watson,together with Occupational Therapist student Rachel Maskell, initiated this campaign to raise awareness of students with disabilities and to help further improve access and facilities for disabled students.

Pornography

By Jacqui discussed Mackay Over one hundred people met in the Bill Wilson Room in Week 5 to debate the arguments for and against abortion.

This was the first of a series of union debates, organised by ShelleyWrightandJames Tansy, that are being held throughout the term. Their aim is to give students the opportunity to take part in formal debates on issues of controversy, that are attended by national speakers.

The abortion debate was considered by Shelley to be a ''tremendous success, provocative but well-balanced" and resulted in a 30-20 vote in favour of a woman 's right to abortion. Forthcoming debates will raise questions such as whether pornography is erotically stimulating or degrading to women. Sado-masochistic sex (sex that involves an element of consential violence) is also on the agenda for discussion in Week 9.

Richard Hewison (Communications Officer) believes that "at a time when the law seems to be saying you cannot do what you want with your body, it seems relevant for us to address the issue on what limits, if any, there are on what we can do with our own bodies." Do people considerthatwhipping between consenting adults is an acceptable activity? Do we condone the recent jailing of four men for nailingtheirforeskinstoa bench?

If you are interested in discussing these and other issues, the forthcoming debates, are held in the Bill Wilson Room at 10 am each Thursday.

WelfareOfficer, Colin Browning, has already campaigned for better access to the Sports Centre,and is waiting for fmancial approval.

Rachel Maskell,who is partially sighted,is hoping to pressurise UEA to introduce books with enlarged print.

Watson asks for similar students to put forward further ideas for improvement.

She says,"The only way to get

more disabled students to come to UEA is by making improvements."

A planning meeting will be held at 3 o'clock on Monday.

Watson calls for as much help as possible to make this campaign work.

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6

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Features

Norwich or New Orleans?

Sue McManus checks out the jazz bars in our "Fine City" and previews the forthcoming Jazz Festival What is your conception of jazz music?

I know that whenever I think of tl1is particular brand of music, it is of a ye llow taxi cab whistling through New York streets at t11e close of a day. I see a secretive looking man turning up tlle collar on hi s raincoat beneath a strcetli gh t that is graduallydimming. Orperhaps, for you, tlle mystical, black magiea! world of New Orleans is evoked - where jazz becomes a backdrop for sinister happenmgs ...... or carnival frivolity.

Then tlle stereo flicks on· and I realise I am not , in fact, in New Orleans, New York or even Newcastle, but Norwich; on a piece of! and tllat should belong to t11e Netllerlands- Norwich is an appendage - stuck in a cultural landscape devoid of features such as the mellow, rhythmical and sometimes jaunty sounds tllat comprise jazz music. Or is it?

Certainly tllis was tlle conception eleven years ago before Norwich Arts Centre organised tlleir first jazz season. Now in ' 92 and backed by Boswells, tl1e Arts Centre is staging a jazz festival from November 15-29 .

The line-up is certainly compre-

hensive and reflects tlle universal appeal of jazz music.

Ranging from the sedate Stmday afternoon Radio Four-ish Humphrey Lyttleton Band (sorry I lumpy) to Dmmi - billed in tlle blurb as " sensationa l Afrofunkadelic , fusing high-life/ house/ jazz/ jujul funk/ soca/ soukous wit11 funky bass lines, township horns, explosive percussion and sweet, sweet guitar .. ." this season promises appeal to all - from Mr and Mrs Bobble hat and cosy slippers to tlle latest ' hip and happening groover'?

Being a jazz fan myself and hopefully falling somewhere between tl1ese two ill-conceived categories. I' m interested in seeing "Negrocan" from Montevideo and Andy Sheppard, a saxophonist. He is joined at tlle NAC

by Nana Vasconciles, a Brazilian percussionist described by ' The Guardian ' as "a coiled spring of driving rhythm".

The promo hints tllat Festival artists will be ' hanging out ' and maybe jamming at Boswells before and after tlle shows. Tickets, varying in price according to t11e event are available at tlle FestivalTicketshop- The Guildhall, Gaol HilL

However, for t11e rest of tlle year.The Waterfront and Hector's House are two popular jazz venues. I checked tllem out -but only in my ' official' capacity for ' Concrete'!

Any inaccuracies are entirely accidental and not totally unrelated to tlle beverages I had to consmne in order to properly experience these places. A friend remarked tllat "jazz is not jazz witllout a whisky and coke".

Jazz night at U1e Waterfront on a Friday, has changed format slightly. The first difference to hit me was tlle admission fee £3 - last year admission to t11e Zone 3 cafe/bar (where tl1e jazz was staged) was free . However, as a musician at Hector' s House commented, "even jazz is affected by recession".

The studio, next door to tlle cafe, has a bar and is larger, to take the audience tl1at was previously cranll11ed into tlle ratller smaller but more intimate cafe.

The checked table clotlls and candles arc still in evidence but get tllere soon after 9pm if you want a seat.

Despite t11e inllated admission fee, ll1e Waterfront provides entertaining jazz and a

good night out, the entry fee also gives you access to tl1e downstairs section which livens you up after you have mellowed out to U1e jazz upstairs.

For tllose of you who subscribe to tlle Comrnittments' viewtllatjazz is "musical wank" - which breeds a pretentious, rather posy atmosphere, you could be forgiven for having tllis endorsed at Hector's House.

TI1eir jazz night, Monday, has free admi ssion but a ratller strange atmosphere. l11e trio tllat plays tllere \\itll occasional guests - TI1e Three Oscars- is superb. They cater for mainstream tastes but do much to break down tlle ratller designer atmosphere tllat pervades, wherepeopledon ' tdrink, tlley quaff.

TI1e seemingly sophisticated clientele betray tllemselves for what tlley largely are - peanut tllrowing pretty people who , bored witll posing to the music, attempt to Urrow serviettes up to tlle ' olde worlde ' ceiling fans .

I enjoyed tlle jazz here more so tllan anywhere I've visited, yet I would strongly advise going witl1 a large group of friends so tllat you can neutralise t11e uneasy feeling tllat you are back-

PI!OTO:Emma Townsend

stage at ' The Clotlles Show' or worse still , trapped in a lift backstage at ' The Clotlles Show' .

Norwich is revealing itself to be not quite as barren a 'jazzscape ' as it first appeared.

Whether you ' re into acid jazz, Billie Holiday, or Humphrey Lyttleton you ' ll find sometl1ing to satisfy your taste.

The music is generally superb

Two's company - or When applying to UEA, many students are influenced by the fact that their first year accommodation is guaranteed.

Most envisage t11emse!ves in tlleir own private room, surrounded by tl1eir own personal belongings, and not many stop to consider tlmt tl1is might not be tlle case. Thus, when a card arrives tlrrough tl1e door armouncing tl1at you ' re to share a room, it's a bombshell message which can shatter expectations. In total

Vicki Whitfield examines the problem of shared accommodation at university

... your roommate comes straight from your worst nightmare ... tllere are I 04 shared rooms in UEA residences. TI1is may not seem an extreme amomlt, but if you are one oftllose sharing and your room-mate comes straight from your worst nightmare, tllen tlle problems of shared accommodation become much more apparent. What has surprised

asked at tlle Accommodation Office why tllere was no such questionnaire, tlle answer was " we simply don ' t have tlle staff to cope \vitlllhat sort of tlling."

It would also seem tl1at witll tlle problems of clearing and tlle influx of undergraduates, it is a problem enough to arrange accommodation, let alone what type it may be. But whenever it is possible, tlle Office does its best to at least match up people from t11e same school of study. Unforttmately, tl1is does ·not always happen. One student of Art His-

"we simply don't have the staff to cope with that sort of thing" PHOTO: Caroline Kiepels most students is tllat no real effort has been made to try and prevent a clash of character. It seems a common practice of many universities to provide a questionnaire that helps establish common interests, yet tllis is not

practised here .

Also ignored is tlle more serious issue of smoking. It has happened beforenowtllatsmokers and non-smokers have been paired up, which can cause conflict from tlle begirming. When

tory was originally sharing \\~tll a science student, and tlle differences in personalities caused problems fortllem botll. However, Ulls ended when one oftl1em dropped out and tlle oilier was given a single room. Still, tllere are otllers who aren ' t so lucky. One student I spoke to is presently suffering from stress, and believes Ulls to be

and tlle atmosphere convivial, altllough your fellow customers should not be a deciding factor.

If you tend to view jazz reverently (as l confess I do) tllen an tmappreciati ve audience is annoying but not devastating.

As soon as tl1e music suffuses around you, you' ll be in New Orleans and Nonvich will seem far away .... ..

•

•t?• IS I.

related to tlle fact tllat his roommate is his complete opposite

... 80°/o of these students become good friends and are grateful that their weekly rent is £6-£8 cheaper. and he carmot relax in his room.

Fortunately t11is problem is not overly common. On average about 80% of t11ese students become good friend s and are grateful t11at tl1eirweekly rent is £6-£8 cheaper. Yet for t11e ones unable to get on \vitll tlleir partner, life is not so sweet. It is difficult enough

... smokers and non-smokers have been paired up ... to settle into university, \vitllout Ulls additional complication. For students who are sharing and are

experiencing tllis problem, tl1ere are various lines of help available. The Welfare Office Service is open, and for tllose \\~sh­ ing to change to a single room, tlle Deputy Dean of Students (Linda Shepherd) should be contacted. It was also suggested at tlle Accommodation Office tllat

... the Accommodation Office have said that they are trying to introduce a questionnaire ... switching rooms would be easier at tlle beginning of next term, as

by Ulls time tllere will be spare rooms from students who have dropped out.

Also, to prove t11ateverycloud does have a si! vcr lining, tlle Acconrrnodation Ofiice have said tllat tlley are trying to introduce a questionnaire for next year' s students.

Hopefully tllis should prevent any such future problems.

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

Features

7

Special Student Offers

Mafia in our midst

from

Niall Hampton reports on the inner circle ofUEA's Creative Writing course mass times light velocity squared limited Recent media attention has focused once again on the activities of the ubiquitous "UEA Mafia". So far this year, a spate of coverage in the quality papers including various articles and a cartoon series has kept this subject firmly in the public eye.

But what exactly is this "UEA Mafia" anyway? A gang of students running a protection racket for illicit TV' s on campus? Or a covert operation to disrupt UGM's?

Hardly. Academic staff are well aware that the "UEA Mafia" is in fact an invention ofthe media, which has been in 'existence' for some time now. However, for the uninitiated, the "UEA Mafia" refers to the literary circle centred around the postgraduate Creative Writing course, taught by Malcolm Brad bury, famous author and EAS professor.

The Creative Writing course is offered by EAS and is now in its 22nd year; graduates from it include Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McE wan, who have both gone on to win the Booker Prize. The media allege that one can graduate from the course, have a book published and then win the Booker Prize- all in three easy steps. An article in the Sunday Times earlier this year showed this supposed process in action using Kazuo Ishiguro's Booker Prize winning novel "The Remains of the Day" as its example.

According to them, Ishiguro's book only won the Booker Prize because of the existence of the UEA Mafia. The 1989 Booker panel included Maggie Gee and Helen McNeill asjudges (both UFA graduates), and was chaired by David Lodge(EAS 's Creative Writing Fellow in 1977), who they point out is a close friend of Malcolm Brad bury.

The article added cynically that the above named literati claimed to have chosen the book on its merits when judging it; they also accused Bradbury of giving his former students consistently favourable reviews, " .. .helping to turn them into literary stars."

It appears that the media certainly have a dislike for UEA' s literary alumni.

Last week, an article by Louise Doughty (as yet an unpublished author) in The Guardian, portrayed Malcolm Brad bury et aJ as being a ".. gang of poisonous academics

5,pocJri135~ if1fJ SrwrpxerJ®r ScJceJilftJtl!icc S:ohriJI\e (Try saying that quickly after a pint or two!} :·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:·:·:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:-:-:-:-:-:-:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:-:-:-:·:·:·:·:·:·

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Malco/m Bradbury with a stranglehold on English letters ... well known for giving each other brilliant reviews and handing out enormous prizes".

