., •
Looking for aplaee to live? We'vf! got some hints and . tips in our 1995
HOUSING GUIDE
RED FACED Union manager, David Hooper, had to face the music when The Waterfront was forced to stay closed on Good Friday.
UNDERGRADUATES across UEA have been left reeling from a change in the structure of the academic year. For Registry chiefs have rought forward the as- .----By----. Niall Hampton sessment period for the Spring semester with the result that teaching time has have more time to do our revibeen cut by one week. sion: And as a result, thousands of students are facing a frantic three weeks as they prepare for the onset of exams with fewer seminars and lectures than those given in the Autumn se-
mester. One third year EAS student echoed the sentiment of many of his colleagues. "I think it's an absolute disgrace", he said. "You've got less time to prepare for exams, especially if you're working on a topic not covered until the end of the course." "I don't understand why it should be different across the two semesters, especially when there's two weeks spare at the end of the year. "Surely that time could be used a bit better and we could
.......
Others thought the workload "unreasonable", especially when having to find a job at Easter, then come back and face assessment within three weeks when more time should have been allocated. Yet Registry bosses claim the change in timetabling was necessary to fit assessment and grading within the semester, and in the case of third year students, to publish their final degree classifications before June
16. They blamed individual schools of study for not passing on the information, which they s~id was available last year. "I understand students complaining about this, and if so can only apologise' , said Academic Registrar, DrTony Rich.
"But it's a failure of communication within schools. "Information about the change was told to be passed on in October 1994 and then again in January.· He added, "Anyone with real difficulties should raise them with their school administration, and I hope they will treat genuine cases of difficulty fairly.· But DJ Owen, Union Academic Officer, condemned the University's attitude, stating it was an "absolute disgrace.· "it's about time somebody in the University took responsibility for something", he said. "I don't know how it's thinkable that a decision can be made in October to bring forward the exam timetable by a week and for it not to occur to anyone to tell the students. "lt is quite simply ridiculous and is no way to run a university." And he added, "What angers me is that they've left themselves with too little time to go back on that decision, and the students as usual are left stuck with that:
The bungling boss- sole licensee of the Union's City entertainments venue - may have missed out on up to £10,000 in takings ... by failing to apply for a licence to open on the festive Easter day. For a quirk in Norwich's laws means that on Good Friday, a special licence to trade has to be applied for prior to opening. And to make matters worse, resident club Milky Lunch had planned to hold their first birthday bash with a host of top DJs, and were expecting a sell-out crowd of more than 900 clubbers. But Mr Hooper, who is responsible for all the Union's commercial services, was away at a conference and realised his blunder too late to be able to do anything. Said Milky Lunch promoter Jay Pate!, "Obviously we're disappointed; it doesn't make us look very organised, and it certainly hasn't done any good for our clientele." He and his eo-promoter, Andy Bunn, were faced with a catalogue of problems when they heard of the disaster. They: • immediately had to shell out around £500 in 'cancellation' publicity, ehad to transfer the event to the 200 capacity Zoom nightclub, on Prince of Wales Road, and ewere faced with a 'knock-on effect' when fewer than usual punters turned up at their Waterfront event on the following Friday.
'''
Union•s Easter licence gaffe could cost£ l Ok
But one of David Hooper's bosses, Sabbatical Union Finance Officer, John Holmes, moved to allay their fears, even though he admitted that the incident was "an embarrassment." "It was money we couldn't afford to lose, and I hope it hasn't done too much damage, especially seeing as January, February and March were such good months for The Waterfront". But John was reluctant to solely blame Mr Hooper, stating: "It was an oversight of the management." Discussion is now under way between the Union and Milky Lunch about the payment of compensa-
I
tion . Despite the Good Friday gaffe, both Jay and Andy have reitera~e<! their intention to carry on staging their events at The Waterfront, although they feel that things could be better organised. They say they are committed to putting both The Waterfront and Norwich firmly on the club map.
~---
2
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
Non-sabb poll NOMINATIONS for 1995S's non-sabbatical Union Executive posts opened last Thursday and will be accepted until tomorrow (May 4) at 2pm. Voting takes place on Thursday May I I between 11.00 and 17.30 in the Bill Wilson Room, Union House, for the following positions: Community and International Liaison Officer, Environment Officer, Internal Affairs Officer, NUS Officer, Publicity Officer, Societies Officer and Sports Officer. In addition, a universal crosscampus ballot will beheld for the posts of External Sports Officer and Internal Sports Officer on the Sports Committee. And for the first time, a women-only cross-campus ballot will decide who becomes Women's Officer. Explained current Women's Officer, Helen Bright, "This is definitely a good thing for women, as more of them will have a say in who represents them and has a voice on the Union Executive."
It's Env Week THIS WEEK is the Union's Environment Week, with a whole host of events taking place on and off campus. Inside, on page 15, we examine UEA's policy on recycling, and next issue, we'll be looking into whether UEA should adopt an ethical investment policy for its pension funds .
SASSAF'S closure fears
prove to be unfounded
FEARS THAT popular snack bar SASSAF would close in the near future have proved to be half-baked. Both SASSAF's volunteers and trustees feared for the future of the Union House outlet, which sells rolls , snacks and cold drinks to over250 students daily. They were worried that Union bosses were trying to eliminate competition to The Hive and that future plans for the redevelopment of Union House excluded SASSAF. But Union Finance Officer, John Holmes, moved toallaytheir fears at a meeting with SASSAF four weeks ago. "The Union's line on SASSAF is that it's clear students want there to be an outlet selling rolls for which the profit goes to causes in South Africa", he said. "SASSAF isn't under threat. The Union Bars are still ordering rolls and will continue to sell them in The Hive. • "lfthemembershipwantThe Hive to stop selling rolls then they can instruct the directors to do that by voting atthe UGM on May4." He added that he will now be working on drawing up a contract between the two parties, to replace an unspoken agreement in force for most of SASSAF's 29 years at UEA.
TOTT Quality Fish & Chips and Pizza
READ-Y CASHFOR LIBRARY LIBRARY chiefs are rolling in the cash ... thanks to the Higher Education Funding Council and UEA's administration. SASSAF President , Helena Broadbridge, welcomed the Union's views, but clearly feels that there is still some work to be done. "We all agreed there had been a lack of communication on both sides", she said , "The Union took steps thatthey should have consulted us on ." "We arecompetitionto The Hive but we just feel we've been here a long time- certainly well before plans for The Hive were drawn up." She added , "Trust needs to be built up between us and the Union. We need to know it's more than just rhetoric.· • SASSAF (The Southern African Student Support and Aid Fund) has been part of UEA life since 1966. A registered charity, it raises over£1 0,000 peryearforworth-
on
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Library Survey A CROSS-CAMPUS survey about UEA library services is being conducted this week by the Student Union. A questionnaire, pigeonholed to every student, asks for comments on the availability of course noise levels, amount ofstudy and advice from library staff. •Forms need to be completed and returned to Union House or the library by Friday, May 5.
orders
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---By----, Adrian Steel
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For the HEFCE have awarded grants of more than £I million for a number of key projects with UEA agreeing to add £600,000 of their funds to this amount. Current overcrowding in the library would be eased by a new, two storey extension for books and journals, costing around £I .I million. A new computer system to aid research, would access information, in conjunction with the British Library, on documents stored in places as far apart as Germany and Scotland. The money is also being used for 'special collections' including the East Anglian Archive and the Zuckerman and Pritchard archives. ChiefLibrarian, Dr David Baker explained how students would benefit from the plans. "In terms of space there will be more reader places in the library, and more IT places", he said.
• •a quality serv1ce with a difference•
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0
while causes in Southern Africa. Last year it donated £2,500 to a school in Durban, enabling it to purchase new desks. D What do you think about SASSAF's status as a food outlet in Union House? Is it competition to The Hive or is there a case for both outlets being allowed to sell a similar range ofproducts? Are the Union putting profit before good causes or are they acting in the interests of their members? D Whatever your views, Concrete would like to hear from
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60p Onion Rings Garlic Mushrooms SOp Quarter Pound Burger in a bun 65p Coleslaw all with salad and a dressing £1.40 Garlic Bread Chicken Burger £1.10 Cheese in burger 45p Canned Drink Beef
Masquedup to make it
at the ball? A GROUP of third years have organised a summer charity ball for graduating students. Titled 'The Masquerade Ball', the event is planned for Friday June 16, and will run from ?pm until 2am featuring two live bands, a disco and street entertainers. Norwich Assembly House was marked as the original venue for the ball, but following a recent fue in the historic building, the event has now been moved to the five star Stakis Hotel near Norwich airport. The ball's organisers, Emma Lewis, Karen Lobendhan and Anna Mitchell, agreed on the plan after they were disappointed at the events planned by UEA. "The University doesn't make any provisions for Graduation celebrations and we weren't satisfied with the events which were organised", Emma explained. Included in the ticket price of £20 is a finger buffet, drink on arrival, photo, mask and free prize draw. All profits made on the night willbedonatedtotheBrianGunn Appeal to help with cancer research. •Tickets for the Masquerade Ball, which are restricted to two per graduand, willbeavailablefroma stall in Union House from Monday, May 8.
Non-sabbs elected TWO NEW non-sabb officers have been elected to replace positions left vacant after recent resignations from the Union Executive. Week 7's poll saw Dave Owens elected as non-sabbatical Communications Officer, to replace PhiiCiegg,whose shock resignation in January rocked the Union. EUR third year Dave has worl<ed as a professional DJ for several radio stations including
Dave Owens
'THE FIGHT GOES ON' -that's the message from the Union after considering the Registry's response to the EUR grade fixing fiasco.
Iona Wake/y Liverpool's prestigious City FM. "I'm thrilled that so many students voted me in", he said, "I just hope I'll be able to do the best job I can until the end ofthe year." On the same day, Labour Student Iona Wakely became NUS Officer, and soon had to rush off to the annual NUS Conference in Blackpool. "I'm definitely pleased at being elected", she said, "There's still some time to do something good in the Union which hasn't had the best of years during 1994-5."
Academic Officer, Daniel Owen, has slammed the University's investigation of the affair, branding it "unsatisfactory." He was reacting to a report issued just before the Easter break by the Registry 's Committee of Enquirywhichadjustedtheimpact of the original regrading exercise, but upheld the practice of allocating provisional coursework marks until confirmation by examiners. "UEA has simply disregarded the feelings of students, and decided that they're quite happy for ~em to suffer for the University's mistakes", said Daniel. "I don't think that's right." But Academic Registrar, Dr Tony Rich, said that the report was the University's last say on
Flashback to March 8... the matter. "There have been no developments since the pub Iication of the report. That is it", he said. Daniel, however, considers the exercise - which initially cut over 200 students' coursework marks by
up to nine per cent - far from over. "I think Or Rich knows the matterisn'tclosed because he's had a copy of my letter to the Vice-Chancellor saying that I don't consider the enquiry's report to be satisfactory." Although a demonstration in The Square on March 8- UEA 's Admissions Day- attracted over 250 students and extensive media attention, further protests could be undermined by the approach of the Spring semester assessment period. But, added Daniel, "I've got a petition with over I, I00 signatures which I will be presenting to the Vice-Chancellor in the next couple of weeks." "It's going to be an ongoing battle with UEA to try and straighten things out for the future.,
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OFFYERFACE
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
5
Sales success to be marked this weekend with cash and CD prize Welcome back to another brain-shattering UEA experience. Your beloved GSA committee has much news and entertainment to convey to you .
ELECTIONS We are presently looking for people who are willing to get involved in the running of the GSA next year. Anyone who is interested and feel they have the qualities to take on a position on the committee should contact the present committee. We suggest that prospective candidates should first meet the committee and learn what the particular position entails before committing themselves.
UEARUGBYSEVENSTOURNAMENT The GSA is sponsoring this year's intra-university Rugby 7s tournament on June 3. Anyone who fancies a fun day of playing rugby and would like to enter a team can get an entry form at the bar.
ENTS Whaaaayyy!!! If you buy the 500,000th pint, then you'll win £150... UNION BARS are on their way to pulling a winner this week
when they serve up their 500,000th pint since the start of this academic year. And to celebrate the event, Un· ion Bars, in conjunction with Concrete, are offering over£ 1SO worth of prizes to the person buying the token half millionth pint this Sunday evening, May 7, in The Pub. The person buying the last pint out of the keg of the product first to run out will be presented with£50in cashaswellasarucksackcontaining a selection of I 0 CDs donated by Concrete, who will publish the winner's photograph in the next issue.
In order to ensW"e the winning pint is served totally at random, freshkegswillbeputonallthelines at 7pm, and the cellar doors locked and sealed by a Concrete journalist acting as official adjudicator. Union Finance Officer, John Holmes, will present the £50 cash prize. Commenting on the continuing
LIVE M Weds May 3 £8.SO Tues May 9 £S Weds May 10 £7.so Sat May 13 £7/£S Sun May 14 £8.SO Weds May 31 £3 Thurs June 1 £4 Fri June 2 TBC Sun June 4 £9.SO Weds June 7 £7.so Fri June 9 £9 Sat June 10 £8 Tues June 13 £7 Wed June 14 £7.so
success of the £1 a pint promotion, John said, "It' s now six years since we last sold lager at £1 a pint and it has clearly been a raging success. "Here'stomoreofthesarne!" he added enthusiastically. ~~~,voo ----~~~
Cambridge Uni students have been warned not to jump off bridges into the River Cam after their May Ball rave-ups. This is so they don't hurt themselves. Hooray/
This term promises a wide range of entertainment to suit everyone's taste. Dates will be published shortly for the following: JAll., PUNK, WORLD MUSIC, IN DIE, FOLK, SPORTS QUIZ, MUSIC QUIZ, TALENT NIGHT. (Anyone interested in entering the Talent Night should sign up on the noticeboard in the Bar. Major prize money is at stake.
MISCELLANEOUS Negotiations for funding the renovation of the bar have not yet come to a conclusion but it is hoped that Geoffrey and the University will soon finalise the details.
COMING SOON Noticeboards will soon be erected in the bar publishing activities and events of the numerous GSA societies.
This section is written and paid for by the Graduate Students Association
UEA LCR
Charlatans plus Bluetones Variety is Not Dead:Stevie Starr, Mr Methane, Steve Rawlings & Amazing Achante Kirsty MacColl plus The Libertines Cream Live PA from Republica + DJ Darren Emerson + 2 resident Cream DJs. Saxon plus Ch~na Drum UEA Fashion Show UEA Fashion Show & disco Pavement The Stranglers Rolf Harris Therapy? 'Jim Rose Circus' Boo Radleys Waiter Trout
Tickets available in advance from Soundclash, our Price. HMV, Andys, City Ticket Shop, UEA Union Finance Office, & 505401 or 764764
6
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
+++1995-6 SABB ELECTIONS+++1995-6 SABB ELECTIONS+++1995-6 SABB ELECTIONS ·_
THE onlY LDlumn UUiH BU.li-•n OB50lE5[:EnLE THIS FORTNIGHT Hype has decided to directly address the powers that be by sending an open letter to Tony Blair M P's em ail address. Before starting the harangue, it's time to announce that Hype has had a mammoth spring clean .... also, queries to Or Net have been literally trickling in, and she's written out some of the prescriptions for those of you with questions worthy enough of her attention. On with the letter: "Dear Mr. Blair, For a while now, government officials across the Westem world have been busy verbally endorsing the idea of creating a global 'information superhighway' (repulsive terminology). They have been so very quick to jump on this bandwagon as, the way it has been presented so far, it would require absolutely no effort from any government body to bring it into being. All that is required is to step back and to let market forces sweep the general populace into the Information Age. All in all, a nice little political baby to kiss and then forget about. However, a littlethoughtabout the consequences of relying on the altruism of Big Business shows that the idea requires more than just lip-service.
J
What most people tend to forget during any discussion of the electronic networks is that the nature of their evolution is entirely dependent on the priorities of the people who use them, and, more importantly, profit from them. The free-market pundits of the type normally encountered on the pages of Wired magazine view the future as being the rosy product of competition between small, public-spirited businesses, all working together for the greater good of humankind . The possibility that the massive corporations who are currently drooling over the prospect of getting involved will want nothing more than to reap maximum profits at the expense of the punters seems not to have occurred to them. All it will take is the intervention of one of the big players (for example, the imminent release ofthe Microsoft Network) to create a stranglehold on the way in which the computer networks develop, and to reduce the Internet to the status of ham radio. lt is the context in which people first encounter the computer networks that will determine their future development. If people come to expect a censored, proprietary network replete with adverts and designed to facilitate direct marketing rather than free information exchange then that is what will happen. If, however, the vast global information resources are pre-
You r 24
sented in the spirit of universal access (for example, it would cost virtually nothing to put a few PCs running Mosaic in every public library in the country) then the population gf Britain will be all the better equipped to take advantage of, and contribute to, these resources. We are not asking for the creation of a Nanny State Network to dictate what information Is present and the ends for which people use it, simply for improved access to something that already exists. In providing easy access to the Internet from schools, libraries and other public bodies, the Government has the capacity to empower people simply by plugging them in, and then leaving well enough alone. So, then, the time has come for British politicians to decide what the future will look like. Will you be providing universal public access to the Internet - a network involving free information exchange and where consensus is the deciding factor? Or will you be standing idly by as a society of information haves and have-nots is created, where access to corporate-controlled networks is reserved for those with the cash to subscribe and the wherewithal to buy the necessary hardware? it's going to be up to you , Mr Blair." Hype's Website can be reached as follows: UEA Welcome~ UEA lnfo~Students~Campus TV, Radio & Publications~ Hype.
Email us at su.hype@uea.ac.uk or via internal mail c/o Concrete, Union House.
Victors (from L-R): Adam Bowden, Stuart Campbell, John Holmes and Esther Jil/et.
Closefinish in Comms and Welfarevote NEXT YEAR'S Union Exec will see three new faces join an established member to form the 1995-6 sabbatical team. In Week6'spoll,Adam Bowden, Stuart Campbell and Esther Ji llet were elected as Academic, Communications and Welfare officers respectively. Present Finance Officer, John Holmes, was returned for a second term. The four will now assume their £7,000 per year positions in August. The elections were characterised by clean and often imaginative campaigning, leading to close finishes in the voting for the Communications and Welfare Officers. Stuart Campbell pipped popular contender and former Union Environment Officer, Damon Roddis, to the Comms post by just 32 votes. "Throughout election day, I'd heard it was very close and tried not to listen to the exit polls", said
---By----. Niall Hampton Stuart. "I was relieved with the result, and will aim to achieve everything I set out to do, and I'm very much looking forward to it", he added. In another close call, SWSS candidate Esther Jillet saw off present Internat io nal Office r, Lara Wool ford, by a slender 20 votes to become next year's Welfare sabbatical. " It was a close finish, but really exciting. It meant in the end that people were voting for change. "I'm really relishing the prospect of working on the Exec next year", she said. Elsewhere, Adam Bowden was
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elected Academic Officer, taking 160 more votes than his nearest rival, current LGB Officer, Gehrett Ellis. "I'm relieved that the whole process of campaigning is over and feel both confident and expectant that over the next year I will accomplish the objectives that I campaigned for", said Adam. John Holmes was comfortably re-elected as Finance Officer and hopes to implement some of the policies he has been unable to push through in this, his first term of office. I1A., "I'd like to see student develo~ ment recognised as something the Union should be putting time, effort and resources into", he said. "I also think that everybody needs to take a serious look at the Union's constitution and how it is in practice a barrier to participation."
Snooker... J -..N'no\e \o' ~no o more\
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
7
At one with the
world
CELEBRATIONS for One World Week begin next Monday. May 8 with a benefit gig for the Rwanda Orphanage Appeal in the LCR featuring the Ouagadougous and Scoobs in Colombia, world music DJ and a cheap bar. DEVSOC will aJso be hosting aseriesofeventsincludingspeakers. stalls and workshops to create what they call "a global village" in the square. Inside Union House, special drumming and SaJsa workshops are open to all. Humanrigbtsinlndonesiaare oneoftheissueshighligbted with guest speakers to discuss East Timor and the current arms trade. In addition to this, a poverty clock. will be ticking away throughout the week. Watch the noticeboards for a programme of events.
Due to production difficulties, we've been unable to bring you X-Crete this issue. Don't fret - Concrete's popular diary page will be back next issue with some new features.
Sorry I
UEA clu&•s diarv. of disaster. ..
CONCRETE'S Chief Cartoonist, Tony Lansdowne, is certainly quick on the draw ... he's just become a freelance illustrator for top Euro magazine, Surf. EAS third year Tony has been a dedicated surfer for the last six years and his love of the pastime has become one of the biggest influences on his work. "The cartoons were all a bit rushedtogetthem in on time, but I'm pleased with them", he said, "ltcertainly looks good to get a wide variety of published work in addition to what I've done for Concrete over the last three years." Tony hopes to continue illustrating after he waves goodbye to UEA in June, especially on a freelance basis. "One good thing about working this way is that it leaves more time for surfing", he added.
