Concrete issue 098 28 04 1999

By JAMES GOFFIN, News Editor

THE FUTURE of the Union is up in the air after the results of the Communications Officer election were dramatically declared void.

Three of the top four candidates in the election have been disqualified for allegedly breaking rules during the campaign, and have also been banned from standing in any re-election.

And, with the possibility of the candidates' appeals since been condemned by one disqualified candidate as against the expulsions lasting into the summer, students based on incompetence. graduating this year could be prevented from standing, Disqualified meaning the Union would be forced to start next year Sarah was disqualified for sending e-mails to clubs one Sabbatical Officer down. she belongs to, which Election Committee decreed Nail bit_ing broke election rules.

The Committee also claim that she was present at a The controversy erupted after the nail biting election was clinched by Sarah Macken , who polled just one meeting during which the election's Returning Officer told candidates that sending block e-mails was not vote more than rival candidate Sanjay Daryanani. allowed.

But Sarah and Sanjay, along with fourth-placed However, Sarah denies both accusations, protesting, candidate Amy Kingswell , have now all been disqalified.

"E-mail wasn't against the rules last year or the year And the expulsions, ordered by Students Forum on the recommendation of its Election Committee , have

continued on page 2

2 News

Concrete Wednesday, Apri l 28, 1999

THE KEY TO SAINSBURYS

UEA gives in to P.ressure and agrees to examine its investment P-Olicies

By CLARE HAMILTON-EDDY

CAMPAIGNERS DEMANDING UEA adopt an ethical investment policy are celebrating after Registry bosses agreed to set up a working party to look at the issue.

Th e Counci L UEAs ru li ng hody. has given the go-a head for a working party charged 11 it h imestigating and re forming the UniYcrsity's invc, llncn t po licic\.

13 ui pnlle>ters a r~ worr i ~d by a report from Regislrar and Secretary l\1ichael Poulson -I.Jii> ih at rule> ou l UEi\ adopting the .. clean in1·es imc nt policy .. that wa> nJa»il d) cndor>ed b~ last mo nt h·, Uni,·ersil) Asscmh l) mee ting and 'upported b) a 3000signature pe tit ion from st udellls and sta ll.

Pension Funds .. Nei th er the Uni 1cr, it y nor the lrU>ICCS of the pen, ion funtb ha1 e any direct shareholdings in arms co mpanies whic h suppl) arms to r~p rc~~ i vc

n:g imc:-.: · "a id

f\1r

Pou lson- EII is. .. In light of that. mm ing to a ·c lean im•e> tmen t po licy· is redu nda nt... cl ai med M r Pou lsonEII is.

But Dr Rupen Read. a SOC lecturer heavi ly imo il cd in the campaign. has acc used Mr Pou lso n-Uiis of misleading the Council. because LIEt\ still has ind irect i nvc;-,tmc nh in arm:-. companic ..... .. it is a false and arbitrary cldim. The Registrar j..., tr) ing to

SELECTION OF FURNISHED HOUSES AVAILABLE FOR THE NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR INC LUDING: Alexa nd ra Road. 3 b~d house. dbl ~dating 00.77 Anncs Stt·cct, J bed lmtN:. dbl glating [.\-1.61 Ru ry Street, 3 bed tm:r pa"ag~ house O-l.ol Wellington Rd, .1 bed tl\'er passage house 06.<J2 L\(l.<J2 Gran t Rd, 3 bed m er p<ts,age IHHhe Glche Road, I hL·d IIL'II maimained house LiC1.<J~ 1\la.-J Pit Lane, -1 bedroom modern spacious lmu'e [.\ 1.7.'

Pncrcll Rd, Bo11 thorpc, :'i bed modern IHlLN' L\0.0() A1 cnul' Rd, 2 \ .1 hed IHnlsL's almost llC\t door to L'ach other. ncclkm locatitlJl D-1.61 to [.'l,(l.<J~ All properties ha1e Gas c/h and prices arc per p.:rson p C r\ICC~.

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mi>lcad the Counc il.'' he >tormed. .. We warll them to ha1e uni t Irush (sec helm\ I that 11 ill be ethical!) screened. We 11·ant to ensure that the working part) do

Continued from front page before, I was late for the meeting." .. , didn't hear the ruling about e-mails:· she added.

And she has accused Students Forum of not listentng to student opinion . "it makes you look at the whole Union and real1se how few people are involved in it. Yet. when students do vote - and every vote makes a difference they don't care."

Second-place candidate Sanjay was expelled on the grounds that he had used his own paper to print publici ty material. and allegedly made om1ssions from the eleclion expenses he submitted.

But Sanjay has also contested the Forum ruling, saymg . ..,

thi> a> quickly '" poss ihk ... he adtkd.

The prote,ter' arc also concerned that student opinion is be in g side lined. .. i\1 this point in time it is important for the Unive rsit) to impro1c thei r co mmunica tion sJ.. il ls and keep peopl e up to date with th e lates t dc,elopments .. said Sarah K)tC tDEV 3).

Counc il me mber. Dr Jean Boase13cicr. shares that 'i~w . ..!\ lot or u' were lltHTicd about the fac t that it may not be a democrati<: wo rJ..i ng party. alt hough it W<l> left fairly unclear:· ' he sa id . .. , thi nJ.. that the) onl) want three people in the part) so that th ey keep thi ngs under control:· she added.

Working Party

or pensions schemes any direct shareholdings ~ut instead the money i rnvested in a number different ways. . The most controversial rnvestments are in unit trusts. Investors pay cash to a company, which use that money to buy shares on their behalf.

Because investors group together they have a bigger total fund to invest, and spread the sharehol across a lot of differe c_ompanies. lt means les n_sk than holding sha drrectly, but it also th at investors are likely to benefit from all sorts of compan ies, including arms ma nufacturers. However as the fu nds constantly ' and sell shares, it is to tell exactl y whose profits UEA benefits from .

However. the Un iYcrs ity remain adama nt that the 11 o1l ing part) wil l he fa ir. .. it wiJ J comprise of members of Co unci l. including a student memh~r:· cla imed l\1r Po ulsonEI Ii s. .. The working pan~ will result in a report to Council. which wil l be pub !i ,hed 11 it hin UEA:· he em phasi>cd.

Council 11 ill then Hlle upon 11·hcther to accept the report's finding>. ~----------_j

submitted an order form rather than a receipt.

They acknowledged paid for everything and that I gained no advantage, yet they disqualified me."

Ano he accused Elections Committee of incompetence, claiming they weren't fully aware of the rules they were supposed to enforce.

Stormed "I don't think that they actual ly know what the rules are," stormed Sanjay.

"Rules have changed from election to election . If you look at the NUS delegates election they used the same rules interpreted in a different way."

"They're interpreting the constitution to su1t their own

ends," he alleged.

However, Colin Moo re, Deputy Returning Officer. has vigorously defended the decision to expel the candidates, maintaining that Elections Committee fo llowed the letter of the constitution.

"We followed the rules as they are set down in the constitution, tile evidence agai nst the candidates was considered on merit -there was categorically no b1as." said Colin.

"I can understand t11at these candidates feel hard done by, however there is no point having rules that are set out beforehand if you don't stick to t11em." he added.

And while some candidates have claimed the constitution is out of date, Col in protested that it can only abide by the rules

SIR ROBERT and Lady Sainsbury have been granted the Freedom of the City of Norwich as a tribute to their contribution to the cultural life of the city.

The couple, who have donated thousands of works of art from thei r private collections to UEA over the last 25 years were admitted to the honourary freedo m of the city at a special meeting of Norwich City Counci l last week.

UEA's wo rld-famous art gallery, the Sainsbury Centre, was set up by the superm arket magnates, who commissioned leading British architect Sir Norman Foster to design it. Th ey also established severa l art history research units within the centre.

Most recently, a pain ting don ated by the couple raised £6m to set up the Sainsbury Institute for the stu dy of Japanese Arts and Cul ture in partnership with the University.

Accepti ng th e honour, Sir Robert said, "We are both overwhelmed by the news.

We are delighted to accept th e freedom of th e fi nest city in England."

DRAMA REBRAND UEA'S DR AMA Society is to get a new look to he I p i1 raise sponsorshi p for productions.

The group has decided to work under th e name Silhouelle Produ cti ons, to prese nt a more fa ce when profess ional approaching outside companies for cash. The name refers to a type of li ght used in theatres.

"U nion funds aren' t provi ng enough to put on th e producti ons we wou ld like to.'· explained DramaSoc Pres iden t, Sara Fl ynn cEAS 2). '' We dec ided to use the name so that we arc treated more se rious ly when we go fo r outside ; ponsorship."

Th e fi rst prod uction under the new name will be A Slree/car Named Desire. and wi ll take place next month.

already set down for them. "it's not a matter of whether people like the constitution . we have to follow it," he insisted.

Amy Kingswell, who was also disquali fied, has chosen not to appeal. She was excluded for advertising on a sheet on election day.

• The first stage of appeal. to Students Forum, was scheduled to take place after Concrete went to press.

• If Forum vote 1n support of their prev1ous decisions. the candidates can go on to appeal to the Dean of Students, K1ff Matheson.