The poison pen was also scratching away in the Sunday Telegraph, which claimed that the UEA Mafia were " ... corrupting the young with their stilted approach to literature."

Yet such literary 'networking' is commonplace; other "mafiosi" or cliques operate around the publishing houses and quality newspapers.

Of these, the Granta Set is particularly notorious. Its members include, amongst others, writers such as Martin Amis and the publisher Bill Buford. Supposedly, Amis reviews books written by Buford's friends in an attempt to stamp an air of literary credibility on them; in return, each timeAmissneezeshe is reviewed (literally).

So if this practice is so widespread, why does UEA's "Mafia" receive so much bad press?

Louise Doughty (also a UEA graduate) offers some reasons, stating that: " ... the UEA course be-

lieves that raw talent can be honed even if you haven't been to Oxbridge, haven't got a famous writer for a father and don't have an uncle in publishing .. .", adding that" ...no wonder the literary world is quaking in its boots." (Just who was she alluding to there, Martin?)

Whatever the precise reasons, the merest mention of "Malcolm Bradbury", "Booker" or "UEA" in swift succession these days seems to encourage tirades of cynicism amongst the established literati.

Unfortunately, Professor Bradbury was abroad and unavailable for comment at the time of going to press, so the speculation over the activities (and the very existence) of the "UEA Mafia" will have to continue, at least for the time being.

Despite the controversy surrounding the Creative Writing course and the "UEA Mafia", last year's graduates are featured in a forthcoming anthology of prose which is reviewed elsewhere in this issue on page 16.

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Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

9

Features

Alternative Lifestyles at UEA Morally wrong or mental illness? Hwee Hwee Tan asks students about their opinions and researches into what some might call an "alternative lifestyle" A spectrum of views were given when students at UEA were asked about this alternative lifestyle - most people felt that it was normal and natural, but there were others who felt it was moraUy wrong or that it was a form of mental illness or that it was a perversion of nature.

Some felt that the desire for this lifestyle was due to genetic reasons, while others felt that it was the product of the culture the person was in. This alternative lifestyle is homosexuality.

The options given above came from interviews with heterosexual people. Homosexuals who were interviewed expressed disagreement with some of the above-mentioned views. Unfortunately, no lesbian or bisexual student replied to the questionaire sent out by ' Concrete' and so the following views come specifically from gay men.

One homosexual who was interviewed, admitted that scientific research has not given sufficient evidence to determine whether homosexuality is caused by genetic reasons or activated by an act of the will.

Jim Hickman, the new Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Rights Officer, believes in what he calls the "gay spirit", the belief that he was a homosexual from birth due to this spiritual reason.

Anotheropposingviewgiven from some heterosexuals was the belief that ' gay pride' was unjustified, in the sense that being a homosexual is not an achievement,asopposedtogetting a first-class degree.

Jim Hackman feels that gays

have every right to be proud, in that he feels that since they have been oppressed for so long and that they have staged arduous campaign for acceptance, they have every right to be proud that they are gay.

Jim hopes to continue this campaign as the new Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Rights Officer, byeducatingpeopleabout homosexuals via handouts and posters, helping in demonstrations for gay rights and attending national conferences for homosexuals to keep in touch with new developments.

So what does the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Society actually do? Besides it' s social functions eg organising parties, it aims to provide a safe environment for lesbians, gays and bisexuals to explore their sexuality.

It also conducts safe sex workshops and self-defense classes geared specifically against the type of attacks a homosexual might encounter.

The Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual helpline is an information service operated on Mondays from 8pm- 1Opm, giving information on clubs, interest groups but the helpline is not qualified to give counselling.

All the heterosexuals interviewed felt that homophobia was not a problem at UEA and this view is supported by the gays who feel that UEA is more accepting ofhomosexuals than the rest of the country. Some people expressed the idea that certain macho 'rugby types' in the university might be homophobic.

However, when asked about this, a first team member of the UEA' s rugby club denied it,

pointing out that last year one of the first team players on the rugby team was gay. "We might slag you about it," he said concerning the rugby team' s view on homosexuals, "but what you do is your own business."

Homophobia at UEA seems to exist at the level of this "slagging off'. Some students said that they hear homophobic comments on a regular basis but they emphasize that none of these remarks would ever escalate to violence.

Most people also felt that the faculty and the University administration would not discriminateagainsthomosexuals m anyway.

Though UEA has a more tolerant attitude to homosexuals than in other places in England, most students said if they were gay, they would be very reluctant to acknowlegde that in public. They felt that homosexuals are treated differently at UEA, that if you were gay, men might not want to be seen with you, for fear of others interpreting that they might be gay or effuninate. They also felt that females would feel more comfortable because they felt that when they were around homosexuals, they would not be seen as sexual prey.

One gay man interviewed believes that gay men tend to form closer relations with women than heterosexual men and the fact that he has a very good female fiiend might be partly due to his sexuality.

Though gay people may be reluctantto 'come out', the gay men whom I interviewed felt that being 'out' helped reduce homophobia and that people

were less likely to insult you if they felt that you were certain and proud of your sexuality.

Jim Hickman feels that it is important for homosexuals in prominent positions to come out because there is a belief that homosexuals are a "separate group ...cut off from society" and he feels that if prominent homosexuals stood up for their sexuality, people would see that homosexuals were an integral sexual activity.

Aids is a disease which has been linked with homosexuals and those homosexuals interviewed expressed their dissatisfaction at it being seen as a gay plague.

They agreed that Aids has made them adopt safer sex practices and one of them says that he feels envious whenever he hears 'wild' stories of what his older homosexual fiiends used to get up to, which he carmot participate in because of the threat of Aids.

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Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Features

Arthur Miller - Fa ling on his Bottoms Keeley Smith looks at the Drama Society's end of term extravaganza, which is not your average Christmas panto ...

Take America's most distinguished playWTight, his most unusual play, eleven actors who are never allowed to leave the stage, and UEA's most notorious director, shake it all up with weird music and a dash of humour, and what do you get? The DramaSociety'smostambitious production to date: Arthur Miller' s "After the Fall."

This production, at the Se well Barn Theatre in Week Nine, is the Society's headline show for the term, and is hoping to draw in crowds from all across Nor-

The outlook on the thespian horizon was bleak... Then along came Steve Bottoms wich. After attracting a record membership at this year's SocMart, the Drama Society has run all sorts ofevents, from workshops to theatre trips, to a modem interpretation of "ll1e Importance of Being Earnest" (in the Chaplaincy, Week Eight).

This is all a far cry from this time two years ago when the

outlook on the thespian horizon was bleak, to say the least. Then along came Steve Bottoms, a postgraduate in American theatre, who kick-started the Society by directing a whole series of plays , from Marlowe ' s " Faustus" to hi s own scripts.

Last term, his bizarre black comedy, "Cut-OfT Point," was de-

But how do you stage something that all takes place in someone's mind scribed by Concrete as "an outstanding success." "After the Fall" is Steve ' s final production here, and one he has been planning for over four years.

So why "Afterthe Faii"?'Tm really interested in two kinds of plays," says Steve, "the type that are great fun to watch, and very theatrical , and the type that have a Jot of ideas behind them.

Usually a play is one or the other: I think "After the Fall" has the potential to be both. It breaks away from Miller' s usual strict realism, because it' s all set in this guy's head, and it can get pretty manic !"

But how do you stage something that all takes place in someone' s mind? "Well, what I' ve done is to put the whole cast on stage all the time, so even when they' re not being a character in Quentin ' s memory, they can be his moods, his conscience, whatever. " [n addition, the show has recruited a quintet ofexperienced strings players to add to the atmosphere with specially written music. " "After the Fall," which was written in 1964, deals with the confusion of a man who has been through two divorces, interrogation by the Commw1ist witchhunts of the fifties , and a visit to a deserted German concentration camp. Quentin ' s mind mixes all these ingredients up, but finally ties them together with the disturbing idea that nobody is innocent (hence the title - " the fall" as in Adam and Eve). That sounds pretty grim, but the play is also quite furmy, especially when Steve has thrown in his usual quota of cartoon characters.

The contents make it clear that ti1is is Miller' s most autobiographical play. So where does Marilyn Monroecomeup? "Well basicall y, she ' s Maggie , Quentin 's second wife," Steve admits, "but we' re trying not to make a big deal out of that! I

want the play to focus on Quentin ."

Quentin is played by third year Luke Boulton, who has played several major roles at UEA since starring as Doctor Faustus eighteen months ago.

Luke sees it as his most challenging role yet, and an interesting progression from his last part as Humbert Humber! in an adaptation of Nabakov's Lolita.

The cast also features a lot of people acting at UEA for the

frrst time, including Marye van Driem, a Dutch visiting student, who landed the part of Holga, a German! (so much for type-casting!). As if it isn't hard enough memorising lines in a second language, Marye admits ti1at the rehearsal process has been very bewildering: "ll1ere seemed to be weeks of workshops witi1 us all making furmy noi ses and crawling around on the floor. It took me a month to see the pieces starting to fit together. "

The Cannabis Awareness Society Min Hesketh continues Concrete's look at unusual and alternative societies At 12 pm last Friday, a small infonnal meeting was held deep in the maze of Union offices, to discuss the agendas and 'constitution' of the newest student society ... the ... " Well, we initially thought of calling it the Legalise Carmabis society but we ' re now decided upon the Cannabis Awareness Society," the new founder, Keith Graham , arinounced.

Over fift y people have signed already, and by far the majority of ti1em didn ' t know about its initial forun until a few hours before.

I myself was sitting in the Hive when the word was spread: "Are you interested? We just need a few more names to make it official. "

Over fifty people have signed up already Well obviously, smoker or not, it grabs your attention: fade away the cup of coffee. Write ofT yet another lecture. I raced up ti1e stairs to fmd out what their concerns were to set up a society, and what their goals were, if indeed the y had any.

' Legali sation 'comes to mind straight awa y, and ri ghtly or WTongly this is a much discussed ISSUe. "I' m a member o f th e C .L. C .I.A- Campaign fo r ti1e Legalisation of Cannabis [nternational Association ... ."

"I' ve never heard of it. " " .... Well they' ve only been goi ng since 1989, but where they have established themselves, in England, on Magdalen Street in Norwich for example, they' re quite well known . You sec they' re more concerned with pressurising Government Departments and media bodies than with advertising to individual people. But we want to promote awareness here."

Students have never been so well informed about drugs and their abuse- thanks mainly to the carefree days of the Sixties and Seventies, and the figures of abuse and addiction, of the Class A drugs in particular, especially in America. " You see that' s the problem.

Yousaidit. It'sawareness," Mr. Graham replied. " You need to know where the line is drawn; I mean the D.E.A. (Drug Enforcement Agency - commonly believed to be a corrupt organisation) see Cannabis as a Schedule I drug, with Heroin, and see Cocaine as a Schedule 2 one.

"I mean people get addicted to Cocaine and take lethal overdoses very easily." " Onl y psyc holog icall y, though."

"Cocaine is officially documented as a dependant drug and look what it does. Crumabi s comes fr om He mp , .. .. " " I know." " .... hemp has been used since it was found to make ropes essential in their strength for rigging on ships; it ' s still used today. Some people with G lycoma, that ' s a sort of eye disorder that leads to blindness, have been prescribed in America to smoke crumabis- it ' s the only ti1ing to reduce it. I've heard they ' ve found an oil, extracted from cannabis is being experimented with for a possible cure for Multiple Sclerosis- interesting, eh? "Listen, only soya beans have more protein ti1an cannabis plants/ hemp- think of that for an alternative to soya beans and not only for vegetarians. Its yield is staggering! I've got a list of amino acids in soya beans and a friend is compiling a list of the proportions in cannabis, so ti1at we can compare the results.

"All these are obvious reasons," he stressed, " for not only the legalisation of cultivation but also of decriminalisation of possession- in a way ti1ey amotmt

to the same thing, but you see what we' re driving at. " On a more serious note, they have already submitted a fonn of the newl y appointed official s, and in some cases they are already

A lot of people are expected to join ... we've had overwhelming support experienced in their designated fields.