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JINXED hockey players thought they'd been set up by Jeremy Beadle when their recent tour of Ireland turned into a nightmare trip. By A host of mechanical and other Caroline Adlem assorted problems meant that they only spent one day in Ireland (mostly in the Guinness factory), only twenty they were finally allowed to board a minutes actually playing hockey, ferry - after it had been delayed by and were forced to sleep in a scout bad weather. hut. Then it was a case of pushing the The fates began to conspire coach ofT the ferry, so that they against the party before they even might drive to their youth hostel. It left Norwich, whenthecoach'sbat- was, of course, fully booked. tery was discovered to be dead, and Eventually alternative accoma tyre was somehow punctured whilst modation was found. the vehicle was stationary. A youth hostel where the enterThirteen hours later than planned tainment was provided by ants crawltheteamanivedinFishguard, WaJes, ing on the table. only to watch the last ferry that The coach broke down again on could safely carry their coach sail- the way to the actual hockey ing out of the port. matches, which only lasted for "The next large ferry was not for twenty minutes each due to bad another 27 hours", explained team weather. member Emily Norton, "as occaThe journey home passed off sionally once a month the Monday without incident apart from the morning ferry is cancelled, and we coach's fan belt breaking, that is. had picked that day that occurs once "We all enjoyed ourselves ima month sometimes." mensely," said Emily. Having spent a night huddled un"Especially because of aJl the der blankets in the local scout hut, hiccups."
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8
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
Letters
{
, ~ ~r@
reo m men~ 1 ~
A Clean Camp_gjg!!
Concrete welcomes your letters on any subject. Whether it is something we've written about and you want to take issue with , or you just simply want to make a point, we want to hear from you. Write to us (before 1pm on May 10) to have your letter published in the next issue) at the address below or via our postboxes in Union House, marking your correspondence for the attention of the Editor. Anonymity will be respected but you must include your name and address in the first instance.
What a year it's been for the Union Exec. Scandals, resignations, sleaze - nothing on the scale of the Government but still bad enough. We 've commented on some of the above during the last year, most of the time critically. So, before Easter, it was refreshing to see the Sabb elections run without a hitch. No postponements, no acrimony, no hate campaigns, no hidden agendas, and most importantly, no gaggi ng orders on student media. The candidates all fought long and hard, most of their publicity was handled very well, and the voting for Comms and Welfare led to a close and exciting finish. So congratulations to Adam, Stuart, John and Esther, and to all the others who stood for sabbatical positions.
WOMEN•s WEEK: WHAT A FARCE A of the problems faced by students with families? LGB Week was successful in many ways, but most importantly, it made sure that the rest of the students knew about the events, and made them aware that awareness and support campaigns like 'Women's Week' are not just the premise of those they seek to represent.
It concerns everybody's lives, and I feel so ashamed and angry that an opportunity like this has been totally ••• *ed up! I wanted to play an active part but the lack of organisation prevented me from standing up for some of the principles closest to my heart.
PARKING POSER I
mit would continue to use their cars, parking near campus and increasing the understandable problems of Bluebell Road residents. This situation must be addressed by any plan. One possibility would be for UEA, in consultation with residents, to request the City Council to introduce a restricted parking scheme for the near-campus area, as currently successfully operated in other areas of Norwich. As suggested by Concrete, should also lobby for greater al native transport facilities, especially for more cycling routes. Encouraging the use of private cars for unnecessary short journeys is environmentally irresponsible.
s a female stude nt at UEA, I am really an noyed, nay angry, about the shambles that was called the Union's 'Women's Week '. There was a party, a demo (though the flyer did not say what we were protesting at - maybe it was just supposed to be a chance for female bonding) and a pretty banner in The Hive.
Admittedly, there were speakers, but who knew they were coming? Surely our own illustrious Women's Officer does not think that pansies and 'a sit-in in the gym' are the only issues confronting women. What of the zero of violence against women campaign? What about raising awareness
Michel/e Valentine (EUR2)
Here's to next year- let's hope it'll be a better one ...
Sort o ut o ur SASSAF This issue, we reported on SASSAE's fears for their future in Union House. They were concerned that Union management were freezing them out because SASSAF are competition to The Hive. To his credit, the Finance Officer has reassured SASSAF that this is not the case, and has added that students can prevent The Hive from selling a similar line of filled rolls by voting for this at a UGM . SASSAF's position - a registered charity that raises over£ I 0,000 for worthwhile causes in Southern Africa - shou ld not be undermined though.
There is room in the market for both SASSAE and The Hive to trade side by side - especially now that a new range of rolls from an outside company are on sale.
Not so sma ll beer... Last aut umn we ran an ed itorial praising the virtues of the Union's £1 per pint policy. They said they couldn't do i't, that it'd be impractical. But eight months down the line, it's proved to be a storming success, with 500,000 pints of beer being sold since August. This is a clear endorsement of the Union's current policy towards beer prices, and it's the best thing they've done in ages. And news is coming in that Union Bars'll soon be slashing the price of a pint of Guinness by lOp.
Now that's a step in t he right direction ...
Deadlines .... Dead on your feet ....
.r.·.
am writing to respond to your request for views on campus car parking ('Local residents driven to despair by student parking'] in the last issue. As your editorial suggests, the solution to UEA's obvious car parking problem is to curb the demand and not simply to attempt to meet ever increasing car parking 'needs'
AN EPISTLE TO THE LGB
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Y I remind those who chalked "Love is not a in" on the Chaplaincy wall during the LGB Awareness Week, of some Biblical teaching on the subject of sexual immorality - homosexuality in particular. God told the Israelites in Leviticus: " If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads", (Lev 20: 13). The fate of both Sodom and Gomorrah also clearly demonstrates the Lord's abhorrence of sexual immorality (see Genesis 19). Later, the apostl e Paul instructed both Jewish and Gentile believers in Yeshua that: "Neither the sexually immoral. .. nor homosexual offenders ... will inherit the kingdom of God", and that "the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for th e Lord", ( I Corinthians 6:9, 10, 13). He also warned that "the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the god lessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth", (Romans I : 18).
U EA'S Independent Student Newspape• INCORPORATING
Dead worried.
The event PO Box 410, Norwich NR4 7TB
(01603)250558 f'
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with further expansive facilities. As has been proved over the last few years at a national level, schemes that only attempt to accommodate growth in demand are doomed to failure . They stimulate further growth in demand, increase expectations which cannot be satisfied and have serious environmental effects.
Please don't get me wrong though: I confess to having been sinful and sexually immoral in the past too! But now I am forgiven and reconciled to the Lord by His grace, through Yeshua the Messiah who gives us all hope! • Yeshua himself told us : "He who believes in the Son will have eternal life, while he who disobeys the Son will never see life: God's wrath will abide on him", (John 3 :36). There is a choice. Please be reconciled to God. You can demonstrate and argue for your 'eq uality and freedom' all you want, but please remember that God's precedents are eternal. I am warning you out of compassion, not condemnation. "I tell you, men will be called to account at the day of judgement for every idle remark they make, for it will be your words which right you and your words which ruin you", (Matthew
12:36). Please don't say that "God made me this way."
fan Cossar (EAS3)
Many of those that choose to drive onto campus live within acceptable walking or cycling distances, often as close as the Golden Triangle. The number of campus parking permits available should be limited and their allocation decided on the base of actual need. Students and staff who either live beyond a certain distance from campus or need to use their car for specific reasons, such as health, should be given priority. Those who live close to campus should be refused. However, an anti-social minority of those refused a parking per-
Guy Hughes (PHY3}, on behalf of The Society for Environmental Action
.4 SPORTING QUESTION read, with relative interest, your short article concerning the resignation of the lnternal and External Sports Officers. I say relative interest because, as a member of the Rugby Club, I was already aware of the case and only reading out of idle curiosity. However, the case itself becomes irrelevant when a member of the Executive ignores a democratic stage on the grounds that it would be undemocratic. The point is not whether a democratic result would have been achieved but why an opportunity to discuss a decision was bypassed. In this particular case, the matter was finally resolved after discussion between the Sports Officer and the Sports Committee anyway, but only after a week of recrimination. The long and the short of it was
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that an undemocratic stage of the democratic process was proved to be absolutely pointless, unless of course anything had to be achieved. As far as the comments concerning Chip and less's attitudes to their posts and the extent to which they will be missed, two points spring to mind. ~ First, the fact that AIW" Bainbridge [Union Sports Officer] made a strong effort to persuade them to change their minds and secondly, that these accusations were uncalled for, irrelevant and pretty rich coming from someone who has proved to have the temperament of a startled sheep - although having honed hi s own athletic abilities to the point of representing his country at GluteoMaximal free climbing, I don 't suppose he cares. J G Philipps (EUR3)
• Editor: Niall Hampton • Assistant Editor: Michele du Rand! •Features Editor: Mark Austin e Go-Sports Editors: Nik Davy & Jane Horner • Screen Editor: Caroline Jenkinson • Assistant Screen Editor: William Neil •Stage Editor: Joanna Stubbington •Music Editor: Peter Hart • Assistant Music Editor: David Hall e Special Projects Editor: Caroline Adlem •Picture Editor: Keith Whitmore • Chief Cartoonist: Tony Lansdowne • Chief Features Writer: Seth Levine • Chief Music Writer: Sam Richards • Chief Photographer: Sam Jary •Editorial Contributors: Paul Collins, Andy Tyler, Tom Geoghegan , Bruce Rhodes , Rob Mullarkey, lan Reynolds, Anna Currie, Nicola Hutchinson, Kala Duffey, Khushwant Sachdave, Alistair Cushion, Dawn Emery, Matthew Doyle, Johnny Boyne, Joanna Emsley, Peter Elliot, Joanne Robertson , Adrian Steel, Tristan Roddis , Simon Mann, Rebecca Curran, Liz Mills, Alberta Lopez, Philip Miles, Nicola Daley, Tim Wales, Martin Plant, Sally Rose, Jess Morriss, Nick Amies •Photographers: Mohamed Hassan , Jo Stubbington eSpecial Thanks To: UH Stewards •Advertising Manager: Simon Mann •Production Manager: Stephen Howard •DTP Assistants: Niall Hampton , Peter Hart, Nik Davy, Michele du Rand! •Concrete is published by the Union of UEA Students. Opinions expressed are those of the Contributor and not necessarily those of the Publisher or Editor. Use of the name 'The Event' appears by arrangement with the copyright holders, Planet Zog Ltd . No part of this newspaper may be reproduced , stored in an airtight container, or transm itted by any means, electronic, technotronic featuring Ya Kid K, mechanical, orchestral, agricultural, channel tunnel , Eiffel Tower, Easter bunny etc. •Printed by Eastern Counties Newspapers, Prospect House, Rouen Road , Norwich •concrete is printed on recycled paper © 1995
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9
Leffers
CHALKER A D HER CHEESY SPEECH B
ritish imperialism is alive and well in 1995. This was the message that came from Baroness Lynda Chalk.er, the government Minister for Overseas Development, in a speech given at UEA on Monday, March
6. Of course, imperialism was not the word that the Baroness herself chose to use, but the tone of her speech indicated otherwise. Baroness Chalker is a firm believer that it is the task of us (those of us who live in the 'developed' world) to refonn the rest of the world. She must have used the word 'refonn' in just about every sentence delivered in a patronising dialogue that implied from beginning to end that we in the 'developed world' automatically know what's best for those in the underdeveloped nations, (you know, the ones that used to belong to us, and weren't any better off then). Baroness Chalker 's attitude is different from the colonialists of the past, who took on 'the white man's burden'; a burden which of course was shouldered for the benefit of those poor, uneducated savages in the j ungle. The only difference between latter-day colonialists, like
Chalk.er, and the old colonialists, such as Cecil Rhodes, is the time in which they live. The concept of putting a flag up in a foreign land and claiming it for Queen and country has had its day, so now the latter-day Cecil Rhodes, Baroness Chalker, is raising her flag by means of economic imperialism. It is the saine poison, in a different bottle. Baroness Chalker failed to mention in her speech that the main reason for the countries that she wishes to 'refonn' being in the state that they are in is because of the exploitation which was endured iri the previous colonial era, along with the disastrous effects of the structural adjustment programmes enforced by the World Bank and the IMF in recent years. One country praised by Baroness Chalker for adopting her 'reforms ' is Ghana, a country which has been the victim of widespread deforestation as a result of the need to expand cocoa plantations, purely to pay back the massive debt owed to western banks. She also failed to mention that the refonns which she has in mind involve imposing the monetarist economic policies of our Conservative government, as a condi-
tion for us giving them the aid they so badly need to recover from the colonial imperialism that they have already suffered, such as encouragement to grow cash crops for the west, on.Jy to have prices reduced as soon as the market becomes flooded. Milton Friedman, the guru of monetarist economics, once told us all that "there is no such thing as a free lunch". It seems that this also applies to those who are left hungry by economic imperialism. Baroness Chalker blames the condition of the 'third world' on corrupt and incompetent government, and to a large extent this may well be true. But, of course Auntie Lynda has the answer- we'll teach them about 'good government' cos we know best. (Hang on a minute, corrupt and incompetent government. Haven ' t I heard of that somewhere before?) The benevolent Baroness also insists that Britain's only incentive in teaching these nice, but misguided, countries how to behave, is out of pure altruism. On her visit to UEA, The Minister insisted that British intervention abroad is not for the coun-
try's own benefit. This was strange coming statement coming from the same Minister who, in a speech to the London Business School in 1990, boasted that for every ÂŁ1 Britain puts into multi-lateral agencies it gets ÂŁ1.75 back. Her claims of altruism also contradict a paper from the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee: "In practice, the purpose ofbi-lateral aid programmes in the UK... has rarely been viewed as the purely selfless promotion of other countries' and peoples' welfare. It haS always been understood that such programmes should be carried out with British commercial interests and political interests in mind." It was once claimed that the sun never sets on the Great British Empire. It seems to me that the current British government is doing everything it can to keep that sun blazing on the backs of those who have toiled under the colonialism of the past, and who continue to suffer under the economic and cultural imperialism of today. Cheers Lynda!
Neil Monk (DEVJ)
LABOUR DOESN1 HAVE THE ANSWER S
ince the 30 per cent grant cuts, it is not news to us that the principle of free education for all is under attack from all sides. However, recent developments in the political debate should be ' "'oked at more closely as they te important implications. This year schools under council control (most schools) are facing massive cuts in funding which will lead to redundancies among teachers; further worsening of resources and cuts in special needs provision, which is needed more than ever. We are told that there is no money to fund education by both the Conservative and Labour alike, but this is not exactly true! What sadly is true is that Labour refuses to put the alternative - desperation for power leading to a fear of saying anything at all that may be unpopular with middle-class voters. Millions could be saved by scrapping Trident, by ending the road-building programme, by looking at alternatives to vast spending on prisons, by cutting the money given to the Royal family, by cutting back on pay for MPs and ministers, top civil servants and hospital managers and, of course, by making the rich (people like Cedric Brown and Sir Ian Valiance) pay more tax.
Rather than do this, however, Labour have made their position clear. They have begged councils not to set illegal budgets, have capitulated on their pledge to put VAT on public school fees, sent their children to public schools and refused to support school governors, parents and teachers demonstrating against cuts. The agenda on public spending has been set entirely by the Tories and the city. Labour's Commission for Social Justice report has worrying implications for future student support. The proposals are for a graduate tax, a 'learning bank' and student contributions. Firstly, none of these proposals will solve the problem of student poverty - a 'learning bank' will mean students desperately (and dangerously) cutting back their expenditure or simply not entering higher education at all; frightened about falling into debt for the rest of their lives. A graduate tax undennines the whole principle of free education and will undoubtedly discriminate against those who enter lowerpaid jobs, such as nursing and teaching, after graduation- and this is only applicable to those lucky enough to get jobs at all. All these proposals will deter people entering higher education,
especially students from working-class backgrounds (who already make up a minority of those in HE) and student parents or mature students. Education should mean a better life: not a life in debt and poverty. The attitude of the NUS leadership has been disgraceful - as anyone who saw the Guardian ('NUS to look at ending grants' ) during the NUS conference, will know. Rather than respond to the thousands of students who have protested for 'grants not loans', and written to their MPs or signed petitions; they have looked to Labour party HQ for their lead. This is an absolute sell-out and shows little regard for students on the ground. It was worrying to see NUS NEC members shaking their heads when conference delegates spoke about free education. To avoid a two-tier system of education, we should be clear on our arguments and prepared to defend free education for all. The 'Fight Against Cuts in Education' demonstrations and the example of students and teachers striking against redundancies at Southwark College show thousands of ordinary (often Conservative!) men and
women acting together to defend education. We should do the same and reject Blair's ideas for education there is an alternative argument. Education is a right for all and should never again be allowed to become a privilege for the few while the rest of us put up with poverty and second-rate facilities. Every attack on education funding is an attack on those who most need education and an attack on our futures. Join the fight to defend state education, along with teachers, schoolk.ids, governors, councillors and parents - and tell Jim Murphy where to stick his graduate tax!
Esther Jillet (EAS3) on behlllf of the Socialist Worker Students Society (SWSS)
Sorry!, but due to the number of letters received for this issue, we have been unable to print them all - if your letter dcesn t appear here, rest assured we will try to print it in the next issue 1
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Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
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lfhe Way Around The Union' Welcome back from the Easter break, my name is Cave Owens and I am the new Communications Officer, the new face and voice of your Union ...
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am a fourth year EUR student and so naturally I am deeply concerned with the current EUR grades fiasco, and as such will be lending my full support to your Union in fighting for fair grades. I want the Union to be more approachable and anyone is welcome to either find me in the office during the daytime, or in the bar at night if you have any problem, query or just want to but me a pint. Although we may sometimes underestimate them, we are very fortunate at UEA to already have excellent internal communications facilities: Concrete , Livewire and Nexus
UTV. Our contacts with the external media are also excellent, both on a regional and national basis (as was seen in the EUR protest). lt's my job to maintain and improve these links. In every issue of Concrete, the TWATU page will keep you informed of what your Union is doing for you . Once again , if you have any questions or problems, my office door is always open
•Dave 's 'always open' office is upstairs in Union House. To find it, go up the stairs inside UH, turn /eft at the top, go through the doors ahead of you, and then follow the signs around to the left. lt's that simple/
!N EWS••• IWS••• EWS•••
I The terms explained •• Daye•s Guide to Union Jargon
non-sabbatical = they don't get paid, but they do work incredi bly hard (honest)! Women's Officer= a woman who represents women cross campus = not confined to a particular society, basically any student has the right to vote (whoopee for our liberal democracy!!!) ex-officio = an ex-officio officer does not have the right to vote in the Union exec because they have been elected by a particular or exclusive group. executive = students that YOU elected who talk about, and sometimes vote, on things. Next issue ... ONLY IN THIS COLUMN ... . Dave explains more of the terms that you ought to know! Trust him, because he cares!!!
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Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
ACTION
May 1st-6th
EVENT Recycled Orchestra: A Musical Rally Free Film:Raymond Briggs' animated classic When the Wind Blows
LOCATION Registry. LCR
Tuesday, May2 9am
Mass Cycle Ride
Five Ways Roundabout
Wed., May 3
Lloyds Bank Action Discussion: Ethical Banking with John Kitchen of the Cooperative Bank
Lloyds The Street 1.33UH
11am-2pm 34:30pm
Thurs., May 4 1pm 6-7:30pm
Friday, May 5 Spm Bluebell Rd. 8pm House,
9pm-2am
Saturday, May 61 Oam-4pm
""EEK ENVIRONMENT WEEK 1995
Environment Week '95 Calendar of Events
DAY TIME Monday, May 1 12:30-1:30 6pm
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UGM: Ethical Investment and Save SASSAF The Square Panel Discussion: A Fragile Planet Lecture Theatre 2 -The Wor1d Bank and the Environment All Welcome! with Geoffrey Lamb, the Wor1d Bank Richard Baggott, Christian Aid Dr. Kanta Kumari, School of Environmental Sciences Dr. Sam Jackson, School of Development Studies Moderator. Dr. Kale Brown, School of Development Studies Mass Cycle Ride
The three events which best capture our efforts to act Local, think Global, and have a Good Time are: • Greening UEA conference on Saturday May 6th in the Elizabeth Fry Building • Panel discussion on the World Bank on Thursday May 4th in Lecture Theatre 2 • ECO-BASS, dub and techno on Friday May 5th at the Waterfront featuring Suspect Sound Systems.