• After that, if the Un1vers1ty allow it. students can ask an outside arbitrator from Essex University to look at their case.

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News3

POLICE APPEAL FOR WITNESSES AFTER CAMPUS INCIDENT POLICE ARE appealing for witnesses after an incident occurred in the Sunken Garden between Waveney Terrace and the Sports Centre in the early hours of Sunday, April 25 after Club Retro.

"We would like to hear from anyone who thinks they saw or heard anything suspicious between midnight and two a.m. in this area on Sunday morning," said PC Richard Still. " If anybody thinks they might have information that would be helpful could they please contact me at Bethel St police station on 276692, or Concrete on 250558."

Vested interest

NORWIC

POLICE OFFICERS across Norfolk are about to be kitted out with a surprising new piece of equipment - body armour!

The ÂŁ520,000 in itiative is aimed at protecti ng them from an increasing tide of violent attacks, despite the county's sleepy reputation.

=:----------,

The new knife proof armour, which should be being sported by the majority of bobbies by the end of the year, will make its debut at the end of May. Each vest will be made-tomeasure and cost around ÂŁ360.

Protection lt adds an extra 2.1 kg for women and 2.3kg for men to the uniform' weight, but will give vital protection again t punches, kicks and knive as well as shielding officers from bullets.

Norfolk Police poke~erson PC Vanessa Corner is convinced that the

vests will help protect officers on duty.

Injuries "We have gone for a vest that offers protection and will hopefully prevent injuries if an officer is hit or kicked in the che;t. The vests will become a of their personal part equipment" And she was adamant that even in rural Norfolk, the new piece of kit was needed.

"We have got to think about our officers' safety and that's why we are issuing the.m with this equipment to help protect them."

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4 News

An Adder In Her Ti hts SUE HOLT got the surprise of her life when she put the wash ing on and found an 18-inch snake slithering out of her tights.

Shopworker Sue, who shut the snake in a box until the RSPCA arrived said " I had thought the t ights seemed heavy, it reall y made me jump".

•

A hapless armed robber in a clown mask foiled his own plans to hold up a cafe when he shot himself in the leg and was then abandoned by his getaway driver.

The boss of the cafe refused to hand over any cash and a customer attacked the 39-year-old robber - at which point the robber opened fire . But the bullet ricocheted off a wall and hit him in the leg.

The police then arrived to take the Yugoslavian raider away in an ambulance after the driver of his escape car fled .

Hard Cellar A LAW proposed in France could see booze classed as a " dangerous narcotic " because of the effect it has on its consume rs.

Beer, wine and spirits have been blamed for violence, accidents and deaths, but, unsurprisingly, the proposal has been met with a furious backlash from chefs and wine buffs.

And that 's not even mentioning students.

Loud Trousers PLANS to introduce waterproof trousers for cops in Durham have been given t he th umbs down by bobbies because they are too noisy.

The trou ser testers sa id specially designed garment rustled so much when you walked t hat the crooks would be able to hear t hem coming f rom a mile off.

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Brought to account THEY ARE a group of people more despised than bank managers, traffic wardens and even politic ians, writes Adam Banham.

But ror L"EA the ta x man turned hero with a £482 .000 VAT refund tu balance th e Uni \c r,it y\ books.

The lat cq tl na nc ia l , tat cmc nts Spend in g o n e\\c nti a l libra r) through ca rd ul tl nanc ial re le ased b) UEA , ho\1 that th e boob and periodica l' has tahcnthcir ma nage men t in diffi cult wind fall he lped turn last year' s [ J..J share o f th e cutbal' h\. \1 ith Cl 24.000 c irCU ill \ l ~111 ee<· cl a imed 1\ib Jones. mill ion de llc it int o a £8g_ooo profit le" spe nt than durin g 1996/97. ··AJI spcmlin g unit s acro" th e for the 1':197Nll peri od .

I uni ,e rsi ty ha\e had to \\ Orh hard to XCeptiOna accommodate the income shortfall.-But the· co ntinu ing finan c ial "As fundin g cut s continue. there I Iowe\ cr. des pite I he fact I hat I he s qu ec ~ e placed on uni ve rs it ies w ill he a re newed e mpha sis on U ni1 e rs it ~ would ' ti ll he in ihe red if nat io na ll y has s till ca used hu ge de ve loping susta inabl e in co me it had not rcce i\ cd suc h an press ure to put th e accounts in order. strea ms. for ex amp le throu gh e \ cT ptional VAT refund . bosses have .. C on .., i st c nt ru ndi11 g c ut .., ha\' c ex pandin g our hu , in ess link s and hec· n qui ck to lr) and cl aim the mea nt there h <t ... hL' L' Il a dcc rca ... c or inc n:a:-.c d bid din g for rc..,can.: h pra ise !·or kee pi ng UJ: ,\ out or the OVL'r 25!'( in income pe r :-.l LHJc iH gran ts ."" ' he added. red-\\ hik at the :-.a mc time \\arning \l nL·c· 1':1':10."' e\p lai ned UEA And. nc\1 ) car. UI.A prohab l ~ tha t the future migh t not he so roSI. ,pokcspc rson Kat~ Jonc,_ IH>n' t llnd the Vi\T man 111 such a "T he I <J!J7/9X tinancial p<>' ition \nd the lad or ca-h i' ah·cad)

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harmi ng ... tw..lc rH facilit ic ....

.

of a mo(.k-..t . . urplu:-. \\a' ac hieved

gcnc rou ... mood.

News s

Concrete Wednesday, April 28, 1999

UEA'S GLOWING NURSERY UEA HAS been prai>ed for its qual it) of education. hut in thi' case the 'tudcnt' arc a little ) oungcr than u~ual.

The UEA nursery rccei\ed a glm' ing report from the btest government OFSTED in,pe<.:tion in "hi.:h 1t earned the highest possible grades in all si\ area' examined.

The report loo~' at area' of languagL' and literae~. pcr-..onal

and "Ktal development and t..nov. kdgc i.lnd lmdcP\larHJing of the world.

The Nur,ct'} i' attended h) almo'l 100 children from 'i' \\.ecb to li\ c) car' old. and "~" vi,ited by the OFSTED in,pcctor 111 l·ehruat') .

Nur,cry Manager.

Helen Dorday was delighted with the re,ult "We arc really proud to re.:ei'c thi;, OFSTED report.

We have been helped greatly by the Trcehnu'c Nur,cry in Norwich, who have given us advice and support in approaching the in>pection."

Deal to put phones in every campus room scrapped at last minute

By JAMES GOFFIN, News Editor

KOSOVO AID PUB FUN translated into money for Kosovan refugees last \\.Cek with a special St Georgc ·s Day celebration.

Overseas Officer lan Mackic and Advice Unit Secretary Davicl Tocld organised a joint event to commemorate England's patron saint and help people suffering in Serbia.

Daytime drinkers were treated to special prices on Nelson's Revenge and Aclnam 's Broadside ales. and the chance to enter a competition to win prize, donated by Union Entertainments.

Michael Denny and Anthony Little scored top marb in the competition quit. both getting a clean 'hect.

The collections throughout the day raised over £50 for Km.ovo aiel charities.

PLANS TO install a phone in every student room on campus have been put on hold until at least 2000/2001 , after UEA and the operating company got their wires crossed.

The phone scheme, unveiled at the start of the year. was due to be up and running by September. hut arguments between UEA and Key Student Services have led to the plans being abandoned.

UEA spokesper;,on Annie Ogclen blamed the move on Key, accusing them of changing the term' of the scheme.

Late Changes "UE A refused to accept late changes to the contract put forward by the company which could have resulted in a more costly service for our students or could have been potentially detrimental to University finances." she claimed.

But Key have refuted this charge. insisting that UEA is respon>ihlc for the problem>.

Offer "We don't want any students to think that we have at any point changed our ofkr to th~ Uni,crsity." said Managing Director Ashley At,inson. " We do not understand the claim

of higher costs to students and the University."

"Charles Morlancl [UEA's Director of Finance] became concerned at the way they would liability for leasing take contributions. and we understand that. Our latest offer letter states clearly that Key will accept the lease liabi lity at no charge to the University or students,.. she continued.

Problems And. despite the problems, Ms Atkinson was adamant that th e scheme could still be in place for September if UEA decided to sign up.

"We still don't have a problem with the initial timetable . We could have the ;,y;,tem live hy the end of A ugu,t." 'he strc"ed .

The University. however. appear

to have lost faith with Key. "UEA remains committed to the idea of installing a telephone in all campus rooms. but negotiations with Key Student Services have been ended." ex plained Ms Ogden.

Pursuing "The University is now pursuing other options. ln,tallation will not he completed hy September 1999 as planned. but "ill be as ;,oon as we can achieve a sati,facotry agreement

UEA turns

Disappointment The nc\<S has hcen met with di,appointment hy 'tuclents though.

"We arc already very behind the times. When I was in America four years ago everyone had a phone," said Gavin Hariss (LAW -1) .

UEA has had mixed fortunes in the latest batch of university league tables - being both praised and damned.

The high-profile Financial Times list has bumped the University up 19 places from last year to number 23, and rates UEA in the top ten in three categories.