"A lot of people are expected to join: we need lots of officers and a respectfully communicative newsletter. We haven ' t advertised yet but we ' ve had overwhelming support. Initially we were worried about people associating subscription with the ' hippy-like' image about as eccentric as the Government' s present attitudes. People are aware that cannabis is as socially acceptable as, I suppose, a combi.nation of smoking and getting drunk. "ll1e C.L.C .I.A. has scores of supportive lawyers - this is something we want to stress and by the time we open our account we hope to have pro-

duced the society' s cards wi th telephone numbers to ring lawyers and others who can help you out if you get into trouble for ru1y reason : we ' re working ti1at out at the moment. " The liaison offi cer will be in charge of keeping up a contact with other un iversities witi1 similar ideas and a survey will take place soon in week eight, nine or ten and/or at the beginning of next term to assess people ' s ideas of the pros ru1d cons of crumabis and to get a general idea of the subscription figures.

"A Debating Society meeting may hopefully be held," he concluded to the now thirty of us present, " and, if so, the BBC will televise the proceedings ."

It costs 拢2 .00 to join ti1e society, and its early days are not reflected in ti1e speed witi1 which they gained their initial support and set up ideas for their ' constitution ' . After their gig last Friday, Galliano said ti1at they supported the taking of drugs: "We like drugs," Glinn, the tour manager answered, "give us more! " ThenewSocietiesOfficer, Luke Hargreaves, also showed his support for the newest society: "Look out for a friend ' s newsletter ru1d turn up at the next designated meeting - if only to understand the goals behind their ideas," he said.

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111ere seems to be a strong cast spirit in rehearsals, and however odd some of the ti1ings they have been asked to do, the cast have enjoyed themselves greatly, and trusted Steve from the beginning: "It' s basically a confidence game," he says, " You pretend you know what you' re doing and they do \\hat you ask.

More fool them, really. Directing is really just making it up as you go along! " More seriously, Stcve feels that the play, though written in ti1e SlXttes, is very relevant today: "A lot of the conflicts in the world today, like the riots in Los Angeles tlu s year, or the Serbian

It takes more than pretty posters round campus to persuade your average punter crisis, seem to me to be made worse by tl1e insistence of people on boti1 sides of the argument ti1at they are completely in the right, completely innocent, ru1d that whatever happens is theotl1er side 's fault. "After the Fall " deals with public and private issues, and points out that in both, there is nothing that' s just black and wlute like that. Miller is saying that it' s only when we try to face ti1ings togeti1er, as human beings who know we ' re severely flawed, that we ' re going to solve anything."

But this is still just a play, of course! Most of us have to be fairly convinced ti1atsomething' s worth seeing before we give up a night down the pub or in front of the telly.lt takes more than pretty posters round campus to persuade your average punter! But ti1e Drama Society' s recent trackrecord suggests that this one might be worth skipping Coronation Street for.. ..