Acting Locally: Greening UEA One of the principal themes of the week is Greening UEA. You may be surprised to hear that UEA, with some of the finest teaching and research in the world in Environmental Sciences, has a rather appalling record in terms of its environmental responsibility. For years, the Student Union and the Society for Environmental Action have struggled to green the University. Two glaring indications that UEA does not ''think green" are the following: • Investments: UEA has more than £20 million invested in equities, a considerable amount of which is invested in Shell and British and American Tobacco, two companies with quite horrific environmental and social records. • Car park: UEA has plans to spend £2 million to create a two level car park, a plan which encourages car use rather than greener options like car pooling, ride-sharing, and better cycling facilities.
UEA
Discussion: Stopping the War Machine
The Green
w~h Kale Wrttham,
Shut Sellafield Nukewatch representatives of FASLANE Peace Camp
48 Bethel Street
ECO-BASS: Techno and DUB featuring: SUSPECT SOUND SYSTEM £6 adv £7 on the door
The Waterfront
"Greening UEA" Conference
Brought to you by the Student Union and the Society for Environmental Action, Environment Week begins Monday May lst and runs through Saturday May 6th. Throughout the week, there will be a number of actions and events which you can be part of. In this description, you can fmd out about how we are Acting Locally, Thinking Globally, and having a stomping Good Time.
Elizabeth Fry Building
eo-sponsored by the School of Environmental Sciences with Peter de la Cour, Greening of Higher Education Council Sally Richardson, Wor1d Wide Fund for Nature free but space limited so please call Josh Busby ext. 2593 for more details
We are making some progress. In recent weeks, the University acknowledged what we've been saying for a year: UEA can save money on reduced waste disposal bills through recycling. £15,000 per year in fact. We can look forward to a paper recycling scheme in the coming months. However, despite this progress, the University lacks any environmental policies or any specific structure to coordinate UEA's environmental responsibility. A major focus of Environment Week is to put pressure on the University to write and adopt policies on waste reduction and energy efficiency/energy conservation and pressurise UEA to establish an Environmental Working Group to oversee implementation of these policies. Throughout the week, there will be events that are intended to pressure the Registry to become greener in its operations. These include: a rally around the Registry on the Monday, a Union Genera Meeting on ethical investment and saving SASSAF on the Thursday, and a Greening UEA conference on the Saturday.
Thinking and Acting Globally During Environment Week, there will also be a focus on how we in developed countries in the UK have an impact on the people and their environments around the world. A nwnber of actions and discussions will draw attention to our moral responsibility and the absolute necessity for us to care about and support people in the Third World. On the Wednesday, you can ·oin us in the morning for our protest of Lloyds and Midland over their holdings of Third World debt. Or, in the afternoon. you can participate in a discussion of Ethical Banking with representatives of the Co-op bank. Thursday UGM's on ethical investment will draw attention to UEA's responsibility to the Third World. Thursday evening, we'll be graced by a representative of the World Bank who will engage in a lively discussion with a nwnber of activists and academics about the Bank's role in furthering environmental destruction around the globe. This evening is not to be missed. On Friday evening, join representatives of the Faslane Peace camp to discuss their continued campaign to stop the arms trade and the nuclear industry.
Having a Stomping Good Time What would Environment Week be without some fun? Some of the actions, the mass cycle ride, the recycled orch~stra, and the Lloyds action shouJd all be fun, but we've done even better. On the Monday, come see a free showing of Raymond Briggs' animated anti-nuclear classic When the Win Blows. You want more fun? Friday night, May 6th at the Waterfront will rage with ECO-BASS, dub and techno with a global attitude, featuring Suspect Sound Systems and projection visuals from Thought Control. With your £6 advance ticket getting you into the Ministry of Sound downstairs, how can you go wrong?
One of the mllny non-human residents of campus
PHOTO COURTESY OF CONCRETE
So, check out the complete Calendar of Events on this page. Also, check out the Society for Environmental Action homepage for more information about the campaigns that are being run.
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efore Easter, As a result of protest fected by EUR have been concern. Even the Queen, ing at your work . As in ents), and members of UEA your Students' from both students and staff, adjusted a second time, by as Visitor of the University, EUR, you could be downstaff. Un ion co has referred the matter to graded because of the perthe Vice-Chancellor estaba secr13t method , with the Student protest has the Privy Council's Office! 1 formance of last year's stuordinated the lished a speci al inte rnal resu lt that most students caused the first major interdents. c a mpa i g n Committee of Enquiry. As have had some of the ir nal enquiry in many years; you cannot also await a response from against the University's fixit has resulted in the restowith all other official discusmarks restored to them, and the Chancellor, Professor that you will be able to aping of grades in the School sion of this issue, the Corn- many 'tiave had all th eir ratior1'of many grades; it·has Sir Geoffrey Alien. peal a grade. The Univerof Modern Languages and mittee met in secret, and marks restored. disrupted three Open Days; Th ese are t h e sity's Appeals Procedure European Studies (E UR). conveniently published its The Union's cam- and it has thrown into ques- , things yqu should know has a limited list of grounds Over three hundred students conclusions just twenty-four paig against the grade-fix- tion nationwide, the compeaboutyourdegree : for appealing. They are who took clas se s in that hours before the end of ing has been'one of its m.ost tence of '~E Amanage- w ·• "' yOu cannot trust your mostly procedural, although School had had their grades teaching in March. Qf the successful ever. A protest ment. Regrettably, this has coursework marks as nee- everything that happens in adjusted by the Board of ExEnquiry's seven findings, "demonstration of over 200 not been enough. The Uni- , essarily behig t.he actua l a Boa rd of Examin ers' aminers, who never looked identified in its report, six re- students on cam pus reversitY continues to reserve mark you will finally receive meeting is strictly confidenat the students' work, but still 11afe to documents or evi-.r ceived cover:age in the Eastthe right to fix you r grade,, for that work. Coursework ,,;;ti;:ll, so proving misconduct felt qualified to reduce their dence that are classified "em Evening t'~ws and the whateve r your School , at markS are subject to review is difficult. 0 marks. The reductions were Eastern Da11y on any time in the future, for 'Confidential and Reservea' an(j po~sible re~ision by~tne <>tf{at'' ({e t~r;;,~~t;s~~':e: made not on ac adem ic . an1:1 so may not be queswhatever reason it chooses. Radio Broadland and Radio Board of Exammers at the what: yo 11 think. UEA has grounds - they were made tioned, challenged or conNorfolk, on BBC Look East Although it is not practical to end of the semester. maqe its students the vieby applying statistical tests, firmed by any student, or by organise further protest acand Anglia News, and nayou cannot assume • tilns of its1 own mistakes. such as comparing the overtionally in the Independent, tion so close to the exam the Students' Union. Crucial that the Board ofexaminers ' Tfley'·don't seem to care all average for each unitwith information about how Ex- 'the Telegla{!hand the Times period, the Union is continuincludes an external exam- that student and staff mothe overall average for the aminers adjust grades in ;Higher Edu.cation Suppleing to campaign on' our beiner. Though external el(ant- rale 1n EUR hasibeen seriSchool. The University deother Schools of study is ment. Our response to the half on this issue. I have iners are your assurance of ously damaged py this fends its actions by claiming also 'Confidential and ReEnguiry's report was Radio brought the grade-fixing to fairness and high academic scandal. No one outside that the adjustment protects served'. Norfolk's top story for that the attention of the Higher standards, the regulations ' the Students' Union offered the external value of UEA's The Enquiry's report day, and received further Education Quality Councik , make them essential only for to speak to all the stuqents degrees and their compararestates the University's ar- widespread local media cov- '- and the t-figher Education.., th(:l Final Assessment, when affected, and explain what bility with other universities- gument that Boards pf ~x- erage . . Within days of the your degree clas.slficatlons has happened and answer Fun,ding Council for Eng~ their questions, No one 88% of EUR's graduates a miners must be able to . scandal breaking, a petition land, a~well t;lsihe present· outsidethe StuciEmts' Union are determined. last year received Firsts or adjust grades for whatever of bver,two hundred signaand incoming Chairs uf the · ~ou,cannot assume~ offere d"advice on how the 2:1s, compared to an averreason they ~ee.fit. The re- tures was raised in EUR; Committee of Vice-Chan~ your grades wilf reflect Y.OUr students could protect their age of 66% for UEA Arts port also re-affirms the 'prinanother petition with 11 37 cello rs. an~ Prin~i palsr Both acade 'fl ic a JJi.Jvemen t . right toahigh quality$n8~ Schools as a whole. And ciple' that eoursework maii<s signatures is ready to be de-- ·the.pity ~d.. County CounUnJversity regulations allow ard of ed4cation. The Uni~ yet, the adjustments were cils are aware of the situamust remain provisional un- livered this week to the Reg~ the Examiners to apply sta- versity has sacrificed you made with no external extil they are reviewed and, if istry. These are signatures tion, and both John Garrett. tistical tests that have no trust, for a quick fix. aminers present, or even innecessary, adjusted by the of'students, potential stu~ MP·and C!ive Needle·MEB. bearing whatsoever on your Dani~l Owen "t" , , < vited to the Board of ExamBoard of Examiners. The dents ~isiting on Admissions have written to the Viceacademic abilities, and may Academic Officer ,. . iners' meeting. grades of those students af- Open Day~ (and their par- Chancellor to express the1r be applied without ever look-
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Press,
IMPORTANT NOTICE -,.,.~-,
If you are a student and looking for part-time work. the Student Union is'looking for staff. We will shortly be interviewing for the following jobs:
UHIOH ROUSE ,BIUIS . WATEBFROHT BARS UNIOH SUPERMARKET UNION PAPER SHOp UNION EHTS
drew Marfleet, a esearcher in the chool of Education , is spearheading the University-wide evaluation of the Common Course Structure (modularisation, semesterisation etc.) His research , which is being done with the help and support of the Union 's Education Unit, requires feedback from as many students as possible, and Andrew would like to talk to more students. "it's been relatively easy to contact faculty, " An drew explains, "but we are concerned that student opin-
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Interviews will take place in the fortnight commencing Wednesday May 10. 1nformation sheets and application forms are available from Chris Weir in the General Office, first floor, Union House. Those who have already handed in application forms this year need not re-apply. The Union of UEA Students is striving to be an Equal Opportunities employer.
LADS! GIRLS! Need some cash? Do you want to take down our particulars?ll We need someone to take down the minutes at our meetings. You must be able to wr(te in shorthand and have a high boredom threshold ! If you think you're up to it and would like to earn £3.30 per hour, contact RECRUIT in the Welfare Office ASAP. RECRUIT also have application forms for jobs with Union services and bar work. PlC COURTESY OF CONCRETE
ion on UEA's mod ul ar course structure could be overlooked . lt would be a pity if changes were made to the way students are taught here in years to come without sufficient input from
the present undergraduate body." If you can spare 30 minutes o r so to make yourself heard, and maybe help improve UEA for the future , please contact Andrew in EDU , Room 1.42 (Tel: 2864).
HOUSING PROBLEMS? ON MAY 4, 12.30 -14.00 there will be a talk followed by a question and answer session in the Steve Biko room wittlJaz lhenacho, Janet Peck, M ally M alone and a rent review expert. Come along ... all welcome!! ! Don't forget gang , there are regular housing surgeries held in the Advice Unit throughout the term . If you want to know more, then just pop in to the Advice Unit reception ... anytime! !! Floor 1 Union House. f$(1@[JJ !M?@~ - Housing Packs are available from the Advice Unitllllll
Concrete, Wednesday, May
3, 1995 13
Features
â&#x20AC;˘ A delegate's worm's eye view of the annual NUS conference in Blackpool, exclusively brought to you without the sun lotion and rock by Mark Austin
H
ome of towers, seagulls, sand and conferences, Blackpool for those who have never been there lives on in a curious anachronism of fifties' holidays by the seaside, replete with rock and knotted hankies, and the contemporary flavouring of political hacks of various persuasions who use it as a rendezvous, often when the weather is at its worst, to debate (or rather presentforthe media) the important issues of the day. So it was with some surprise and not a little disbelief that I found myself in this mythologised town more usually confined to childhood memories and soundbites on the news. As a first time delegate to the NUS annual conference, I had been warned that I would be disillusioned by the lack of action that occurred and the seeming irrelevance of much that went on. Certainly, upon first arrival at
the infamous Winter Gardens, the numbers of leaflets proclaiming causes and candidates, and the overwhelming number of official conference documents that are floating around prepare you either for the debate of the decade or, less optimistically, for a more sobering assessment of the gathering. You could easily be apprehended by the inkling that perhaps the massed ranks of rainforest trees that met their end in order to be recycled into green, red, yellow and blue badly photocopied flyers might actually have been more use to the wildlife that they used to exist as part of, than their current position clutched in the clammy palms of 1200 student delegates. But despite my forewamings, I determined to address the event in the right frame of mind. After all, we seven delegates from UEA were here as representatives of our fellow students weren't we?
All 7500 of them, and in that capacity we had responsibilities. Such as not to tell the person sitting behind us with the distinctive body odour that perhaps we might all live to see tomorrow if he would not raise his arm to vote, but rather get his neighbour to vote for him by proxy. Or the responsibility not to punch in the stomach the next time he passed the obnoxious delegate further down the row who insisted on squeezing past every two minutes without so much as an acknowledgement, knocking over papers and jackets en route. lt is a sobering, yet nevertheless uplifing, experience to sit in a room with 1200 of your fellow students and know that every single one of them is there because they want to be there and because they are prepared to stand up for what they believe in. The near ubiquitous proclamations of apathy among students that we have become prone to absorbing are thankfully dispelled by the atmosphere on conference floor. The air is one of, if not quite unity, then at least solidarity. Collectively known and referred to as 'conference', delegates seem to undergo a strange form of bonding, if not in belief in a single strategy, then perhaps in a knowledge that there must be- a strategy. You recognise this familiarity with fellow delegates not when you sit in the hall, disagreeing over whether the NUS President has done a good job or not, but rather in that chance catching of the eye over supper in the hotel as you both dig into the lavishly laid on five course meal. Or as you stroll down the seafront promenade, having decided that you have nothing more to contribute to the current debate, you glimpse a shy delegate pass peeping out from behind the jacket lapels of the 45 year old man passing in the other direction. lt is perhaps natural that the NUS, being as it is a 'union' , should broadly be placed on the left half of the political spectrum. lt was often complained over the three days that the agenda had been hijacked by the internecine struggles of Left Unity and Labour Students. Left Unity exist within the Labour Party, yet far to the left of Labour Students, and there is no love lost between them. Much of the real fire that took place in debates arose as a result of the clashing of the two, yet that is a reflection not of the fact that
the other groupings at conference upcoming election) and crowd a to-be-coerced delegate. believe any less in their politics, With an attempted vote of no little bit closer to you then you will but rather that Left Unity and Labe more inclined to take a leaflet confidence in newly-elected Presibour Students are the two most from them proclaiming the virtues dent Jim Murphy overturned, much ire was directed at the depowerful voices. of said candidate. lt is easy to see the reasons When of course exactly the bate on Student Financial Support that took place on Wednesday why such powerful groupings are opposite is true. attacked. Would you take a badly photo- and Thursday. Like all other political conferWrth accusations that the NUS copied flyer from a long-armed ences, NUS conference takes activist screaming at you to 'vote leadership had sold out on deplace for four broad purposes. mands for a return to 1979 grant Erik Bean 1 for President'? To pass policy for the year lt barely even makes sense to levels due to a commitment to reahead; to review the rules and the average wet-behind-the-ears view and propose policy for the constitution; to elect an executive first time delegate, and is far from Mu re funding of higher education, and to hold that executive acinducing an enlightened response emotions ran high. countable. This was not helped by a front of 'Well yes thankyou kind sir/ page article in The Guardian on One of the most telling facts to madam, I think I shall.' emerge during the three days was \/Vhat is most noticeable about the Wednesday proclaiming this that the current cost of conferthese leaflet-punching aficionados so-called change of heart by the ence is ÂŁ234,000, or 8 per cent is the distinct lack of a sense of NUS. You had the feeling that even if of the Union's annual expenditure. purpose that immediately pans This sum includes the travel across their visages as soon as they weren't quite listening properly, the powers that be were takand accommodation costs of the flow of delegates wanes. every delegate plus the organisaTheir raison d'etre vanishes as ing notice. And when one of the abiding tion of conference itself. the back of the last by-now-disYou were left wondering gruntled delegate disappears into memories of the conference is the whether in fact, with all the masthe hall, leaving them with no op- sight of members of the National sive challenges facing the NUS tion but to slip out of their leaflet- Executive sitting on the platform and the Higher and Further Edupunching alter egos and creep and chain-sucking lollipops, who cation sectors at the present time, back into the hall themselves, re- wouldn't? Who said all the fun had gone you as a delegate would be able duced until the next election to the to justify this amount of money status of average, humble, there- out of politics? being spent on you. 'Are my opinions and input and vote really that valuable?', you could be forgiven for thinking, when the liberation campaigns see only ÂŁ8000 spent on them each year. In a welcome riposte to the discomfort felt by many at the conference (although not a majority, as an amendment to reduce the size of next year's conference was defeated) a motion submitted by the Finance Committee with an intention "to provide next year's conference with accurate costs of the current arrangements and with real alternatives for consideration" was passed and so at least a debate on the question has now been initiated. \/Vhich is more than can be said for what is affectionately known by seasoned hacks as the 'leaflettunnel'. 'Keep your head down and keep walking' was the advice given to me before I had encountered this cross between a rugby wall and charity collection event. If you thought that walking into Union House on election day was student politics at its worst, then 'leaflet tunnel' at conference is what you wake up in bed at night screaming about. Walls of earnest affiliates outbid each other to gain your attention as you make your way back from lunch and supper desperately trying to prevent that five course dinner that they plied you with in the hotel from reappearing. They seem to think that if they shout louder than the person next to them (invariably a supporter of their most hated candidate in the New National tresurer Shel/ey Wright
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
• Ben Shepherd pays homage to Dr Who as he dresses up as an alien for the new spin-off adventure from the cult TV series... and all at UEA as well.
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orget 'Casualty'.Students still lingering at UEA in the first week of the vacation were privileged to witness the real cutting edge of nineties TV drama. Reeltime Pictures' production of the Doctor Who spin-off adventure 'The Downtime' brought an anorak-clad TV crew, three blokes dressed as walking shag-pile carpets and scores of silly-looking UEA students wearing Walkmans , lurid pullovers and baseball caps to the university at the end of March .
There, in locations as varied and spectacular as the main square and the computer rooms, they concocted a slice of nail-biting TV tension and suspense. In fact, there hasn't been such a level of excitement on the small screen since those great days when Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker used to run around slate quarries and creaky studiobound corridors, chased by actors clad in nakk monster masks and Bacofoil. Yes, those with good memo-
ries amongst us will recall those halcyon childhood memories , when we thrilleed to the Doctor's exploits on wintry Saturday evenings between the football results and Basil Brush before diving behind the sofa when the Daleks appeared. So imagine my sense of honour at being an extra in this prestigious production over Easter! No? Well , there was fifty quid in it for each of us as well. And my God we earned it. Because, speaking of God, he
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certainly wasn't on our side that week. For all thoughts of a cushy location shoot in the sun evaporated as the Arctic winds froze us to the bone. The only ones in the warm were the blokes done up as walking shag-pile carpets, and they looked ludicrous. They were actually meant to be terrifying Yeti monsters - robot servants of the Great Intelligence, an evil alien bent on conquering the world (or something)- though their end effect was more like Bungle from Rainbow with red bike-lamps for eyes. If anyone was feeling greatly afeard at this spectacle, it certainly wasn 't in terror. Then again we extras looked similarly ridiculous. In our role as 'Chillies' (or something) we had to dart around exuding alien menace as we tried to thwart the Brigadier (played, in the original series, by a splendidly stiff upper-lipped Nicholas Courtney) and other veteran Doctor Who good guys in their efforts to destroy the Great Intelligence's power pyramid (actually an array of silver-sprayed bowling balls atop aa plastic altar in the main square). Despite our best efforts the heroes won the day - Hurrah!- and personally I was scarcely surprised as I think John Major's goldfish could have exuded more menace than we did. Still, director Chritopher Barry was very pleased both with our
contribution to Downtime and with UEA's great potential for location filming . I knew those horrible concrete monoliths had hidden strengths utterly hideous and impersonal though they are, they don't half come in handy when creating an alien city for a low-budget TV scifi series. For our part, despite the perishing temperature and the interminable hanging around (part and parcel of the actor's life luwie ), I think we were all very grateful to Reeltime Pictures for what was basically a bizarre and very enjoyable experience. I certainly w ish them well with 'Downtime' - wh ich eo-producer Andrew Beech hopes to show to BBC executives in an effort to get Doctor Who back on air on a permanent basis. And no doubt we'll all be clamouring for our complimentary tick-
ets to the premiere at the Panopticon Doctor Who convention in Coventry on September 2 and 3. On a more personal note - stuff my degree now! Stardom is beckoning after this little number (and before you laugh just remember that Jeremy Irons started out in such quality material as Play Away). I' m now expecting to get mobbed by die-hard Doctor Who acolytes who'll recognise me as the guy who played 'Third Chilly from the left (the one wearing the blue gloves)' . . Then before you can say "Dalek" I'll be feted nationwide, at sci-fi conventions and other wacky gatherings, by legions of people in floppy hats and long scarves who live in police boxes. Hmm .. .yes. Think I'll really try for that 2:1 you know.