But in The Times' rival list, the top ten places for American Studies. Environmenllll Studies.

University's position has Hi tory of An, Education and slumped from 29th to 37th.

Media Studies.

Sixth Best Registry bosses have welcomed the rankings, cl~iming Library spending and the level they do more justice to UEA than of postgraduate research were previous league tables. ranked as the sixth best in the country by the FT numberCommitment crunchers, who also placed UEA "Of course. tables never te 11 tenth for staff-student ratio. the full story, but this is a more According to their figures. accurate reflection of our Library bosses ~pend £517 per student. compared to just £212 at standing and achievements than year's listing and last top science institute UMlST and demonstrates o.ur l·ommitment to £312 at the FT\ favourite high quality teaching and provincial university, Bristol.

But that's still dwarfed by the learning at UEA," said University spokesperson Annie Ogden. top spender, Oxford, who splash Top place in both polls went to out a massive £I 052 per student each year to maintain their Cambridge, with Imperial libraries.

College and Oxford taking In The Times UEA ba ed second and third laces.

& News

HELP THE AGED is hoping to snap up student photography buffs to enter its Photographer of the Year competition.

The charity is encouraging people of all ages, whether amateur or professi onal photographers to get involved in the national photographic competition .

They are hoping to find the best pictures to illustrate th e theme of United Nations International Year of Older People.

The aim is to encourage people of all ages to take a positive view of older people leading active, independent lives and interacting with al l generations.

One of the top prizes is an overseas photo-journalism assignment to document older people in a developing country, worth over £1000.

Winn ing entries will be included in a major United Nations International Year of Older Persons Photographic Exhibition .

To enter the competition contact Help the Aged for an entry form at: Special Projects Office, help the Aged , St James's walk, Clerkenwell Green, London , EC1R OBE, or phone 0171 250 4418.

Concrete Wednesday, Apri l 28, 1999

First Eastern Counties defend timetable changes after comP-laints from students

By ADAM BANHAM

STUDENTS AT bus stops across Norwich have been left stranded and confused thanks to a major bus shakeup.

The mass ive re vi ew, impleme nted by F irst Easte rn Counties, has seen connectio ns across No rwic h c ut , and routes merged to simplify the bus ne twork.

UEA services affected are the 4, 5, and 25, which have been merged into the new 25 route. and the I 04, which has been cut completely, losing direct links to Sprowston and Thorpe St Andrew.

Frustration Many students who depend daily on these routes reacted with frustration on discove ring the changes after returning from their Easter break. " I live at Thorpe End, and before the bus used to go straight through but :~~ · " I have to get on two bu ses here and two buses back again," th undered Elo isa Nowak (EU R I) And the cuts mean Eloisa now has to was te hours waiting for connecting buses in the ci ty.

"Often I have to wait at least half an hour to get a bus to Thorpe End

once I am in the city,'' she complained.

But operator Firs t Easte rn Counties have reacted defiantly to compla ints , insisting that the changes were made to benefi t the majority of bus users.

"The review was designed to make the buses more punctual, and to take into account changing traffic patte rn s in Norw ich," exp la ined Commercial Di rector, Mike Payne.

Simplify "We also wanted to simplify the timetabl e, so before there were five routes between UEA and the c ity, and now there are three . There is now a bus every five mi nutes either via Earl ham Road or Un thank Road," he cont inued.

But even the improved service to the Golden Triangle isn ' t enough to

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sati sfy cash-con scious students, who previously enjoyed a SOp fare on the Sanders' I 04 service.

Sanders pull ed out of Norw ich earlier this year. swapping services with First Eastern Counties in return for routes in rural Norfolk. " It 's too

Bradstreet (EA S 2), "£ 1.60 return is just ridiculous really."

Expensive But Mr Pay ne justified their fares , c laimi ng they were good value for a r e li ab l e

serv ice. " If you want a re li ab le and frequen t bus service you just can't ru n it at the prices Sanders was charging," he said.

"We' ve introduced a cheaper seven day ticket, and students can still get the term ly Unirider ticket," he said.

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News 7

Concrete Wednesday, April 28, 1999

Volunteers needed

THE WINGED Fellowship Trust are searching for sympathetic students to embark on voluntary work experience to help people with physical disabilities.

The Fellowship are in urgent need of residential volunteers during April, May and June. They will work together with qualified staff to provide personal and social care as well as assisting with outings and activities.

Anneke Bleker 19, a volunteer from Holland: enthused, "Volunteering as a foreigner is a great challenge. I had the guts to do it and took my chance. Now I can take advantage of it, because I gained valuable experience."

No previous experience is necessary, full training will be provided as well as free accommodation and me.als.

In addition, the Fellowship are offering a free membership to the Youth Hostel Association for all volunteers. For more information phone 0115 9813881 .

BOOKED UP SHOPPERS AT Waterstones on campus have voted for their favourite tomes as part of celebrations for World Book Day. The survey, which closed last Friday, also gave bookworms the chance to Win the top ten list of books, with Phil Archer, a graduate from the Music School. being the lucky winner picked from the 160 entries.

The survey placed Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" as the number one, with popular classics such as J.R.R Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" rubbing shoulders with modern fiction like Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" in the top ten.

By SARAH MOORE

THE UNION's fund raising skills have taken a battering after it admitted wasting £300 on a disastrous charity event.

Last term's charily pancake race was originally trumpeted by the Union as a success, but Communications Officer, Tom Connors, has now conceded that the event didn't pan out as planned.

"lt was a bad idea," he admitted, "A waste of time and money." £300 was allocated to organise the pancake race, held on Shrove Tuesday, with the intention of raising money for Comic Relief.

But the collection on the day brought in a mere £105, a third of the money spent on the failed event.

Embarrassed Embarrassed Union officials

Charity climb hopes to break world record CHILDREN ACROSS the country are banking on UEA students to raise thousands of pounds and smash two world records.

The kids are set to benefit from a mass abseil down the front of the University's Arts buildings, and organisers are calling on students to help them push the number of people going over the top past the 800 mark.

It would smash the world record This year organisers hope to for a one-day- event, which make it bigger than ever, with currently stands at 330, and spectators being treated to a market guarantee a massive cash windfall fair and a live broadcast by local for the Great Ormond Street station Radio Broadland.

Hospital and Norwich's Harford And student participants will get Manor School. an extra treat - thanks to the four barrels of beer donated by local £12,000 breweries. lt's the fourth Lime UEA has Students can take part with a hosted the event, which this year minimum donation of just £5, and takes place on Saturday, May 8. will be given training by fully Last year, over 240 people braved qualified abseil instructors before the 75 foot droop, taking the then making the drop. Full details can world record and netting £12,000 be picked up from Reception in for chari UniO!.l

have admitted they splashed out £200 on hiring a jazz band for the event, and squandered the remaining £100 of t~e budget on frying pans, pancake mix and prizes for the winner.

Fiasco Tom explained that the race was organised by the Special Events Committee, which has now been disbanded as a result of lack of student interest.

''This committee was set up to provide entertainments and advice to students, such as the December Carol Service and was not intended to be a charitable organisation - this event just coincided with Comic Relief." "lt was decided by the Union that all these events would be

allocated a budget of £300."

Despite Union claims that the event was well publicised, many students did not seem to be aware that the race had taken place - and were outraged at the wasted cash.

Waste Greg Pearson (ENV 2) said, "What a waste of Union money, I didn't even hear about this event, they should advertise things like this better."

And Mike Cults (BID 2) was surprised that the Union had paid to hire a band.

Money "There are loads of bands at UEA who would love the opportunity to perform at an event like this, why waste £200?

Considering that no one really knew about it, the money might as well have been given straight to Comic Relief," exclaimed the astonished second-year BID student.

By JAMES GOFFIN

THE PROSPECT of a walk-out by UEA lecturers moved a step closer this week as national teaching leaders rejected a 3.5 percent pay rise.

The dismissal triggered off a vote by members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) on whether they should take strike action to persuade universities to meet their 10 per cent pay demand.

If they give the go-ahead for the industrial action, strikes would begin mid-May, throwing UEA's exams into chaos.

Chaos "Staff in higher education have delivered increases in productivity year after year.

Yet year after year their pay has declined when matched with comparable professions," claimed David Triesman, AUT General Secretary.

Drift "This year, the drift has to stop," he insisted.

But the University and

Colleges Employers' Association (UCEA), which negotiates on pay settlements for universities nationwide, is adamant that it has made its final offer.

"There's nothing we can do to stop the AUT going on strike, but we would be very disappointed if they did," said Assistant Director, Declan Leyden.

Strike "If there is strike action, we will have to consider action to protect students, and we have told AUT that. We want to talk to prevent the situation getting worse," he added.

& News

Concrete Wednesday, April 28, 1999

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AS THE BATTLE TO GET ELECTED TO THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT HOTS UP, STUDENTS COULD BE SET TO BENEFIT AS SEVERAL PARTIES PROMISE TO END TUITION FEES FOR SCOTS ...

THE POLITICAL map of Britain is about to change forever, with the Scots and Welsh poised to go to the polls and elect their new national assemblies. ll could mark the start or a revolution in go1<.: rnm ent. 11 ith regiona l government in England. and eYen telephone 1·oting.