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

11

~~~~~~~~~~~~~JFeatures~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first green University?

Matt Broersma investigates the reasons for the lack of recycling facilities at UEA and what is being done to rectify th~s problem Everwondered why the university's only recycling collection site lies somewhere out in the uncharted regions behind the Sports Centre?

Or why there's only one recycling depot serving the plain anyway? Evernoticed t he masses of newspr int, leaflets and flyers that make their way into the rubbish along with all the recyclable bottles and cansevery week?

Or eaten out of a Breakers polystyrene burger container?

These are just a few examples of what many consider the university' s environmental carelessness. As the two year anniversary of the first serious Union environmental impact report approaches, UEA is coming under new scrutiny by its students and by the Union, and many feel it's time for new action.

"UEA isn't the first green university," says .

Union International Liasons Officer JacquiMackay bluntly The report, optimistically entitled "UEA: The First Green University?" and distributed

to the University Council, among other administrative bodies, in January of 1990, included point-by-point recommendations on how the University could improve its performance in recycling, energy conservation. environmentally responsible cleaning practices, and other areas. In the two years since, what, if anything, has changed?

Only hard work, cunning, and probably a fair amount of luck will bring about any results at all To begin with, there should be no illusions about a golden success. "UEA isn't the first green university," says Union International Liaisons Offi~r Jacqui Mackay bluntly.

While a few improvements have been made overall, such as the switch to recycled paper for all Union publicity, and the heat~fficiepcy measures incorporated into the new residences, it may not be a surprise to learn that most of the report' s recommendations have been ignored or put off indefinitely.

For example, a suggestion reads, "This would mean... that the Coffee Bar ceased to

PHOTO: Caroline Kiepels use plastic cups for drinks...

Against such opposition that 'Breakers' replaced its from the university, motions polystyrene burger containers passed in the Union, like the with cardboard ones." three the Environmental AcAnyone who has eaten at tion Group introduced at last Breakers lately can tell you week's UGM, canbe expected exactly what percentage of 路to have limited effect without cardboard goes into their some other form of support, and the organization of this burger boxes. support will likely fall to the Coinc~~-en~~lly, . ~Aq. Formed ~ the R.a!.~-

"none at all" also represents the numbet of can-recycling bins in the University square and the residences Coincidentally, "noneatalr' also represents the number of can-recycling bins in the university square and the residences.

Last year, several such bins were located around the square, but during the summer term problems arose.

'They were really overflowing, and they were full of rotten beer," said Jason Irons, Communications Officer last year. Deciding that such a description should only apply to hung-over students, the Grounds department carted them off, according to the Superintendent of Grounds.

11tisyeareffortstoreplace the bins have met with resistance; a news release, dated November 5th, from Chief Engineer and Buildings Officer Brian Mitchell, states that such measures are now against "the university' s policy".

forestActionGrouplastyear, and rechristened last month, thP- group plan to stage a series of awareness campaigns targeted at recycling, rainforests conservation, Third World debt relief, fair trading and other issues, according to secretary Mark Gordon.

But all concerned are aware of the potential for substm:-

tial failure: look at the outcome of the 1990 report.

Only harcJ work, cunning, and probably a fair amount of luck will bring about any resuits at all.

To hear Mark Gordon talk, the members ofEAG, at least, are ready. "It's really a matter ofpersistence... I think it's certainlyworthaseconde:o."

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Concrete, we'dnesday, November 25, 1992

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14

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

Interview路

Growing fonder of Fonda After five years of playing supporting roles, Bridget Fonda has finally won star status playing a computer software designer terrorised by her live-in lodger. In "Single White Female" (which opened in the UK on November 20) Fonda shares top billingwithJennifer JasonLeigh, . as a successful but insecure career woman who, after breaking up with her boyfriend, advertises for a roommate to share her apartment and gets someone who tries to move in on her life.

It appears an unlikely scenario but, as Fonda explains, the story has its roots in real relationships between women. "One of the things that I found very exciting about the whole idea was that when girls form quick friendships,they get right down to intimacy in a very short space of time.

"You have a blind faith . that the person is someone you can trust, who will feel to become her. To this end of . the same way you do and will becoming Allie's double, she be normal like you are. That copies her hair-style and chic instantbondingislikeamergdress sense and ultimately tries to take her place.

"Jennifer and I So identical do the two acdidn't know starting tresses appear in some scenes that even the film crew had out that we would difficulty telling them apart. look so similar "Jennifer and I didn't know we' re very different 路 starting out that we would types - but once we lookso similar," says Bridget. had our hair cut and "We' re very different types: she had long blonde hair and dyed, there'd be a mine was medium length and split-second double brownish. But once we had our haircut and dyed, and had take where you'd the exact same make-up on, think there was a sitting opposite one another mirror across the there' d be a split-second double-take where you'd think hall" tll.ere was a mirror across the ing of two people, and when hall." one of them wants to go away Fonda and Leigh themusually the other person can selves became closer as filmcope with it, maybe has their ing went on (apparentlyit was feelings hurt, but then finds no obstacle that Fonda's boyanotherfriend and it's okay." friend, actor Eric Stoltz, is an "lt'slikeachildish 'gimme, old flame of Leigh's). As gimme' thing that girls have, Fonda tells it, "Because of the they have their best friends intensity ofthe scenes and the thattheyloveandalwayswant satisfaction of doing them to spend time with, and then well, we became like eo-conthey just move on and leave spirators. There's a rapport that person behind. It hap- you get when you're working pens so much in young girls with another actor who's reand then you grow up and ally good, and you get excited learn not to treat people so by it and want to be better for poorly." them. You have a mounting Themovie'stwist,ofcourse, feeling ofbeing part ofsomeis that Hedra (Leigh) isn't thing together." satisfied with just being 'Single White Female' is friends with Allie unusual for a thriller in hav(Fonda)... she actually wants ing two female protagonists,

Hollywood royalty, Bridget found her family name more of a hinderence than a help when she started at drama school. "I felt the same as everyone else in class: I w~ there to learn, I didn' t know anything and I didn' t pretend to know anything. But I was looked at by a lot of people as ifI was born with knowledge.

There's no gene that you' re born into that meansyouknow how to act; you only know by exploring who you are. I wanted to be part of the pack and I felt a little ostracised."

Daughter of ' Easy Rider' star Peter Fonda, nieceofJane and grand-daughter ofHenry, Bridget was neither encour-

she does or does not do that is at the core of the cinematobrings this all upon her." Di- graphic experience: being in rector Barbet Schroeder (who a dark room and looking at a guided Jeremy Irons to an Os- star on the screen and wantcar in 1990's 'ReversalofFor- ingto be that person. So Hedy tune') has his own reasons for is in a position which is psywhat drew him to the story. chologically very similar to that of a movie spectator."

"If you ask around, it's extremely common for a young The film was an extremely woman to imitate another one, demanding one to m.aKe, and and this is one of the reasons Fonda took physical training why I thought it would be lessons to prepare herself for exciting to do a thriller in the climatic scenes of violent which the premise was-based confrontation. Some brief nude scenes might also have upon this phenomenon. "In been a problem, but Fonda every girl who is looking for 路has learned to be philosophiher personality, it's very corncal about them, having apmon that she looks for a model peared naked in several preshe wants to copy, especially movies, including her vious when it's a question of ap"I feel first, 'Aria' (1987). pearance, which is so important for a woman in our soci- that you have to be very careety. So it's absolutely normal ful about nudity, why you choose to do it, what it's for and -who you do it for. It's "Because of the intensity of the kind of embarrassing, but for scenes and the satisfaction of doing the most part I don't have a problem with it. I was much them well, we became like eofreer with it earlier on in my conspirators. There's a rapport career, and then I got kind of burned a few times-I felt you get when you're working with used, and that really changed another actor who's really good." the way I felt about doing nudity infilms. Italsohelpsif appear to be the less showy of that a girl goes through a fash- you're working with somethe two roles. "I wanted to ion magazine looking for a one whose work you respect, play Allie because it wasn't model or finds one in real life, and with Barbet I knew that I really clear who she is. I but of course when it's some- was not going to be a tittilating thought it would be interest- one like the Jennifer Jason little nothing. It's always ing to play someone who in Leigh character wanting ac- tough, but it does make it some ways is the traditional tually to become another per- easier if you trust th~ person victim, but who is not blame- son, then you've got a prob- at the helm." As a third-genless : she sets herself up. Iem." "This idea that you eration member of an acting There's a series ofthings that want to become someone else dynasty that belongs among with male characters reiegated to supporting roles.

"This is a film where the leads are women," says Fonda, "sothereforemenplay the traditional girl parts, whi~h are always just kind of-there, withnothingtodo.

Like the hero's wife who's there just to show that he's married and not gay. Here the women take up most of the time ofthe film; their characters are very full."

Talking to journalists at a London press conference to launch the Bristsh release, Fonda-who has also appeared in 'Shag', ' Scandal', 'Doe Hollywood' .and 'The Godfather Part ill' -explains why she chose what might

Daughter of 'Easy Rider' star Peter Fonda, niece of Jane and grand-daughter of Henry, Bridget was neither encouraged nor discouraged by her family to act aged nor discouraged by her family when she wasbittenby the acting bug while appearing in a high-school play at theageofl6. "Ithinkmydad was flattered, though: it's a compliment when your child grows up and wants to do what you do. But he didn't push me into it." As for Bridget's own role models: "When I was little my idol was Julie Christie. She came over to our house one day when my dad was working with Warren Beatty and that was my earliest recollection of someone who I thought was a goddess, a wonderful human being, just so full of life. As far as acting goes, Barbara Stanwyck is someone I personally love, and often I watch her films over and over again to see how she said something or how she moves." Butbeinginthebusiness changes the way you perceive movie stars, Fonda says, as you learn to see them less as idols than as fellow workers.

"After awhile, once you're doing it yourself, you want to meet them because they did a good job, and you think, ' What an interesting choice,I wonder what the person is like?' I'm not really objective in that area anymore."

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

15

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO...

...WHAT'S ON WHERE

''I want to Shonen Knife are not your average rock band. For a start they are female (not so unusual), but more unusually thlm that they are Japanese. Very Japanese.

Forget rock songs about sex. drugs and rock and roll. Forget stage diving and p(>sing for the crowd. Forget jeans and leather jackets.

The three members ofShonen Knife bounced onto the stage at the WaterfrontlastThursdaywith huge grins on their faces, and brightly coloured shirts miniskirts on their five-foot-nothing bodies. They then inunediately thanked the crowd for coming, and launched into their first song "Cycling is Fun". As they played (quite competently), the. crowd threw sweets in appreciation.

Throughout the chorus, and as if to reinforce the bizarre nature of the whole song they rang bicycle

Report and pictures by Steve Howard bells attached to their specially lowered microphone stands.

Shonen Knife' s recent press interest is undoubtedly due to their novelty value, but listening to the band live and talking to them showed that there is more to Shonen Knife than cute little girl smiles.

Speaking before the show, lead singer. and songwriter Naoko Yamano explained how, tired of factory jobs ten years ago, she and sister Atsuko (drums) and ex-schoolfriendMichieNakatani (bass) decided that the life of rock stars was for them. ("We wanted to start something interesting... we could make cycling team or rock band").

After talking to Shonen Knife it soon became quite clear that there is real thought in their mu-

sic, held back only by a poor understanding ofEnglish. On the meaning ofthe bands name, they explained "Shonen means boy.. we bought paper knife to open paper.. their is a brand name Shonen Knife.. boys have very cute feelings .. and knife has very strange feeling.. so when cute and strange gather together it became very interesting."

The main philosophy behind ShonenKnife though didn'tneed words to explain it - it is about having fun.

For the entire length of their forty-five minute set, the smiles never left their faces. They sung about wanting to be a cat ("all of ushaveeachcat..Iwanttobelike cat because cat doesn't have to work at office") in "lAmA Cat" and about bison "When I went to

ea cat'' the zoo in Japan.. thet'e is a bisons cage.. I felt sorry for bison") in ''Bear Up Bison". The 200 plus crowd beamed back at them in genuine and unrestrained happiness.

Todays image conscious media willl fear soon tire ofShonen Knife.

They haven't published nude photos of themselves (as far as I know}, nor do they seem likely to get arrested for smashing up hotels or bedding their groupies.

Their music is refreshing though.. the kind of thing you should have on the Walkman to bring a smile to your face when life is letting you down. IfShonen Knife sink without trace (or simply return to Japan where they are inunensely popular) it will be a great shame.! have never seen a band or an audience have so much fun in ages.

~T An alternative night out?

Could 'Slam' be the place to go for students before long. or perhaps it is already. Opposition to Peppermint Park could be eminent; Wednesday October 18 5aw the opening of an alternative night out, held at the notably seedy Le Valbon on Prince ofWalesRd. Full of students, it could almost have been a small LCR. but after 2 minutes you realised it was nothing like it - for a start the Art History students were out in clones...

With a variety of student DJ's changing nearly every halfhour, the music went from reggae, dub and funk while a few were sitting and chatting. but as the crowds began to arrive, the atmosphere and dance floor hotted up to Hip Hop, Swing and House.

GuestDJ, BazzfromCambridge, concentrated on Hip Hop and Swing. and UEAstudents, Ed, Chris, Jeriy, Stcve, Fran, Tim, Emily, Nick, and David provided a string of musical

sounds, different from any other night out offered ill Norwich.