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LIVE MUSIC AT THE WATERFRONT Maker Shaker Tour featuring Drugstore, Goyaddress, My Lite Story, Schtum Weds May 3£5 adv Fri May 5 £6 adv Weds May 10 £6 adv Fri May 12 £5 adv Weds May 2~ £7 adv Sat May 27 £3.50 dr lues May 30 £5 adv Weds May 31 £5 adv Thurs June 1£7 adv Thurs June 15 £7.50
Ministry ol Sound featuring DJs CJ Macintosh & Eli, Spirits & Love to Infinity Kingmaker plus Shriek lration Steppas Dub Night Incognito Meltdown Club with live bands: Oedipussy, Magoo Reel English Rose the tribute to the Jam, plus Selecter instrumental + DJs Misty in Roots Dillord &Tilbrook acoustic show lrom the Squeeze lrontmen
Tic "ts ava· able in advance tram Soundclash, Our Price. HI\1V, Amtys, City Ticlcet Shop, UEA Union Fmance Office. &. 5054{ll or 764764
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
Featun
• Dominic Scholfield accuses UEA of environmental negligence, suggested by a history of broken promises and hypocrisy...
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rogressive, modem, on the cutting edge of research in Environmental Sciences. Superficially, UEA looks a dark shade of green. In reality, research suggests that UEA's upper ranks have as much contempt for environmental issues as they have for EUR students.
administration rejected both this proposal and Or Keith Tovey's (ENV) proposal for an Energy [Efficiency] working group. The Registrar refused to discuss the matter with the Union, to quote: "I have nothing further to say on the Environmental Committee, and therefore do not intend to meet you .. ."
CJBroken Promises
Perhaps one of the least controversial environmental issues is recycling. Currently, there is one campus recycling site behind the Sports Centre to serve 3,000 students and residences even as far away as the new UEA Village. When planning the Village, UEA neglected to allow any space for recycling facilities. At the moment, UEA will not buy recycled paper or recycle any significant amount of the 30,000 reams of white paper it uses each year. Over the last five years, the Union has vigorously lobbied UEA to start a full recycling scheme, which the Union has estimated could save more than £10,000 per year in reduced waste disposal costs. Interestingly, the University plans to spend £100,000 next year to enclose the Union's rubbish wheelie bins because they are unsightly.
The UEA administration has consistently paid lip service to environmental concerns ever since a Student Union paper raised the issues in 1990. However, examination of their record of action reveals their true face. UEA has regularly broker its commitments over the last five years, undermining any green credibility they claim to have. In 1990, the Student Union produced a paper, entitled, 'UEA - The First Green University.' The Site Development Board, which has overall responsibility for most campus issues of this nature, approved its recommendations in principle. Then in 1992 UEA signed the 'Corporate Charter' and made much of being the first UK higher education institution to do so. By signing this charter, UEA was committed to producing an energy policy. Despite this, UEA still has no environmental policies of any kind. They will not even say when they might begin drafting the policies. More recently, in June 1994, the Site Development Board made commitments to introduce policies on recycling and energy issues. To date, nothing has been forthcoming. Either UEA has been too busy to manage to write these policies, or it never intended to in the first place. Union initiatives to start a dialogue on environmental issues have been rebuffed by the administration. For instance, the Union has been pushing for the establishment of a University Environment Committee, which it believes will help UEA to meet its commitments. Union Environment Officer Josh Busby argues, "You cannot effectively address environmental issues in the Site Development Board. "Its focus is the management of multi-million pound building projects, and consequently it cannot deal with the different nature of environmental issues which are often smaller scale and require close collaboration between staff and students. "An environment committee could plan, co-ordinate and implement environmental initiatives, and that's what we really need." Unfortunately, in January, the
Cl Recycling
CJHypocrlsy In October 1994 UEA advertised locally for its Business and Environment Club, an opportunity for businesses- at only £65 +VATto get help in becoming environmentally responsible. This advertisement said, "Environmental sense is commercial sense. "Organisations taking a proactive approach to environmen-
One of UEA '• bottle banka. But do these facilities go far enough? One American visiting student, Magda Sunisi, commented, "I was really surprised that UEA had virtually no environmental services compared to my university in the US, especially considering UEA's reputation for environmental science. • Here in the UK, we also have our own shining examples. Take Nottingham Trent University which has recently won an environmental award. Why did it win? lt has an Environment Committee, policy commitments, even a paid member of staff devoted to environmental respon-
nightcl u 15 DOVE STREET NORWICH
UEA has regularly broken its TEL 629060 I 483863 Dove Street is off commitments over the last few Guildhall Hill years, undermining any green next to Market credibility they claim to have &Norwich Tescos tal management will reap the financial benefits of leaps in the evolution of environmental technology.. ." The Union's Environment Officer reacted: "I was appalled when I saw this advertisement. "lt is the clearest expression of hypocrisy yet. "How can they sell environmental responsibility as a product and not practice what they preach?"
• IJA green future (?) What is clear is that UEA could be green. Environmental responsibility is common practice at universities across the i.JSA.
sibility. In fact, 20 UK universities have full or part-time staff specifically to deal with environmental issues. UEA is not one of them. Sam Brown, President of the Society for Environmental Action said, "UEA's whole outlook needs to change. ·we hope that the new administration will be more able to grasp the issues and have a little vision.• • The 'Greening UEA ' conference, organised by the Union and the Society For Environmental Action, will be held on Saturday, May 6, 10am- 3pm in the Elizabeth Fry Building. All are welcome.
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* £25 deposit refundable if 80 or more people turn up * Bring your own DJ all equipment supplied * Licensed to 2am (11 pm Sunday) * Own catering allowed Great for private parties, ubs and socials
15
DO
YO
•Daryl Hop/a examines the activities of AIESEC- the world's largest student organisation - and finds out how it can offer you an extra-curricular perspective
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here is currently much talk of student apathy. Yet it is surprising how much time and effort students will put into activities of which they have ownership. There are two important factors which explain this. Firstly, students must feel that they are doing something important. Secondly, students need recognition for their efforts. The activities of the AIESEC are so important that they are recognised, praised and encouraged by world governments and global industry. Often described as the best kept secret in higher education, AIESEC is quite simply the largest and most active student organisation on the planet. Internationally, it has over 50,000 members working on 820 campuses in 81 different countries in order to attain its overall objective: "To contribute to the development of our countries and their people with an overriding cornmitment to international under-
standing and co-operation ." This objective is achieved by AIESEC members running informative and relevant projects which contribute to their understanding of why certain global problems have arisen or why particular cultures do things differently to others. For example, projects run by AIESEC Norwich have included considering the pros and cons of positive discrimination in today 's society, visiting local schools in an attempt to break down the children's stereotypical views they held of people from other countries, and , more internationally, the issues surrounding third-world debt and fair trade. AIESEC recognises that there is no better way of understanding a foreign culture than to experience it first-hand . So, in addition to the projects, AIESEC operates an international work placement scheme, the largest of its kind in the world. Members have the opportunity of living and working in any one of 81 different countries for a period of between six weeks
and eighteen months. Approximately 5,000 students worldwide take part in this scheme every year. Management training and financial assistance are provided by some of the world's largest companies so that AIESEC's activities are as effective as possible. To ensure the ideals of AIESEC are consistently adhered to, local activities are supported by both national and international conferences. These offer the individual the opportunity of interacting with students from all over the world in both a working and a social environment. For AIESEC members not only work hard but they have brilliant socials too! In brief then, AIESEC •creates opportunities for exposure and interaction between people of different cultures and nations; •assists its members in acquiring skills and knowledge through management education and practical experience, and •offers people the opportunity to interact with their social and
economic environment. AIESEC gives action-orientated individuals the opportunity to develop the awareness, values and skills necessary to become socially responsible, globally-minded leaders of tomorrow. AIESEC can provide you with the opportunity, resources and like-minded friends to take on the role of active participant, to
create a new vision among people and contribute to building a world of opportunities for everyone. Gaining an understanding of the world from a global perspective and involving yourself in improving your local environment are activities that you should regard as essential to your personal development. Why not combine your stud-
ies with a worthwhile relevant project and know that your time spent at university will have had a greater impact than just attaining a degree? If you are interested in running a project or if you would like to participate in the work-placement scheme then please contact AIESEC Norwich via our society pigeonhole. You can email us on Z110@uea.ac.uk.
Rose Lane Norwich
Monday nights run by NUS I £1 a pint all night I relaxed dress code Confirmed events inclutle... M on 8 May Mon 15 May Mon 22 May Mon 29 May Mon 5 June Mon 12 June Mon ·19 June Mon 26 June Coming Soon
>Get Liberated< >Get Funky< >Get Housed< >Get Thatchered< >Get Wild< >Get Freebies< >Get Sorted< >Get Mad< >Get Stuffed<
VE Day on a french theme. Win a trip to France Guest DJ Jez Turner from Acid Jazz Records Guest DJs Paul Bleasdale + Andy Carroll ICreamJ 80s music from the Yuppie decade Ministry of Sound resident Justin Berkmann HMV promotion night + giveaways galore Happy hardcore + jungle. Guest DJs and MCs Utter Madness - live PA tribute band When our BBQ area opens for Summer
BORED STUPID? Gel down fo Peppermint Park on Monday nighf9! ROAR
KEEP I elt continues regardless of the upheavals occurring around it Mark Austin spotlights UEA's listening and information service Nightline as it stages a one day promotion push.
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rking unobtrusively rom a donated oom in Norfolk Terrace, Nightline, UEA's 'confidential listening and information service'. rarely acquires a high public profile. Which is why Nightline President Sally sees the promotion day on Tuesday May 4 as something of a rarity. "lt is aimed at putting Nightline back into the public consciousness and dispelling a few myths", she says. lt is of course in standing with the nature of the wart< and service that NighUine provides that it tends to march onwards with little fanfare. With the exception of recruiting volunteers, it is an organisation that is orientated at giving rather than taking. As a result, its publicity aims simply at encouraging aware-
ness of its presence. Nightline posters are one of the facts of university life that you can never quite place. You know that you've seen them everywhere but you can never quite remember where. Set up by a n ex-Samaritan nearly 25 years ago, Nightline has now become part of the university establishment. But she is quick to dispel any comparison with The Samaritans themselves. She envisages NighUine as a far more wide-ranging service than that provided by The Samaritans. although the core component is similar. "lt is a listening service, not an advice service,• explains Sally. She is at pains to point out that the volunteers on the other end of the phone line are not there to solve all the problems
in the university, or even to try to. "We all know that we are not qualified to give advice and it's really just for people who perhaps haven't got anyone to talk to or just want someone to listen to them." "lt's there to listen- someone will be on the end of the line who won't patronise you and give unwanted advice, but will simply hear what you have to say in a non-judgmental manner. "We can't know what everyone's problems are like and so are there simply to empathise.· She sees the myth that you have to be desperate to use a service such as NighUine as a h ighly damaging one a nd stresses that that is not all that it is for. People also ring in to find .o ut general information such as
taxi and pizza delivery numbers, or even j ust because they're sitting in and writing an essay and want to have a chat during a break from work. People also come into the office to talk explains Sally - "we're not just a phone service.• At present there are 100 volunteers who help to man the phone lines.
and two weekday evenings. lt involves the development of listening skills and the Counselling Service also come in and talk about suicides, just so that people know what to do if they find themselves in that sort of situation. A handbook is also given out to all staff members which contains general information and
"We can't know what everyone's problems are like and so we are there simply to empathise" - Nightline President, Sally The lines are open every night in termtime. from eight in the evening until eight in the morning and there are always two staff members in the office, usually one male and one female. They are all fully trained, this taking place over two Sundays
numbers. But although Sally is keen for more people to get involved, there will not be any more training sessions held until next year. If one had to be identified, perhaps the core value at the heart of Nightline's ethos is its
code of confidentiality. Sally sees this as absolutely vital to the whole exercise, even to the extent of not revealing how many people utilise it, simply letting slip that it "is a well used service." As she points out. "University can be a daunting place at times and Nightline Is always there if people feel they j ust need somewhere to tu m to and someone to listen. "We're not people who have got our lives sorted out - we just want to provide a service.•
. eNig,h~lne held a O""x:
~daY promotlOn pueh
Tuesday May 4.
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Anyone wanting to find out more and get Jnvolved shc)pld leave:!·. •':¥!• note In fflghtUne'e ·. pigeonhole upstairs In UnlonHoUH. NlghtUne's office is In Norfolk Tettace C.03.12,; ... Their t.lephone number le S03504.
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like 'Forrest Gump' for instance, that are up for Oscars this year. So, I think the good thing about the breakdown of the studio system is that it has given much more of an opportunity to independent film makers.
• Last month, UEA saw Barry Norman, lecture on the future of the British film industry. Matthew Doy/e caught up with him... and why not?
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his evening you are giving a lecture on the state of the British film Industry. Are you on the whole optimistic about the future? I'm optimistic about the future of the kind of film industry we have, which is the best TV film industry in the world. I'm not terribly optimistic about the future of the British movie industry because we still don't have enough money. We don't give enough backing to make the kind of movies we ought to be making. How do you regard the Government's attitude to the Industry? Well, I think this is the most
philistine Government we've ever had. I mean you've got this man Stephen Dorrell the cultural heritage minister, who boasts that he never goes to the cinema. What the hell is this idiot doing in charge of the cinema in this country? And there is this long awaited report of his which has been simmering for months and months - years probably. I think th~ Government's attitude is deplorable. I don't suggest that the government should give us
huge subsidies like the Swedish , French or even German governments do. What they should do, and indeed could do very easily, is to give tax breaks to investors and let them write it off against incane tax and that would immediately plunge a lot of money into the film industry. What's your reaction when you see yourself listed as a power player In the British industry? I think it is only right! No, I don't think it means very much, does it? I think to a large extent, it is the medium which has the power, it is television
''I think this is the most philistine Government we've ever had. I mean you've got this man Stephen Dorrell the cultural heritage minister, who boasts that he never goes to the cinema. What the hell is this idiot doing in charge of the cinema in this country? And there is this long awaited report of his which has been simmering for months and months • years probably. I think the attitude is deplorable....'' Barry Norman, March 1995
which has the power. I like to think that I contribute something but it is not the sort of thing you take too seriously, or otherwise you go mad. Yet you have a weekly audience of 4 million, which Is more than the weekly cinema attendance? Oh yeah, well it is about twice the average weekly cinema attendance. And this is the peculiar thing about the British - they're undoubtedly interested in the cinema, not necessarily interested enough to go. I think to an extent they watch my programme in the same way other people read literary reviews so that at dinner parties they can discuss a film fairly knowledgeably without actually having to have the trouble of seeing it, or a book without having to go through all the bother of reading it. I think there is an element of that. Do you find yourself being sent scripts and asked to take them to your next Interview with, say Quentln Tarantlno? Yes, and/or to read them and send back my comments and I don't do either of those things. I certainly wouldn't take them to an interview with Quentin Tarantino or anybody. I don't read them either because I haven't got the time to read everybody's scripts, and so I decided early on that I wouldn't read any, rather than just a few. Also, there is a great danger because I write novels. Now somebody could send me a script and I read it, and two years later I write a novel and subconsciously I may well have taken something from that script. The guy could then come along and say "look, you've plagiarised my work". and this is not a risk I particularly want to run. Do you often get In your mailbag the "I really want to be a film critic" letter? Every other letter by and large, yes. I get lots of those saying "I'd love to be a film critic". Basically what they are saying, and it is usually from people like you , is "please tell me on one side of paper only because I am a very busy undergraduate, how I can get your job." And that Is what the letter la
really about. When lain Johnstone offered you that three week contract to present 'Film 72', did you Imagine lt lasting this long? Good God no!! I took it actually because the money wasn't bad - it wasn't terribly good, but it wasn't bad. I was mostly a print journalist in those days, and I realised that
journalism was now expanding; it was television, radio, magazines, newspapers, everything, with no defined gaps between each one. So I thought, as I'd never done anything like that on television, it would be very good experience, so that I would be easier in front of a camera for the next time I got invited onto TV as a pundit somewhere.
And I think that helped an awful lot, because when I went into the studio for the first time to do the programme, I didn't sit there thinking, "Oh my God! This is
my big chance, and if I blow it, I might as well go and cut my throat. • I just thought that it would be kind of interesting and I'd only do this for three weeks.
So film criticism wasn't an aim then, lt was an Interest which developed? Well, it is something I had done a fair bit of In print journalism, although I'd never actually been a film critic. I'd been a stand in critic on the Daily Mail a lot when I was there, and I'd written reviews for The Times and The Guardian as a freelance, so it was something I did know a little about. During a year you must see many a turkey for every 'Short Cuts' or 'Shadowlands'. Is this a cause of concern when film makers like Mike lelgh have to struggle to raise a budget? lt is exasperating. I do feel sorry for people like Mike and Ken loach , and indeed most British film makers, because they do find it hard to get the money to make good films. But some British film makers occasionally, not those two particularly, tum out pretty rubbishy films on very low budgets, just as Hollywood turns out pretty rubbishy films on very high budgets. But cinema is just like anything else, 70% really is not up to much , 20% is pretty good and 10% if you're lucky - is excellent. That's certainly the same for television programmes, and probably true for books, plays, operas, music : whatever. Your father Leslle Norman, was a producer and director, are you ever tempted to follow and move behind the camera? Not since I left school. When I left $Chool, I thought very much about doing that, but the British film industry was going through one of its many slumps at the time, so my father said he didn't think as a long term job it was actually worthwhile contemplating. But newspapers were doing pretty well, and I'd always been interested in writing; very interested in journalism. So we had a long chat one day, and that was really the end of my ambitions to go into the film industry. I went into journalism instead, and I've never really regretted it. I haven't got the
patience to be a film maker, standing around hours and hours, to get ten seconds of film in the can, it would drive me nuts! In your book of 100 best films cf the century, the most recent entry Is 'Hannah and her Sisters', what more recent fHms do you think merit entry? I think if I were doing it now, the one film I would certainly put in is 'Unforgiven', the Clint Eastwood westem. Others I'm not entirely sure of to be honest. Oh, 'Schindler's List' I think is clearly one to go in, I think that is an absolutely splendid film. What about modern film makers like Tarantino? Hmmm, Tarantino ... I think 'Pulp Fiction' and/or 'Reservoir Dogs' wil be regarded in their own way as really quite seminal films, and they'll be re garded as such later, much more than they are now. Out of your hundred, over half come from the 40s and 50s, do you think that cinema will return to this golden age, or has it been ruined by commercialism?
I think it was only a golden age really because they made a lot more films in those days than they do now - both in Hollywood and over here. If there are a lot of 40s and 50s films in the list, it is because there are far more to choose from. But such a golden age? No, it will never retum, certainly not in this country because the studio system is entirely broken up, and can never be reformed. To a large extent it's broken up in America as well, and won't be reformed there either. You will never again have a set up in which countless stars, writers, producers, directors etc. are contracted totally to one studio and nobody is going to want that anymore, and no one can afford it. Is there enough freedom for the Independent movie to break through, or is there too much of a monopoly? I think the independents are breaking through quite well. If you look at the list of Oscar nominations this year, quite a few are independents: 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' is an independent, 'Pulp Fiction' is an independent. There aren't too many of the total studio movies
You are somewhat of a pop culture figure, with your own catch phrase "and why not?" and a Radio 4 short story about you a few weeks ago... Yeah I know!! The catch phrase wasn't mine of course, it was Rory Bremner's, but I've given up complaining about it. I kept saying that I never say that, and I really don't actually- I defy anyone to find one example of my saying that. But then Rory got fed up, and he wrote to me saying "Look, in future, make up yoor own bloody catch phrases", and I thought well no, I won't. I'll stick with that one because it is nice to have a catch phrase. Yeah, it is fun - I like all that I must confess! I'd be an idiot to say I didn't. Thank you very much and long may your film programme continue, but If you were thinking of retiring, I just happen to have a copy of my CV here•... Do you know, I thought that 1· wouldn't have been at all surprised if you'd brought out copies of your work! Anyway, it's been a pleasure, thank you. Barry Norman- what a gentleman/
24 Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
The
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om Cruise has done it. Dean 'Superman' Cain has done it. Even Ultimate Kaos have done it. Deuce are excited, cos now they're about to do it too. Yep, pop's brightest foursome are going to play basketball against the professionals. Inside a huge hall next to Wembley Arena, Deuce's Craig is wearing nothing but his smartest undies as he changes, in front of five or six female fans, into his basketball togs. Paul is ready to go, and the girls have disappeared to the Ladies' to get their kit on.. . erm, to discuss tactics. Their average height is about five foot four. Waiting around are four of the tallest guys you've ever seen - players in the London Towers, possibly the UK's best basketball team. · Their average height is about six foot five. They're also Deuce's opposition. Aarrrghl Ready at last, Craig is first on to the court, practicing his slam dunks.