Ami aside from the po li tical implicat ions. devolution could also bring some very real benefits to students.

One of the principle arguments for a Scollish Parliamen t has hcen that the country has always had a . ......~I separate legal process from the rest of the cnunlr). Scotland still has courts based on the feudal system.

11 11h ll1gh Sheriffs hold1ng jurisdiL·tion: large numbers of falls · •~i'rr•• arc

implemented dlllcrcntl) in Scotland than in Lngland and • •illllllllliiH \\'ales. Its education S) stem Is also

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ICI'J different.

GSA This Friday Happy Hour 7 ·8 only £1 pint or • £1 shot+ m1xer followed by ,.

Koraoke • Come along and \ gizz'a tune!

Scollish s!Udellls preparing to go to uni1crsity miss out on the joys of A Leve ls. instead study ing for th e broader Scollish Hi gher csams.

They also haYe to plan the next four years of their life. rather th an the comentional three for a uni1 ersil) course in England or Wales. spendi ng the first year la~ing a more general course than the1r coulllerparls in the rest of the U K. But for southern students the system hold'> another ano1naly l u i l i 0 11 f e e s Scottish

believes that tuition fees is a popular political issue in Scot land because it can be used to portray Lahour po litician> as contro ll ed from London. ll 's an issue that can be used to sho11 that a Labour 11 ould be "less government Scollish" - less locally targeted than its opponents.

The tailoring of poliCJcs to local areas is soml'lhing that loob set to in crease.

Traditionall) fringe panics. like the Scnuish Nationalists

"Scottish students studying in their native land, together with \.lud~ ing in students from Europe, are their nati1c I a n u . exempt from tuition fees for the 1 <> g ~ t h c r fourth year of the course"

11 h students from l:urope. arc cscmpl from tuition fees fo1 the fourth )L':Il· of the course. Hn11 Cl L'L students stud) ing 111 Scotland from l.ngland.

Wales or '\Jonhcrn Ireland find thcmsch cs hit 11 ith a ycar's fees. llhJCh from nest ycc11 risL'S to (1025. it's a sitllatinn that the C'nmm11lec of Vice-Chancellors and Pnncipals has allac~cd as an "inequitable iniquil) ... and one 11 hich is stopping 'tulknt . . karning in Scotland.

According to figures compiled h) the C:VCI'. students arc llll'I'Casingl1 st:t) ing south of the horucr 11 hen d10os1ng 11hcrc to study. St Andrews. one of Scotland's leading institutions. ha.., seen aprlications from Scots drop by 4.5 per cent. \\ hilsl in the same period entries lrnm the rest of the L' K h:~1c sl11mpcd hy I H.o per cent.

Panics touting tor Yotcs in the nc11 Sn>llJSh Parliament ha1c 1011cd to end the anomalj - principallj hj abolishing tuition fees in Scot land altogether. All the main parties contesting seats in Scotland. 11 ith the C\Ccption or Labour. have promised to end tuition fees for Scollish studenls. 11 iping 01 er D.OOO niT the cost of gelling a degree. With the latest research from 13arclays Banb sho11 ing students lea\ ing higher cdw..:ation an a\·cragc

of (4.500 in debt. that's a massi1 e benefit to students in Scotland.

The Scouish Nationalist Party and the Liberal Democrats. howc1e1, h•nen't forgouen 101crs south of the border. They are both promising to e nd the "Scollish anoma l) .. and scrap tuition fees for the founh )ear or courses taken hi non-Scnu ish student s. it's the lirst glimpse of a victor) for the ational Union or Students on tuition fees. hut it has liulc to do with the man) protest c1 ents that lobbyists ha1·e targeted at the We>tmi n:.ter go1crnmen1. And some political commentators bcliel'e it marks a move away from the power or central government. towards loca l com munities.

David McCron e. Professor of Socio logy at Ed inbu rgh University,

and I' bid Cy mru arc beginning In take a bigger share of the IOIC as the electorate become:-. mon: aware ol

their ailcrnatilc policies.

NC\\ \'Oting ')~tc-nh. lih.e the 1111\

of proportional rcprcscnlaliOn anu first-past -I he-post trad i1ional adopted in Scotbnd. 11ill alsn g11c ""allet· parties the chance 10 influence policy at local and national lc1 els.

In the Scouish elections. the H1ghlands anu blands \lliance is contc..,tin~

dircctl)

~cah

\\ ith

policies

tailored 10 local needs.

bringing dcci~ion mah.ing closer and

closer to the people affected. b·en the established parties arc looking at ne\\ \\ay~ of in\ oh ing the

public more in dccisinn ma~ing.

11.1ihon Kc) nes Borough Council recent!) held a referendum asking local people to choose one of the three budgets. mc~huring council ta\ ..,pending ngain..,t ... en ice ....

The result shocked many l.'Omrncntators:

\'Oters

plumpcu for a IO'i rise in l'OUIH.:il la\.

four tinK''-~ the

rate of inllation. to protect local amenities anu council scn ice . . rrnm cuts.

The idea of plchi\Citcs to decide poliC) is not .tn<:ll one - the) were the main method of gm crnmcnl 111 ancient Greece - hut they ha1 c a chequered histor) in British politics.

The

Common Market in 1975 has since been praised a.., one of the counlr) \ greatest political triumphs and abo condemned ~b the biggest con-trid, or recent history. Similar!) . although there " broad support tor rdercndum on "het her 10 join the single CUITCncj. politicians arc split over the timing and the nature of the question. i\nd ailhough dc1olution 11as supponcd b) referendum slrongl) in Scotbnd. kss so in Waks reform to the !l ouse of Lords " ta~ing place 11 11hou1 .t slll'cifJC endorsement from the electorate. the Gon~rnmcnt

rd) ing on thl'ir urigin;t/

election mandate inqcad.

That hasn't sloppeu some pan1cs from

... uggc . . ting

rat.lJLal

implemcnta!IOIJs of referendum One group. Progn:-.. ... i\ c Part) ha..., c1en ad1ocatcd nation.Ji and loL·al go' ern men! h~

tckphonc

'ot111g.

Lndcr the11 scheme an1 conlrmersial i"uc 11ould he put to th(' tc...,L \\ ith \Oic:r-.. hodan~.:in~ "Jll'nding .tg.un...,l ta\atinn fo1 thentselll's.

I! seems unl1~cl) that Ill' 11 Jil he pic~ing our policies 11\ telephone just yet. hut 11 ith the concL'f'l of dCI<>fUIIOn la~1ng hold lhL'rc hall' alrcad) been numerous calls for regional a ....... cmhlic ... in l·ngland tu

match those in the rest of the l ' K dcci~ion~

coultl

incrca ... ingl~

he

la~en

hy the local people 11 hn lhL'I affect. rc1crsing the I'JROs trenu toll arus central decision. .\nd students studying in Scotland could -.,c~...·

more hcnL'Iit:-. than rno ... t.

\\'nrds: Jamr; Gullin

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Concrete Wednesday, April 28, 1999

he Union has finally lost it. With regards to the Comms election, putting aside Elections Committee's obvious impartiality, we now must face the prospect of a year without a Comms Officer. The constitution (which we are apparently following to the letter this year) states in Appendix E, Section 10, Line 2 that when Elections Committee are considering punishments they should be "keeping in mind the balance between full compliance with the standing orders and the need to ensure vacant posts are filled as quickly as possible."

In deciding to stop candidates from re-standing, Elections Committee should have known that they would face appeals from candidates, which would delay the calling of a new election. In fact, it is now possible that the appeals will delay the electoral process so much that we will either have a new election in September or face a year without a Comms Officer.

Elections Committee were not balancing the need to uphold the constitution and fill vacancies when they prevented candidates from re-standing. lt is they who are being unconstitutional. This mistake was at best stupid, but at worst deliberate and just plain bent. Sacrificing our Union for their own ends - Elections Committee should all resign.

Yours faithfully B. Noyes MGT2

T

lections Committee was not fair, independent or impartial. Not admitting a potential bias towards one candidate before complaints are dealt with adds up to nothing less than a deliberate cynical attempt to subvert the electoral process by getting one candidate the job by any means. Surely elections committee are now corrupt enough to be appointed European Commissioners?

Richard Morsley HIS2

E

ur Union is in crisis and the only people to blame are those idiots who claim to run things on our behalf.

The Union seems now to be expertly shooting itself in the foot - to cap a year of rising prices and pathetic Ents, we now have the fiasco of the Comms Election. If Sarah Macken, Sanjay Daryanani and Amy Kingswell did breech electoral laws, then disqualify them, but why prevent them from standing again?

Why not give the electorate a chance to decide if we want these people to run our Union after what has happfined. The power to prevent candidates from re-standing comes from the constitution, but it is a discretionary one given to Elections Committee. But surely the power to dole out any punishments it wants should not rest with a committee whose integrity is as shot-to-pieces as that of Election Committee's? As far as I can see, of the members of Elections Committee, one was a close personal friend of the complaining candidate (as well as both being leading members of the Labour Party). A further two members of Elections Committee did not disclose their members~ip of the Labour Party until "outed" after the event (which surely must create a conflict of interests).This committee was rigged, and shamelessly so. They should all be thoroughly ashamed of themselves and allow an independent panel to rule on such issues. This adds up to nothing less than a disgrace - I am ashamed to be a member of this Union. This is a stitch up on a scale of which the International Olympics Committee would be proud.