Basically, 'Slam' is organised by students for students, butnotexclusively, since for. the next date, it is also being promoted in the city maybe 'Slam' should be linked to the Community Iniative Scheme!

Three out of the four organisers arc first years who wanted something different, being unimpressed withPcppcrmintPark, theLCRand Manhattans. Shola Ojora and Abi K felt that the opening night was "good, wegotagoodresponscfrom the crowd".

One ofthe DJ's described it as "a very enjoyable evening" and a 3rd year said, "there was excellent music but the atmosphere was lacking".

On the whole though, most thought the atmosphere was excellent, music- very good according to tastes, and the evening a success: it will be continuing.

The only faults I found about the

night was the expense, entry was ÂŁ3 and drink prices were outrageous!

However, Shola explained that as far as drinks go, there was supposed to be a promotion, but when they arrived it had not been organised: he promises "we' re working on it for next time".

The organisers- I was told- were not out to make a profit on the evening, but to have a different night out. They only broke even on Wednesday but Abi and Shola explained "we've now got the crowd so next time it might be cheaper. It costs us quite a lot to hire out the club, but it's not the money, just a good place to go".

'Slam' will be held every fortnight on Wednesdays, the next being October 2nd. Although Nick Turner (the 2nd year organiser) described the venue as "nice, small enoughbutwithagooddancefloor'', they arc looking for alternative venues for next term.

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

Rapid Fire Single White Female

Following the tremendous success of "The Silence of The Lambs", psychological thrillers have, it seems, become all the rage.

An epidemic of psychos is ravaging Hollywood, absorbing every walk of life, from nannies to policemen. "Single White Female", another 路 of these thrillers, is however far better and more interestingthan many ofits predecessors.

Bridget Fonda plays career womanAllieJones, who kicks out her two-timing fiancee, Sam, and afraid of being alone, advertises for a flatmate.

EntP1' l-fedy (Jennifer Jason

Review by Georgina King Leigh), a plain, sweet, seemingly ideal candidate.

A healthy dose of female bonding (presented in a realistic, rather than a corny way) ensues, abruptly interrupted by the return of the remorseful Sam. Meanwhile Hedy, having gradually transformed herself into Allie #2, starts to go a little strange....

Barbel Shroeder ("Reversal of Fortune") slickly directs, using cavernous sets and incredible lighting (sometimes the film looks

Oh dear. Even as bad chop-socky movies go, this one takes the biscuit. The story is old-hat, the dialogue banal, the pacing uneven, and the acting .. . well, it is more wooden than the contents of a furniture shop.

The so-called plot concerns a troubled lover (Brandon (son of Bruce)Lee)whowitnessesamobkilling and consequently becomes a hunted man. Our hero then, reluctantly at first, ofcourse, joins the obligatory 'tough Chicago cop' played by Powers Boothe, and finally goes about bringing down the mobsters. Along the way, Lee falls in love, surprise surprise, and I am not really giving much away by saying they all live happily ever after.

The director, Dwight H. Little, has obviously spent hours studying "Die Hard" and "Enter the Dragon", and still he completely fails to be even half as good as either of them.

Brandon Lee, in his first leading role, has potential charisma but he needs to work on it; althoughhe has got the pouting and muscle-flexing down to a tee. As for acting ability? Well, I don't expect to see him on Oscar night!

'Rapid Fire' is full of action sequences, but even these are not particularly thrilling, reminding oneof'TheA Team', justwitha great deal of blood. Where this ffim does try to be different is in its unusual pacifist angle on violence. But this fails so abysmally

it just makes the film even sadder. Thus you get a corny shot of Brandon Lee looking regretful, guilty and downright pitiful, having just pumped a dozen bullets at point blank range into an adversary. By the way, isn't i.t strange how, in these movies,

black and white) to great effect.

The two leads are good Leigh brings some reasoning to her madness, and Fonda is both confident and vulnerable, as the girl who has everything, including a lunatic for a room-mate.

Of course, there is some generic familiarity with this type of film, but it makes a refreshing change to have two strong female characters battling it out without the aid of any Amie-wannabes, who instead lie strewn across the battlefield.

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Review hv :\lark Smith

everyone is a master of martial arts, and the oriental population of America seems to quadruple?

The film is just over 90 minutes and even this is far too long, peaking as it does after about an honr. 'Rapid Fire' should be rapidly ignored.

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'Death Becomes Her', is the latest offering from 'Back to the Future' director RobertZemekis.

It stars among others, such big names as Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep. Concrete and 路the Cannon Cinema have got together to give you the chance to win tickets, t-shirts and badges. To w.n, all you have to do, is answer the following question correctly, In what film did Meryl Streep star, With a heavily moled Roseanne Ban'?

The flrst three out if the hat will win a sweatshirt and a pair of tickets to the opening night (Friday 4 December). The next six will each receive an exclusive 'Death becomes Her', badge.

The normal Concrete rules apply, and the Arts Editors' decision is final.

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

UEA Films Preview

Sequels and more sequels Why see something new when you can get more of the same,

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Strictly Ballroom

writes Matthew Broersma.

The Union proves that America is hip to the recycling trend with three big-budget Hollywood sequels over the next three Thursdays, all of them at least third in their lineage.

There's plenty here for sci-fi fans, with number six in the Star Trek series and the conclusion to the 'Alien' trilogy. Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country (Nov. 26; Dir: Nicholas Meyer, 1992) features the returnofthegang who appeared most recently in the appalling Star Trek V (directed, viewers may recall, by William Shatner himself) in a tale of intrigue, suspense, and, uh, middle aged men running around on alien planets.

Captain Kirk, facing the challenge of adapting to a friendly K.lingon empire, is framed for murder and confined to a prison planet where he must rely on a strange shape-shifter (played by the lovely Irnan) to get him and Bones out alive.

Better than the last one (if that's saying much), Mt strikes a few patchy bits here and there. Alien 3 (Dec 3; Dir: David F incher, 1991) is the third retelling ofa story that relied on a oneshot gimmick to begin with.

Aliens revivified things by giving the aliens a whole city to play with, but the new film has trouble coming up with a new twist. The plot is basically that of the first movie: this time the scene is a prison planet instead of a spacecraft, but things proceed fairly predictably from there, with subplots from Alien and Aliens popping up here and there.

Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley; Charles Dance plays Ripley's love interest, and Brian Glover appears as the dictatorial prison warden.

A bit more fun is Lethal Weapon 3 (Dec 10; Dir: Richard Donner, 1992) with scads of action and big explosions and interesting chamcters on top.

I don't even remember if there was a plot, I was having such a good time; just that Rene Russo looks great in uniform. Me! Gibson stars as Riggs, as usual, and Danny Glover as Murtagh; Joe Pesci is the manic Leo Getz. Somehow this stuff never gets old. All tickets are ÂŁ1.75 from the Union.

Whilst 1t is still quite rare for a film to get consistent reviews from all critics, it is even more rare for them to be favoumble.

Strictly Ballroom - the surprise hit at Cannes where it recieved a 15 minute standing ovation -has done just this, being almost universallypopular. Unfortunately, non-conformist that I try to be, it seems that this review is going to join all the others.

The story is quite basic - ballroom star Scott (Paul Mercurio) is threatening the dancing establishment by inventing new steps.

The love interest is provided by Fran (Tarn Morice) as his inexperienced partner, who is the only girl prepared to dance his steps with him.

If ever a film was going to be called otlbeat, this is it. All the chamcters (except, of course, the leading pair) are very extreme, and the director has experimented with colour and camera angles to give the movie a very original and distinctive feel. It' s success most probably lies in the fact that despite sometimes being over the top, it retains a sense ofcharm and fun begging you not to take it seriously.

This is surprisingly hard, as many ofthe so-called caricatured characters are cringingly recog-

nisable. The title will probably put many off, but ifyou fail to see this, you'll be missing a funny, entertaining and fast moving picture which is probably unlike any movie you have ever seen before.

Darren F.sher

Latest Releases ...

Jamie Putnam looks at the latest from The Godmachine, The Boo Radleys and the Blue Orchids THE GOD MACHINE: "Ego EP" (Fiction Records)

This was the scene when Galli~~no pbzyed the LCR lost Friday. The acid.-jaz.z group performed to an ecstatic audience- Concrete's Craig Eason was there to get this shot.

Being label-mates with a band like The Cure must be a real hummer. The shadow that ' the tortured souls of alternative Stadium Rock' cast over Fiction Records means that the two are pmctically synonymous and it is nice to see that The God machine are attempting to capture their own little niche with their own ' big' sound.

And it is a ' big' sound. "Ego" starts off with a quiet sinister bassline and about thirty seconds later plunges into the sort of guitar sound you'd expect to hear on a Ministry album. Listen to it a couple of times and you start to feellikeyou ' vebeenbludgeoned about the head with a rollingpin.

The vocals remind me a bit of James' Addiction and the lyrics rant on about insecurity and betrayal and stuff like that. Powerful indeed. "Temptation" is next, and is a bit like Loop at their most tedious. Nine minutes of

two chords and a bit of wah-wah guitar is a bit of a pi ss-take even ifitisan ' experimentalzenmix'.

The third and final tmck is "Piano song", which, stmngely enough is a moody piano instrumental that starts off prornisingly enough but doesn' t actually go anywhere, leaving you frustmted at the waste of a good idea. On the whole, The God Machine show that they have the potential to make some very nasty music and it's a shame that the impact of "Ego" is somewhat diminished by the other two tmcks.

THE

BOO RADLEYS: "Lazarus EP" (Creation Records)

Liverpool's leading fuzz-pop exponents are becoming mpidly renowned for highly original records and this EP is no exception. It is essentially one-step further musically than the stuff on their excellent album "Everything' s alright forever", as it should be, and their care-free experimentation really pays off.

Title tmck "Lazarus" is like nothing I've heard before. It starts off all slow, with a ' dub' style bass and gradually gains momentum until it explodes into a bizarre frenzy of brass instruments and distorted guitars.

Then, it goes all horribly calm and the vocals come in, all angelic and innocent, and just when you think you' ve got it sussed, it gets all noisy and mucous-like again, and leaves you reaching for the the valiwn. Unbelievably cool.

The next track "Speed of Sound" continues at a pretty frantic pace and is typically Boo Radleys with quite a psychedelic chorus that fits just bootiful and makes this song equally as important as the title tmck. The flip-side continues the treat with the mellow "Let me be your faith", which reminds me of one of the songs off the Pale Saints "Kinky Love" EP, and the whole thing is rounded off with the freaked-out headlong charge for the finish-line that is "Petroleum". Single of the week and quite possibly single of the year.

BLUE ORCHIDS: "Secret City

12" (Authentic records)

Firstly, don't be put off by the tacky sleeve- its the sort of thing that you see in the bargain box for fifty pence a fortnight after its release (Yes, you know the sort).

The record itself however, is pretty groovy.

Fronted by Martin Bmmah who helped found some littleknownlndie band called The Fall, the three tmcks on offer here hint at a sort of ' post-Madchester' guitar vibe that is a vague descendent of some of James' early stuff.

"Secret City", the title tmck starts off with a shuflly drum beat and some nice spidery guitar bits, and then takes off into some postLou Reed tale of city and sleaze, with Martin gabbling on about rain on neon lights and gargoyles.

Not bad.

The two other tmcks aren't bad either.

A snip for fifty pence, and certainly a very reasonable buy at ÂŁ3.99.

The feeling around campus and the rest ofNorwich about Ned 's Atomic Dustbin is one of di sappointment. Disappointment that they are only playing one gig in the area! One show is apparently not enough for some who have longed to see this great band live.

They tried as hard as possible for yo u last year playing in excess of one hundred gigs all over the world.

Upon buying a ticket fora Ned 's gig you are promised a show that will blow you away, bring you back and blow you away again !

Stage divers get you r flying clothes on as there is a repu~J~ti on ot .. Madness" that tollows th1s band. Amixtureofthrashing hair in front ofbright stage lights and the cacophonous noise of their twin bass guitar attack will reduce any venue to a sprawling mass of insanely happy people.

Their new album, "Are You Normal?", has been met with

good revi ews from th e music press.

NM E desc ribe the album as " ... a sound stonn of dem oni c proportions." More of the same from Melody Maker who describe it as the album that " ... has attitude, passion, pain that 's a pleasure to share." Tracks like ''Not Sleeping Around" are sure to get the LCR jumping and the abrasive opening track, "Suave and Suffocated", gives us a full frontal assault by "Dan, Dan, the fast drumming man" as he is known in the Ned ' s posse. The raw feel ofthe band ' s first album, "God Fodder", will appeal to new and old fa ns alike.

Favourites like "Kill Your TeleviSIOn" will produce a sm11e on even the saddest face.

The producerof"Are You Normal", Andy Wallace, allowed the band to cultivate their own unique sound, much the same way that he supported Nirvana with their smash hit album ''Neverrnind".

Jools Holland

Spacemaid

Review: UEA LCR

Preview: UEA LCR

Review: Fifers Lane

Whe n Jools H o lland ste ps onto

Having travelled all the way from Hull in a hired van, you would e xpe ct th e m e m her s of Spacemaid to be tired, but Judging by the calibre of their playing, the j ourney did nothing but enhance their performance.

Not really knowing what to expect, l was more than surpri sed by th e qua lity of mu sic that erupted energetically from this band as soon as they stepped on stage.

Call ing the m ye t a nother " indie" band would be an insult as the music possesses a reasonab ly high Grunge Factor, appreciated by the countl ess sweatybodied members of the aud ience who danced.

Lonny, the singer and onl y female, is adam ant that she is not the main attraction of the band.

Although the appeal in Lormy is evident (proved by wolf- whi stles) t11e male members of the band Matt ,Alan, Andy and Clui s all have thei r fair share of admirers. And not one undermines the others when they play. The band works toget11cr as a group, and the group succeeds as a band.

Spacema id is a band well worth see ing. If my opinion cow1ts for nothing and proof is needed to convince you, then you should have watched them play at Fifers and counted the number of people who signed their name on the mailing list. [fyou had the misfortune to miss t11em , there is no need for drastic measures they' ll be back next term !

All Together Now ' The Fann came to UEA on the 18th Novem be r showcasing their latest album " Love See No Colour".