Paul joins him, but after five minutes has already decided he can't take the pace, and has collapsed on the court, just as Kelly and Lisa appear. lt looks like Deuce might be in for a tough game! But Kelly's already whispered her tactics to us. *We can run through their legs and kick them in the shins!" she's revealed, gleefully! Back on the court, she's doing well at completely foxing the Towers' Danny Lewis, Number Eight, by crawling between his legs. But the Deuce team haven't quite mastered the rest of it. Craig manages to steal the ball from Number Fourteen, known as 'Hurricane' Windless, but he jumps for the basket and lands... on Lisa's toe! "Oowwww! Me toe!" she shouts, and hobbles around for a couple of minutes. Everyone else giggles. They've all played either basketball or netball before, but you
•In fact, Deuce need all the help they can get If they're about to play basketball against the pros. Peter Hart joined them for the day In London ... wouldn't have thought so. *I used to be useless at running, and I used to get annoyed when someone took the ball off me,· says Lisa. *Yeahl" agrees Kelly, adding, "I used to hate it because the teachers would be there and if you made a wrong move they'd say 'stopl' when you just wanted to get on with the game and knock everyone out of the way!* At least Paul seems to have the right idea. The funny lad has managed to get or'i top of the basketball hoop, where he's balancing, ready to catch a throw from Craig. But then it all goes wrong as he shouts "I'm stuck!" The rest of Deuce col-
lapse on the court, in fits of laughter. The more Paul tries to wriggle away from the hoop, the worse his situation becomes. And then he begins to slide backwards through the hoop. After several minutes and worried looks, he's freed by one of the team, and everyone decides they've had quite enough. lt looks as though Deuce may not be ideal basketball players, but they're not worried cos they're happy being pop stars.... at least until Michael Jordan or Shaquille O'Neal next need a stand in.
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
The
lt is 6.15pm and I am sitting on the train to Bristol, already feeling slightly drunk having begun celebrating Bath City's mighty 3-0 victory over the green slime of Yeovil before the match even kicked off. Having met up with my friend Tim, we trudge through the rather depressing weather to the Anson Rooms. Within minutes of arriving, however, our sprits are lifted immensely by the sighting of James EMF, John Peel and three-quarters of The Boo Radleys, all supping pints in the bar. Just audible onstage over the sound of chins being stroked are MENSWEAR. So, a nation asks, are they actually any good? Well apart from being tremendously self-<:anscious, the songs sound quite decent and they appear to have found a good balance, giving the tunes a rough edge while avoiding sounding like any old hapless indie outfit. I predict they'll stick around longer than most people think, maybe even until the end of the year. There's no conjecture about SUPERGRASS, though. We are witnessing a truly fine pop band here, all bouncy tunes and stupid haircuts. The short, radio-tailored set allows them to play what amounts to a greatest hits set and the fact that they are able to do this with only two singles released is a credit to their songwriting ability. Invigorating stuff. So then we make a quick exit and leg it down to the Malaap dub where the Sarah records showcase gig is in progress. The place is hardly packed full of glitterati, but we do have an opportunity to chat to HEAVENLYeconomists by day, Britain's premier jangle pop band by night First come BLUEBOY, who deal in beautifully aafted melodies and heart-tugging tales of love and confusion. They really are completely different to anything else around at the moment and provide a captivating performance. Subtlety is a rare commodity in pop music these days so Blueboy, we salute you. As for Heavenly, they have a stack of tunes taller than Bristol Cathedral spire and the ability to make you dance, smile and hug strangers all at the same time and yet still most of you lot won't have heard of them. Pahl My advice is to get on to Sarah records pronto and order all their records. Ifs 1am, and Tim and I are visibly flagging. Luckily those kind people at Sarah take pity on us and whisk us back to Sarah central for a cup of tea and a floor to sleep on. The evening ends sat around the kitchen table discussing the contents of a bottle of fruit sauce with Harvey Williams who used to be in The Field Mice. Bostin'.
If you were wondering what happened to Tuesday, so was I. Still, the crusade must continue, and it's back to the Anson Rooms. I am lucky enough to be granted a brief audience with Teenage Fandub and I take the opportunity to ask them the questions that everyone wants answered - like, do they
MINISTRY OF SOUND DJs CJ LIVE PAs
ACKINTOSH IRITS
+ Eu~~.......-
+ LovE To INFINITY
UPSTAIRS
ECOBASE Dua TECHNO souNDS WITH SusPECT SOUND SYSTEM
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•concrete's Sam Richards legged it to Bristol with his swanky free pass, to sample the, enn, sounds, of Sound City -three years after it first began in that English backwater, Norwich ... believe in magic? 'Of course!' chorus Norman, Gerry and Paul. Raymond is more sceptical: 'Ifs just Paul Daniels. He's meant to be an illusionist but he cannae even create the illusion that he's got hairl' A debate about which planet is currently furthest from the sun leads to Raymond telling me about how he navigates the band to gigs with his sextant "We don't use motorways," says Norman. ' We just travel as the croN flies, across fields and stuff.' Wouldn't that take you a long time though? 'Ah, but we don't believe in time," deadpans Gerry. Norman is the band's busiest talker. 'Mien I ask him what he wants for Christmas, he's away: ' I'd like a jigsaw of Menswear. I could sit down and make it up and play their records in the background.' So do Menswear seU a jigsaw of themselves? ' Maybe not But you can get them made in photo shops if you take a picture in. I'm not sure that's a good idea, though - you know some people say that a camera can take away your soul? I don't think that's true, but if there was a jigsaw of you and someone shook the pieces up in a cup, you wouldn't know where you were. lt'd be like a voodoo doll.' lt's time to leave the Fannies to it but I first ask them to pose for a photo. ·Just don't put it on a jigsaw' jests Norman.
On stage, Teenage Fandub are in revitalised form. New single 'Spartty's Dream' rodks with the best of them, and the kids go mad for oldies like 'The Concept'. Nothing radical, but you can't argue with tunes like that RAOIOHEAD are rapidly turning into one of Britain's most important bands. The intensity and passion of their live set is virtually unequalled. Singer Thorn Yorke leads the show with his extraordinary voice and even more extraordinary facial expressions while Johnny acts the guitar god with his squalling solos and swishing fringe. Compelling.
The victims of my deadly dictaphone today are teenage sensations ASH. lt's quite worrying when bands begin to emerge that are younger than myself, but Ash are completely down-to-earth. lt's almost like interviewing my brother. Anyway, the group are under no illusions about the rewards of fame as lead singer Tim explains: 'this dressing room, for instance, is really shit. And the food they give us.. .' Tim has his A-levels in three weeks but at no point has he considered giving up - 'that would be for wusses!' he retorts. So has being in Ash meant that
Radiohead's Thom, givin' it some on stage.•.
you've had to mature quickly? 'Well we haven't been patronised or anything because of our age, and in fact we've regressed. We started the band when I was fifteen and then I was all serious and the equivalent of being thirty. Now I've discovered what a laugh it is, I'm about four.' We go on to discuss plans for resurrecting Hong Kong Phooey and setting up a Church Of Cantona while drummer inte~ects with Monty Python quotes (as only drummers can do). But it's time Ash took the stage... The lads still look a bit nervous and need time to develop some stage presence, but Ash's brand of feisty new wave carries a lot of promise. The ace up the sleeve is of course 'Kung Fu', which is an effortless slice of punk-pop genius. SLEEPER are still playing last year's set, but it's a fairly good one and radio-friendly enough for those listening at home. However, those busy watching Louise should be watching the real star who is Andy the drummer. He stands up, sits down, throws drumsticks away, picks up new ones and generally acts like Animal off the Muppets without missing a beat. Speaking of rock animals, SUEDE are a revelation. Gone are the days of Brett singing through his fringe - tonight, he's up on the monitors throwing crucifix poses, inviting the croNd the to dap along and getting himself very sweaty indeed. The songs played are a good mix of old and new, everything rocked up slightly to match the booming drums except 'The Wild Ones' which is a marvellous moment of delicacy. Suede as a stadium band? Don't bet against it because that's where they're heading and I think it will suit them. On the bus ride home I consider my week's achievement eleven bands seen, none paid for and God knows how much alcohol consumed. I think I really deserve to be commended. Just no-one try and wake me up in the morning.
FRIDAY
12 MAY 21.00 • 01.30 £5ADV
IRRATION STEPPAS Dua NIGHT RH LIVE BAND, DJs 1 THREE ROOMS OF MUSIC
3 MAY 21.00 - 01.30 £3.50 I £3 SATU.RDAY
MELTDOWN
Tickets on the door for all events. Ministry of Soundand lrration Steppas arso in advance fronm UEA Union and usual outlets
25
26
Concrete, Wednesday, May
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•He's back! Early 90's crooner, and former soapie, Jason Donovan talks to Peter Hart
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emember Jason Donovan? He who snagged Kylie in Neighbours, launched a pop career, wore a scary wig in Joseph, and collapsed in an American nightclub, is back for 95 .. . well, nearly! For Jason is about to begin rehearsals for 'Billy', a musical based on the novel,' Billy Liar' . lt tells the story of a lad who is at was with his parents, while engaged to three girls at once! Jason will sing his way through the whole thing , although that isn't something worrying the former pop star. He's not particularly stressed about having to accomplish the northern accent, either; there 's a top coach lined up to help him with that. "it's the tap dancing that worries me more the accent," Jase admits. "I'm not the greatest of dancers, but hopefully I'll surprise you on the opening night!' Many have also joked in the past that Jason isn't the greatest of singers, either. But thousands disagree and the statistics show otherwise; he was 1989's best selling artiste throughout the UK and Europe. But he's certain that his musical future doesn't lie in the sort of Stock-Aitken-Waterman produced pop which made him famous. "I don't want to have a career that's on the same line for the next 20 years," he says. "I want to try and diversify and do different things. For me, moving into the West End was a chance to show people that I want to go
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beyond just a pop career, and that I'm actually in this business to stay. I'm not just another passing fad .. ." Ironically, some tabloids last year dismissed Jason as already past it, particularly following his 'collapse' in Johnny Depp's Viper Room, the club which film star River Phoenix had been at on the night he died. But he's looking healthy and tanned as he relaxes in the sunshine pouring through a window of the swanky Savoy Hotel, and fends off questions about his Viper Room 'collapse' with ease, and good humour. ·All I want to say on that is that continually your life gets scrutinised and analysed ... I'm a 26 year-old guy and put in a lot of good time for my work over the past 8 or 9 years ... I had an opportunity last year to spend a bit of time out enjoying myself, basically, and reliving a little bit of my
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teenage years without scrutiny by others. But in this case they did ... so I fainted in a nightclub. As far as I'm concerned 'big deal!'. l can 't see what the fuss was about." But had Jason taken any drugs? One national newspaper suggested this to have been the case. "ltwas pretty undignified of that national newspaper to do what they did,• he responds firmly, "and that's all I'll say about that." All this chat has been great, but there's just one final question that Concrete wants answered: does Jason still watch Neighbours? ''Yes, but just to keep my Dad happy." he replies. [His Dad, Terence, plays Doug Willis]. So now you know. Oh, by the way, he still sees Kylie too ... but I'm too scared to ask whether he did shag her or not.
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OKIRSTY MACCOLL Klrsty (pictured) Is probably more well known for singing on other people's records as opposed to her own. In the past, she has added vocal hannonles to songs by The Pogues, Billy Bragg and The Wonderstuff. But her own recording career Is just as varied as the bands she has chosen to sing with. From the pure pop .,last of her 79 debut 'They Don't Know', to the Johnny Marr collaboration 'Walking Down Madison', to the Latin groove of 'My Affair', all bases are covered. Yet Kirsty's dlstlnc· tive voice is atways prominent, whatever the genre. The live show, which reaches 1.lEA on weDS MAY 1Q (£1.50 adv) is likely to largely consist of songs from the recently released greatest hits compilation. Expect special guests galore - Kirsty has enough famous friends to create a pretty lmpre.sslve supergroup. Sam Richards
Kingmaker (pictured) hail from Hull, following in the musical tradition set by the likes of The Housemartins and er, that's ll But despite their geographical disadvantage, Kingmaker sprung to prominence in the ear1y 90s around the release of a number of fine EPs and a heavy touring schedule. The kids went mad for the post-Stuffies indie rock and singer Loz's sardonic and sarcastic lyrics. The first LP, 'Eat Yourself Whole' was a success and T-shirt sales rocketed. However, things went downward from there. The second LP and following_mini-LP were
cfltlcally panned and the kids moved on. So, after a rest period, Kingmaker are back with a new sound that is darker and generally slower than before, in contrast to the lyrics which now showcase a much more optlmistic state of mind. The band have laid their claim to establishing a 'classic' rock sound, outside any current trends,, On this tour, a mythm guitarist is added to the Kingmaker line-up for the first time. Whether he will witness a revival in the band's fortunes is doubtful. Despite the re-invention, the spalide is no longer there. In my opinion, this is a band on their way out. Kingmaker hit THE WATER· .EB.QMI on WEDS MAY 10.(£6 tfdv).
CREAM, the club tour, hits UEA's LCR on SAT MAY 13 (£5 cones), featuring a live pa from Rebuplica, plus DJ Darren Emerson, and two resident Cream DJs . Be there!
Remember when the fantastic Ministry tour hit UEA last year? It 's back , this time at 'l'_H_E _ .Y{A'!'~~RQN'l' on FRI MAY 5 (£6 adv), featuring DJ 's CJ Mackintosh & Eli , with pa 's from Spirits and Love To Infinity .
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•Pop Will Eat Itself have recently released a remix version of their current album 'Dos Dedos M is Amigos'. And it's pretty good too - that's what Adam Poppie told
Kay Mu/ligan
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t must be a hard life being in Pop Will Eat Itself • you've been on the fringes of true success for a good few years, you got missiles thrown onstage when they toured with Public Enemy, the press doesn't seem to like you, and to cap it all, you got dropped by your record company after a few albums... But things are starting to pick up for the band now, definitely the impression you get when talking to guitarist Adam, who's feeling somewhat subdued after the recent tour of the States, where, despite the slog, the Poppies have been having a good time. "There's usually lots of bonding wrapped round each gig", he says. "We usually go out afterwards, like to a club until five in the morning, and then get back in the bus and drive to the next gig and wake up ... "After a while your body gets a bit screwed and then it's nice to come back for a week, but you get various days off somewhere and get to know places like New York and LA, whatever, so then you're quite happy to move on anyway." "lrs been good, but it'd be nice to have a break and some time off', he adds laconically. So what now then? "We're going back to do two dates, then it's off to Switzerland." Where, presumably, Pop Will Eat Itself are going to build on their recent- and overdue- Continental success. "We did a tour before Christmas in Germany, and that went really well, so maybe we're starting to get recognition over there. The album's also done really well for us as well, and we're hoping to get more of the European festivals this year, but we might be in America and not able to do them." The record he's referring to 'Dos Dedos Mis Amigos', the Poppies' latest offering, which certainly seems a bit mo~ rough-edged and industrial than some of its predecessors, like 'Cure for Sanity' for example. "I don't know about that, but we've probably got a bit more into guitars again - we got bored of guitars a while ago", he explains. . "I don't really know what the future holds really - I mean, we may decide to change style again on the next album." All this of course, after the world digests the remix version of 'Dos Dedos' - titled as it is in its English translation 'Two Angers My Friends'. And it's quite an innovative enterprise, a musical re-evaluation by the likes of Fun-da-Mental, Jim Foetus, Jah Wobble, Youth, Loop Guru, Transglobal Underground and The Orb, to name but a few. The intention behind letting such credible people loose on their biggest-selling album to date was in part a tribute to the influence they've wielded on PWEI, plus the fact that the band wanted 'Two Fingers' done by artists rather than specialist remixers. "We're really pleased with it", says Adam, "lt might get released in Europe, Britain and maybe Australia, but I don't think it'll get released in
the US.· So, record-wise, the Poppies are looking pretty healthy after the infamous split from RCA in 1993, and presumably can afford to be less conscious of chart success than in the past "In a way, yes, but to be fair to RCA, they never really stopped us from doing what we wanted to do before. The guy from Infectious Records [PWEI's current label] that signed us was also the A & R man at RCA. "When we got kicked out there was no-one really there when we started ·they were all new people who didn't really like the band.· Luckily, this isn't the situation at Infectious, for whom the band have followed their last RCA effort 'The Looks or the Lifestyle' with the less commerciai'Dos Dedos'. The album's rougher edge and inyer-face-ness is well represented by the Poppies/ Fun-da-Mental collaboration 'lch Bin Ein Auslander', a type of song which Adam considers a particularly good way to spread the message against fascism to the masses. "lrs good because dance music appeals to young kids of 14, 15 and 16 these days, people who aren't really interested in reading the papers or listening to the news and finding out about fascism and racism. "But if you like a band and they've got an anti-fascist message, then for some 14 year old kid, that might be the only exposure that he gets to that sort of thing going on. "When I was young and 16, I wasn't interested in what was going on in the news. I was into The Clash, who were on about the Brixton riots in their lyrics, and it just makes you aware. "So I think the more stuff like that that's going on with pop groups and in dance music is a good thing." This is something the Poppies have always been particularly adept at relating their songs to a specific moment, a specific thing, like 'Not Now James, We're Busy', for example. "Yes, and thars still popular in America and people always want to hear it. lt used to be good, but it's like 'Can U Dig lt' in that the lyrics are so, well, at that time. We don't like it so much now. "'Not Now James' was obviously for the moment he was arrested - now that he's out of jail, it doesn't really relate so much.· So they're aren't any plans for PWEI to do an OJ Simpson song? Unfortunately not, it seems. "I don't know", laughs Adam, "I think we'll leave that for somebody else to do." In any case, it would probably only get them into trouble. Something they could probably do without, as
Adam explains. "We've never really been flavour of the month - the fact we've been going ten years may have worked for us. Other bands have come along and have been lauded by the press, and they've taken over from us being in the eye of the public, and then they've gone and have fallen by the wayside. "But we're still around, we're still here and most bands aren't. That could be a direct result of us not exactly being flavour of the month. So in a way we've been quite happy to have had our little niche and not be looked at like everyone else. Our fans like the fact that we're the underdogs, and they like the press not liking us, and all their schoolfriends not even hearing of us. "When punk came along, I used to love The Damned until they were popular. The kid sitting next to you at school would say: 'I like this new band, Adam and the Ants' and then you'd tend to go off them. I think there may have been a bit of truth in this We've got our little patch, our little area', and maybe our fans like it like that" But do the band though? "I'm not saying that we don't want to be big or whatever, but the fact that we've never been flavour of the month or lauded by the press to become really big could be the reason why we're still around. "I know that sounds weird, but there could be some truth in that. Like when Happy Mondays were massive and a lot bigger than we were, they put another album out and people had had enough of hearing about them and it kind of killed them off." Luckily, it doesn't seem that there's any chance of this happening to the Poppies. e'Two Fingers My Friends' is out now on Infectious Records.
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27
28
Concrete, Wadnesday, Ma,3,
1995
•
The teen press love 'em, the serious mags love 'em, even 1FM's Jo Whiley loves 'em (and I love 'em too- Concrete Ed). So what's happened? How have Take That developed from being every schoolgirl's dream, with soppy hits like 'lt Only Takes A Minute' and 'Could lt Be Magic' (still an LCR favourite), to being serious pop gods? Only Nigel Martin-Smith knows .. . but here's the evidence, anyway. A mixture of dance tracks and the Take That ballad we know so well, this is a mature third album . There's even a bit of rapping from Robbie on 'Lady Tonight', which certainly makes a change for the boys. 0Ne really should stop calling them that now Howard's 26ish!) Former number 1, 'Sure', is here too, along with their current smash, 'Back
Funky, hip hop, dancey and surprisingly good. You could probably compare them to Tricky... but they're just not as well known. The lyrics are clever and T Saul weaves them around a relentless thumping beat with ease and funky expertise. Good for a late night and a few listens, but not legendary or even that original. They are faithful to the hip hop feel, but the four other remixes don't add much and the beat can get on your nerves if you listen to the single too often. Dance, remixes and likeable lyrics should appeal to quite a few though, and track four, the Portishead Mix, is quirky and makes for an interesting change or alternative to the original song. High quality hip hop, dance and enjoy, but don't expect too Chris Poole much.
