Concrete issue 063 02 10 1996

We buy John Charmley a drink and suss out his views on music, beer, and other essential to ics

The Bluetones, Kula Shaker, Jamiroquai, plus the latest movies, videos, albums - this week we've got it all!

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accommodation clearing system as some still wait for a campus room after a seven month process.

Many returning students were forced to camp out in Nelson Court common rooms after they arrived to find that there was nowhere permanent for them to stay.

The clearing process which began during Freshers' Week was inundated with 150 applicants on the first day alone.

But UEA bosses have defended their position, claiming that there are fewer problems this year than last.

Accommodation Centre Manager Lawrence Daly, said, "Last Year we had between 300 and 350 arrived on the first day of clearing, all kept waiting over the summer. Last Monday 150 turned up we had a substantial number who didn 't queue or sleep on

floors. I am happy we achieved that much."

Mr. Daly remains optimistic that all students will be allocated a room.

"We are about level with regard to the number of students and number of rooms."

Students, however, are still not happy with the situation.

"The clearing system is a complete mess," said one final-year student.

"This uncertainty at the start of the year is a problem I could have done without, especially now that lectures have started."

Accommodation chiefs claim the situation has been complicated by the number of post-graduate and international students.

But Mr Daly pointed out that the main problem is the allocation of residences to all first-year students. " It is a nightmare, if we didn't have to guarantee rooms for first-years, it

easier. But it is the University's central marketing ploy."

As a consequence, the Accommodation Centre has to wait for the go-ahead from schools of study before rooms can be put into the clearing system.

First-years who fail to register have their reservations cancelled.

"It is all in the hands of the admissions process and the students themselves as to whether they will turn up or not. If we knew definitely how many first years were coming, we would not have this problem," he said, adding "I make sure they know I care about their problems."

But Sam Skerry , EAS 3 who has waited seven months for confirmation of her residence remains sceptical.

"I 've now got a room in elson Court but have a bitter taste in my mouth because of the way I have been

· 2 Concrete , Wednesday, October 2, 1996

Welfare Sabbs clash over handbook

U NION Welfare Office r, Paul Donnelly, has d efend ed his decision not to print the handbook that his predecessor spent four months producing.

Last year 's Officer , Esther Jillett, worked on th e Welfare handbook over the summer, but the final verdict was that the fini shed product was " long, complicated and wordy.

"After a large amount of consultation, we decided we would delay the printing of the handbook, and mak e it sharper , snappier and more appealing to new students," Paul said.

"We appreciate th e wor k that Esther did, but she should have consulted an editoria l team. Now she is not talking to us, which is childish."

Esth er was upset that it was not prin ted ready for the new academic year. " I worked really hard on it, as did peopl e fr om t he Counsell ing Centr e, H ealth Centre and Welfar e Unit. I feel as if they have been let down as well," she said.

Asked if it was inappt·opl"iate, she commented that this was a matter of opinion. " I didn ' t pla n for it to be the defini tive hand book," she added. " At the end of the day, stud ents need a clear guide for wbet·e to get help." she said.

Paul plans to release a new handbook after Chr-istmas.

Brighton students are enjoying hotel luxury as they await the construction of their new campus roo ms for the lucky 200 guests.

Union tune in to big buck bonanza THE UNION was celebrating a ' money for nothing ' cash windfall as a forgotten investment came up trumps last week, writes Martin Robinson .

A cheque for £93,800 was presented to Union Finance Office r, 'G inge' Kaye, for selling shares which had soared after a take-over bid for a local rad io company.

In 1984, the Union bought 4.000 shares in East Anglian Rad io at £I each 10 pledge their support for the local community.

EAR, wh o produces Broadland FM, was then bought out by Wih shire-based GWR FM and share-holders were rewarded. " The shares were originally a good will gesture and we got lucky twelve years later," said Ginge.

•The cash is curently languishi ng in a Halifax account, so what do YOU think should happen to the windfall ? Write to Concrete at our Jeuers address, or email us on su.concrete@uea.ac.uk.

'UEA bosses are iust motivated by money~ On the buses all Sam Skerry's diary of events since her battle night for a campus room began back in February...

Feb 26 Deadline for applying for campus accommodation . Form is returned to UEA two weeks before this date.

April 26 Th e Accommodati on Centre should have published the results of the computerised ballot by this date, but a member of staff tells us that "the names have not even put onto the system yet. " They claim it's "out of their hands" and University bosses are the ones who are keepi ng everyone waiting.

June 13 Almost two months late, the ballot results are finally published , with no explanation for the delay. I am number 270 on th e list. The Accommodation Centre promises to "keep in touch over the summer".

J u ly 26 Phone the Accommodation Centre but there is "no information available" at present.

August 5 Place has moved to 170 after some 100 room s have been allocated.

UEA has "revised its anticipated number of new students".

August 16 No change in queue position says th e Accommodation Centre, but the situation "looks hopeful".

Sept 2 Receives first letter from Accommodation Centre since Ju ne 13.

Position is revised to 40. In the meantime, a letter confirms that there will be "FREE" floorspace in the common room in Nelson Court for the first few weeks of term . But when you do get a room , rest assured, "University residences are the best value for money around!".

Sept 9 Phoned UEA, but no change. A member of staff says "I can't understand why you were told the situation would

change today." The enti re process has been handled appallingly, with information received being entirely dependent on wh ich member of staff is on the Accommodation Centre counter.

Sept 16 Start of the accommodation clearing process . Two rooms available in Mary Chapman Court and four in Campion House, Bowthorpe . Still number 40 on the list.

Sept 20 Phoned every day for four days now. Members of staff are "unable to discuss clearing until 2pm" even though I explain that I am driving two hours every day to attend clearing.

The worry of accommodation is barely acknowledged.

Sept 23 First day of term . Still no room available to move in to, despite the fact that students who failed to turn up for the start of the academic year got their contracts cancelled at midnight. This amounts to

"around 200" rooms being available, but the member of staff at the Accommodati on Centre refuses to look and see where these rooms are on campus.

Sept 24 Students have to wait until 2pm to be issued with a list of which rooms are finally available through clearing. The total amount is 71. Luckily, I am allocated a room in Nelson Court, but some 100 third year students are still awaiting rooms and are also sleepi ng on floors around campu s.

• University bosses are financially motivated to recruit as many first years and International students as possible to secure three years of educational fees. Returing students are 'safe money ' and their welfare is no longer a concern, since all UEA provides you with isa space on the floor, so long as you "bring your own blanket."