Following a lethargic entrance, they started the set with the older " Mind", before moving on to play some of the material from the new album , which was well received by a less than full LCR. On stage, the Fann have their own uniqu e kind of presence, typified by a lack of movement .

Maybe to cover up thi s apparent deficcn cy, the road crew were projecting abstract fi lm foo tage on to the wall behind the band, with some kind of relevance to the songs, albeit obscure.

Afier pcrfonning some material from the new album , the band moved onto a convincing rendition of the ' classic' " Do n' t You Want Me" , but unfortun ately. the promised cabaret(where girlsfrom the audience were supposed to go on stage and sing the female vocal) fa iled to materialise.

At last, the band condesce nded to play some of their older and more famili ar materi al, such as their biggest hit " Groovy Train". before leavin g the stage for the first time. After a short pause, the obligatory encore followed , finishing with " All Together Now", which in Peter Hooton ' s word s " ... is what The Fann is all about".

On the whole, the new material was promising and was stoutly perfonned, although a little more vibe, and " Stepping Stone" for that matter, could have been included.

(plus Hypnotise and Endless Drone) Review: Norwich Arts Centre The future looks good and a record deal is looming.

In the claustrophobic gloom that was the Jacquard, Hypnotise seemed like the saviours of Norwich music.

But in the piercing NAC light, their essentially stoned Loop-like sound doesn 't translate well.

They reall y need a couple ofhou rs for their set to be really appreciated -in 30 minutes they can only fit in a handful of songs.

Drop Nineteens have escaped their meek "Delaware" LP sound, shattering the preconceptions of those wh o labelled them American shoegazers and it wasn 't long before some serious mashing engulfed the NAC. The classic "Winona" and 3 encores later, Drop Nineteens, like Hypnotise and Endless Drone, seem to have rejected their respective socalled musical heritages and carved out their own. Wilde Club gig of the year.

EdMeikle

stage in fro nt of hi s Big Band and sho uts: " D o you want to boogie?", you know you are in for a ni ght of foo t- stomping good -tim e mu sic.

D o n ' t expect any songs from the back -catalo gue o fSqueeze.

T he ir ex -keybo ard player is no w strictly a jazz and blues man, w ith two solo studio albums under hi s b e lt: ' World o f h is O v.n ' and 'The Fu ll Com pliment '.

T he B ig Band ; drums, guitar, bass, harnmo nd , trombo ne, trumpet and saxopho ne have been touring w ithJoolsforover a year.

Wh at they produce is a ti ght , loud and p o lished sound which lend s the perfect accomp animent to Jools ' inimitable \ 'Ocals and frenetic p iano playmg.

T he band was featured on thi s year ' s H ysteria 2 b enetit concert fo r AID S c hariti es.

T here is no better w ay to e nd the term than in the company o f the Juke Box Jury presenter as he belts out classic songs such as ' S hake, Rattle and Roll ' , as w e ll as tunes penned by himself.

Miss this concert and you will miss one of the best and unique bands to reach UEA thi s year.

Nigel Hording

Niall Hampton

Bang Bang Machine Review: Waterfront

David Hall

Drop Nineteens Etfortlessly winning over a large crowd, tonight marked the coming of age of Endless Drone. On tonight' s evidence they were worthy of being on any Wilde Club bill and surely it won'tbe long before they're headlining.

The set opens with "peiper", a track named after the Aussie star of this year's Tour de France and Tour of Britain, before crashing into "9legged Spider", a song with an intra most bands would kill for.

Nerves marred the first few songs but by" Valentine" and "Boo" (yes, they name their songs after their influences), the audience was forgotten, before setting off into the twilight zone that is "Ethen 's Hat".

And then came their final song.

With the lights dimming, the slow, crushing landslide of "Leaden Head" buried any remaining sceptics, with Endless Drone, as bassist !van Salcedo frequentl y asserts, "searching for the Drone zone."

Not "like a legion of nuns drying their hair" (Melody Maker) at all.

The Farm

"Frenzy" has returned but featuring it on a Tuesday in direct competition with the Arts Centre's Wilde Club is a mistake. With free entry to students and £1.20 a pint you can 't go wrong, except that it escapes me how they intend to make a profit.

From headlining at the NAC to the Waterfront Studio doesn 't look like promotion to me, and that thi s gig didn't seem to be advertised didn 't help.

But it wasn 't long before BBM convinced the criminally small crowd that their vinyl releases and live performances have rightly earned high praise from the music press and the likes of John Peel, their songs submerging the audience into BBM 's paradoxical world where pop music collides with an almost child-like confusion about the society we are part of and allow to perpetuate. Although " 16 years" is left out, "Greek Love" sees BBM hammering at doors that are now closed in a wilderness-cry about Victorian relation ships or rather the lack of them .

In my humble opinion, it' s a big mi stake on the Waterfront 's part to competewiththeNAC's WildeClub night in these economic times, when both could happily co-exist but on different nights. Sort it out.

EdMeikle

Esther van Bel

Rave to your fave! lb.is Thursday sees the return of the Student top SO disco to UEA replacing the regular LCR for just one week. Every year at about his time, students fervently fill in small pink forms located in the Union House foyer, to vote for their favourite top three records of all time.

Those nice men up in Ents then collate all the results and - hey presto - come up \vith a student top 50 which is unique to UEA. Last year (whcn the disco was held in February, Vie Reeves and the Wonderstufi came in at number I with 'Dizzy', while an ABBA track was at number two , with Nirvana and 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' placed third. [n January 1991 , the 8-52s took the top slot, and in February 1990, Soft Cell had the prime position.

What will be at number I thi s year? Come to that, what will be at number 9? (It was Perry Como last year! ) Only you can decide - by voting. Pick up a form in the Union, fill it in and give it in at the Ents Office. Alternatively, you can place it in any of the Concrete boxes (at Fifers Lane, in the University Post Room and in the Foyer of Union House) or in the special Ents box in the Union House foyer. Entries must be posted by I pm this Thursday lunch time.

Then , on Thursday night, get yourself down to the LCR and rave to your fave . Admission is two pounds, there \vill be a late bar and free late bus, and it all begins at I Opm. See you there !

Remember to place your voting slip in the box by 1pm this Thursday

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MUSIC LISTINGS WATERFRONT - Tel: 766266 November Sun 29 : Omar and Support 7 .00pm Mon 30 : That Petrol Emotion 7.30pm

December Thu 3: The Phantom Chords+ The Earls of Suave (£4 adv £5 door) Bad Manners+ Another Man's Poison + Skunk (£6.50 adv £7.50 door) Sun 6 : Boo Hewerdine + Liberty Horses (£3 door) Buster James Band + Sacred + Vagrant (£4 adv £4 .50 door) Mon 7: Ozric Tentacles + Senser+ Eat Static+ d.j . Lewis (Orb) £7.50 adv £8 .50 door

UEA

December Fri 4: The Wedding Present (£7adv) Sat 5: Bjom Again (£7.50adv)

NAC - Tel: 660352 November Wed 25 : Jeremy Hardy (£6) 8.00

December Thu 3: Deepak Choudray (£4) 8pm

Garth Clucas Preview: UEA LCR Lucy Chucas sings at The Waterfront nearly every Friday night.

She 's known as 'the song-bird of Norwich ' and lives up to her name with a really superb voice. Lucy and Carth, the keyboard player, have been playing at The Waterfro nt since the summer.

The bassist, drummer and saxophonist vary, hence the lack of a name for the band as a whole. Lucy started off singing in The Waterfront cafe and then moved next door to the studio as it was so popular.

The style is Jazz/ Blues and Lucy' s main influences are Etta Sames, Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald . She sings ' Making Whoopy', 'Michelle Shocked ' and others with a slight variation every time in the true Jazz style. The band also claim that they improve according to the atmosphere in the audience.

Lucy started ofT as a chorister before she was "chucked out of the choir at seventeen for being a girl".

She then turned from God's music to the Devil 's music (in reference to the seedy origins of Jazz in brothels in the 40s and 50s).

Now she is an artist as well as a singer. The mural at the back of Dogfish is an example of her work and she has an exhibition at the Cafe Rouge in Portobello Road at Chri stmas.

Ifyou 're interested ingoi ng along on a Friday night it' s worth turning up early so you can get a table. The doors open at 9pm and through the smoke and dim candlelight you can hear the band, and it' s definitely worth listening to. Anyway, where else is there on a Friday night to come and listen to good, live music?

Marina Johnston

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'A Life in the Theatre'

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MUSIC LISTINGS

A preview of this week's performance by the Minotaur Theatre Company

NAC - Tel 660532

Sat 5: Tommy Cockles, Malcolm Hardee and John Thomson (£6) 8pm Mon 7 to Tue 8: Entertaining Mr Sloame (8pm) Wed 9: Opec City College Student Cabaret (£1)

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The 36th London Film Festival As with every film festival, it is pure guesswork as to deciding on which film to see.

This year 's 36th London Film Festival featured a slimmer list of blockbusters and a good deal more independent films from across the globe. There were some obvious duds in the list, but there were also some potential gems.

Kenneth Branagh ' s "Peter ' s Friends" opened the festival and was released on November 13. It is just like a British "Big Chill", but with such a high-calibre cast and favourable notices it is worth a look.

The closing film was the longawaited director's cut of "Blade Runner". This version is actually shorter than the original but Ridley Scott has fine tuned it by cutting out Harrison Ford's Philip Marloweesque narration, added a dream sequence, and recrafted a bleaker more ambiguous ending, in which Ford 's character is suggested as being a replicant. It is released on November 27.

For the blood, grit and gore movies, there is "Hellraiser 3" and the keenly anticipated third "Evil Dead" installment, "Army of Darkness: The Medieval Dead". This has done away with much of the grimness of the first two and goes out more for

(£5) Spm I•

The Artbur Miller Cen-

By Mark Smith laughs. As to whether Sam Raimi pulls this of( see for yourselves when it opens early next year.

The British Cinema section this year was a lot more exciting than usual . There are high hopes for "Leon the Pig Farmer" -a Jewish comedy with a twist, and the new film starring the stunning Sarita Choudhwy, "Wild West", is worth watching. There was also some local interest here, with the North Norfolk film maker, Roger Brown, having three films premiered at the festival. Most noteworthy was ''God on the Rocks", which he adapted from the novel by Jane Gordham and stars Bill Paterson.

In the international frame, many of the films do not yet have distributors, so little is known of them.

However, the new Aki Kaurismaki film, "Bohemian Life", was good, and Alison Maclean 's "Crush", received fine notices at Cannes. The French and African selections also seemed promising.

The vast range of films on offer certainly bode well for the coming year, and just show there is life yet in the increasingly Hollywood dominated industry.

'The Porcupine' Tony Sweeney reviews a prickly offering from Julian Barnes A porcupine is a prickly subject able to curl up into a defensive ball.

Julian Barnes ' latest offering presents the realities and hypocraciesofEast European politics in terms analogous to the qualities of that rodent.

This novel should water any seeds of doubt regarding the wisdom of the open-armed embrace of the ' free market' by the former Soviet-bloc countries.

The author unleashes biting and angry satire via the mouth of the fictional , deposed leader, Petkanov; satire which exposes hypocrisy among both his successors and other world leaders, as well as displaying the complexity of European politics , postGorbachev.AsPetkanovisbrought to show trial, home truths about the depth of current economic problems are presented, hopefully, in qualification ofsomeofthe more simplistic judgements made about the prospects for an increase in prosperity; as he sneeringly says,

Thu 10: Plaisirs D' Amour

" l have never taken anything out of this country ... now you invite the Americans and the Germans here to rape and pillage?"

Petkanov is endowed with slippery, diabolical properties of cold logic and persuasion as he exploits the media ' circus' surrounding the trial, in order to espouse his own thesis through the vehicle of his own defence. The reader is invited to judge how much ofthis analysis is the authors ' and indeed, what to make of it. ' The Porcupine' needs to be unravelled and its prickly sting risked. Bames has given Petkanov the chance of a hearing denied Nicolai Ceausesau; the result is a relevant and stinging work which utilizes a technique reminiscient of the Pythonesque skit about ' what have the Romans done for us?' The ordinary people of Eastem Europe, like the characters of the student protester and the taxidriver are undoubtedly asking a similar question now.

tre: A Literary Festival of Distinguished Authors at

UEA Nov 25; Julian Barnes Nov 30: AntoniaByatt David Mamet' s "A Life in the Theatre" is being performed on Saturday 28th and SWlday 29th November, in LT! , at 7:30pm.

The play concerns the fraught relationship between an older actor, Robert, and a yoWlger actor, John, backstage at a small theatre company.

While John is eager to apply his training, fresh from Drama School, Robert is facing a lonely retirement.

Mamet is one of America' s most renowned modern playwrights winning the Pulitzer Prize for "Glengary Glen Ross", to be performed by Minotaur

Theatre Company next term (the movie version has also just been released in Hollywood).

Hisnewplay, ''Oieona", dealing with a politically incorrect College Professor, opened offBroadway in October, and plays at the Royal Court next Spring.

This is a rare chance to see an early work (frrst performed in 1977) and the play is a debut of two frrst year Drama students, Richard Watsham (Robert), and Daniel Pinchbeck (John).

The play' s director, Sean McCann studied Mamet' s work in the U.S.A., completing a dissertation and working with ac-

WIN.-WIN...WIN...WIN...WIN

Leaves on the Line

A copy of 'The Porcupine' to be won Waterstones and Concrete are offering you the chance to win a copy of Julian Dames' 'The Porcupine' - to win the followingquestionmust be answered correctly: which country did Ceausesau rule before being deposed and executed?

The name of the winner will be displayed outside the Stewards' Cabin in Union House, on Friday November 27.

The normal Concrete rules apply, no correspondence will be entered in to, and the Arts Editors' decision is final.

tors familiar with Mamet' s theories of performance.

"It' s a tricky play", he says.

"At frrst.glance, it seems to be a comedy, satirizing the pretentious of the theatre world.

On closer inspection, it's a very moving story of an old actor admitting that his career has fmished. There's an exciting tension between the surface comedy and the subtext of fear and loneliness.

Plus, there are 28 scene changes in 85 minutes, which should be interesting ... " Tickets are £3 .00, £2.50 with concessions.

Maddermarket Theatre -

Tel620917 Fri 27: Don Juan Theatre Royal.- Tel630000

Nov24-28: The Comedy of Errors Nov 30-Dec 5: The Nutcracker Dec 6: Jimmy Jones Dec7-12: AnEveni.ngWith Gary Lineker

Review by

Craig Eason This book of short stories and extracts of novels is the work ofUEA students.

All the work was done by writers on the Creative Writing Masters degree course, who have ~en sponsered by the Eastern Arts Board. It is the fourth anthology from the MA course and the largest so far, with sixteen very varied stories by sixteen very different writers.