IYIIAflll!
For Good'. And soft girties will love the one where Mark Gaz takes the lead, 'The Day Barlow After Tomorrow', a real tearjerker of 'Babe'-esque proportions. Eleven absolute stonkers. Good work, fellas! Peter Hart
1. Livin' Joy _Dreamer (Rollo remlx) 2. Tiffany _1Think We're Al~n~ Now 3. Incognito -100° and Rtsmg 4. Marc Almond • Adored & Explored
I was amused, when leafing through the excess of biog info about Rancho Diablo, to chance upon a preview of their gig at Bath Moles last year, from the Bath Chronicle. However, it was with a wry smile that I noted the failure to include the subsequent review of this gig, penned by my good self in the same publication, which basically described the band's performance as a large pile of arse. Not much has changed since then this album is truly atrocious. Such
ignorance of the concepts of melody, harmony, subtlety and flair is nothing short of alarming. The most hilarious aspect is how Rancho Diablo attempt to be frightening. A brief lyric is reproduced here for your amusement: ' I was watching TV/ Japanese torture movies' - help! Mummy! They're scaring me! Add to that some of the worst cover art ever seen by man and the only really scary thing is how anyone can contrive to make a record this poor. SR
lt seems like Teenage Fanclub can't put a foot wrong. The first release from their forthcoming album was fabulous to say the least. 'Mellow Doubt' proved to be as sensational as every Fanclub fan hoped it would be. Never again did I think I would ever hear a song as sweet and delicate as that one. I was wrong . The boys from Scotland have done it again; their new single 'Sparky's Dream' is absolutely. fabulous. Brimming with confidence, the song sees the group show off their musical expertise and unique talent for creating beautiful melodic tunes with raw guitar sounds and singalong choruses that could even make John Major tap a foot or two. Even if you try nailing your head to a wall you won't be
MV
!
Babes In Toyland remind me of a Miranda Sex Garden without the pure voices and the high notes. They share the same intensity yet Babes In Toyland are more 'riot girl' in nature: they are to feature on the 'Tank Girl' soundtrack with Hole. The Babes maintain a loud, heavy, thumping sound in almost all their songs while 0 Dohl MSG keep changing their sound throughout. Prla!beel The Babes stretch their voices up and down bursting suddenly into screams and shouts notably in 'Surd' yet they come together best in 'Ariel' which although less shouty is more powerful and intense. The Babes loosen the 'riot girl' sound in the last three songs: for 'All By Myselr the Babes got drunk to make it sound in Kat's words "as morose as possible." 'Deep Song' is an acapella version of the Billie Holliday song in complete contrast to all the previous tracks and_ has a sweet unpolished quality which brings it immense sadness. This sadness is once again contrasted with the last song: a happy kicking cover to Sister Sledge's 'We Are Family', a song that was calling out for a heavy guitar. 'SFW' is simply throat breaking extravagance: Kat sounds in pain as she sings "How how how yeah." The 'hows' are high and piercing, the 'yeah' is low and gutteral. After a couple of listens it is possible to discover what SFW stands for in the line "I bleed, so f****n' what." This kicks, watch out! Matt Poo/e
•aw
0
able to stop it from gently bobbing along to this gorgeous number. But the fun doesn't just stop there! The CD single also features a stunning version of Neil Young's 'Burned' and two extra tracks of which 'Headstand' sticks out as another lyrical masterpiece that oozes class and sophistication and finds the band back on home ground. New drummer Paul Quinn shows that his talents were wasted whilst in the Soup Dragons and manages to fit in perfectly with the Fannies'
When the Perfect Disaster split up in 1991 Josephine joined the Breeders and became successful (she is the one accused of having balls at the very end of the Breeders first album). So ... what happened to the rest of Perfect Disaster? Well they became Oedipussy: a memorable band and not simply because of their name. 'Divan' is to be listened to on a
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passion for gracing our ears with unforgettable ballads and damn fine rock songs. Teenage Fanclub are back with a vengeance! They are a group with enough talent and energy to match Damon's Essex boys and the Gallagher Brothers put together. 'Sparky's Dream' re-establishes them as a top quality indie band and is a perfect addition to their already faultless CV. Very slick and very sexy. lt's the best bit of Fannie I've had in ages! Alberta Lopez
comfy sofa, half asleep. Some songs last eight minutes so try not to drop off. Their monotone sound is reminiscent of early Lush notably the song 'I Heard An Angel Call My Name'. Their intensity however is too watered down. As "freedom songs' go (a la Oasis, Soup Dragons, Rolling Stones, Monkees ... ) 'Free' is not bad: the voice extracted from an old
Note the band name. Note the LP title. Note the fad they hail from Boston, Massachusetts. Yes, we are dealing with another cute American college rock band. Now I would keenly admit to worshipping Juliana Hatfield and owning more than three Gigolo Aunts records but Letters To Cleo are just a bit much for even me to take. All the requisite factors are in evidence: jangly guitars, babygirl vocals and a large helping of twee. What's missing is tunes, originality and inspiration. 'Aurora Glory Alice' is over-produced and just far too nice. A couple of tracks ('Mellie's Comin' Over' and the very Frente-ish 'Step Back') shine like beacons in an ocean of mediocrity, but they need to pull their fingers out, stop being so polite, and write some proper melodies. This anodyne tosh just will not do. Sam Rlchards
movie makes for an interesting start to the song. The slow songs may be atmospheric yet can get tedious. 'Sometimes Things Are Like That' and 'She Believes In Me' are more upbeat, start well yet tire. 'I Want You' is haunting like good soundtrack music accompanied by chants and Indian sitar sounds. 'Do lt Right' has risque vocals complete with heavy breathing and moaning. 'Divan' has its moments yet could pass you by as musical wallpa-
per.
Matt Poo/e
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Concrete. Wednesday, May 3, 1995
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ifren1 â&#x20AC;˘The stunning frocks, the ridiculous speeches, the tears - oh the tears! As 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' sweeps up at the BAFTAs, Matthew Doy/e asks why we get sucked into watching ....
A
s the current awards season draws to an end with the Baftas ast week, we can now look back on all those embarrassing events and think 'Did I really sit through all this?'. There should be an award for us, the audience, who have to listen to so many surprised and stunned winners, who are just so grateful to be there and receive this mark of respect from their peers. First awarded in 1929, the Academy Award has become a symbol of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. The nickname Oscar for the award caught on by 1935,
an Oscar for 'True Grit'. However, struggling to find the words to describe one's happiness at winning is not only an American problem. Perhaps the 'Most cringe making speech ever award' should go to Sir Lawrence Olivier. Awarded an Honorary Oscar in 1978, he said it was "a beautiful star in that firmament which shines upon me at the moment, dazzling me a little, but filling me with the warmth of the extraordinary elation, the euphoria that happens to so many of us at the first breath of the majestic show of a new tomorrow". Er, couldn't have said it better myself
Larry.
Awarded an Honorary Oscar in 1978, Sir Lawrence Olivier said it was .. a.beautiful star In that llrmament which shines upon me at the moment, dazzling me aIIUie, but filling me with the warmth or the extraordinary elation, the euphoria that happens to so many of us at the first breath of the majestic show of anew tomorrow" and is said to have got the name by Academy librarian Margaret Herrick, who said it looked like her Uncle Oscar. Now, second only perhaps to the McDonald's logo, it is recognised world wide and the annual ceremony has a television audience of about billion viewers. is it about a 13 inch gold plated nude that causes grown men to cry and usually sane women to babble on so about loving their director? You may think that Tom 'pass the Kleenex' Hanks has a monopoly as Hollywood's leading blubber and gusher. Not only did he get in to trouble for publicly outing one of his school teachers, but he lost all non-US fans by finishing "God bless America! " in 1994. However, this year he got a chance to redeem himself somewhat by, after gushing about "standing on magic legs" and "the emotion of this moment is a constant the speed of light" going for a more cosmopolitan ending "God bless you all around the world!". He is the first actor to win two years in a row since Spencer Tracey - and the first to cry both times. But he is in illustrious company. Even John Wayne choked on receiving_
Maybe it is something about being a Hollywood star, but at the Baftas, the speeches were nearly all very respectable. Perhaps to make it big, you have to talk the longest. Kristin Scott Thomas (Best Supporting Actress - Four Weddings) will never make it with such a short speech take lessons for Susan Sarandon (Best Actress The Client). A true awards day speech - all the thank yous, a compliment to the hosts (she loves Britain) and a bit of politics (the sadly very true comment, which applies every year, about the lack of decent roles for women). Hugh Grant (Best Actor - Four Weddings) managed to thank nearly everyone in Britain, maybe having heard about Cher (Best Actress - Moonstruck, 1987) who on forgetting to thank all the relevant people, took out full page ads in the trade press to make it up to them. But, what is all the fuss really for? The history of awards ceremonies is littered with moments that would have had many other events banned. There are the famous mistakes, like Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole, who share the record of seven acting nominations without a win, or
Alfred Hitchcock who never won an Oscar for directing. Then there are the times when actors have won for the wrong performance, for example, Paul Newman, who won his only acting Oscar for playing 'Fast' Eddie Felson. Not though, for a far better performance in 'The Hustler' or any of his other five nominations, but 25 years later in 1986, when he reprised the role in 'The Color of Money'. The Academy realised when giving him an honorary Oscar the year before that they had made a mistake in not rewarding him sooner, but with 'The Color of Money', the Academy could breathe a sigh of relief and finally give an award which although he deserved, was for the wrong film in the wrong year. Then there is of course the patriotic nature of the awards. Never forget that the Oscars are from the American Academy and the Baftas from the British Academy. In the main categories, only Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary won both an Oscar and Bafta this year, for their screenplay of 'Pulp Fiction'. In America it was 'Forrest Gump' and Tom Hanks, in Britain 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and Hugh Grant. Personally, I have no worries about the vastly over rated 'Forrest Gump' being jilted by Bafta. The film mocked Gump - we laughed at him not with him, and it was far too drenched in Americn nostaglia for a time which never existed. However, given the choice of six Oscars or the five Baftas 'Four Weddings' won, I don't think Paramount will be too bothered. What do these awards actually achieve then? If we know can nearly always predict the winners , and we will cringe at the winner's speech why do we watch? Is it just that Hollywood wants an excuse for an annual party, and this way the tv networks pay for it? As Nick Homby said last year, "Oscars in Hollywood, you start to feel, are like ceasefires in Sarajevo: context is all". This, if somewhat depressing view, is also very accurate. These awards ceremonies are jingoistic, embarrassing, predictable and way, way over the top - I cannot wait till next year!
"Darling, luvvie, sweetie.... " etc...
PHOTO: COURTESY OF BAFTA
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Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
L
egends of the Fall is an engaging family saga of truly epic proportions . Anthony Hopkins plays the Ludlow family patriarch , Brad Pitt, Aiden Quinn and Henry Thomas are his sons , whilst Julia Onnond is the foxy young wench who somehow manages to set everyone's loins a-quivering . lt will come as no surprise that 'Legends' is a profoundly nostalgic piece, but this sentiment is not confined to the loving reconstruction of ranch life in turn of the century Montana. Within the film, certain characters themselves hark back to simpler times when man was 'unfettered by the disruptive developments of the modern world' (or so the cliche goes). Having said this, the film still manages to reflect some of the political undercurrents present in contemporary America . Just as 'Forrest Gump' had embedded
•William Neil fights back the tears to give his opinion of Ed Zwick's romantic magnum opus within it a conservative-revisionist view of recent American history, the essentially escapist scenario of 'Legends' also contains a number of similarly pertinent subtexts. Anti-government (even quasi-anarchistic) notions and isolationist sentiments sit alongside the more usual wistful reminiscences of times when 'men were men' and 'spirits were pure'. (Oh , and women, it seems, just 'were'. ) 'Legends' also recalls a mode of Hollywood storytelling long since abandoned. As a shamelessly anachronistic tear-jerker, the film clearly invites comparison with gargantuan emotional rollercoasters of the 'Gone With the Wind' ilk. Though purists wil! justifiably argue that 'Legends' tries much too hard in this respect, I certainly found that the increasingly barmy na-
LEGENDS OF THE FAll tJSA (1994) • > PerlodEptc Dlr: Edward Zwick -now showing
Odeon
ture of the tragic plot twists, when combined with the hugely overblown musical score , made the film strangely compelling. There are also moments of what must surely be unintentional humour - though the performances are generally good, Anthony Hopkins becomes difficult to takes seriously as the ailing father who communicates by chalk and slate. Meanwhile, the voice-over narration of the wise old indian, known rather enigmatically as 'One Stab', is at times staggeringly cringeworthy. Whether you come out laughing or crying, this film has to be seen to be believed .
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UNION BARS ARE PROUD TO PRESENT FROM SUNDAY MAY 7TH
A little bit on the side
• Nicola Hutchinson previews Whoopi Goldberg's heart-warming new film
F
now £1.70 PIJill~ (jJ~NIIJS
rom Herbert Ross , the director of the acclaimed 'Steel Magnolias' comes 'Boys On The Side', a story about friendship and companionship where you would least expect them . The film takes you to the heart of a multi-ethnic world , which brings together people of different race, creed and sexual inclination. The plot focuses on three women who are thrown together by a journey to the west of America . Each feels that their destiny awaits them there , as their lives until now have been problematic and unhappy.
BOYS ON THE SIDE USA (1995) Women's Road Movie Oir: Herbert Ross MGM Cannon -from May 5 Whoopi Goldberg plays Jane Deluca, a sceptical club singer who has been dumped by her girlfriend , and so decides to head for LA. Robin Nickerson (played by Mary-Louise Parker}, decides that her career as a real-estate agent is not what it could be and plans to travel to San Diego. lt is this proposed journey that propels her and Jane together in a relationship
that develops into an unlikely companionship . On the way they pick up Jane's friend Holly (Drew Barrymore), who proves to have many problems that will not disappear by changing location . lt is the combination of these three individual characters (played brilliantly by all three aforementioned actresses) that make this film a perfect heart-warming story for the 90s. Their various relationships move from hatred to friendship, which concludes with the realisation that they have developed into a family that may not be conventional, but is filled with warmth and love.
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
ustin Hoffman is the unlikely hero in Holly wood's latest block busier, 'Outbreak', which concerns the spread of a killer disease that could engulf the United States and threaten the existence of life itself. Hoffman plays army doctor Sam Daniels, who has the unenviable task of venturing into the crisis zone - a typical small American town called Cedar Creek - to prevent a nasty disease that liquifies human organs from spreading any further. He is accompanied in his mission by, of all people, his exwife. She is played by Renne Russo, an actress who seems to adore playing the kinds of roles most second rate actresses avoid like the plague. As the events in the film spiral out of control for all concerned, Sam not only has to outsmart the not-so-cute African monkey that spread the virus in the first place, but also to outpace his government superiors, who are poised to unleash a plan that is as uncompromisingly lethal as the outbreak itself. This big budget tale of medical catastrophe is directed by
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OUTBREAK USA (1995) Action-Adventure Dir: Wolfgang Petersen
MGMCaMon -nowshowing Wolfgang Petersen, a man who has to contend with having 'The Never Ending Story' ruining a cv that would otherwise have been quite impressive, with the suspense-filled 'In The Line Of Fire' being his most successful film. Hoffman, as a five-foot tall action man, is unrealistic to say the least, and gives the kind of
cardboard performance reminiscent of 1950s B movies. Meanwhile, Donald Sutherland adds a touch of class to a plot that is otherwise predictable and a script that is unrefined. The makers of the film would like to frighten us into believing that 'Outbreak' portrays the kind of disaster that could devastate the planet in the near future. But then again, we were told that dinosaurs would return from the grave when 'Jurassic Park' was released, and I wasn't stupid enough to believe that either! Alberta Lopez
life After UÂŁA A Seminar for Final Year Students FridalJ 5th MalJ 1995 Room 1.33, Union House All Final Year Students Welcome Light Refreshments Provided 6.00pm Careers and the )ob Market UEA Careers Adviser - Bob Cunninghom 6.30pm Considering Self Emplol)ment? Notwest Small Business Adviser - Pouf Duffy l.OOpm What about a Mortgage? Notwest Mortgage Adviser - Lindo Tribe 7.30pm What happens to mlJ bank account now? What about mlJ overdraft? Notwest Student Services Officer- Carol McCafferty
c-,. National Westminster Bank
We're here to make life easier
J
32 Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
The
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Theatre Roval·s Summer Season
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s usual, Norwich's Theatre .Royal has an mpresstve programme of events for the forthcoming summer stage season . Joe Orton's 'What the Butler Saw' kicks off our recommendations for this month, performed by the Royal National Theatre company and directed by Phyllida Lloyd . A major revival of this sidesplitting classic, the show tells the tale of the Prentices. No ordinary couple , there all kinds of marital shenaningans afoot in this household. Orton's virulent indictment of the establishment firmly secured him his place as the master farceur of his agecombining damning social commentary with hiss love of language and passion for absurdity. Don't miss this one! The pace gets even faster on May 15 when Jake and Elwood, otherwise known as The Blue Brothers, are back in town . In this official tribute the nonstop serious party continues with the best soul , blues and
rhythm n'blues revue around . Hit it! Slowing it down towards the end of the month Norwich sees the welcome return of the Northern Ballet Theatre with their poroduction of the timeless classic 'Swan Lake'. With magical lighting effects and crowned by Tchaikovsky's magnificent music, Christopher Gable's stunning production shines with new style and energy. Aruthless power struggle develops amidst the opulence and splendour of the Russian Court as General von Rothbart attempts to overthrow the Royal family. Prince Siegfried's betrothed, the Princess Odette, mysteriously diappears and Rothbart, with his accomplice Odile , is poised to eliminate the prince himself. But he underestimates the power of the young lovers, and the taste of victory turns to ashes in his mouth. This magical spectacular with the rich and fantastic creations of Lez Brotherston take us from luxurian palace to eerie lakeside and back again .
PREV: Bf'\deshead Revisited Theatre Royal 23-.27 May £2.£14 If you recognise the face of Toby Walton it is probably because you saw him as TV 'heart-throb' Matt in EastEnders, Cindy Beale's hunky lifeguard. This time however, Toby, whoselastappearanceinthe West End was with Susannah York, plays dashing Sebastian Flyte in the latest production of Evelyn Waugh's 'Brideshead Revisited'. This compelling story, reenacted in Charles's own memory as he recalls those momentous undergraduate days, has been faithfully adapted for the stage by Roger Parsley, and preserves all the sharp wit and candid social commentary of Waugh's narrative. Evelyn Waugh described the theme of his classic novel as 'the operation of a divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters'. lt is a portrait of the interweaving relationships and fortunes of a desperately charming, if somewhat eccentric, aristocratic family, the Flytes, and their influences upon Charles Ryder. All of the characters that made Granada's award-winning adaptation such compulsive
UNION TRAVEL SH~~~---~·. ~ · ...-::
viewing are here. Strange, eccentric, yet curiously compelling are Charles Ryder, Sebastian & Julia Flyte .. and of course , Aloysius , that most superior of all Teddy Bears. The production , which embarked on the national tour in March, has a glittering cast led by Richard Todd as Mr Ryder, and including Barbara Murray as Lady Marchmain and Nigel Davenport as Lord Marchmain, the master of Brideshead Castle. In the lead role of Charles Ryder is Mark Elstob who comes to Brideshead Revisited immediately following his long run in Sir Peter Hall's production of Hamlet at the Gielgud Theatre, in which he played Rosencrantz but also played the title role on a number of occasions . As Julia Flyte the production introduces a new talent in the shape of Freya Copeland , an award-winning graduate from the Webber Douglas Drama School in London last December. · The play, which has 22 characters played by a cast of 12 has a myriad of locations and will be directed by Charles Vance with settings designed by David Lay and lighting by Mark Alexander. In the words of Evelyn Waugh :'My theme is memory, that winged host that soared about me one grey morning of war-time .'
PREV: Spring Fest '95 Norwich Art$ Centre Ma~
Are you travelling home for the Summer or planning a holiday? If so ... BOOK NOW! Call into the travel shop today for the best student and youth reductions, or telephone 01 .603 503103. we•re open Monday to Friday, from 9 to 5.15
~· "411'
22·27
A week-long celebration of Lesbian/Gay/ Bi-Sexual Art and Culture is • to take place in Norwich later this month. Patron of the
festival , which is to be held at Norwich Arts Centre , is none other than Michael Cashman, alias Col in in 'EastEnders'. And Michael is hoping to help to raise fun ds by raffling the actual Filofax used in 'EastEnders' which he will sign . The festival will feature a wide variety of events which will take place day and night and preparations are already well under way. The opening day
Michael Cashman, patron of Spring Fest 95
will be an HIV/AIDS Awareness Day with stalls, posters, information , advice , and free safe sex items will be available. There will be a four-day exhibition of photographic art, painting and sculpture by lesbian, gay and bi-sexual artists living and working in East Anglia. In the evenings there is something for everyone. Tuesday is theatre night which will see two new pieces of theatre premiered and this will be followed on Wednesday with a book reading evening. Authors Patrick Gale and Nicky Edwards will give readings form their works as well as signing and selling copies of their latest books. Two films will be screened on Thursday, and then Friday night is Springfest gig night when 'The Rainbyrds' will be appearing. The festival goes out with a bang on Saturday with the Springfest comedy, cabaret, disco and fancy dress night which promises to be naughty.. but nice!