Yours faithfully Tom Bridge SOC3

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See Union Reply to these letters on page 22

WHAT A DRAMA

ELECTION CONTROVERSY Whatever the final outcome of the Communicatons Officer election, the affair has proved beyond a doubt that the Union's Constitution is hopeles. ly out of date.

The Union encourages students to become more environmentally aware but prevents candidates using new technology like e-mail, something which could prevent the waste created by the£ I 00 cost of campaign flyers and poster .

Un)ler this caring Union's constitution, it seems it is more acceptable to add to pollution with thousands of . crap of paper than to be forward thinking and innovative.

More to the point, it is unclear whether the constitution really does forbid the u e of email. The electoral rules contained in the constitution are not dissimilar to the re ·t of the document - they are open to interpretation.

It is not a document that students can easily understand - and whoever takes up next year' sabbatical posts, that is something that has to change.

ETHICAL INVESTMENT Bit by bit, it seems that the University are realising that students take ethical investment seriously.

May I suggest that those jornalists (sic] sent to review theatre are those who are completely impartial and not biased towards your Drama Society? I was not involved personally, or connected with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, but, quite frankly, after much involvement with theatre and drama over the years (including stints at the Covent Garden Opera House, with The Blue Egg Theatre Company, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and with various film and television companies in all capacities) I found it to be one of the best productions I have seen for a long time.

Yes, this is my personal view, but the reviewers personal opinions appeared biased, uneducated in drama and pointlessly, almost viciously unconstructive. Their grammar and spelling could also be improved!.

Yours, Fiona Nickolls, Founding member of Edward's Theatre Company.

The latest move is the creation of a working party to look at ways of cleaning up UEA's investments. It's a welcome development, but some of the details are worrying.

The first concern is that the University - in the shape of Registrar & Secretary Michael Poul on-Ellis - appears to be taking decisions about what the working party can investigate before it ha~ even been formed.

If the group is to have any credibility, it must be given free rein to pour over all of UEA's ftnances - not just the bit that Registry bosses want it to.

The econd worry is that the committee will fall victim to that most deadly of creatures: University red tape.

Sadly, when Concrete first raised questions about UEA's investments, the administration was painfully low at revealing any detail.

Let's hope that the need to fight for information is over.

STUDENT SAFETY lt now eems a fact of life that government funding for higher education can only go down.

In addres ing the cash shortfall, UEA is right to look at innovative ways

•Editor: James Graham •Deputy Editor: Emma Newbery •News Editor. James Goffin •Assistant News Editor: Nikki Mallet •Features Editor: Caroline Jeater •Assistant Features Editor. Carolyn Boyd •Sports Editor: Mark Edwards •Assistant Sports Editor: Nick Henegan

•Distribution Manager. Oliver Polhill •Editorial Contributors: Chris Brown, Adam Banham, Clare Hamilton-Eddy, Claire Coulson , Simon Cogswell, Sarah Moore, •Photographers: Chris Brown, Russell Burton , Selene, Iris, Rob Lutyens, Steve Cullingworth •Ad Manager:Catherine McNeil

of getting more money such as the scheme to display discreet adverts on computer screens.

But it also ha to face up to some hard choices about how the ea h we do have is spent.

It may not show up in any pre. s league tables, but for students and staff alike, safety must be a priority.

Security is not something that the University can afford to skimp on, even in a generally peaceful city like Norwich.

•Special Thanks to: UH Stewards. everyone at ECN •Concrete is published by the Union of UEA Students. Opinions expressed are those of the Contributor and not necessarily those of the Publisher or Edotor. Use of the name 'The Event' appears by arrangement woth the copyright holders, Planet Zog Ltd. •No pari of this newspaper may be reproduced or transmolled through Monsieur Goffan •Prlhled by Eastern Countoes Newspapers Ltd ., Norwich, Norfolk NR1 1RE. © Concrete 1999.

Students do not need any more excuses. We need to feel safe - now.

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Burning bodies leaving behind only a mass of dazzling white ashes; a scene fron:- the latest episode of The X¡Files or something stranger?

Nicole Fortmann investigates ... magine yo u are a policema n enterin g a house to investigate a suspicious 'death by burn ing'. The atmosphere inside is so humid you can barely breathe, and this is before you even get close to the remainders of a body lying on th e fl oor. To yo ur left lies a pair of human male feet cloth ed in socks , whi le a bl ackened skull is on yo ur right. All that lies between , where th e body should be, is a pile of pure white ashes.

Th is was the situation that office rs found when entering the Welsh home of 73-year old Henry Thomas in 1980. There were adhesive deposits of condensed , vaporised flesh clinging to everything in the room. But apart from the two-thirds of a wooden framed chair and a few centimetres of carpet, nothing else in the room was burned , or even slightly charred . While investigators could have been hopeful of writing this off as a freak unexplainable accident, the number of such strange cases of burnings has meant that theories to explain such bizarre incidents are now being fo rmulated.

Pathologists, scientists, doctors, firemen and policemen and all those who have been trying to discover the truth behind such cases of burning have come up with only one explanation - that some kind of spontaneous human combustion occurred.

Noth ing else seems to be able to expl ain how a live body (evidence of smoke in th e lungs of victims proves that they were alive at the time) contain ing around 45 litres of water can suddenly burst into flames. How else can a body be reduced to ashes within minutes, when highly fl ammable ,( material such as '

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carpet and chairs remain relatively untouched?

A forensic scientist at the scene of Henry Thomas' discovery confirmed that the armchair

had only burn ed wh ile in co ntact with the body.

When the chair collapsed and deposited the flaming body on th e floor, it stopped burning . The reason nothing else in th e room burned could be explained by the fact that th ere was a lack of oxygen to keep the fire alive. Yet it seems that the fire affected only a limited area - somethi ng many scientists have been at a loss to explain. Add to this the fact th at th e complete reduction of the body to ash wou ld need a temperature of around 2,500 degrees. This is a phenomenal tempe ratu re to attain - considering that the average house fire, which can destroy a whole building , only reaches about 200 degree's.

" If a body is suitably obese and clothed in sufficient layers of flammable clothing, t hen the burning clothes will act as an external wick and the fat will burn like a candle" So how have scientists tried to explain spontaneous human combustion? There have been a number of theories put forward. The best known is the 'wick effect theory. ' This states that if a body is suitably obese and clothed in sufficient layers of flammable clothing , then the burning clothes will act as an external wick and the fat will burn like a candle. If the body is in the right condition and there is a good source of oxygen , then the victim does not even have to be obese. In fact the wick effect can be initiated then from something as little as a ciga rette.

However, John Heymer, who investigated Mr Thamas's death does not agree with this theory.

Experiments carried out to prove that the wick effect is responsible for spontaneous human combustion have yet to reduce the bones to ashes. Even placing the bone in a blast furnace for eight hours coul d not reduce it completely to ashes. An other th eory put forwa rd fits more with th e known evidence. Thi s theory is th e 'explosure theory', which states that spontaneous human combustion resu lts from the reaction of hyd rogen and oxygen within the body at cellular level. This theory was propounded by Larry Arnold, who is head of Parascience International, a paranormal research group in the US. This theory is relatively simple and attributes the burning to mitochondria within cells which supply energy to the body throug h the triggering of small chemical reactions.

lt states that mitochondria can sometimes be defective and, as a consequence , release excess energy, resulting in an expl osion of hydrogen and oxygen. A chain reaction of explodin g mitochondria ensues when the neighbou ring mitochond ria are affected by this rush of energy. This chain reaction of exploding mitochondria causes the cell to blow apart. The energy released from th is starts another chain reaction and more and more cells are destroyed. In a matter of minutes, muscle, internal organs and the surrounding flesh are reduced to ash. The tempe rature here should be consistent to reduce the human bone's to white ash - space shuttle rockets use oxygen and hydrogen as a fuel for launching .

In March 1996 New Scientist Magazine stated that: "Explosive theory builds the best possible case for the phenomenon of SHC (spontaneou s human combustion)". There are however, sti ll many theories for spon taneous human combustion - most of which scientists , doctors and police have found no evidence for. These include theories of magnetic forces, ball lightning and even phosphinic tarts, caused by ignited gut methane. Other scientists choose not to believe 1n spontaneous human combustion at all.

The main problem in investigating this phenomenon is that no one has witnessed a person spontaneously combust from start to finish.

From the scenes that have been partly witnessed, people are adamant that the fires start from within .

One example is that of the fireman who was called to a fire in a derelict house in London. There was no evidence of fire damage to the house . However when he en tered he came across a burning body.

He stated that a flame like a blow lamp was com ing out of a sli t in the person's abdomen and had to feel the firehose into the body to extinguish the fire.

1t seems, though , that until a surviving victim of SHC remembers what has happened or someone witnesses another spontaneously combust, the burning question remains unanswered and we will only be left with these unproven speculative th eories.

ln:Focus 11

Concrete Wednesday, April 28, 1999

Are you sitting on an old model worth hundreds?