What more could students wish for?

SWSS ABUSE STUDENTS IN SOCMART SHOCKER UEA'S POLITICAL societies have slammed the " heavy handed " tactics of the Socialist Worker Student So ci ety at this year 's SocMart.

Conservat ive Stud ent, Ada m Ai ken ' said that prospecti ve new members had been scared away from their stall by the SWSS presence.

Labour members also reported the intimadating nature of some SWSS representatives. " SWSS came along and surrounded our table which is nor mally not too much of a problem, but these were people I hadn't seen before," said Adam. " I was sworn at quite seriously and it got to the stage where, if I hadn' t moved away, I would have

been hit," he added.

"New students interested in us were reluctant to stay long because they received verba l abuse as well."

He commented th at the usual political banter was expected, but their onslaught lasted all day and was particularl y unwelcome because of the visit by the Tory ation al Chairman. " He was not a loud Thatcherite right-winger, he was working hard by helping with memberships. He had travelled all the way from London and to be called scum was just not needed," said Adam.

The behaviour of th e SWSS members has prompted a letter of complaint from Conservati ve representatives to the Union.

SWSS in action on a recent demo " We were very upset by th e deliberate attempt at provication and intimidati on," said Adam.

However, SWSS member, AJison Ravenhall did not understand why there should be any complaints.

" I don't kn ow anything about any abuse," she said.

Union Welfare Officer Paul Donnelly was unimpressed by the incident. " Speaking personally, I think SWSS are an embarrassment and a joke," he said.

ALL ABO AR D the night bus as East ern Counties Buses begin their new late night services from UEA. Fr om October 3, the 26 and N35 will follow daytime routes until the ear ly hours of the morning on Thursdays, Saturda ys and Frid ays, Mondays for a single-j ourney pr ice of£ 1.25.

ECB Director, Philip Eden, said that he hoped the ser vice would be popular with student passengers.

"We would have r un the service sooner , but had some difficulties operating a tr ial service j ust for students, so now our late night service is open to all," he said.

Mor e details are available fo r the new extended service from EC B on (01603) 622800 •concrete r eported in Mar ch of a possible ' bus war' as Holtbased Sand ers Coaches responded to demands for an increased ser vice at UEA by providing a 53-seater coach for the r oute into the City. T hey are now running minibuses to and from campus.

The service did offer cheaper ti cket s into No r wich than Eastern Counties.

Charles Sander s said that the future of his service was in the hands of the students and fares would increase agai n if he was for ced out of business.

"Students and the community as a wh ole need to be educated into understandin g that a monopoly is a bad situation," be said. " W e can guarantee realistically pr iced transport for years to come."

residents are asked to b e on alert this week after a naked man expo s e d h imsel f to a fema le student on University Dr ive.

Th e incid ent happened last Thursday at 9.30pm as the EAS student was walking to meet a fri end. The man leapt from bushes and startl ed the girl , before fl eeing.

Ca lls for greater sa fety were answered by UEA Security Supremo, Mau ri ce Morson. " This incident is not part of a general pallern ", he reassured, " it happened in an unusual place, it' s usually down by the lake."

Police are now monitoring the area, but students should keep on th eir guard , especiall y when walking alone.

PLANS ANNOUNCED FOR

FIFERS LANE SELL-OFF Abandoned residences destined for life as housing estate after two years of s~uabbles DERELICT Fifers Lane may fall into the hands of developers after UEA let the site go to ruin, writes Joanne Robertson.

Concrete reported in November last year that Registry bosses still had an annual £100,000 to pay on the former RAF station after an original 21-year lease was renewed, running until the year 2006.

Since its closure as student accomodation two years ago, the site has been targetted by thieves on a number of occassions.

UEA chiefs failed to board up the windows at Fifers L<tne, abandoning cookers, fridge-freezers, beds and fiXtures which were then an easy target for van-

dais and looters.

But Norwich City Council is now hoping that the mothbaUed 38-acre site can be redeveloped and put to better use.

Plans to change Fifers Lane include the construction of flats and houses with added shopping and leisure facilities.

Cash strapped UEA will have to fork out £1 million for the next ten years on the derelict site unless the lease is sold.

Registry bosses knew this when they gave the go-ahead for the construction of the 750-room University Village in 1994 at a cost of £12.25 million. . In 1995 plans to utilise Fifers Lane by local-based company Air UK came to nothing.

The company bad hoped to create a

staff trammg for its operations Norwich Airport.

But the plan was never acted upon and neither was that of a Labour Councillor who called for the site to be used to house the homeless.

Union Welfare Officer Paul DonneUy said, "It is a shame that the site cannot be put to better use for the good of students."

UEA Director of Estates and buildings, Richard Goodall admitted that the UDiversity has no further plans for Fifers Lane.

Plans to sell the site will only go ahead if agreement is reached between UEA , Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council who own the land.

FIRST WEEK BAR SALES UP RETURN OF THE DISCO WARS? DESPITE beer prices rising profits in the Union bars have risen, writes Alison Clarke.

Bar takings in the LCR, The Pub and The Hive are up by £2,000 in comparison with 1995, due to brisk business during Undergraduation.

Union Finance Officer, 'Ginge' Kaye said the reason for the increase was due to

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more students spending time in the bars as a result of successful Freshers' events.

"More people were definitely banging about on campus this year and we are encouraged by this," be said.

However, Ginge also expressed concern about the volume of alcohol consumed, saying "it is a bit worrying if students are drinking more."

NORWICH could be set for a return to the disco wars of three years ago when Peppermint Park, renamed Zoots, {)pens its doors this December.

Back in 1993, Peppermint Park and Ritzy were locked in battle for student trade; with both offering free admission and 50 pence pints.

The war was won by Ritzy, but following a complete revamp of his club, Zoots' General Manager, Mark Pook, is hopeful

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that students will soon return.

"When we open, I am confident we will have students flocking in," he said.

However, Ritzy's General Manager, Peter McKay, made it clear he was not afraid of losing business to Zoots.

"It' s nice to have competition," he said, "but students moved to us for the quality of entertainment and we treated them better.

We are confident that it is and always will be a great night at Ritzy." .

UNION Welfare Officer, Paul Donnelly, had some surprise visitors after being left in the dark by University bosses, writes Neil Anderson.

This year' s international students arrived unbeknown to the Union who had no time to arrange provisions for tbem.

The Union Food Outlet was open longer on Sunday, but unable to do so on the Saturday.