TV I VI· D~t~
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. . {. , Caroline Jenkinson laughs along with Paul Merton 's new series
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T
op TVfunnyman and self-confessed comedy addict Paul Merton shares the habit of a lifetime in a new, six-part series starting this week on BBC 1. 'Paul Merton's Life of Comedy' is a fictionalised account of Paul's early family life with his parents, grandfather and Jingles the budgie, which merges with a selection of television comedy clips from the last 40 years. "lt's not a history of television comedy, it's a personal rec-
ollection of the stuff I used to watch." insists Paul, who eowrote the series with his regular writing partner John lrwin. "For as long as I can remember I've been obsessed with television comedy,· he continues. "lt seems as real to me as my actual life, the only difference being that in my own life you don't get the worst bits repeated every summer." Hundreds of comedy greats, including Tommy Cooper and Marty Feldman, and classic shows such as
'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em' and 'One Foot In The Grave' have been chosen by Paul to illustrate his toddler days. As for Paul, well he'll be playing not only himself, but his father too. Not that he resembles his father to any great degree. "I had a moustache for the part," he explains, •and I'm six inches taller than my father, and Tilly Vosburgh [Paul's eo-star] is six inches smaller than my mother.• But seeing as there's "hardly a shred of truth" in the dramatised account of Paul's home-life - in one episode his grandfather decides to have a sex change - little details like that don't really matter. Episode One, 'The Beginning', which focuses on the momentous day in 1958 when the Mertons' first television set was delivered, can be seen on Thursday May 4 at 8.30pm. And if you're a real Paul Merton fan, don't forget you can also catch him on the new series of 'Have I Got News For You' on Friday nights at 1Opm .
Newsflash - Nexus UTV will be invading the Channel 4 schedules soon, when 'Takeover TV' begins on Saturday night. Watch out for footage from Britain's best and brightest university TV station. But they won't be letting all this success go to their head, because they'll still be gracing campus screens with their usual top-notch programmes, including 'Home from Home' and 'Grrr.. .'. And watch out for the prawns. Coming soon to the Hive will be 'Plastic Lives'; the soap with more glamour than 'Dynasty', more excitement than 'Brookside' and less sheep than 'Emmerdale'. Stay tuned I
Paul Merton
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No.4: THE AVENGERS Pulp Fiction Rental Whe-heyl At last Quentin Tarantino's much lauded movie is available to take home and enjoy! Winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year, 'Pulp Fiction' clev/,erly weaves three separate ·' tories together in. this 1glimpse of small-time gangster life in LA. The all star-cast includes John Travolta (who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of coldblooded professional killer Vincent Vega). Uma 1Thunnan , Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson and Tarantino stalwart Harvey Keitel. The video box claims that critics have hailed the film as •a landmarl< in modem film making", and for once, such hype is probably justi1tied . 1Get in the popcorn - this is a must-see! _ Ca~line Jen~nson 1
Next Of Kin (1989) BBC 1,
The column lhatfoncly IWIB1Dn those classic TV ptOgt8IJ1m8S ofyestwyear_
10.35pm, Friday May 5 CAROLINE: Liam Neeson Wooorragghhh! Right, over to you Will. WILL: Films don't come much worse than this! Patrick Swayze as a hillbilly cop called 'Truman Gates' - aarrgghh! Pass me the sleeping pills now!!! CAROLINE: But you should see it anyway, 'cos Liam Neeson is God! And you know that story in The Sun about his private parts don't you ... WILL: Frankly, I don't give a damn if Liam Neeson is your favourite 'hommeister', it sounds crap! CAROLINE: Well, you would say that, wouldn't you?
Will Neil
I
I
t was one of the most original and sassy TV series ever, running from January 1961 to September 1969 before its 'replacement' with the ghastly 'New Avengers'. And it's still immensely popular today, with the video compilations marketed by
Lumiere proving a steady success in the sales charts. So what was it that made 'The Avengers' such a hit? Probably its sheer originality, consolidated by the time that Diana Rigg arrived to play Emma Peel in succession to Honor Blackman's character, Cathy Gale. All in all, six seasons of the show were made by ABC TV, using some of the finest screenwriters, directors and producers in the business.
These included Terry Nation (of Or Who fame), Brian Ciemens and Albert Fennell (both of whom went on to make 'The Professionals'). Storylines ranged from the revenge drama (especially in the first two series) but developed into a distinct fantasy-inspired pattern by the time Emma Peel was introduced . Many thought the show would have been doomed when Diana Rigg left after
her second series (the first one to be produced in coiour), but ABC bosses had other ideas. They brought in the unknown actress Linda Thorson as a new female lead, Tara King , and the storylines just started to get more and more madcap. 1 But by this time, 'The Avengers' had simply outgrown itself, killed by its own uniqueness. May it rest in peace ...
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34
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
PREVIEW: Nick Homby & Uvi Michael UEA Studio May 9 1995 £3/£2 cone. Next week UEA Drama Studio is to welcome Nick Hornby and Livi Michael , the final two witers in their 'True Fiction' serie s. Nick Hornby is author of the new novel, 'High Fidelity', which has been described as doing for pop music what his bestseller 'Fever Pitch' did for football. According to Nick it is a story for everyone who ever compiled a list of 'Best ever Track 1 Side 1's', or lived with someone who has. Joining Nick will be Livi Michael, author of 'Under a Thin Moon' and 'Their Angel Reach' . Described in The Sctsman as 'Manchester's Quentin Tarantino' Livi will bring some of her hysterical humour that she applies to her sordid subjects to UEA. Masters of black comedy, imaginative anarchy and spiritual vertigo, don't miss what promises to be a night of 'True Fietion '.
Nick Hornby
Livi Michae/
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•A fairy tale for the nineties by Thomas Guest
0
nee upon a time there was a beautiful Princess. She had dark hair which coiled in sleek ringlets all the way down to her middle. When she giggled, as she often did, light slithered through her beautiful hair like melting snow slipping through ivy on a bright winter's morning. When she smiled, as she often did, light glinted from her teeth like frost glittering the tips of gorse bushes on a bright winters' day. When she cried, as she often did, light spangled her tears like stars twinkling on a dark winters's night. Often, she would turn to her mirror and inspect her reflection. "Mirror, tell me·, she would say, "who is the most beautiful Princess in the Kingdom?" "There's only the one of you·, the mirror would reply. "Does that answer my question?" "Indirectly." "And who is the funniest Princess?" "Give me a break." "Mirror..." "Yes?" "Be careful. Seven year's bad luck would be a small price to pay.• "Think what would it say in the tabloids.· The Queen had abandoned the King when the p,;,,,.,..,,,.was a child. Sometimes the Princess herself- quite irrationally - and felt no one her. The tears she cried every night-had turned the mattress of her four-poster bed soggy. Sometimes, when she walked by the lake at the foot of the mountains which surrounded the patace, she fantasised a dragon would fly down,
snatch her, and crunch her sorry life up for dinner. The King made it known that suitors would be welcome to apply for the hand of his daughter. He briefed each suitor in place; "Try to make her feel special. Write her a poem or something. Don't forget to laugh at her jokes.· And so the Princess entertained and was entertained by a sequence of suitors. She found herself the subject of romantic poetry, which she'd read and giggle at in front of the mirror. She found herself the subject of lewd fantasies; she'd close the door and loosen her clothing before reading these in front of the mirror. Sometimes she hosted late-night parties. Her maid would be ordered to bring a flagon of wine and goblets to her chamber. Sometimes the maid would be ordered to fetch a refill; she would climb the winding staircase to find the Princess had become rather silly, and that the remaining suitors were wearing gloating, hungry looks and little else. The maid was asked to clean the bedding with increasing frequency.
"You're very intelligent for an inanimate object. • "Sweet Princess, I only reflect.• Sweet Princess, though the Princess, and she laughed. Her hair glistened like candlelight. "Mirror, you understand me so well." One of the suitors, however, became her favourite, her regular overnight companion. When the others realised, they left, one by one. At first, this didn't alarm the Princess unduly, since she had decided to marry her suitor. Soon though, she started acting strangely. Her self-respect had declined in parallel with the number of suitors. She ceased to trust her chosen favourite and suspected him of leading her on. Her suspicions proved well-founded for she discovered he had been having an affair with her maid. The distraught Princess told her father, the King. The maid lost her job. The suitor was banished. He took the opportunity to shout some very hurtful things through the Princess's window as he passed underneath it, the maid wedged behind him on the back of his stallion. "I have no one left", the Princess sobbed to the mirror. "I'm back where I started. Nobody loves
me.· "Mirror.. ." "Princess?" "I have a dilemma.· "Explain." "I don't know which suitor suits me the best. • "Perhaps you should keep them all." "That wouldn't be right.· "This is the nineties." The Princess looked closely at her image in the mirror. She wondered what she was doing in a fairy-tale. "But shouldn't I choose one to get married to and live happily with ever after?" "Look what happened to your father.·
Object in F~cus to June 4 June 6 to July 9 from July 15
The mirror coughed discreetly. "You must think I'm so stupid ... I'm just a silly little girt. That's what you think, isn't it?" "You'll always be the fairest of all, in the opinion of this piece of furniture", the mirror said gruffly. This surprised the Princess so much that she stopped sobbing. She looked at her startled reflection and said, "Why did you never say so before?" "I thought you didn't go for that slushy stuff.· "I don't- well, I didn't- well, I don't know any more." "Hush now, don't worry", said the mirror, afraid
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Illustration by Tony Lansdowne that the Princess was about to start crying again. "Why do things never work out the way they're meant to?" "They do. You just have to wait. You'll look back and understand why this had to happen.· And the mirror was right, for when the Princess leaned forward and kissed her reflection, the mirror turned into a quite remarkable young man who she joyfully married. As the mirror-man reported to the tabloids; "We're in the Happily Ever After phase of our relationship.• • Thomas Guest is a student on UEA 's Creative Writing MA course.
The Ballgame of the Aztecs and Mayas About Time Museology MA Exhibition 95
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts University of East Anglia Norwich
EAST International
open Tue-Sun 12.00- 17.00
information phone 456060 or ask at gallery receptio~
plus lectures and events workshops gallery shop cafe
ADMISSION FREE TO UEA STUDENTS AND STAFF
UEA NORWICH
36
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3,
1995
14 day listings in association with the Theatre Royal • Reservations (0603) 630000 THURSDAYMAY4 NORWI8H
Cannon See Wednesday May 3. Odeon See Wednesday May 3.
l !
Cinema City Pret-a-Porter (15)2.30pm, 5.30pm , 8.15pm.
Compiled by Caroline
l_.______A_d_/e_m---------------------------J WEDNESDAY MAY 3
Union Films The Specialist - Sharon Stone hires explosives expert Sylvester Stallone. £2/SemesterTicket (£8.50),
7pm. Theatre Royal Tom my Steele - What a Show!
SUNDAYMAY7 £3-£21 , 7.30pm . 8os wells The Bucket Brigade. 9pm-Midnight. Hys Club Night. 9pm-2am . Admission £2 all night. Happy Hour midnight-1am. Ritzy Go! £1 .50 admission b4 11 pm , £2.50 after. 9pm-2am . Peppermint Park Fellas' Night Outwith Smut Comic Roadshow (Viz style humour).
Cannon See Friday May 5. Odeon See Friday May 5. Cinema City Schindler's List (1 5) Spielberg's adaptation of Thomas Keneally's prize-winning novel about a Nazi Party member who used his position to save Jews. 4 .30pm . The River Wild (1 2) - Meryl Streep as an avid sportswoman
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Cannon Outbreak ( 15)- Dustin Hoffman in a race against time to stop a killer virus on the loose across America which has no cure. Blimey. 2.15pm, 5.35pm, 8.25pm. Captives (15)- Robin Williams stars in this tale of various historical escapades. 1.30pm, 3.45pni, 6.15pm, 8.45pm . Little Women (U)- Adaptation of the famous novel stars Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon and Kirsten Duns!. 2.30pm, 5.50pm, 8.30pm. An Awfully Big Adventure (15)Everyone's fave Hugh Grant cast as a luvvie (whatever next) in this tale of a theatre group. With A/an Rickman . 1.20pm, 6.20pm. Immortal Beloved (15)- Gary Oldman and lsabella Rosselini in this musical mystery about the life of Beethoven. 3.45pm . Once Were Warriors (18) Temura Morrisson in a violent love story set in New Zealand . 8.50pm. Odeon The Madness of King George (PG)- A/an Ben nett's screenplay of the award-winning play stars Nigel Hawthorn, He/en Mirren & Rupert Everett. 3.05pm , 5.15pm, 7.30pm. Dumb and Dumber (1 2)- Comic Tale about two dimwits on the road. With Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey. 1.45pm, 6pm, 8.15pm. Cinema City Pret-a-Porter (15)- Robert Altman's tale of journalists, designers, models and buyers congregating in Paris for the ready to wear show. A cyn ical portray/ of the bitchy, high-gloss superficiality of the fashion world. 5.30pm, 8.15pm.
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Union Films Nostradamus- Rutger Hauer and Amanda Plummer star in a film which depicts Nostradamus as a man haunted by dreams and much persecuted until he is
taken under the wing of the French Royal family. £2, 9pm . Theatre Royal Tommy Steele- What a show !(?). One of 'the most popular and talented British performers around' in a show featuring a full orchestra & dancers. £3£21 , 2.30pm , 7.30pm. 8os wells Lee Vasey Band. 9pm-Midnight. Samanthas The Fluff Syndicate. Dance/ Techno/ Trance Music. 1Opm2am.
£3-£21 , 7.30pm.
Odeon Some or all of the films listed on Wednesday May 3 may or may not still be showing , ring for further details.
Waterfront Ministry of Sound - DJs CJ Macintosh & Eli. PAs from Spirits & Love to Infinity. Upstairs Techno Sounds from Ecobase. Admission £6.
Cinema City Pret-a-Porter (15) 5.30pm , 8.15pm . Appleseed (15)- Pessimistic yet exhilerating exampl e of futuristic Japanese animation. 11 pm.
Boswells Beyond the Blues. 9pm-Midnight.
Hys Club Night. 9pm-2am. Admission £2 (9pm-10pm), £3 (10pm-11pm), £4 (11pm on).
Union Films Sleep With Me- The tale of a love triangle over six parties, starring Meg Tilly & Eric Stoltz. £2/Season Ticket, 7pm.
Ritzy Fast Trax. Admission £2 b410.30pm , £3 after.
Theatre Royal Tom my Steele- What a Show!
Manhattans £3b411.30pm.
SATURDAY MAY 6
Cannon See Friday May 5.
Ritzy Free admission with any student id b4 midnight. £1 .50pints.
Cinema City Heavenly Creatures (18)Portray/ of the relationship between two schoolgirls which led to a notorious crim in the 1950s in which they bludgeoned to death one of their mothers. 5.45pm. Priest (15) 8.15pm . Boswells VE Day party- Climax Jazz Band . 8pm-11pm.
Cannon See Friday May 5.
UEALCR The Charlatans (& Bluetones)A great double-bill for the dedicated in die follower. The Bluetones have recently recieved rave live reviews after their tour with Supergrass. The Charlatans, one of the few surviving "Madchester" acts, should play old faves such as "Wierdo" & "The only one I know" as well as new material. £8.50, 7.30pm.
Cinema City Pret-a-Porter (15) 5.30pm , 8.15pm. And re (U)- Likeable children's movie, set in early 60s America, about a young girl nursing an orphaned seal pup back to health. 2.30pm.
Odeon See Friday May 5.
Theatre Royal Tom my Steele -What a Show! £3-£21 , 2.30pm , 7.30pm. 8os wells The Dalling Brothers. 9pm-Midnight.
& the rest 1:
UEALCR Variety Is Not Dead- featuring , Stevie Starr (The Regurg itator), Mr Methane (Fiatulator), Steve
& the rest 2:
Hys Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £3 (9pm- 1Opm), £4 (1 Opm11 pm), £5 (11 pm on).
Norwich and District Trades Union Council presents May Day 1995. Entertainment, Refreshments, Beer Tent, Bouncy Castle, stalls, speakers etc. etc ..
Zoom (nr. Cannon) Student Party in association with the Cow Club. With resident DJs NW1 & Dave . Guest DJs appear every week from The Cow Club, Milky Lunch, Mr. Bumpman & Offeryerface . Admission £2, £ 1 a pint.
Cinema City Heavenly Creatures (18) 5.45pm. Priest (15) 8.15pm.
8os wells Jazz 'n' Blues Jam . 9pm-Midnight.
Samanthas Rock Club. 1Opm-2am.
Peppermint Park NUS Student Night. VE Day commemoration event (Tapas bar open 7-1 Opm, cheap beer & free entry to PP b4 1Opm ).
Odeon See Friday May 5.
Waterfront MELTDOWN -lndie & alternative dance. £3.50/£3.
Splash for Cash - Divers from the UEA Sub-Aqua club will be pulling rubbish out of the river bed and boating it to the shore for disposal, aiming to rasie money for the club and for the Marine Conservation Society. At River Wensum by Friars Quay between Fye Bridge (Mischief Tavern) & St. Georges Bridge from 11 am to 4pm .
Ritzy Student Night. 9pm-2am . Entry 50p with student id.
Cannon See Friday May 5.
Manhattans £3 b411.30pm.
Ritzy Furious Fun . £3 b410.30pm, £5 after, 9pm-2am .
Boswells Broadside Swingtet. 12noon-3pm.
~T~ESDAYMAY9
Theatre Royal What the Butler Saw - Joe Orlon's tale of a couple and their various extra marital shenanigans. A Royal National Theatre revival of this 'side-splitting modern classic' . £3.50-£18.50, 7.30pm .
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WATERFRONT- MEL TDOWN
Peppermint Park Student Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £1 b4 midnight (Tapas Bar open 7-10pm , cheap beer & free entry into PP b410pm).
Waterfront Maker Shaker Tour - Drugstore, Goyadress, My Life Story & Schtum- Featuring some of the latest darlings of the indie press, the Maker Shaker Tour gives you the chance to see stars in the making . Of particular note are the outrageous 'My Life Story'. £5 adv.
Odeon See Friday May 5.
Union Films Ladybird, Ladybird. The story of a mother who, after being persistently hounded by social services, is branded an unfit mother and has her children taken away. Depressing, but good. £2/SemesterTicket, 7pm .
Hys Club Night. 9pm-2am. Admission £1 all night. Happy Hour, midnight-1am.
Theatre Royal We'll Meet Again- A musical evening of 40s nostalgia on the eve of the 50th anniversary of VEday. £3-£8.50, 5pm, 8pm .
MONDAYMAYS
FRIDAYMAY5 Cannon Some or all of the films listed on Wednesday May 3 may or may not still be showing , ring for further details.
whose white water rafting vacation turns sour when two gangsters on the run hijack the vessel. 8.30pm .
STEVIE STARR, REGURGITATOR MAN. APPEARING IN THE LCR.
Rawling (Juggler) & The Amazing Achante (Bed of Nails). £5 . UEA Live in the Hive World Music disco - music from around the world plus a tequilla promo at the bar.
UEA Dev Soc Party - One World Week Party, benefit gig for Rwanda Orphanage Appeal. Live music & DJ. £2.50adv/£3.50dr, 7.30pm . Waterfront Reef. TBC. Hys Club Night. 10pm-2am. £1 all night.
Cannon Cinema , Prince of Wales Road. Te/623312 Odeon Cinema, Anglia Square. Tel 0426 932450 Cinema City, St Andrews Street. Te/622047 Theatre Royal, Theatre Street. Tel 630000 Norwich Arts Centre, St Ben edicts Street. Tel 660352 Maddermarket Theatre, Maddermarket. Tel620917 ' Manhattan Nightclub, Dove Street. Tel629060 The Oval Rock House, Dereham Road. Te1748244 Peppermint Park , Rose Lane. Tel764192 Ritzy Nightclub, Tombland. Tel621541 Boswells/Hy's , Tomb/and. Tel 626099 The Waterfront, King Street. Tel 632717
Concrete, Wednesday, May
3, 1995 37
in association with the Theatre Royal • tickets always lrom £3 or £4 WEDNESDAYMAY10 Cannon See Friday May 5.