The front cover, by one of the contributors, Archie Clifford, attempts to show this diversity of style, character and subject.

The publishing of this book was very nearly delayed due to the original publshers, Billings and sons going bust.

Local publishers, Page Bros, came in at the last minute and were not only able to print it but were capable of doing so to the exact specifications of the editing team of the MA course.

The 91 /92 group of masters students, the largest in take so far chose the title "Leaves On The Line" not only as pun on British Rail but to symbolise the offering of their works in the leaves of this book.

The book starts with a very short and abrubt story,"The Grasshouse", which is a light and suggestive piece thattells more by

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what it does not relate and leaves much to the imagination. It ends with a longer tale "Spreading The Word" which is an experimental work that uses the ways of suggestion and word of mouth to build its story of fisherman and angels.

There is an observant insight of a hot Spanish road journey, that just simmers with the hot argument that long journeys create. "An Unre-

stricted View" is the tale of a black servant working for a white couple in Zambia and the coming of a changes in the African white society.

All in all this anthology is a worthwhile read that gives some idea of the diversity of writing potential on the creative studies' course, dispelling the notion that such courses produce set types of writers.

c oncrete classifieds To plact~ a lrt~fl class/llt~d ad In Concrt~lt~llllln lht~lorm billow, and post HIn any ollhll Concrt~lfl class/llt~d boxt~s around UEA. Th11 y art~ sHuatt~d at lh11 Slt~wards Cabin In Union HouSII, In lh11 Concrt~lfl Olllct~, atlhll Unlvt~rs/ly Post Room, and atlhll Porlt~rs lodg11 at FH11rs lan11. Your ad will normally app11ar In lh11 nt~xllssut~ aHhough w11 rt~SIIfVIIfhll rlghllo am~~nd or rt~IUSII any ad. You rt~maln pt~rsonally rt~spons/blt~lor any ad you plact~.

JBW -wild thing- you make my heart sing - you make Bjom again ticket wanted ! me go bananas - see you.

For sale size 5 short-leg Contact J. Hardacre EUR 3. army boots: good condiFun loving first year EAS tion , water-tight. £10 student seeks sharkin' seco.n.o. Contact Sa rah Four Bjom Again tickets ond year females for intineeded desperately, truly, JamesPHY 1 (MAP Buildmate relationships. Must ing). madly, deeply. Box 141. be into the Shamen and Duran Duran. Box 145 Forced sale of a Macintosah SE, imagine First year male mature stuhow you can use one. dent seeks intelligent and Room in friendly shared Bargain. Excellent conamusing friends. Box 146 house off Salhouse Road dition, £450 o.n.o. Phone £100 pcm + bill, must like Tim on 631109. animals. Contact Louise Attractive persons of both sexes wanted for induction or Richard T el. Nor. Para Boots sixe 8 1/2 £ 10. into church of 'light '. No 37167. Smoker preferred!

Purple Does, hardly worn violence involved beyond size5 -£20. Contact Erica acceptable levels. Nobody WardEUR3 . turned away if genuinely interested. Box 147 Train ticket, Norwich to Leeds - valid until Nov. To my startled bunny wear Mature first year male in 26, £5 . Contact E rica your short jacket and search of loving and 'satisWardEUR3 fying' relationship. Box 148 Southend scarf and I' ll meet you in the wardrobe\ Happy 19th Birthday Keith Yo Martians they know love Kate. about us and thunder child and the red weed. But let's Wanted - a good set of Glam3rdyearfemaleseeks do it again in a brave new cheap drums. No rubbish long haired male. Photo world ha! please, but anything conincluded please. Box 142 sidered. Andy Woodard Bumfluff - Wie geht es EUR 1 Lively male first year Soc Ihnen?

Student looking for fun Drummer wanted fo r seriminded females . I like ous, yet fun Indie Band.

Guns ' N' Roses and Judas Influences - Levellers, Priest, and am very intelliCeilidh - live in the LCR Mudhoney Pixies, MC & gent. Box 143 "The Bible Machine" Buzzlock Pixies. Contact Weds WK9 8pm. Tickets Oli Sharp EAS I. First yearChemist. Denim £2 .50, contact W. Hill jacket, stuble & specs .

SYSl , Q. Logavin ENVI , Wanted at reasonable price Hello, I love you, won ' t M. Lawler DEV2 - personal or laptop comyou tell me your name? puter with printer. Lisa Bagpuss.

Real Socialist literature on Pilkington LAW 1 sale, every Thurs in U.H. (Waveney N207) My hormones are out of 12-3 . control. Please calm me Desperately seeking 2 down! Contact Camel a the Bjom again tickets, wi llItalian Stallion. Box 144 ing to pay extra! Contact Clare Betts EUR I.

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Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

21

rabba (week 8, Autumn Term, 1992)

The official line on what's happening in your Union

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Rent Strikers say - Horsham Halls keepupthepressure Committee back For the first time this week, (week 6), it was a chance for just the people involved in the Rent Strike to discuss how they felt, and what action they wanted the Union to continue with.

The University have responded to the Union's demands by agreeing to set up a top level meeting to discuss the whole issue of Residences and Rents.

In addition to the executives suggestions of altering the way Conference Income is handled,

removing Portering charges from the Rent Account and using the Rooms more imaginatively during the vacation, the meeting also wished to pursue the possibility of rescheduling the loans used to fmance the building. However, one thing the meeting was determined on was that it wants to see the Summer Term meeting of the StudentAffairsCommittee, where the rent levels are set, brought forward into the Spring Term.

Before the Registrar's thoughtfulletter, 102 people were taking

part in the Rent Strike. Only a handful were harassed into paying the money over, leaving the currentnumberinvolvedapprox.

95.

Nevertheless, the Union is appalled at the attitude this letter illustrates, and disgusted that the University has resorted to this level of intimidatory tactic: ifthe timethatwasdevotedindreaming up new ways to frustrate the Rent Strike was employed in trying to find ways to keep rents down, we might not be in this situation now!

Yet more recent decisions by the Forum and Exec Twice in as many weeks now Students' Forum has met to ponder matters of significance to us all.

In its Week 5 meeting, it decided that it was time the Union re-exploredthepossibilityofrunning its own bus shuttle service between the Plain, Fifer's Lane and the City, a notion which has come up many times but is now being taken up seriously.

You will soon have posters of your Forum reps in every School following Week 5's meeting, and your Forum rep will be taking

new steps to contact you on what's going on. Other things di~ cussed included policy on Society use of the LCR, how our delegates should behave when representing UUEAS on Conferences and further discussion on its Associate Membership polictes.

The Executive meanwhile has had a couple ofmarathon sessions recently. It has approved fmance for JimHickman'sfirstawareness project as LGB Rights Officer, authorised the funds for a World AidsDayeventandagreeda week of action around cuts in higher

education to beheld jointly with any Campus Trade Unions and the University if they are interested.

Other than that, its been chattingaboutGMs,AGMs&EGMs and talking about sending people on various NUS events (LGB Conference, Women's Aggregate andWelfareOfficer'sMeetings).

If the excitement contained in this column is not enough for you, please~emberthesemeet­ ings are open to anyone interested. The times of the meetings are publicised outside the Managers' Offices upstairs in UH.

IPRO\SLe.M~ WitH YouR couR~~ Then make an appointment to see Nicola Sainsbury, the union's Academic Officer. Nicola will be available every Thursday afternoon without appointment to deal with your queries.

from the dead One ofthis year's biggest surprises must be the resuscitation of the Horsham Halls Committee.

At the end oflast year, when a quorateHHC meeting was about as likely a tasty breakfast, many people were happy to see Horsham slowly die away in this its fmal year. But this has not happened for several reasons:

firstly, the new uncertainty about Horsham's future has left many people anxious to see a halt called in its slide into decay.

Now, however, people are turning up in droves to llliC and passing motions saying - gasp!whata nice place Horsham would be ifjust a little money would be invested in it.

The first meeting attracted over

Huge Turnout Jacqui · for Women's saves Day meeting Bosnia

Last Tuesday, the NUS Office was packed to capacity with people trying to get in on the plans for the UEA Womens' Day to be held on Wednesday Week 8.

One of the aims of this day will be to promote the "NO MEANS NO" campaign, which is designed to highlight the problems women face from assault or even rape from men who won't accept that no MEANS no.

It is hoped that this day will give a good launch to the Womens' Campaign. With the election for Anti-Racism Officer the day before, and Societies Officer on Thursday Week 7 it seems likely that the barely dreamed possible FULL 15 will be on the executive at last.

One of the highlights of the day will of course be the election of the new Women's Officer, a post which has now been vacant some 6 months.

Shelley Wright is coordinating the day, which will include workshops on various issues and awareness events - see poster near you for details!

Attacl( Alarms Available now from the Stewards office in union house at a subsidised cost of£1 each

Pravda is written and compiled endrely by the Students Union. 1t appeua

Apart from organising UEA's Recycling facili- • ties, Ensuring the Forest Lobby gets underway and generally representing Oveneas students, Jacqui Mackay the International Officer is also coordinating a Campaign with other colleges in the area to raise money for the "Save Bosnia" relief effort.

The ~heme is aimed at funding a vehicle to go along with _,. the late November convoy to take food and medicine supplies out there.

Jacqui has been encouraging the other colleges to put on events aimed at raising money for Bosnia and is organising a collection at the Week 7 General Meeting.

"We need to raise about £1,000 to send a vehicle out, so please dig deep if you possibly can."

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70 people - none of the sad old politicos at UEA can EVER remember scenes like this - and almost every aspect of life at Fifers l..ane was discussed.

The next meeting will be in a few weeks time, but it certainly is good to see the HHC being the effe<rtive entity it was rumoured it al~s could be- congratulations to Kara Penn.

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Concrete ,

Ill

Wednesday,~ ovembe r

25, 1992

concrete il 0603 250558

University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ Publisher: Stephen Howard Editor: Peter Hart News & Features Editor: Gill Fenwick Arts Editor: Darren Fisher Sports Editors: Katherine Mahoney & Clare Gemmel Chief Reporter: Polly Graham Picture Editor: Craig Eason Staff Photographer: Rob Hardy Advertising: Simon Mann Distribution: John Barton Layout Assistants: Phil Scott, Chris Jones, Paul Coslett Proof Readers : Ruth Wilson, Rebecca Saraceno, Ruth Austin, David Hatton, AmirThilagadurai, Georgina King Typists: Andy Woodard, Amir Thilagadurai, MarinaJohnston, Niall Hampton, Paul Felton, Ruth Austin Photographers: Iggy, Keith Whitmore, Mark Turner, Harry Stockdale, Forrest Wentworth, Malcom Forbes-Cable Contributors: NiaJIHampton, Iggy, SueMcManus, Julian Taylor, M Smith, JamiePutnam, Matthew Broersma, Paul Grainge, Ed Meilde, Georgina King, Marina Johnston, Alex Reeve, Stephen Uzzell, Julia Smith, Nick Wilsden, Sanjay Magecha, Andy Woodard, PoUy Knewstub, Arnir Thilagadurai, Harry StockdaJe, Nigel Harding, Kelly Carter, 1Goodwin, PaulLynes, THier, TaraHoke,LizRice,lanNundy

Many thanks to Technical Advisors: Neil Bamden, Mike Salmon, Peter Roberts, Dave Cartwright Thanks to: Union House stewards

Concrete is published independently at UEA. Opinions expressed are those of the contributor .and not necessarily those of the Publisher or Editor (C) 1992

Printed by Eastern Counties Newspapers, Prospect House, , Rouen Road, Norwich

Letters If there is anything that you feel strongly about, whether it is the content of Concrete, or something about UEA that really gets you going, then write to: The Editor, Concrete, UEA, Norwich, or bring your letter to the Concrete office, upstairs in Union House. Ifthere is anything you think that we should be writing about, drop us a note, or call us on Norwich 250558. We do not publish anonymous letters.

BEER PRICES .. words fro m the top I would like to respond to the letter in your last edition regarding the prices charged in the Student Uruon Bars.

The correspondent s take a rather simplistic view of the situation with therr comment "v.ith the NUS having the second largest Brewery account in the UK .. .just why is beer so expensive at UEA?" as they fa il to recognise that each constituent member of the NUS is a totally independent organisation and therefore subject to differing 'fixed costs' .

Tile Students Union at UEA only gained control of the bars on the Plain m I 988 and took over management at the start of the 1988/ 89 academic year. Prior to tills time, the University Catering Department had run all of the bars on Campus.

It would be fair to sav that the rent which was agreed with the University at that time was fairly prohibitive, being a flat 7% of turnover on all drink sales. With a different calculation method the rent is still prohibitive. On top of tills expense (many Universities pay no rent on their bars, the Uni versity in question appreciating the valuable service they provide as social space) as any post-grad who was around at the time will tell you the bars themselves were in a considerable state of dis-repair at the time and the union took on the expense of completely re-furbishing both Tile Pub and the Winnie Mandela bar.

This policy of investing and expanding continued with the opening of Tile Hive last year as a direct response to market research carried out the previous year amongst a wide cross section of the Union' s members.

Once again, other more established Unions will not be subject to these expenses having established premises and therefore only being subject to depreciation for ' wear and tear'.

Personally, I would contest the assumption that the prices at UEA are expensive at all . As we buy all our produce from the same suppliers and at the same prices as all other members of the NUS,

a compartson of prices is quite simple from the read out of Gross Profit % ' s whtch the NU SSI (the purchasing consortmm) issues at tl1e end of each year On the lastrundO\\nof'mark-ups' which are n:ceived, UEA was well outstde the top thtrd of unions, only just over half way.

Given that we have frozen the prices of our most popular lines (Carling, Bass, Murphy's etc) it stands to reason that unless some Unions have actually brought their prices down, UEA must be even more competiti ve this year.

Witl1 regard to the information given at the UGM bemg misleading, obviously I am not in a position to corrunent on this, other than to say that it must be mttmidating to stt on stage and tield questions from a meeting owith no pnor knowledge of what is going to be asked It \\ould be easy for sabbaticals to garnpopularitybyrcducingprices, however gtven that SUS (the Union 'scommercialarm)isatrad.mg operation, the long term effect on the Union's development wou ld be restrictive_ It is to their credit that they place long term development ahead of the pressure they receive from their peers.

Tom BaUs Bars Manager UUEAS

Urgent: Male and female Exhibistionists wanted The Contemporary Dance Society is planning to hold an end of term dance show on 1llursday of week 10, along with the normal end of term bash in the LCR. 1lley currently need some people (male and female) who are willingtomakeexhibitsofthemselves on stage in front of millions (or at least a few hillldred) UEA students. So if you tlUnk you have the nerve and skill to show the rest of the university what a star performer you are on the dance floor, contact the president of the Contemporary Dance Society, Afzal Qureshi , by putting a note in the societies pigeon hole in Union House.

Sanjay Magecha