Paul was unimpressed with the organisation of the weekend.

"There was a lack of communication between tbe University and tbe Union concerning the international arrivals," he said.

"The Union wanted more opportunity to get involved.

"We would have liked a much higher profile on tbe day," be added, "but I didn ' t even know the international arrivals day was on Saturday. Hopefully this won't bappen again."

The availability of hot food for the arrival of the rest of the new students was al o criticised.

The University gave directives to extend The Diner's opening hours on both Saturday and Sunday to accommodate the new international arrivals, but not on Wednesday for undergraduates.

UEA Director of Communications, Alan Preece, said "We have held a review of tbe arrivals process and understand that more flexibility is needed for next year in order to improve our services."

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waveney kitchens looted

~©D(f1)D [?)QD [§) ~ 0~[fu 0[ffi@ ~QD~~@~~ There may have been no students about, but Concrete, In conjunction ' with the Union were kept profitably busy all summer long.

First there was the Graduation Ball Souvenir Magazine.

Next came the Union Handbook, which was sent out to all Freshers in early August.

Then there was a glossy 36page Fresher's Handbook commissioned by ·City College Student Union, Norwich 's first inter-Union publishing project.

Lastly, came the Dean of Students' ' Support for Study' finance handbook, which was produced by Concrete in close co-operation with the Dean, Dr Kiff Matheson.

Our full summer publishing output was 17,000 copies and nearly a million pages, earning the Union a total profit of £2,000 from £15 ,000 of advertising sales.

• concrete editorial staff did all of the writing, editing, layout, production and advertising sales for the publications.

~[j[{Jgooo Sheffield students can improve their kissing abilities thanks to a new machine which tests

HUNGRY thieves have targeted University residences in the first week of the academic year.

A spate of thefts in Waveney

Union PublicifY Officer resigns after just two weeks on the job THE UNION Executive has been rocked by the resignation of its Publicity Officer, 'Nice Guy' Eddie Taylor, after barely two weeks in active office.

Eddie announced his decision to quit at the Exec meeting last Wednesday, following the most poorly attended start-of-term Union General Meeting in recent memory.

Only 60 students turned up to the meeting, which is ultimately the most important decision making body in the Union.

Eddie, who stood for election last April under the Reservoir Dogs name of ' Nice Guy Eddic', was quick to blame Union bureaucracy and a lac k of facilities for the turnout failure.

"I thought I'd have an office, a computer, and. a telephone, which I didn 't."

He descirbed the Union structures as " Bureaucratic s***.

"Exec do an exce llent job, but the whole constitution of the University and the Union is dire, he sa id. " It is an extreme form of democracy, it 's Marxism. The Exec should decide things rather than take any-

thing to the student body .

Constitutional reforms arc needed, including reconsidering the validity of UGMs. It takes ages to get things done. " For UGM decisions to be binding, 350 stude nts- just !/75th of UEA 's resident population - need to attend.

Questioned at the UGM about the lack of publicity, Eddie said he had worked hard, with 3,000 leaflets delivered to res idences.

"I wou ld have liked to have done more, but if I had , it wouldn ' t have made any difference. 3,000 leaflets resulted in only 60 people turning up, which is a 0.007% response rate. "

But Eddie was unwilling to bl ame student apathy for poorly attended UGMs. "Students are not apat hetic, they ' re just not interested and I don ' t blame them, most motions are

Terrace kitchens has left students without cooking utensils and food in the late night raid last week.

UEA' s Dean of Students, Dr Matheson, said it was a concern, but "we can' t watch all 3,000 rooms at once. " Campus Security Supremo Maurice Morson told Concrete that the victims of these thefts had failed to report them.

"We ask students to tell us of any thefts so that we can monitor, react and direct security accordingly," he said. " Students should take every care not to create opportunities for such thefts to happen."

Mm& WU@J@@J~oiTO® @GiJ®[ffi~o@G®@J BACCHUS magazine is celebrating this week, after being shortlisted for the Guardian/ NUS media award of Student Magazine of the Year.

Editor, Jenny Taylor said, " We are of course, more than a little happy . All we have to do now is win! " •The media awards will be held on Oct 26 at the NUS and student media conference in London.

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Concrete, Wednesday, October-2, 1996

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Wild Brew Is described as the U.K's funkiest alcoholic energy drink and Is endorsed by top gurus from the world of dance music, style and media - whoever they are!

The drink, a tasty mixture of mixed fruit juices, ginger and carbonated water is 4.0% ABV to bring out the tiger in you. Wild Brew also contains Guarana which is renowned as a natural revitalizer and aphrodisiac in Brazil.

So, what better reason to take advantage of this Concrete offer.

We are giving away 24 bottles of the stuff- but only if you're willing to come into our office in Union House, and roar like a tiger.

Digital Chaos Digital Chaos, billed as a slacker cyberconference, and with a sub-title too rude to print in a family newspaper such as Concrete, had to be one of the most enjoyable events of the summer. Convened by a diverse selection of net minds, including Heath Bunting (Hype passim.) the conference took place at a variety of venues in Bath this June. In the words of the organisers, it was designed to incite fuelled discussion and to bring together some of the most exiting and diverse minds from the response underground.

Most of the talks took place upstairs at the Hat and Feather pub, which had been decked out specially with fluorescent furry things hanging from the ceiling and visual pollution on the walls courtesy of Binge. The assembled crowd averaged around fifty people, with small children and dogs also in abundance.

DJs livened up the gaps between talks with eclectic mixes, and the occasional trill of a mobile phone or the white-noise of a modem connecting also punctuated the silence.

Talks were given on a huge variety of themes, including ~Electronic publishing in New WWW hellhole", York's "Cynical Consuming" and

"Digital Artisans~. There were also hosted discussions on such topics as "Feminism and Censorship" and "Print is Dead". While the debates sometimes got side-tracked into cliches (creativity vs. commercialism, censorship vs. free speech) the rant quotient remained low.

As well as the relaxed sur· roundings of the pub, other venues included the Hub lnterc@fe (now sadly metamorphosed into a design studio), the f stop gallery, a dank alleyway and a railway platform. For the latter, a talk about the Nomad Territories passport project ended with the speakers jumping on the next train out. Plus on Saturday night, the action moved to the Hub club where more Binge graphics decorated the dancefloor, and ZX Spectrum games played on continuous loop behind the bar.