ConcreCe finds out why people are willing to part with so much cash for the Star Wars figures we played with as kids ... icture the scene: it's 1983 and the Star Wars phenomenon is raging.

Return of the Jedi, the third and final installment of the original trilogy has just hit the silver screen and completed its seduction of millions of children worldwide. But for the first time in history the battles of the film's characters do not end when the firial credits roll .

Because, thanks to Star Wars' revolutionary merchandising operation, children across the globe are recreating the epic encounters between the Rebels and the Empire in their own bedrooms, with their very own replica figures .

Tiny three inch versions of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader battle it out on top of beds and underneath bushes. X-Wing fighters launch attacks on Imperial cupboards. And the films and the figures add up to one thing - a generation of kids hooked on Star Wars.

Sixteen years later it is this passion that is fuelling the Star Wars toy collectors market. "it's exploded in recent years," explains Gary Moxon owner of the Star Wars Emporium in Lower Goat Lane in Norwich. "People who had the toys when they first came out and have now got kids are using them as an excuse to recollect now, while those in their thirties and forties are also collecting."

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Tiny three inch versions of Lul(e Skywalker and Darth Vader battle it out on top of beds and underneath bushes.

X·Wing fighters launch attacis on Imperial rds As with all things Star Wars related , we've got George Lucas to thank for this toy revolution and the collectors market it spawned. Before the trilogy of films were launched in the mid 1970s, Lucas managed to wrestle personal control of Star Wars merchandising from 20th Century Fox because the company thought they were worthless nobody had ever made serious money from film spin-oils before. Lucas was the first to viciously market film merchandise and he made a fortune , as well as a place in the hearts of many young kids. The toys came out to coincide with each of the films and they were everywhere, with the last round of models coming out in 1983 with the launch of Return of the Jedi.

But a few years later most of the toys had either been thrown out, were gathering dust or being sold at car boot sales. However, they were about to be resurrected. The toys had been hugely popular, they were wel~ played with and only a small proportion were

in good condition - exactly the kind of ingredients needed to create a collectors market.

"Collecting started seriously about eight or nine years ago," explains Gary. "In Britain, there were loads about in car boot sales.

Personally. that was how I got into it, and then I advertised, starting getting

more stuff until I had a room full and realised I had to sell some of it - that's how the shop started originally."

And with the growing interest in old Star Wars merchandise, the values of the old Leias and Chewbaccas, along with many other figures and toys have spiralled in value - encouraging many grown ups to dig their old boxes of toys out of the attic to find out just how much they are worth now.

But a word of caution . While it might have been great to throw Han Solo out of the window or set fire to Darth Vader all those years ago, it doesn't seem so clever now. Luke's bent lightsabre might have been good for duelling around corners but it would deal a deadly blow to his value in todays collectors market.

"The value all depends on the figure," explains Gary, "Whether it's complete with accessories, what the actual condition is, whether it's loose at the joints, whether they're paint chipped - these things all degrade the value."

And to get really good money a figure needs to be 'carded' - collector-speak for it still being in it's packaging. So that stops anyone who ever had fun with their figures making the good money then .

But there is hope for those who have loose standard figures . If they're in good condition they might be worth some money - and if they're rare than you might still strike gold .

"For example, with the first issue [Star Wars] Han Solo, there are two versions - a small headed Han and large headed one," says Gary. "But there are two totally different prices for each . The small headed Hans are very hard to find and the large headed Hans had terrible problems with the paint coming off the hair.

Loose, a big Han goes for about £15, but a small headed Han in good condition is worth £40."

Anyone with a Luke Skywalker in a stormtrooper outfit is also in luck - they are sitting on £130, while if you can dig out a mint Jawa in a plastic cape then £350 is yours for the taking ..

But Gary is keen to emphasise that his shop, which has stocked these Luke and Jawa figures, only takes really good examples. "We are very fussy about what we buy because we get offered so much rubbish ."

..

Indeed, after years of growth, it now seems as though the Star Wars collectors market may have peaked. But with huge amounts of new merchandise now flooding onto the market to coincide with the release of The Phantom Menace, some people seem to be anticipating a similar collectors market for the new Star Wars toys in 20 years time.

"People come in saying the new toys are for their son - but I've got one guy who comes in and

"People come in saying the new toys are for their son .; but I've got one guy who comes in and buys three of each figure · one for his son to open, one to store away so it never gets touched and one that he can put out on display" buys three of each figure - one for his son to open, one to store away so it never gets touched and one that he can put out on display," explains Gary.

"But I don't think the same market will happen again . There are so many people buying multiples of each and not opening them." Because of this there will just be too many mint condition figures around to create another market - the essence of any real collectors market is scarcity.

"These die-hards aren't buying them to be played with, whereas in the 70s they were being bought to be played with. They were destroyed the packaging was ripped open ."

Interestingly, it seems that these avid collectors are almost exclusively male. The world of Star Wars collecting seemingly holds no interest for women.

"We get far fewer women than men coming in for Star Wars stuff. They do come in, but you never know if it's for their boyfriends or whatever.

There aren't really any die-hard women collectors about, although there are some into Or Who or Star Trek, but then these have always been aimed at the more general market. Star Wars was

always a boy thing."

There is a huge market for more traditionally 'female' toys though . For example, in the USA entire stores are dedicated to Barbie, with limited editions released just last year selling for $2-3,000 each .

Indeed , it is often the limited edition runs of toys that are worth the most colossal amounts. These toys, often released in very small numbers to just company reps , can be priceless to collectors. Just last year, an Action Man toy was released to commemorate the World Cup, with only 100 made. lt is impossible to put a price on how much it is worth to an Action Man collector.

Die-hards will, it seems, pay huge prices to get hold of rare pieces of what are, effectively, just toys. They are valuable if they are in good condition, and if no one has ever played with them and they are still sealed in their boxes then all the better. Indeed, the fun level they produce seems to be inversely related to the value of the toy to a collector - the less enjoyment kids get out of them, · the more they are worth.

But then, who's to say there isn't a huge amount of joy to be gained from the actual collecting of the toys themselves. Some people might say that it is somewhat strange to still be collecting figures from a toy range that ended 15 years ago, but collectors like Gary have an answer to that accusation.

"I've never met anyone yet who doesn't collect something," he says, "Whether it's matchboxes to posters, stamps or little ornaments to put on a fireplace , everyone collects something. We just happen to collect Star Wars - we're the same."

Words: James Graham

12 ln:Focus

Time is running out for the Lemur population of Madagascar but, as Claire Coulson, discovers, there is still hope. She visited the region of Zahamena and witnessed the challenges the country faces .. t had taken months of anticipation, years of Madagascar was covered in teeming rainforests .

Now, just 15 per cent of this is left, clinging on for dreaming and 20 hours on the aeroplane dear life against the relentless onslaught of flight from hell, but I was finally in Madagascar. Or rather, I was about 30,000 farming and hunting. The rapidly escalating population and deplorable poverty of the Malagasy feet above it. Staring down upon a barren landscape, completely devoid of vegetation , people is the underlying cause of this. habitation or anything else of particular interest, it could be considered something of a sick joke to "We were able to use the describe the country as an island paradise, but national parks as the centre of this is one nation which naturalists have been our research to relate how the waxing lyrical about for years. lt is the fourth changes affected the lemurs" largest island in the world with an indigenous mammal population of huge importance; lemurs, baobabs and many other animals can only be Because of such pressures, the population have found in very small numbers elsewhere. lt has become increasingly reliant upon this "free" rainforests that have developed in isolation from natural resource , with devastating results. As one the rest of the world, sprouting many unique fauna of a group of undergraduates, I was in and rare creatures. Yet, thanks to the kind of Madagascar for seven weeks to try and set up the deforestation I witnessed on such a breathtaking framework for an undergraduate exhibition scale from the air, they could all soon be staring studying the impact of this environmental disaster extinction in the face. on the island's lemur population .These small , furry lt wasn't always like this though . Once, a long and incredibly endangered creatures are time ago, before the humans arrived with their Madagascar's only primates and around 50 slash and burn farming techniques, all of species inhabit the island today. The world's r---------------------------~â&#x20AC;˘ primate population is scattered around 92 J!!WR'.J:""-1 countries, but when J!21!M you consider that the lemur, practically unique to Madagascar, makes up 13 per cent of the world's primate popu lation, it becomes clear what a huge biological responsibility lies at this island's feet - especially when it faces such an environmental disaster.

The purpose of our undergraduate project would, we hoped, be to collect data on the ecology of an area's lemur population and relate how human pressures were ~~r..~'4 ~:..'"\el disturbing them.

However, there were some problems that ~~t!1-"'~~El had to be overcome before even the groundwork for an expedition could be done. Like the fact that ":Jtn:=~â&#x20AC;˘ none of us could speak a word of Malagalese, Madagascar's native language. No matter, in a country where any sort of reasonable planning or organisation is a quite alien concept, anything is possible. This becomes especially clear if you consider

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the potential that,world whenfor surveying sources of financial aid, The Lemurs habitat: dense Madagascan rainforest that is being destroyed Madagascar's military

government decided to turn to North Korea, a country so poor it cannot even feed it's own people.