SHOUTING MATCHUGM 111osc people who were at tl1e UGM on Monday week 7 will have seen ho\\ what could have been an mterestmg and wideranging senes of debates degenerated into a shouting match v.ith people fighting over the microphone in order to make their points heard.

These meetings are the best opporttmity for all members of the Union to make their views known. But I do not belt eve they are currently filling this role.

Of the people who did speak on monday night the vast majority were men, desptte the fact that at least half the members of the Union were women. I am sure that everyone has thetr O\\TI theol} about why this is the case. I do not believe that women are not interested in what happens m the uruon or that they have nothmg valid to say I do beheve however, that women are discouraged from participating by the shoutmg, heckling and general anlfllOStty from both the floor and platform on mondays meetmg. I see two ways forward from here Women at UEA need to get together and talk about \\hat form they want their intervention to take and how they can make their voices heard (I hope to organise a meeting to tills effect very soon), but we also need some changes in the way the General Meetings are organised .

I believe that we need an elected steering committee, independent of the Executive, to run and chair the meetings so that everyone gets a fair hearing, including those men who currently do not feel able to speak. Any effort to make the atmosphere calmer and less intimidatory can only increase women' s participation , which in turn would benifit the Union as a whole.

Emma Reed EUR3

Academic Support After the fiasco of the last General Meeting, I thought I should clear up some of the confusion surrounding the nature of the academic support provided by the Union.

Ine Universtty qutte nghtlv provides ever. student With an acadenuc adv1ser to gtve students advtce on t11e1r ind1 vidual courses and choices and any other support they need.

However, there is also a need for a service, external to the School, for students to turn to when they don't feel it appropriate to see their advisor, or to approach in addition to seeing their advisor.

1llese issues range from students who want to change course, whether to another School, or to another University or college, to students who have problems with an individual lecturer or course provision (for example the cutting of contact hours) to students who want someone external to tl1eir School actuall~ to represent them to the School.

Tile introduction of the Common Course Structure \\ill undoubtedly cause problems. 路n1e structure, teaclung, assessment and timing of courses is going to change radically~ there are bound to be times when students are unhappy about the way the provision and struct ure of th ei r course has developed.

It is on issues such as these that the Union has a genu ine and fairly substantial role to play; it has reached the stage where I fee l, having done the job if Academic Officer for nearly a year and a half, that there should be a permanent member of staff tra ined to advise students on these issues, and to ensure that there is continuity in an area where there is currently very little.

Tile Union must invest more in the academic services it provides. 1llere is no intention of taking over the University' s role in advising students for example on which courses to take; however an independent service to provide support to students when they have problems is a legitimate and essential role to be provided by the Union.

For all the above reasons, I and many colleagues who have been working very hard on academic issues, are very upset both at the way the amendment to the General Meeting was proposed, and its contents.

Nicola Sainsbury (Academic Officer, Union of Students)

Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

23

Sport

Mixed Results Sub Aqua: the wet and willing UEA vs Essex: Clare Gemmell reports on a day of varying success ESSEX University descended in force upon UEA last Wednesday, and a cold, wet and muddy battle ensued.

The men's First football team had a tough match and were constantly under pressure. Three brilliant saves from goalie Anthony Ebbut prevented a crushing defeat for UEA. The team played well, however, and Tim Finlayson scored to win the

The men's first football team had a tough match match. One player was quoted as saying the team were "lucky" . Not so the second or fourth teams.

Again the goalkeeper played an important role with Kerry Plummer holding out very well for the seconds to keep Essex's goals down to two.

Paul Chronnell managed to score, however UEA 's scrappy play kept them in defeat.

The fourth team were leading 2-1 until a last-minute goal by Essex held them to a draw. The Third team played a strong game with lan Duntern scoring in the first fifteen minutes. Essex equalised in the second half but UEA came back after a "tense" period with a freekick by Scott Wade from outside the box . Richard Y ameli and James Lindale then both scored to force Essex to a 4-l defeat. The men's third rugby team proved to be the stars of the day, playing an excellent game now they are back to full strength after

The men's third rugby team proved to be the stars of the day losing several members previously. The forwards were very strong and the backs made excellent passes.

Glen Turvey, playing for the team for the first time (although with a distinguished history of clubs including the Wasps at 13 years old, London Irish and U.C.L) was felt to have been "Man of the Match".

Ali Hogar was a close second and J.G.Philips, Jim Goodwin, "Tigger'' (captain) and Ben Lucasall deserved a mention for helping to bring Essex to their knees and a crushing 31-0 final score.

Unfortunately the first and second rugby teams could not match this success.

The ftrsts had a very tough game and lost 8-3. The seconds had a bad day and although Essex were not particularly skilful, UEA's lack of aggression pushed them to a 12-5 defeat.

The women's rugby team also had a hard time, losing 15-0. Despite good wingers and superb backs they were unlucky, especially in losing a fly-half in the first -half.

The women's first hockey team played very well against a tough Essex side resulting in an even match with Elizabeth Lorraine managing to score to win the game. Luck played a part when Essex missed a flick but UEA deserved to win and go through to the next round of the UAUs

Unfortunately the first and second rugby teams could not match this success after an excellent run of wins.

The second team tried hard with Jo Malcolm playing brilliantly but collapsed in the middle of the game under alot of pressure from first team players in the Essex side and some very drunk and obscene Essex supporters.

The men 's first hockey team had a very disappointing match due to bad luck and tough opposition.

They lost l-0 but may be through to the next round on goal difference. The men' s second team also lost 2-0 despite being the better team and playing well.

Essex ' s defending and goalkeeping were just good enough to stop many attempts to score bearing fruit.

The thirds drew 1-1 with a very good goal from John Powell but felt they should have won.

They are, however, through to the next round.

The excitement of rubber wetsuits, under-water wrecks and sea wildlifewhere else could you experience this, but through Sub Aqua?

Report by Craig Eason The main reason that students choose not to join the scuba club is the cost.

However this has not put a substantial group off joining and spending theirsunday evenings on the bottom ofa swimming pool learning how to

take thei. masks off and put them on again. The training and equipment are taken seri-

ously, the club owns a lot of gear that is certified as safe by the British Sub-Aqua Club.

The club itself is part of B.S.A.C., and the training is thorough and clear. The club owns the aqualungs, regulators and weights. All the novice needs is a pair of fins, a mask, boots and a snorkel.

Every thursday evening the novices are expected to attend a one hour lecture and learn all about the methods of diving, surfacing and rescue.

Also during the two terms of training and instruction there are the pool sessions on Sunday evenings, where they learn how to breathe underwater, snorkel and do somersaults. During the training period there are tests to check on

the trainees knowledge and keenness. At the end of the training the novice diver is allowed to dive, and this is rewarded by the Easter trip; the first open water dive and where the novice needs to have bought him/herself a good wetsuit. This is a weeks trip, (the last one being to Oban in Scotland), wherethelongwaiting, hopefuls find themselves in cold, murky water and enjoying the experience. A look in the dive log book shows the variety of events divers can

partake in. Some love crawling around old wrecks, some enjoy poking themselves into holes, others can not resist trying to tangle with the subaqua life. Theyareveryaware of the sensitivity of the sea and leave absolutly every thi as they find it. Once the training is done the sea is your oyster. After training as a novice diver, where you dive as a buddy with a dive leader, you can goon to become sports diver and dive leader, then a 1st class diver.

Mixed success for Pirates THE PIRATES had an awesome start to the season on Sunday 8th November. They scored eight touchdowns against a struggling Reading University side. Scoring came from: Julian Weldon, Warren Smart, Ralph Maynard, Jeremy Scarborough, Neil Sulivan,

two from Michael Bucher and an interception returned for a touchdown by club president GarethBillington.

This result is encouraging for the Pirates who have acquired a new head coach, Robin Burton, for the 1992/ 93 season.

The first away game of the

season, against the Cambridge Pythons on 15th November proved to be a rather lack lustre performance from the Pirates.

The offence failed to find the form that gave them a win the week before. Seven offensive fumbles (two which led to Cambridge touch-

downs) and the kick-off at the beginning of the secondhalf being returned for a touchdown, put any plans for a comeback beyond reach.

Results: UEA Pirates 50 vs Reading Whiteknights 0, UEA Pirates 0 vs Cambridge Pythons 34

By Toby Leaver

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Concrete, Wednesday, November 25, 1992

concre e s . Katharine Mahoney looks at the new £650,000 Hockey Centre and the high hopes it has for the future

International recognition for UEA? THE NEW £650,000 Hockey Centre will be, in the words of the Vice-Chancellor, "A real achievement" The centre will provide two floodlit artificial pitches - built to international hockey standards- and a special area for spectators with a view over both pitches. It will be completed by Easter 1992.

The project has gone ahead as the result of a partnership between the University, Norfolk County Council, Earlham High School and the Sports CounciL The new centre will be built on land leased by Norfolk County Counc1l, adjacent to the Athletics track. This means UEA will have the use of a £700,000 Athletics track and a Hockey Centre which Manager of the Sports Centre, Keith Nicholls, says will be the "finest hockey centre in England " - not bad by most standards I

It is hoped that the centre will provide a major boost for hockey in Norfolk.

But although it is primarily intended for hockey, the pitches will also be able to be used for sports such as soccer and S-aside matches.

It is only through all the partners working together and a £I 00,000 grant from the Sports Council that the project was able to be undertaken.

As Professor Derek Burke commented, "By working together we were able to do things which we would never have been able to do separately."

Along with the launch of the Union's project to help links with the local city, this project \\ill enable UEA to be seen as part of the community. Professor Burke went on to say, the "University was working with and for tl1e region" The Centre will have shared

Sport for the isabled For a considerable number of years, there has been a regular meeting at UEA to promote sporting interest amongst the disabled.

The Bntish Sports Association for the Disabled, is a charity nm organisation to provide the disabled with the opportunity to partcipate in sporting activities, by using the sporting facilities at UEA.

The Association has been using UEA' s sport facilities for the last fourteen years.

This is due to Haydn Morris', (the ex-director of the UEA sport centre) keen involvement in encouraging and promoting sport for the disabled.

For one Sunday in every month between September and April, Association members from various organisations in Norwich come to UEA A lot oftheAssociations membership comes from the Raphael Club, a work club for the handicapped at the Vauxhall Centre in Norwich, and the Clare SchooL At present, very few members

Report by Simon Lau of the Association are studying at UEA and so the Association are keen to interest the disabled at UEA to participate in their events.

The activities range from indoor tennis, squash, use of the fitness room for the badly disabled, snooker and table tennis.

(The Association has it's own room with special equipment for these games).

They also have \\heelchair basketball in which handicapped teams play against able bodied teams from different organisations.

The association have been suc-cessful in training disabled athletes to participate in running for the London Marathon in recent years and have raised money for the association. Judging by the commitment and longevity of the association, disabled people have just as much fun in taking part in sports at UEA.

usage between Norfolk schools, the local community and UEA. Mr Damond, Head ofEarlham High School said, "The centre \\ill be a great bonus to the school and will benefit the pupils greatly." The school will probably have day use of the centre, while UEA will share the evening and weekend use \\ith the local community.

The University has though, received guaranteed use of the centre for Wednesday afternoons and the use of one pitch per day at weekends.

The timetable of who will use the centre when, Will have to be carefully worked out and scheduled. However Keith Nicholls does not anticipate any problems, as he says, there is plenty of room for everyone.

The Centre hopes to attract all the regional and county events along with school and youth tournamcnts. Alongside that, tl1e cen-

There is hope yet!

DUE TO go ahead on November 29 is a football match between Sarajevo F.C. and Redstar Belgrade, two politically opposing teams.

If the match takes place it will certainly be a momentous occasion. The event has been organised by "The Serious Road Trip" who are hoping that the match will be the first stepping stone towards ending the war in what was once Yugoslavia.

One of the major obstacles the group has had to overcome, is the problem of getting the Sarajevo football team out of the country and over to Anfield where the match will take place.

To do this they have had to supply their own plane costing £200,000 to fly the players out.

The plane will have to be flown without insurance, as there is noone willing to insure such a high risk .

The game will be televised to as many countries as possible.

According to the "Serious Road Trip" many of the soldiers want to end the war, especially with the threat of winter coming.

As the soldiers will make up the football teams, they are hoping to make" the game symbolic to end the war in the eyes of the world."

Lets hope they are successful and, politicians, take note!

-tre is also looking to host the UAU finals.

Not JUSt content with national recognition though, it also hopes to become a major international venue. Due to its excellent access from the southern bypass, tl1c centre is hopmg to attract

attention from all over the country.

The Umvers1ty has also taken over financial and managerial responsibility for the AtlJietics track. With facilities such as these it has to be good news for UEA, as Jolm Holmes, tl1e Un-

ion Sports Representative says: having the "facilities on our doorstep has to be a great advantage."

This means that sport at Ul :A will be able to go from strengtJ1 to strength- dcfimtel\ an .::.xcJting prospect

Paul Goulder · THE STUDENTS' LANDLORD Two rooms in student house ·Golden Triangle

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