All in all, the conference allowed everyone to have their say in an informal environment. The overall impression was one of confident people at ease with technology and prepared to use it creatively to their own advan·

tage. Whatever 1h pluses of on-line: communication, it shows that you can' beat a pub gettogether to stimulat discussion and forge; interesting relation ships.

Hype's website wil be providing a extended version of this arti cle, as well as a list of all pr sentations and links to th projects that are available o the web. Now even easier t find, go UEA Main page Student Media > Hype.

Websltes of the Week OneL.ook Dictionaries http://www.onelook.com/ The easy way to search multi pie online dictionaries simultaneously. Find acronyms, sci entific terms, etc.

Rectal foreign bodies http://al.cs.engr.uky .edu/-an erson/humor/newbutt.html An article allegedly reprint form Surgery Magazine. No for the squeamish.

UEA Chat newsgroup news:uea.chat Hot gossip and issues from the lips (well, fingers really} of UEA's finest.

CNN Interactive http://wWW.cnn.com/ Save on newspaper costs.

Get up-to-date ·news frQ around the world via the inter

net.

' ., Hype is edited by Tristan Roddis. Contact him by email at su.hype@uea.ac.uk

US student John Lord joined the seminar along with a fellow American, unaware that the unit had been reserved solely for Ecology majors.

Both had wrongly received confirmation from the School of Bio that they were enrolled on the course, taught by Dr Bob James. " I was confused at not being on the list for the class," said John, who is visiting UEA from the University of lllinois.

"Dr Jarnes asked if I was a visiting student. When I said I was, he said he had taught this class since 1980 and had never had an international student enrolled on it in that time, and probably never would.

"I didn't realise I wasn't supposed to be there and felt alienated. What could we both do but leave the class?"

When told that the students were upset by his behaviour, Dr Jarnes admitted that he had been too hasty. " I was a bit brisk with the students," he said, "but in my experience, many students are in the wrong place at these first classes.

I knew nothing about these Americans until they arrived.

"I wanted to get things going and these students were on the course quite erroneously. The course has always been run with

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the restriction of Ecology majors only because of seminar size. " We are happy to have as many American students as possible," Four days after the mix-up, John received a letter apologising for the "problems encountered", and offering him a place on an alternative unit. " I realise that the whole inci'dent was not against visiting students," he said, "but it didn 't feel like that in class. " I understand the restrictions, but I wish I 'd never received confirmation as I was looking _forward to it."

Although he has been offered a substitute, John is unsure whether the unit will count towards his final diploma back in the States. " I· appreciate the letter, but it's still unclear," he said.

The Dean of BIO, Dr lan Gibson said he was "aware of the situation" and thinks "it could have been handled more diplomatically."

"I have apologised profusely to both students on behalf of the School," he added.

"The School of Biology has a proud tradition of welcoming students from across the world. They enrich our classes, and in my experience go away happy with the courses and training we offer."

Graduate Studen:ts Association

The Graduate Students Club Many new postgraduate students have been finding their way to the GSC Bar already. If you haven't yet been checking out the friendliest and cheapest bar on campus, then don't wait too long ... You can find the GSC Bar upstairs in the Union House. The Graduate Students' Club is a members-only club. Each postgraduate student is automatically entitlf3d to free membership. You can get your membership card by filling in the membership form in the GSA Handbook and bringing it along to the bar together with a photograph. Cards are being processed now; don't forget that you do need to show your card when you come to the bar. Every member can introduce up to two guests, but you are responsible for your guests! The opening times of the GSC bar are Mon - Sat: ?pm - 11 pm and Sun: ?pm - 10.30pm. The Grad Bar will soon be open again at lunchtime on weekdays from 12 - 2pm, but we need volunteering bar staff for these hours. If you want to work once every fortnight leave your name at the bar.

Graduate Week The GSC will be organising the yearly 'Graduate Week' from Monday 7 October to Sunday 13 October. Every night a special event will feature in the bar. Highlights of this stunning week include a Mini Beer Festival on Thursday October 1Oth, as a follow up of the successful Beer Festivals of last year. The GSC Bar will be open to members and non-members all day from 12 - 11 pm, with a wide range of tempting Scott's bitters on sale, on a first come first serve basis. On Friday the band 'Spirits of Africa' will return to the Grad Bar for another swinging night of Zimbabwean music, song and dance and not to forget a Tuesday night with original Ramenco dancers and a Folk singer on Sunday evening. The full programme is as follows: Mon 7 October Committee's Cocktail Night Tue 8 October Flamenco Evening Quiz Night Wed 9 October Mini Beer Festival Thu 10 October • African Night Fri 11 October Sat 12 October Karaoke Sun 13 October Folk Music Details can be found on the posters around campus and in the GSC Bar. Beer prices will be very low, as always! Graduate Week is for all postgraduate students; so don't miss out!

GSA Committee The Graduate Students' Association needs new members for the committee to help in the daily running of the bar and dealing with academic issues at UEA concerning postgr~duate .s~udents, who are represented at major boards and committees by the GSA. The following posit1ons are available: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Publicity Officer, Bar Manager and Entertainment's Officer. The Elections will take place on Thursday 7 November 1996. If you are interested in one of these positions ask for more information via Email: T.Georgiou@uea.ac.uk or the GSA pigeon hole.

This section i s written and paid for by the Graduate Students Association

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- - - - - - - - - - - A PAID ADVERTISEMENT FROM YOUR STUDENT UNION - - - - - - - - - - -

This week saw roughly 2000 freshers arrive on campus safely and relatively hassle free on Wednesday with about 1500 .of them attending the free 'Icebreaker' party.

Thursday saw an extremely successful freshers fayre with · loads .of companies touting for student business. later, our regular Thursday disco w~s sold out and 1800 people had a great time .{ I hope). · Friday was clubs and societies day, the sports societies reporting an increase in membership of 30% at Sports Mart not surprisingly held in the sports centre.

Non sports clubs in the LCR also reported an increase in membership and the newly formed 'Student Hugging Action Group' is thought to be the biggest non sports society at UEA. · The fun fair around UH was a new event for this year and proved to be roaringly _popular if you Uke spinning round and crashing into your friends in little cars which I and · hundreds of others obviously did. The comedy night in the LCR was a little more sedate but equally as much fun iudgeing by the audience.

On Saturday The Blutones packed out the LCR and hundreds of screaming fans had a bloody good time.

WELCOME TO U.EA . I hope we can have a happy and huggy year.