SATURDAY MAY 13 Cannon See Friday May 5.
Odeon See Friday May 5.
Kirsty is touring on the back of the success of her Greatest Hits compilation and the show is likely to emphasise the variety of her back-catalogue. £7 .50.
Cinema City Heavenly Creatures (18) 5.45pm. Priest (15) 8.15pm.
Waterfront Kingmaker- Touring as part of their return after a lengthy absence with a new album. £6.
Union Films Four Weddings and a FuneralThis (now award-winning) smash-hit needs no introduction. £2/Semester Ticket, 9pm.
Samanthas The Fluff Syndicate, 10pm-2am. Dance!Techno/Trance music.
Cinema City Heavenly Creatures (18) 8.30pm. Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (PG)- Disney live action movie version of the classic tale. 2.30pm. Archive Show: Britain at War (U) -In commemoration of the end of the Second World War. 6pm.
Theatre Royal What the Butler Saw. £3.50£18.50, 7.30pm.
Hys Club Night. 9pm-2am. Admission £1 all night. Happy Hour, midnight-1am.
Boswells Horizon. 9pm-Midnight.
Ritzy Free admission with any student id b4 midnight. £1 .50pints.
UEALCR Kirsty MacColl - after more than a decade in the music business,
Peppermint Park Student Night. Admission £1 b4 10.30pm, 9pm-2am.
THURSDAY MAY 11 Cannon See Friday May 5.
Odeon See Friday May 5. Cinema City Heavenly Creatures {18) 15pm.
(15) 5.45pm. Union Films Stargate- Shameless, but fun, space adventure film, starring James Spader & Kurt Russell. £2/SemesterTicket, 7pm. Theatre Royal What the Butler Saw. £3.50-
£18.50-2.30pm, 7.30pm. Boswells The Fat Slugs Blues Band . 9pm-Midnight.
Hys Club Night. 9pm-2am. Admission £2 all night. Happy Hour midnight-1am. Ritzy £1 admission b411pm, £2.50 after, 9pm-2am. Peppermint Park Live music in Tapas Bar, 712pm.
Odeon See Friday May 5.
Theatre Royal What the Butler Saw. £3.50£18.50, 2.30pm, 7.30pm.
Cannon See Friday May 5.
Odeon See Friday May 5.
Ritzy Student Night. 9pm-2am. Entry 50p with student id.
Odeon See Friday May 5. Cinema City Heavenly Creatures (18) 8.15pm. Priest (15)- 5.45pm. The Wings of Honnemaise (15)Animated Japanese sci-fi movie. 11pm.
Boswells Acme Blues Co. 9pm-Midnight.
Union Films Dazed & Confused - Film set in an American school in the summer of 76, focussing on the lives, loves & humiliations of some of its students. £2/SemesterTicket, 7pm.
Hys Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £2 (9pm-1 Opm), £3 (1 Opm11pm), £4 (11pm om).
Theatre Royal What the Butler Saw. £3.50£18.50, 7.30pm.
Waterfront Irritation Steppas Dub Night. £6. 9pm-1 .30am.
Ritzy Admission £2 b410.30pm, £3 after. Manhattans £3b411 .30pm.
Waterfront MELTDOWN- The Watertronrs unique offering of indie & alternative dance. Get there early... £3.50/£3. 9pm-1 .30am.
Theatre Royal Jim Bailey- "He doesn't impersonate her, he is Barbra Streisand. Hear him sing 'The Way We Were', 'Second Hand Rose' and 'Don't Rain on My Parade'. You will believe it too." I?!?! £3£12.50, 8pm.
Boswells Jazz 'n' Blues Jam. 8pm-Midnight.
Norwich Arts Centre Women in Music Festival- Nicola Hall. An exceptionally gifted young classical guitarist who has already won a string of prestigious awards.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
Odeon See Friday May 5.
Theatre Royal The official tribute to ... THE BLUES BROTHERS-Hit~ £2.50-£15, 7.30pm.
Cannon See Friday May 5. Boys on the Side opens today.
Manhattans £3 b411 .30pm.
engagement in Alic Springs. 7.30pm.
MONDAYMAY15
Peppermint Park. Student Night. Acid Jazz night funk, acid jazz & hip-hop. Guest DJ - Jez Turner of Acid Jazz Records, London. Zoom (nr. Cannon) Student Party. £1 a pint, admission£2.
TUESDAY MAY16 Cinemas -see May 16. The Union Film is Mediterraneo (15). Theatre Royal SeeMay16. UEA Live in The Hive Salad & Flinch live indie sounds. Boswells Jazz 'n' Blues Jam. 9pm-Midnight.
Compiled by Caroline Ad/em
Ritzy Furious Fun . £3 b410.30pm, £5 after, 9pm-2am.
Cannon See Friday May 5.
Cinema City Baraka (PG)- Kaleidoscopic, New Age eco-documentary, full of stunning cinematography. 4.30pm. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (15)Terence Stamp as a transvestive who teams up with two drag queens for a caberet
14
IOIIICH
Hys Club Night. 9pm-2am. Admission £3 (9pm-10pm), £4 (10pm-11pm) £5 (11pm on).
SUNDAY MAY 14
Cinema City Wild Reeds (15)- French coming-of-age story. 5.45pm. Suture (15)- Sibling intrigue. 8.15pm.
FRIDAYMAY12
Boswells The Wahoo Yahoos. 9pm-Midnight.
8oswells Broadside Swingtet. 12noon-3pm.
Highlight of Week One: Variety Is Not Dead. Quality, judging by this selection of acts, may well be. But, if you haven't already seen Stevie Starr swallow goldfish and other various items, and are interested in the 'hilarious' antics of"Mr. Methane" (The Flatulator) as well as juggling by Steve Rawlings and the Amazing Orchante and his bed of nails then... well, there's no accounting for taste.
Highlight of Week Two:
At the Theatre Royal the ever successful tribute to the Blues Brothers visits Norwich again. This non-stop serious party features Jake and Elwood with the best soul, rhythm n' blues revue around. Or, if that's not your idea of fun then there's always the unmissable Jim Bailey- "He doesn'tjust impersonate her, he is Barbra Streisand". Who said variety was dead?
RICHARD WILSO. (aka Victor Me/drew) JOH. ALDERIO., .ICOLA PAGEII
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38
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
Spo_r_t ____________________________~--~--~----~~~~~~~~~~~~
UEA's Sailing Club launch £20,000 worth of Laser 2 dinghys THE end of last term saw UEA's Sailing Club at Oulton Broad to celebrate the launch of six new boats. The two-man Las~r 2s were officially named- after characters from the cult children's programme 'The Womble ' - and then put through their paces for the first time. Despite the adverse weather conditions, and the capsizing of a couple ofthe dinghys, those who braved the torrential rain and gale-force winds were full of praise for the new vessels. The club are relieved that they have finally been given the money to buy new boats, after having their application to Student Forum turned down several years running. This year, their request was passed unanimously, despite complaints from other sports clubs at the vast sum they have been given.
By Jane Horner Finance Officer John Holmes vindicated the decision by explaining that, by purchasing new boats, then selling them every two years in part exchange, the Union would not makeasmuchlossastheyhavedone in the past. For example, the six boats which have just been replaced are all about five years old and virtually unsellable. President Amy Burgess claimed the new boats were "a real boost for the club, especially the racing side", and it will be interesting to see what difference they make to the team's perfonnances. Even with the old boats, the Firsts and econds put up an admirable showing in one ofthe country's best known team racing events, the Bradford Barrel. The Firsts won four
SHI KON KAR
E
AND TAE KWOND
..... Sally Rose reports on the Norfolk team's promising new start in South America PACIFIC Team Lotus made a promising start to the season. The new car qualified four times out of four, and even finished a race! Tn Brazil on 26 March, Bertrand Gachotand surprise signing And rea Montenniniqualified20thand22nd
respectively. Gachot reached the dizzy heights of 14th in the race itself before retiring with gearbox problems on lap 24. Montennini upheld Pacific's honour, temporarily claiming 7th place(until Coultard and Schumacher were reinstated), one of only ten cars to finish.
Karl Wendlingerhada bad weekend in Argentina two weeks later. He qualified ten places behind his on-fonn team-mate Heinz-Harold Frentzen and received a fine from Buenos Aires police for jumping a red light. However, he had no excuse for taking it out on the Pacific boys, with both Montennini (qualified 22nd) and Gachot (23rd) being hit by Wendlinger's auberon the opening lap of the restarted race, and being forced to retire. Members of the Austrian's fan club they are not. After such a disappointment, thee Thetford team will be hoping for better fortunes in San Marino, where the PR02 will get a chance to fulfil its potential as a respectable midfielder on the European circuit.
PHOTOS NIK DAVY
races and the Seconds managed a convincing win over Hull, despite the fact that two of the Seconds substituted for another team and actually beatsomeofthe UEA Firsts! The club is fast gaining a reputation for sk.illful and aggressive sailing and, with the new boats, the team are confident they will continue to improve.
Then what? Gradings are held each month where you will be assessed on the techniques which you are aiming to graduate in. Naturally, any EUR students will be downgraded by 10% ..... Grading fee:
£10. So what's Tae Kwon Do? A Korean martial art whereby you useyourbody as a weapon. All manner of fighting techniques are taught, but the emphasis is on kicking.
Do you want to get fit, but don't know where to start? If so, then the Fitness File might give you a few hints. This issue: Shi Kon Karate and TaeKwonDo. What's Shi Kon? Firstly it means "Warrior Spirit", yet it is not a stlye, but an association the UEA club is affiliated to. The style practised at UEA is Wado Ryu, which means "Way of Peace and Harmony", and as the name suggests it involves a sedate mixture of posture and meditation . However,lforgotto menmtion that, as the name does not suggest, it also involves kick-
Why do people do it? For self-defence techniques, competition training, health benefits, increased fitness, and increased self-confidence in walking across the Mile Cross Estate ..... ing, punching,joint locking, throwing and the striking of"vital points". What does it cost? A suit can be obtained from the club instructor for £23 and this comes complete with a grading syllabus and a license application form , which is a requirement as it provides insurance. The licence costs a further £15.
Where and when, then? At the Sports Centre on Tuesday evenings at 7:40 and Thursdays at 8:20 . Both sessions finish at 1Opm, so you can practise what you've learnt, should the opportun ity arise, on the long, dark, lonely walk home ...
Robert Mullarkey
EYE VIEW
Following the well-publicised demo after Saturday's game, a City fan gives his view of events AFTER IAN RUSH put a nail in City's relegation coffin with an 85th minute winner, it was clear that the scheduled after-match protest would have added impetus,
writes Stewart Bamford. It was a match that Norwich desparately needed to win, to have any chance of staying in the Premiership, confirmed by an expectant 22,000 capacity crowd. But after Steve IIarkness opened the scoring after 8 min-
utes, it was all looking a bit ominous before Robert Ullathome's equalizer in the 15th minute.
Following dissa tisfaction amongst fans at half time, the last thing that was needed was a typical Rush tap-i n on 85 minutes, made even worse by the final whistle and confinnation of City's fate. Organised to follow the game regardless of the result, the demo was well policed by the Norfolk Constabulary and the City of London force. Many voiced their dissatisfaction with the club's administration non-violently through chants such as "Chase Out".
But trouble began when the police started pushing everyone into a small area as they tried to clear the road. As people were being crushed, the demonstrators pushed back, and the mounted police, brought in from the City of London, were sent in. After an initial attempt to disperse the crowd failed, the Officer commanding the horses gave the order to go in at a trot. Many people, including disabled fans, rushed to move out 9f the
Some people received minor injuries, with a fan and a policewoman being taken to hospital.
I was myself caught up in the incident and found many aspects of it very distressing.
Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
S,ORTS SHORTS RAF Honnington saw UEA 's Trojansathletics club finally claim the East Anglian Cross-Country league title. The men's team ofNik Davy, Martin Airey, Alex Tate, Alex Bowden, Tom Koch and Clive Rivers had set the pace right from the first of the ten races, and deservedly claimed the First Team prize. The 'B' Team was unfortunte in not being complete for two races due to the Christmas vacation,. but the team ofRob Bames, Kev Steadman, Chris White, Andiew Powley and Ian Richards still managed to claim second place in the 'B' team competition. CaptainNik.alsowon the prizes for Second Individual Male and First Junior, with Jane Homer finishing as Second Individual Female. THE British Universities Sports Association is to be sponsored by Lucozade. The company, already involved in sponsoring the British Athletics Federation and the FA Premier League, are to commence a major twelve-month sampling drive involving over students, as well as profunding, which will mainly be used on the administrative side. Marketing Manager John Kcnnedy said: "The sponsorship is a boost to university sport. Every member university and college has the opportunity to benefit. We recognise that like Brcndan Reilly [who launched the sponsorship], there arc thousands of potential international sportsmen and women competing at university level."
PROMOTION for both of their teams came as a justified reward for the ladies' hockey club. Both the lst and 2nd teams won their divisions, meaning that they will be playing in divisions 3 and 5 respectively ofthe Norfolk WornHockey Association League. The I st team, captained by Miranda Dodd, lost only twice in the league, winning the others by comfortable margins. Top scorer was Caroline Taylorwith 12 goals, closely foJiowed by Miranda'sten. The 2nds bettered this, not losing at all in the league! The team, captained by Dee Stoba.rt, also made it to the last 16 of the BUSA competition, helped on by their scoring of 22 goals whilst concedingonly6. Top scorer was Julia Ward with nine goals. Next year will of course be harder, but if either team can do anything like reproduce the success of this season, the future of ladies' hockey at UEA looks very rosy indeed. CONCRETE Sport now has a box in Jo Reeson's office in the Sports Centre, so any articles can be dropped off there. We arc also looking for comments from sportspeople as to how to improve the sports section, so feel free to have your say in what we may look like next year. Again, suggestions can be dropped off in the new box.
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GOLD PLATED PI American Football THE UEA Pirates recently asserted their claim to be contenders for top honours by wiping the board at the Southern Conference Plate Tournament Arranged by club president Mark Jones, the four team competition took place at Colney Lane on 5th March. The Pirates took on Bristol Bullets, Herts Hurricanes and late replacements for Oxford, Surrey Stingers in the round robin tournament, with only ten minute halves. UEA started well, beating Herts 5-0, the defensive clean sheet allowing the offence to put together some useful drives. The Bristol v UEA game was a classic. Out ofthree possessions the Pirates scored on all three. The ftrst drive was simply a joy to be a part of as the team drove the ball more
By Mattlngram than 80 yards, with Bristol's defence overpowered by UEA's offence. A recovered turnover allowed the Pirates to add to the second score and make the fmal tally 21-0. The final game against Surrey was a rather lacklustre affair with the Pirates, almost in sight of the Trophy, looking tired and allowing Surrey to dictate the flow of the game. However, the team rallied and turned out winners 14-0. Mention must be made of the Surrey Team who, due to being late replacements, arrived with the minimum of 11 players yet still managed to complete all their fiXtUres! The team would like to thank all the people who have come to watch games throughout the season and hopes to see you all next year.
Life on the edge... Some Pirates look on as their team heads for victory
PHOTO. KEITH WHITMORE
Cricket team willow at the last Indoor Cricket
By---
Gareth Billington UEA's cricket team claimed the runner-up place in the BUSA Indoor Cricket championship, falling only at the final hurdle to ... Loughborough. After disposing of Surrey, Bath and Brighton in the semi-finals at Essex, the UEA team went to the Foster's Oval without key man Cameron Green. All day the team found runs hard to come by, and it was clear from the
ftrst group game against Lancaster that the narrow confines of the Oval did not suit their free flowing style. Despite the quick loss of two wickets, the team recorded a respectable total of 91, and in reply Lancaster were cleaned up well short of the target set for them. An injury to batsman Steve Jessup left a fragile team to face Cardiff, and UEA only managed to scrape together 61 runs. The Welsh side
knocked off the runs without trouble, but then lost to Lancaster, leaving all three teams level. In the bowl-offto decide the finalist, Simon Bell and Mark Edlin rearranged the woodwork to send UEA through. There, the team collapsed disastrously to 14 for 4 before limping to
a meagre 53. Despite a quick breakthrough and some tight bowling from Trill and Super-Kway Colvin, they were never enough to trouble the powerful Loughborough side who claimed the title. Despite their final performance, president James Grigg described the
team's wonderful efforts as "the champagne moment of my time at UEA." _, Squad: Simon Bell, Steve Jessup, Duncan Evans, Chris Trill, Dave Starmore, Gareth Billington, Mark Edlin. James Co/vin. Scorers: A/ex Fraser. James Grigg.
Wet, wet, wet! COPY SHOP Swimming UEA'S swim team made a splash at the BUSA long course swimming champs just before Easter, writes Martin Plant Held at the international 50 metre pool at Crystal Palace, the competitors at the event represented the very best ofstudent swimmers. UEA competed against larger teams with better training facilities and professional coaches, yet the team ofeightswimmersdistinguished themselves with their enthusiasm and determination. Anna Olecka launched the team off to a winning start in her heat of the women's I OOm freestyle . Marion Osboumecontinued this high standard in the 50m backstroke,
breaststroke and freestyle events, finishing a creditable 21st in the breaststroke. Nikki Robertson is also deserving of credit, setting a personal best in her backstroke event, with Clare Baker-Smith also. having an excellent swim in her freestyle race. The men's team performed well individually, but the 4x50m medley relay team ofMike Gregory, Martin Plant, Steve Jackson and Alan Brewin swam better than ever. Vicky Bragg, unable to swim due to injury, asked the team to "swim fast", and they did just that, claiming a thoroughly respectable 34th position. Squad: Clare Baker-Smith, A/an Brewin, Mike Gregory, Steve Jackson. Anna 0/ecka, Marion Obourne, Martin Plant, Nikki Robertson.
VISIT THE COPY SHOP OPPOSITE THE SPORTS CENTRE FOR ALL YOUR 路INSTANT COPYING REQUIREMENTS -IN COLOUR OR BLACK AND WHITE
Ring Rebecca or lan on 593527
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Concrete, Wednesday, May 3, 1995
ee ~p_ five ranking for ladies
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THE UEA wom en's Volleyball squad are having success both home and away at the moment.
Eleanor Perkins
After an excellent performance in Glasgow in the BUSA fmals, they returned home to fight off their only rivals for top position in the local league. In Scotland, the first opponents were Bristol. Despite losing the first set, UEA took the match, due mainly to some forceful serving from Tanya Wyatt. The next match in their pool was against Crewe and Alsager. UEA won the first set through sheer determination, but were then unable to overcome their opponents' power, losing the following two sets.
UEA then took on Heriot Watt, and from the start it was clear the two teams were evenly matched, the first set eventually ending 17:15 in Heriot Watt's favour. In the second set, as both sides began to tire, Heriot Watt were able to gain a major advantage by bringing on new players, and eventually took the set 15:3. However, UEA still had two playoff matches to psyche themselves up for. They quickly dismissed Brighton, then faced Bristol again in the fi ght for fifth place. As before, UEA were the victors, this time by an even
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greater margin. Back in Norwich, the team faced their league rivals, The Vixens, in the Women's division of the Norwich and District Volleyball League. UEA's victory means they are virtually certain to take the league title. The women can be proud ofwhat they have achieved this year. Their fifth place BUSA ranking is a tribute to the squad's hard work and dedication, and proves that UEA are one of the best teams in Britai n. BUSA Squad: /sabelle Collot, Vernadette Gonzalez, Brigitte Goppold, Michel/e Lee Christiane Maasen, Joanne Moore, Eleanor Perkins, Heather Shepherd, Tanya Wyatt. Coach: Frank Spinnner.
Medals all rOund for UEACC ALL FOUR members of the UEA cycling club came back from Manchester's NCC with a medal, writes Andy Tyler. The team managed to get the ÂŁ9m velodrome to themselves to practise on the night before the BUSA track championships, and along with some intensive coachingfromtheNationaiTrackCoach, the experience proved worthwhile. The4000m pursuit team of Andy and Dave Tyler and Ad am Wild
gained the bronze medal, despite having only three riders instead of four, and being a team of novices. Meanwhile Heather Wells rode a tremendous semi-final in her 3000m pursuit, finishing only a few seconds off her personal best, and gaining a bronze medal for her efforts. lnthe4000mpursuit,AndyTyler failed to qualify for the last eight by less than a second, after mistakenly thinking he was three seconds faster than he actually was!
Unfortunately he did not realise this until there was only three laps to go in the race, but still clawed his way back to win by 3/1 OOths of a second. _ These results follow impressive showings at other including the BUSA4-up time trial at Swaffham and the Tasvale Trophy road race. But with these coming in only the team's first year of serious racing, there are surely more to CXlllle.
Rooms available for the Summer vacation at ÂŁ20 per week! the students' landlord