The Marxist government has made at least one sensible decision though, the creation of a series of beautiful national parks, and it was to these that we turned in our search for a suitable project. We criss-crossed between the reserves in the hope that some exhibition would make itself apparent, and slept in hotels, houses, huts and tents, and stayed with Peace Corps volunteers, Malagasy families and farming peoples. On our way we hit a selection of the local nightclubs, attended village fetes , bathed in steel drums, drank river water, slept in rat infested conditions, caught fleas and lived on a diet of rice and beans. And at the end of it all, a project made itself apparent. Zahamena, was like the ubiquitous pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - it was the highlight of our trip and the perfect place to undertake a project on the protection of Madagascars' lemurs.

to the Madagascan government or, indeed, its people. Yet the area has some of the world's most dense, breathtaking tropical rainforest , filled with a wealth of birds, invertebrates, carnivore, rodents and amphibians - but it's ecotourism potential is sadly under-exploited.

The opportunities are huge, yet only a handful of foreigners ever visit. Despite Madagascar's prolonged history of exploitation the country is still one of the most ecologically diverse assemblages on earth - but for how much longer?

Projects such as the one we plan to embark on in Zahamena should raise awareness, but time is still rapidly running out for those species that remain; they cling to life in tiny pockets of vegetation , isolated, hunted and drastically reduced in numbers. Madagascar is currently staring over a precipice - and the future looks bleak. Unless something is done to save these beautiful rainforests , it is quite possible that nothing of biological value will remain in 30 years time.

ahamena hosts thirteen lemur species, possibly more, four of which are endangered and one now classed as critically close to extinction . Across Madagascar, at least fifteen species have already become extinct since human colonisation two thousand years 503504.Norfolk Terrace C03.12 ago. Although the surviving lemurs are quicker and smaller than their extinct relatives they too could face a similar future if immediate action is not taken to reduce hunting and deforestation pressures. The work that we will undertake regarding the lemurs and other wildlife of Zahamena has been pinpointed as an urgent conservation priority and will be used to suggest future management policies for the reserve. Without information regarding the ecology and current population numbers of Madagascar's remaining lemurs, appropriate rescue plans and a further decline in numbers will continue to be overlooked, with devastating consequences.

One possible solution to the pressure on the rainforests is attempting to attract foreigners to Madagascar. Tourism is an essential part of raising recognition of the island's biological importance - the eco-dollar could help Zahamena fend off the logging companies and farmers more successfully than any protesting scientists could possibly hope to do. Without tourism the confidential listening and information service forests have little economic value

Z

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141n:Focus

Clare Short's profile has never been higher · as Secretary of State for International Development, the Kosovan crisis has pushed her straight into the headlines. Caroline Jeater spoke to her.. f there is one group of Labour MPs where Clare Short is something of a misfit, it would have to be the supposed 'Biair's Babes'.

Unlike most of the female MPs who make up the 'babes', Short is distinctly leftwing, a firebrand who refuses to be remoulded in the Blairite image. And in the Cabinet, she is an MP with a difference - unafraid of speaking her own mind, or worried about facing the consequences.

Elected as a Labour MP in 1983 during the height of the Thatcher years, Ms Short stacked up more experience than most in opposition and now, after getting her chance on the other side of the political cauldron, the left-winger is facing the

biggest test of her career. As Secretary for International Development she has possibly the least enviable post in government right now with the Kosovan refugee crisis falling right into her lap.

But this latest development is not the first postelection crisis to catapult Short into the headlines that honour belongs to debacle of Monserrat.

Labour's honeymoon period in office vanished quickly over the horizon when a volcano erupted in the Carribbean island of Monserrat soon after the election, and the former British colony turned to the government for help. Short came under inte:~se criticism from the island's population for the government's failure to fund the island's rec•Jvery from the volcano's aftermath, and it was hardly an easy introducton to life in the Cabinet. The anger o\19r her treatment on this issue obviously still runs deep and she now refuses ~ talk about it n intervie'lls. But for Ms Short, it's all been worth it, even her demonis3.tion at the hands of the press. After years in oppositic.n, the chance to work in government and see her policy icfeas put into action has yet to fade. "In opposition you have to do the work arid command the subject, Jut you've g·Jt a tiny staff" Short explains, "You're. always calling fer what should be done, whereas now I am actually getting it done which is a great difference."

And'lltlile Short maintains she'd never want to be seen as one d 'Biair's Babes'. she cite~ the huge influx of women MPs . into the House of Commons as one of the most significant aspects of Labour's electoral victory Short came under fire early from inhabitants of the island of Monserrat who said two years ago. that the Government should provide aid after a volcano wreaked havoc 101 female

I

Labour MP's were elected to the Commons in 1997, and while the media has since derogatively dubbed them 'Biair's Babes', the timing could not have come quickly enough for Short. She is keen to emphasis the difference that the newly elected women have made on Westminster, especially the way that they are no longer looked upon as freaks by the men in parliament. 'When I first came in there were only thirty something women and 650 men. If two women were talking in the corridor, the men would be going 'is it a conspiracy?' And apart from that, the atmosphere has completely changed in the building - it is now normal for women to be around." Despite the huge criticism Labour faced for only shortlisting women candidates in some constituencies before the election, it is hoped that the positive effects of getting more women into government has outweighed any lingering negative feelings from disgruntled male party members. it is certainly hoped that it has encouraged a more woman friendly party and a more active female electorate. At the very least, it has erased some of the old gentlemanly traditions at Westminster, as Short explains.

"They used to put women MP's in the front of the cloakroom in the Commons in case they needed help with their coats, because there were so few of us we were seen as freaks." Currently only a quarter of all MP's are women, of which only 11 are Conservative, but she envisages a much brighter future for women now as the Conservatives react to the dominance of Labour women MP's over other parties. "They are running around like blue arsed flies trying to find more women'', she laughs.

"lt is imP.ortant to stay in touch w ••h real r.eople iiving in the rea l coun ry. 1t keeps me healthy going to Birmingham and-driving arouncf in my old Vauxtlall Cava lier at the weekend" Short has spent the majority of her post-university life involved in active politics, working in the Home Office before being elected, and then as Opposition spokesperson on a number of key issues including employment, social security, women, transport and, more recently, overseas development. lt is her government post as Secretary of State for International Development that most excites her though, and she is enthusiastic about the need to implement development aid - creating a "new global vision for poverty elimination." She adds, "There are millions of things I still want to achieve, the department's main commitment is to lift one billion people out of abject poverty by 2015."

In her pledge to eliminate poverty, Short has recently been involved in high profile visits abroad, including a trip to India, where over 500,000 people live below the poverty line. Britain has now invested its largest ever amount of development aid in India to try and help reform the system and eliminate poverty.

Such intercontinental travelling has become part of the package for Short since taking on a role which involves such a global presence. But she contests that working in her constituency and

mixing the role of global assistance with her local work is what she thrives on. "I try to go to my elected base nearly every weekend, to see my constituents and also just to get back to normality away from London," she · explains. "lt is important to stay in touch with real people living in the real country. lt keeps me healthy going to Birmingham and driving around in my old Vauxhall Cavalier at the weekend."

And while in London, she also claims that she is just one of several ministers who wish they could be more down to earth , but are restricted by practicalities. "lt really bugs me everyone says we love our cars," she protests, "But it is because of those big red boxes [with

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As a third of the Kossova population flee, Clare Short is charged with the difficult task of providing aid to the victims that escape

departmental reports) that you can't go on the train or bus and you start to get really unfit. In fact I am now walking up the five floors to my office to try and get my fitness back"

''There a re millions of t hings I still want to achieve, the department's main comm itment is to lift one billion peo~le out of abject poverty by 2015"

T

he biggest long term challenge now facing Short is the problem of Third World debt. The issue has attracted

considerable attention this year after becoming something of a cause celebre for rock stars like U2's Bono. He protested against the debt at this year's BritAwards, encouraging other pop icons to back the aims of Jubilee 2000, which campaigns for unilateral debt relief in all developing countries.

But while the government has written off all aid debt, there is a conflict of opinion between the government and Jubilee 2000 on the best way to resolve the issue of general world wide debt as Short explans. "I agree with the alliance (of Jubilee 2000), the coalition and the broad call for debt relief in the poorest countries," she explains "But som~ of the details their spokespeople come out with I don't, for example I don't agree with the idea that it should be unconditional debt relief, the relief . must only be paid to benefit the poor." These plans were further outlined at the G8 conference in Birmingham, where the government launched their mandate to "deepen the debt relief and get every eligable country on track by the year 2000", This would mean that third .world governments would be relieved of debts where spending on economic and social works would take place. But she remains adament that debt relief cannot be unconditional because some leaders may abuse the relief and channel it into unethical projects. "lt can't be unconditional otherwise people such as Saddam (Hussein) who is very heavily indebted and spends most of his money on arms could continue, he'll just buy more arms, which is what we don't want."

However, 'lltlile she disagrees with some of Jubilee 2000's aims, she acknowledges that its supporters helped turn up the pressure on world leaders to do something to resolve the debt issue.