CHEERS I

Giqe .,,,,,,,,., Ft#r•••• Student Govemment made by students for students and answerable to students

our Education your Life Your future

Now's your chance to get III\'Oived. Dare you exercise your right to standP

Become a School Board Representative and have your say.

Nominations 26th September • 3rd Octoberl996

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Nominations

Elections 7th·ll th October 1996

Collect your nomination form .....,,..... . .

Union house now.

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Union Food Outlet Fresh fruit and Frozen food

Literature, Reference General stock around haH price """---.......,~:11!1 nging seled~on bought for cash

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stationary tickets and Instants Sweets and cigareHes Paper and pens

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Real ale

8 Concrete, Wednesday, October 2, 1996

Concrete, Wednesday, October 2, 1996 9

" A faculty for Idleness Implies a catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal Identity" - Robert Louis Stevenson o we've got the philosophy and we've got the lifestyle hints but where is the idler's base in politics? "I'm basically an anarchist, but that's not very practical, so emotionally I'm a kind of socialist. And then I'm also a

S

Russell asks, rhetorically, "can anything more insane be imagined?"

So as my conversation with Tom lazes gently to a close, I ask him which current personality best embodies the idler ethic.

"I admire Damien Hirst greatly. His philosophy is 'minimum effort, maximum effect'. You have an idea when you're pissed and the next day, you go into the studio and pay your cohorts to produce it. Then you go out and get pissed again.â&#x20AC;˘ Fantastic. Today has been pretty hard ifs been work for me, but I

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10 Concrete, Wednesday, October 2. 1996

Year after year it's the same stqry. Second and third year students who pay good money to live jn campus accommodation are left without places to stay for the fjrst few weeks of term.

Waiting lists are again unacceptably long as many students have to sit it out in the hope of getting a room on campus. The University's policy of guaranteeing accommodation to every first year student means that many returning students are yet again left temporarily homeless, with little explanation from UEA Accommodation chiefs.

Students do not pyt yp wjth thjs sort of service from Independent landlords. so why Is it acceptable that the University treats ys like this.?

One down, 13 to go Th js year's Exec baye done thejr best to present themselves as a united team. Eddje Jaylor's resjqnation highlights the real divisions that have cropped yp even at thjs early stage.

Conflicts over the running of the Union Executive have already led to resignation of the Publicity Officer, after the dismal turn out at Mondays UGM. Criticism for the lack of advertising for the meeting led to the blame being laid squarely at Eddie's door. But ultimately, in the eyes of students this year's exec is continuing the trend of disunity and backbiting that has been a marked feature of the Union for the past few years.

How can the Union expect to commyojcate wjth stY· dents if jts members are yoable to communicate wjth each other?

Extending the hand of friendship BIO lecturer Or James' comments to two Amerjcan students last week may haye been portraved by the school as a misunderstanding. but should students ever be made to feel unwelcome sjmply because of thejr nationality?

Making a mistake in course allocation is acceptable, but embarrassing students of whatever nationality is not. The manner in which the situation was dealt with was wholly inappropriate.

Perhaps Qr James should not be permitted joto semjnar rooms until he has learnt not to take out hjs bad temper on the nearest people available.

IVY, Dennett..Thorpe (SAS Pq)

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at Breakers was far better valu.e fpvmon~y th~ the w re.sta\)r;mt. O)l:ay, so Piccolo's mat be more friendly it may be easier to cook vegetarian food, but I was disappo_inted wi!A tbe meal I bougbt Jor ~.50 Breakers prices wete much more in llite with cost price than thi$ 11ew restauraqt. I suppose it's too late to undo what's been done,}lpt for goodness sake eir})er improve the portions or bring the price doW!l-and give ,us a fair deal for our money I

E

No Amnesty From Tories I was recently angered and astonished to read in a national paper that the Conservative students are being asked to gather intelligence on groups at universities that support such organizations as Amnesty International.

What future does this country have if the Tories see Amnesty International (which is a strictly nonpolitical organisation) as a threat to their chances at the next General Election? If the Tories see a human rights organisation as a danger then they bad better

start asking serious questions about themselves.

Robert Sibson SOC 1 President Amnesty International UEA Editor's note: The article referred to appeared in Tbe Times in May.

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Tel: (01603) 250558 Fax: (01603) 506822 E-mail: su.concrete@uea.ac.uk Editor: James Curtis Deputy Editors: Matthew Doyle & Matt Fasken 'News Editor: Joanne Robertson Features Editors: Helen Lovett & Sam Richards "Sports Editor: Scott Tompsett J:Jontributing Editor: Carolina Jenkinson Editorial Contributors: Neil Anderson, Allison Clark, Jane Rigby-Jones, Martin Robinson, Jane Kirby, Sam Skerry, Katie Lane Photographers: Scott Tompsett, Kate Crockett, Matt Fasken ¥\dvertising Manager: Ben Maltby J:Jopy Editor: Jane Kirby, Anne "Special Thanks to: UH Stewards (bye-bye Steve, you're a geezer), Bonusprint, everyone at ECN VTP Assistants: James Curtis, Matt Fasken, Matthew Doyle, Scott Tompsett, Sam Richards J:Joncrete 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, transmitted by any means electronic, gin and tonic, hypoallergenic, scribbled on a UGM flyer, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher. Printed by Eastern Counties Newspapers Ltd., • • Nt>fWie~ •• • Norfolk NR1 t RE. © UUEAS, 1996.

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Concrete, Wednesday, October 2, 1996

11

Feah.ires

The regular slot where our esteemed taste panel try out a range of products for the benefit of you, the students

This Issue: Crisps unch, munch, munch. Look around you, and chances are that nearby, someone will be chomping on a packet of crisps. They are the ultimate convenience snack: cheap, easily available and requiring minimal effort to eat.

The genius in their marketing has been to ignore

M

I

parties also have to be consoled over the fact that Smiths Square Crisps, Salt 'N' Shake and Ringos ("with the advert where a bloke wears a big Ringo on his head and pulls loads of women," adds Lesley) no longer exist.

We begin with the ready salted flavours where Walkers beat Seabrooks hands down for flavour and crispness.

poisonous Onion Rings right in front of Kale who was almost sick when we forced her to eat a whole one. · The Prawn Cocktail Seabrooks bring out the best in our critical faculties with Fask declaring them "fruity, yet unpretentious" while Scott compares them , perhaps hastily, to "cods' underpants".

Our pallets thoroughly confused , the test descends into a melee of flying Nik Naks as the Salt 'N' Vinegar fans wage war on the Smoked Ham partisans, halting only when we reach

the fact that they T.h e 'b aked not f ne . d' G0 Ah ea ds that an agreement any packets contain no protein and therefore re.semble edible odour eaters of crisps not provide minimal • conforming to hunger fulfilment. and taste hke Cheese even the strict 'Ready Instead, we follow though they're not meant to Salted= red; our childlike Salt 'N' Vinegar Hula Hoops lose marks = blue; Cheese And Onion = instincts and are attracted by the satisfying crunch and the because, as Joe points out, green' colour code should be mouth-watering acidity of their you used to be able to put banned.

Rifts are formed afresh, flavours. them on your fingers yet this is no longer possible once though, over the Branigans Crisps have come a long way since someone decided your hands have grown to full Beef And Mustard as some to fry thin slices of potato in size. brand them "violently oil. Most contemporary crispA message goes out from disgusting" while Jo admits style snacks probably haven't our panel advising McVities to she would gladly "lick the drop the 'baked not fried' been near a potato. I can concept of Go Aheads. They picture their construction in laboratories where scientists resemble edible odour chemically weld together pure eaters and taste like· cheese molecules of monosodium even though they're not glutamate before foilmeant to.

The Doritos 'grab wrapping the things for some spurious idea of freshness. bag' wins many The Connoisseurs,. admirers for its value however, are not concerned 30p for 60 grams likewise the joke on the with such irrelevancies as health or hunger satisfaction. back of the Discos We are concerned about packet: What does a WHO IS THE BEST. Hence, Mexican put under his a wide selection of the crisps carpet? Underlay, available on campus lie on underlay!

For the cheap the table in front of us 2 • Nice And Spicy Nlk awaiting our critical appraisal. option we try some 1Op Naks lt soon becomes apparent Crunchies. Despite winning 3 • Cheese Doritos that there are notable nostalgia points with Scott 4-Sklps absentees. For fairness, we pointing out that "these are 6 • Flaming Hot Monster have decided to disqualify the the crisps that have defied · Munch inflation," only Ben finds posh , expensive crisps such 6 • Cheese Quavers as Pringles because they them anything other than 7 ·Tomato Sauce would have cruised through repellent. He goes on to Seabrooks as winners. Still, Doyley is prove he is possession of 8 • Salt And VInegar Discos most perturbed at the lack of some severely confused 9 • Prawn Cocktail cheesy Wotsits (not available taste buds by devouring a ~ on campus, I'm afraid). Some packet of the surely 10 • Canadlali Ham

1 ·Bacon Wheat Crunchies

Sea brooks 11 -Oak Smoked Ham Wheatables 12 ·Cheese And Onion Walkers 13 • Original Salted Walkers 14 • Beef And Mustard Branlgans

11- c~ 11ce9ys 18 -Original Hula Hoops 17 • Chlft McCoya 18 • Original Salted

Seabroob 19 • Oerwant Valley Onion Rings 20 • Spicy ..,.,. Rib

Bandicto.

21 -salt And VInegar

CruncNes

ssott finds an alternative use for our winning crisp ~·

'''*

ae .. sAss;;

; . ::azcssssat

22 • Odgfnaf Go Abeada

inside of a packet. • Ooh, young lady!

Eventually, the Bacon flavour Wheat Crunchies are declared the winners for their rugged texture, their ability to satisfy vegetarians' bacon craving and the fact that they taste like Carolyn's old best friend . Or something. "An orgasm of a crisp," decides James, peremptorily.

Of course, after this mammoth session, none of us ever want to eat crisps again , but next time we need some solid food to balance our

liquid refreshment or find ourselves requiring sustenance outside normal shop hours, we'll be the first to revert to our favourite foilwrapped snacks.

Although Seabrooks crisps fared pretty well in our test, perhaps the result suggests we could handle a little more variety in the campus outlets (particularly the Union House vending machine).

Yes, as much as we really ought to be watching our cholesterol levels and not ruining our appetites by

eating between meals, until they invent vacuum-packed mini-kebabs, crisps are set to remain as integral to our culture as football on a Saturday afternoon. Munch.

The Crisp Connoisseurs: Sam Richards, Scott Tompsett, Joe Morris, Stuart Dredge, Kate Crockett, Ben Maltby, Matthew Doyle, Jo Robertson, James Curtis, Matt Fasken, Carolyn Boyd, plus guest Connoisseurs Leslie & Tom.

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12

Concrete, Wednesday, October 2, 1996

Horoscope

Concrete, Wednesday, October 2, 1996

13

Features

Every Issue, we take a well-known campus celebrity to the bar, buy them a drink and then ask them a load of random questions.

THIS ISSUE: HIS lecturer and sometime TV pundit, John Charmley What did you dream about laat night?

Absolutely nothing. I never dream.

What was the last record/CD you bought?

A complete box set of Wagner s Ring Cycle.

What would you say to Jesus?

The very obvious one - what does He th1nk of the Chnstian rehg1on and was that His rntention? And I suppose you could ask Him as a subs1duary question what He thinks about Brshop Wright - and would He have sold Hts story to the News Of The World'

can you tell me a joke?

Apart from Ted Heath's VIews on Europe ... (a long pause) OK, here's one. A fellow goes into a pub and says "give me a brandy." He dnnks 1t, then says to the barman, "what SIZe Is a small pengu1n? "Oh, about two feet tall. The man orders another brandy, then says "what SIZe IS a k1ng pengu1n?~ "Maybe about three feet.· The man dnnks another brandy, then says "OK, what s1ze is an emporer pengu1n?"

"About four feet," replies the barman. "Christ,• says the man, "g1ve me the whole bottle, I thmk I've JUSt knocked a nun over."

How much can you drink?

Chris Evans - glt or genius?

Yeeeessss . . (a pause) I think you can tell by my reactton that I have no tdea who he Is' He's the bloke with ginger hair and glaaaes who's ubiquitous on

TV. Well that explains it - I don't watch television. I drdn't even own one until about three years ago.

What's the biggest lie you've ever told?

I suppose my ex-wife would say my first set of weddtng vows.

Islamic architecture. Plus there's Turkish cigarettes, Turkish food and Turkish coffee.

Where would you like to be burlt<f?

At sea, wtth the tnjunctton that my enemtes were allowed to dance on my grave (think about it).

What was the last play you saw?

I don t hke hve theatre - tt seems to be full of people pretending they're on television.

Do you believe In magic?

I've no idea. I have no opinion on magic. In fact, I've never seen a live magic show.

A lot.

How many pints?

I normally stop after about eight ptnts because the pub has closed When was the last time you had a fight?

Probably when I was about five.

God gave us intellects to stop us using our fists. You can ihflict much more damage with a sharp tongue than you can with your fists.

Where did you go on holiday?

Istanbul. I hke Islamic culture, and

What can you cook?

Spaghetti.

What with?

Oh, if I want something else wtth rt, someone else does that. can you dance?

No. This would be a totally absurd spectacle.

Why do fools fall In love?

Because only fools believe in it.

Right Now for your trivia section:

What la the capital of Brunei?

I haven't the foggtest idea Isn't it Brunet?

Wrong! n•a Sander Serf Begawan.

What Is Enon John's real name?

Reg Dwtght.

Correct!

In what famous play does the character Jorgen Tesman appear?

Ah, well as I just told you, my

knowledge of drama ts lnfinttestmal.

So I'd probably say Waitmg For Godot or something.

Wrong! n•s Hedda Gab/er by Henrlk lbaen.

Well David Corker (EAS lecturer) rs on the next table and he didn't know the answer so I'm a lot happier about getting it wrong!

John Charmley was drinking a pint of Boddlngtons and talking to Sam Rlchards

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,.. ' i 4 concrete: Wedriesaay;' October ·2·. ·1996 Sport

Adam Aiken casts a critical eye over the last fortnight at C.arrow Road THIS TIME last year bookies all 0'4er Norfolk were laughing all the way to the bank, as misguided football fans thought that a club with a lesson-learning Chairman would cruise back into the Premiership.

Neil A dams putting the boot in

One year on, however, the smiles are back on the punters' faces as William Hill's -pre-season odds of 25-1 for Norwich to win the title' odds look particularly good value for money.

The remarkable transformation at Carrow Road has come about despite the destruction, yet again, of the previous year's team.

As a result, a large burden of responsibility has been placed on the shoulders of the club's youngsters (O'Neil, Johnson, Eadie, Mills and Carey) and previously unheralded players who have become crowd favourites after several good performances (Adams, Milligan and in particular Newman).

Things have slipped slightly in the last few games, home draws against QPR (1-1) and Southend (0-0) resulted in two points being taken rather than the expected six, although another easy victory over Portsmouth courtesy of an lan Crook goal kept things ticking over.

The most disappointing thing about the season so far has been City's disciplinary record. Not renowned for being ' dirty' it has been omething of a shock to see no fewer than four Norwich players sent off in the first seven games.

More satisfying has been the fo rm of City's defence. Excl uding the nightmare at Bolton, just one goal was concede in the fi rst eight league games - a magnificent record that is rarely matched by championshipwinning teams.

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Neil Adams leads the field, putting a penalty safely away.

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This is even more remarkable when it is considered that the defence has recently lost the last two Players of the Year (John Newsome and Spencer Prior) and that full backs Mark Bowen and Robert Ullathorne left for nothing during the close season.

Meanwhile Neil Adams has already netted five goals this season including a brilliant free kick against Oxford and a 25-yard screamer against QPR. Even without Fleck suspended, Norwich's current system of a lone striker in front of a five-man midfield relies ori players such as Adams taking on more attacking respoflsibility.

So far, this season this has gone to plan, even if the 'goals for' tally has yet to reach double figures.

No doubt, the funny ol' game that is football will throw up many surprises in the coming months and it will be interesting to see how long the Canaries can remain flying high with their weakened squad.

But what better a way I<> fuel a dream than become your ery own football manager for the eason with the chance ot w inning some serious pr1zc money?

Concrete in conjunction with The Daily Telegraph . (the official ponsor of University port.) off r you the Inter

Univer ' ity Fantasy Football league.

The new breed of the popular game i~ aimed at studenl'> who are ready to pit thei r wits against each other for the prestige of being top student manager in the country.

Not on ly will poi nts be individually scored but also the

~orfnightly Wednesday October 2: Cross country, East Anglia n League, Away.

Saturday October 5: Ladie Hockey UEA I v Denver, away.

Ladies Hockey UEA II v Denver II astro Mens Hockey, UEA I v Norwich City IV, Astr<! 4.30pm.

univer ity will have its scores averaged to give an overall winning university.

Top prizes include a £5000 first individual prize and runners up awards of a free trip to the London awa rd ceremony for the five runners up, manager of the month gets two tickets to a Premiership match of his/her choice.

Last year the overall win ner came from Abery twyth University with Liverpool Hope University College winning overall To get yourself in on all the premier action get an entry fo rm, from the finance office, the stewards cabin or the sport centre. Entries have to be in by Friday October 25

Sport Fixfures

UEA II v Ipswich and East Suffo lk, away. UEA m v Saffron Waldon II, away.

Mens Rugby, UEA I v Fakenh am II, Colney 3.00prn .

UEA II v T.B.C. away. UEA Ill v Swaffam ll, Colney 3.00pm.

Sunday October 6: Mens UEA II v Basketball

Wymondham II, away.

T uesday October 8: Ladies Basketball UEA v Lynnsport Eagles, Sports Centre 7.30.

Tuesday October 15: Mens Ba ketball: UEA I v Thorpe I away.

UEA II v Costessey Atlantic Sports Centre 8. 15pm More next issue!

, .,concrete, 路Wednesdoy, Ootober.2,, 1996

~----------------~------------~------~----------~-

Delighted Andy said "All I' ve ever wanted to do ~-------By--------~ i break four hours for the ton."

Sports Reporter "I took it really easy," he added, something which he proved later when he covered the same distance minutes in the ten mile time trial throughout the in 3 hours 58 minutes. season Ladies captain Jo Tuck had already amassed two This is effectively a flat-out speed increase of golds and a silver when she went in the 100 mile over 5mph, an improvement which saw John notchroad race, taking second place to make it two of ing up a time of 56 minutes, a personal best over the each.

25 miles road time trial.

The biggest surprise of the season came when "I took silver in the ' 50miler,' she said, "But had no intention of doing a 100 miler - the biggest ride John and Andy rode the club ' Jack Taylor' tandem "for a laugh" and danced along for a sub 20 minute I'd ever done in training was only 70 miles! " Sticking to the track events, Heather Wells 10 mile ride.

The time of 19minutes 23seconds smashed the clinched yet more medals for the club when she raced at one of the most prestigious venues in the existing course record and came to within 12 seconds off beating the all time CC Breckland club country, the Manchester Velodrome.

There she proved her experience as a track record of 15 years satnding.

"I've never been so frightened in my life! " cyclist, scorching to a silver medal in the nail-biting final of the ladies 3000m pursuit, despite having less laughed John afterwards. "But I reckon we could do time to train because of her studies. an 18 minute ride with a bit more practice, that ' d be Newcomers to the cycling club David Cooper and really scary."

Collectively the cycling club won six BUSA John Swindell got quicker and quicker as the summer progressed improving by an unbelievable five medals making them UEA' s most successful club of last year.

BUSA In The Money BUSA SPORT has added yet another prestigious sponsor to its growing list with Halifax Building Society signing up for a three year deal.

After four years BUSA already has 147 member universities and organises the nations inter university sports which now number 43, involving 200,000 sports playing students nationwide.

Halifax is already committed to other sporting events such as the 1995 Rugby League Centenary World Cup and the Student Rugby

League World Cup and has now added its name to this years BUSA championships.

It hopes to improve the championships as well as providing additional services for BUSA universities Chief Executive of the company Mike Blackburn said, "The Halifax is delighted to be entering this three year agreement with BUSA, particularly in view of our links with students."

BUSA has welcomed the new sponsorship deal which means more money can be put into British sport.

"British University sports men and women are the medal contenders of the future. With the very welcome support of the Halifax, BUSA will ensure that such talent is correctly nurtured," aid BUSA Chief Executive Greg Jones.

The Halifax joins a prestigious portfolio of sponsors associated with BUSA in the last two years.

These include The Daily Telegraph, who now provide a sports newsheet, and Vaseline who promoted the wise philosophy of being "a comfortable winner and not a sore loser."

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16

Concrete, Wednesday, October 2, 1996

I SPORT SIX FEET UNDER? AFTER A YEAR and a half in the wilderness the Fell and Cave Club have found a new lease of life with the disbanded society reappearing as the Fell club at last Friday's SportsMart.

The old Fell and Cave club fol ded in 1995 following a spate of incidents involving adventure clubs at other universities after which the Students Union imposed tougher safety standards on societies like the Fell and Cave club.

The new regulations made organising the simplest of trips very time consumi ng due to the increased bureacracy, reaching the stage where club organisers had had enough.

Said logo Mueblberr president of the new Fell Club " It came to the point where there were so many formalities that people couldn' t be bothered to organise anything."

The new regulations still mean the Fell club will no longer be able to take part in caving or potholing expeditions.

Said U nion Sports Coordinator Les Allworthy "The Fell club is now unable to fulfill the safety requirements set down by the Students Union, therefore the cl ub will be li mited to fell walking in fu ture" The demise of the old club has also been attributed to the poor membership and that not enough new memberes were recruited.

"We did nothing about getting new people to join the club two years ago, we hope that this time we will be more easily approachable and more people will be intersted in joining" said logo.

With a respectable 70 people joining up at SportsMart two weeks ago it looks likeany fears of low membership have been laid to rest.

The Fell Oub is also making an effort to get active straight away having already made plans fo r three trips before Cbristma including destinations of the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and North West Wales.

In accordance to the new safety rules the Fell Club will be one of the clubs that will be subject to risk assessments.

Although Les Allworthy stressed that he is working " alongside" societies like the Fell Oub, rather than against them. " I hope to build a working relationship with the clubs," he said.

"I will dropping in to meet the new Fell Club on one of their first three expeditions," be added.

The Duke of Edinburgh club which operates in similar situations to the Fell Club avoided having to disband due to its status as being part of a nationally recognised scheme which takes much of the onus off of the Students Union.

Student Union moves to

accidents SAFETY IN UEA's sports clubs will be improved this week with the publication of new safety guidelines by the Students Union.

Following on from a series of fatal accidents involving University clubs, including the death in Snowdonia of two stu dents from The University of West England , safety stand ards have been call ed into question.

The new boo klet ' Safety and Trip Guidelines' issued o n Thursday, September 26, has been compiled by Sports Co-ordinator Les Allworthy, taking into account findings of the British Universities Phys ical Ed ucation Association and The Association of Polytechnic Lecturers.

The new advice builds on old constraints set down by the Union , but also covers new procedures for organising trips fro m UEA, ri sk assessments for clubs ' activities and regularly used activity centres, as well as revisions of emergency procedures and instructi ons on storing and looking aft er equipment.

The release of' Safety and Tri p Guideli nes' coincides with the prov ision of first aid kits to all the sports clubs. The measu re will cost £600 and will go hand in hand with the new focus on safety issues.

Said Les Allworthy "The new guidel ines will ensure anyone taking part knows what they're in vo lved takes some responsib ility, that clubs accept respo nsibili ties and that the Unio n knows what is go ing on" "These measures are designed to work in conj unction wi th sports clubs, I don't want to look like I am delivering edicts from an ivory tower" he added W ith the prov ision of the new first aid kits Les is pus hing for first aid training for at least one member of each sports club The first aid course will be run by the local St. Johns Ambu lance, pending Union finance chiefs authorisation for funding of th e new scheme.

all In

Ta ble Tennis club nets a cash boost from Union in a bid to push top players into County a ction PROFESSIONAL COACHES wi ll be employed by the table tennis club in the coming months after a cash injection of £200 from the Students Union writes Scott Tompsett.

Union funding dropped dramatically three years ago when the club dropped out of the local league.

The recent turnabout occurred last season following the clubs ' re-entry into the Norwich and district league.

Considerable talks with the Union also resulted in the new cash boost wich will provide the table tennis club with rwo new coaches later this month ..

Table Tennis President Andrcw Woods, Che 2 said, "The club committee fought

tooth and nai l to get Union backing fur the coaching courses."

The coaches being appointed arc the only rwo in the orwich area who arc qualified to International Table Tennis Federation (ITIF) standard.

The club hopes they will be able to improve the standard of play amongst all team members. with the ultimate aim being to get UEA players up to County standard.

Said Andrcw Wood>, " lt will be great to have some players up there in the county ram king,."'

In addition to the extra funding, the club has been awarded £30 for training videos which will be invaluable in improving playing techniques.

The new cash deal is an extra boost for the club, who only recently discovered that they had been promoted from sixth to fifth divi-

'ion in the Norwich and District league.

This move will go a long way to elevating the clubs standing in the eyes of Union finance supremos. who authorised this years increased expenditure.

Lessons, which arc free to club members will start in about a months time depending on the personal booking arrangements of the two coaches, who are in great demand locally.