"We will prosecute t his war until Serbia 's agression is reversed • troops w ithdrawn a nd an international force put in place and the .

Kosovars Cllble to return home safely. There will be no comP.romise_,_no fudge and no partttion of 1\.osovo" "The publ c support and people who came to Birmingham and the G8 sumrriit made a difference, we got more movement from those leaders l>ecause they realised the thousands of people out there." Short claims that the G8 meeting resulted in a new worldwide collaboration involving an western leaders and that th:l change in German government has been advantageous to this progress. "The prevous German government was quite hosile, this German governement is calling for a speed up so we are back on track and hopefully going to attempt to resolve the debt issue." With the next meeting in Cologne about to take place and more wuntries commiting themselves to the cause t1e chance of some really progress may finally be n sight.

The collaooration between European countries on the issue of debt is now also being extended to the continui1g crisis in the Kosovo region. And despite her opposition to the Gulf War in 1991 and membership of the 'supper club' which rallied against the-war in the House of Commons, Short is now a leadi1g government voice in backing the

-

Nato bombing. She claims to be fully committed to aiding the thousands of refugees estimated to have fled the war-torn region and Slobodan Milosevic's ethnic cleansing regime. Earlier this month Ms Short visited Brazde in Macedoni~. one of the nations bordering Kosovo, with the aim of seeing how the area was coping with the refugee crisis.

She is firm that the task of helping the majority of Kosovo's 1.8 million population that have now been forced from their homes is paramount. "The forcible movement of people is unacceptable. He [Milosevic] and his henchmen will be held fully responsible for any harm that comes to the Kosovars at the hands of his troops and paramilitaries. They will be held accountable for war crimes." The determination to see justice in Kosovo has led to some conflict within the party though, with Ms Short suggesting in a recent interview on Radio 4's Women's Hour that the Labour MP's who have opposed Nato's action are similar to those who appeased Hitler in the 1930's and that she was 'ashamed' of their position.

Rarely less than gung-ho in her approach, Short has also caused some confusion over the government's action towards the refugee crisis in Kosovo. While in Brazde in Kosovo, Short stated that the refugees should be helped to re-establish themselves in other Nato countries, that "there still remains an enormous amount of work for the international community to do to care for the refugees." This caused considerable conflict within the government who had hoped they could return home quickly. However, with the crisis mounting, Short's policy has triumphed. She is similarly determined to see that no compromise will be reached with Milosevic over the crisis now. "We will prosecute this war until Serbia's agression is reversed - troops ,withdrawn and an international force put in place and the Kosovars able to return home safely. There will be no compromise, no fudge and no partition of Kosovo." it's all a far cry from Labour's wilderness years in the early-mid eighties, when it seemed more likely that Margaret Thatcher would probably rather listen to Colonel Gaddaffi than pay attention to Labour or the leftwing views of Short. lt might have taken some time but Short finally believes she is 'getting things done' and making a difference. And despite the image of old Labour seemingly on the wane, the so-called Red Lady of British politics continues to press for a globally better future.

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•

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ln:Focus 17

1999

ea o Catch a boat out to see the seals at Blakeney Point · the joys of North Norfolk are only an hour away ed up of never seeing anything except your concrete surroundings on campus? lt happens to all of us (generally sooner rather than later) and, when it does, it's worth finding out what the depths of Norfolk have to offer The county might not have a reputation as the most exciting area of Britain, but there are numerous things to do. Indeed, a visit to see the seals at Blakeney Point on the north Norfolk coast seems to have become a staple day trip out for some students attempting to escape the essay and exam hell of the last few weeks of term. lt helps to persuade a group of friends to go along as well, you'll cut down on the costs (as well as the loneliness factor - North Norfolk can be pretty desolate) and make it more of a day to remember. lt is advisable to book a place on the trip before you set off though - it can get very

busy in the summer season. As John Bean, the captain of Bean's Boats explains, "Tourists love it here in high season, we get lots of Americans, Japanese. and people from L,._ _ _ _ _.:.;.._ _ _ _;;;.;:;__ _ __ w;;;;___...;;~:..-...;;.:.:!!:t::=;...;..;.._..;...;___i.l across Europe coming to see the seals." terns." There is a chance to see the seals in close not) it is not far to get to Sheringham or Once you've booked your place, seated yourself Cromer. At both you can go for a stroll along on the boat and made sure the travel sickness up as well along the seabanks and also get the beach or check out Cromer's pier and when pills have been passed out to your more fragile dropped off along the shore. This though is for the friends you can sit back and relax and enjoy the more adventurous groups of people as you have the English weather comes out in force. you can spend those leftover pennies in the peace and quiet and nature around you. lt takes to make your own way back to the village, which about ten to fifteen minutes to reach the seals on Is a bit of a trek at 6 miles so make sure you are arcades along the seafront. So next time the sight of campus gets too much to bear head out the sandbanks but you are likely to spot some prepared! You will find yourself getting into the and explore what Norfolk has to offer! swimming near the boats as you home in on the spirit of things even if you are not the worlds greatest animal lover, and once back on dry land it banks as well. The seals are at Blakeney all year Cost: £4 for the boat trip, though you can round, though trips mainly go out from March into isn't too hard to return to some of your student autumn months and Mr Bean explained to us ways and head to one of the village pubs for a bit get a group discount if there are over 6·8 of of nosh and a medicinal drink to warm those cold about the wildlife in the area, "We have grey and you.

Contact: Beans boats: 01263-740038, Red common seals on the seabanks and also a wealth toes. With the afternoon to spare depending on Ferry Company 01263-740791 of birds catchers, red shank and whether make it to the boat or

•

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I

Everywhere you look, celebrities and organisations seem to be updating their image. But while some succeed in inducing collective memory loss amongst the public, others fail miserably. Carolyn Soyd assesses the success of the imagemakers magic ma keover dust...

Hague was a prematurely balding slxteen-year~ld politician masquerading as a Young Conservative representative.

Maggle Thatcher loved the original Tory Boy, and he went on to become the Tory leader • but he was uncool, bald and seriously out of touch.

.f

Hague rs now attempting to s doctor himself Into coolness, but not even the ~reatest minds In. the media-can perform the Impossible. Transforming Tory boy Into {Bill Bloke' Is not ·as simple as slapping a baseball cap on his head. Or shoving himself towards the Jllottlng Hill Carnival. Or even getting his wife Fflon to put on a sari.

Humble cloth capped, dedicated .,.~~~ --.-'"'"''""'lsts providing a conscience li the capitalists of the nation.

Forget power suits and spin doctoring, these guys preferred let their duffle coated leader, hael Foot wave a walking k around and fix his NHS with sellotape .

Cricket

Once upon a time Cricket was a .....llllillllllllnoble game. Men In white, the of leather on willow and that went on for, well, Yes cricket had a rather Image and had the !lltlmdenc:v to go on all day, but · not only the old duffers l h~•n~ln~ around the boundary liked the noble sport, l wl~ether they admitted lt or not.

successful pop band, bags legions of fans and a • •·ea!SO~Iablle talent for writing pop But he also had bleached spiky hair, an Inability to a copious ability to eat, a reputation as the ugly one. we thought he'd get the songs after the band

pyjamas. Yep cricket has gone all hip 'man'. There are games, 'free hits' to bring drama of the penalty shoot to the game, and worst of all ,., .. ,,P,.,P,v bad nicknames for the

-..Jmcldellled by her wanager on pop Prii~CEISSI~tS Tlffany and Debble (remember them?). Alanls top of the 'teen-dance-partyhlt··Dalrade' and managed to get albums out of lt. But then all

"""'""''.'" Llghtnlngs ••myonc!7 lt's about as trendy as court judge In trainers. verdict: all

We were wrong. Robble got all cool songs and Gary failed to turn Into the new George Mlchael. He went In the gym, lost the weight and the spiky hair, but still turned out rubbish.

He's tried to turn Into Elton John, but even Elton prefers Robble.

Just wait for the Christmas

lecture theatre two, noughts crosses, some geezer at the rambling on about some and his bird Ophella. Or it's some play your parents dragged you to when you'd rather go to the pub. Can anyone understand the jlbberlsh these people are talking?

Evl!rvcme's gone colour blind at 'new' Labour's HQ. A dls·tlnc:tlv smug looking leader blue and red seems to be ng Into purple. The not-soarmy now contains more types than politicians. worked though - they finally elected. By the way, what this socialism thing people going on about? verdict: success But no! lt was all a bad dream I Alanls Is really a long halred rock-babe multJ-mllllon selling genius, summing up the angstsentiments of every 20. ~ s,tlm,etnlng of the westem With all that walling about Irony and evil exboyfriends, the alternative-rock scene s made for her. Or Is I{ other way around?!

Joseph Flennes as Will, Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola, it's Oscars all-round and loadsa the sonnets and roses, Romeo has taken to gun-toting and sleeping with Clare Danes.

I SI1akes~1ea1re Is now officially hip. Kenneth Brannagh still looks like an Idiot though.

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181n:Focus

Horoscopes

I

So you think you know about

Quotatio

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Who came up with these words of wisdom, and where did they appear?

CLUES

1. I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance 2. Don't know masturbation, it's sex with someone I love 3. lch bin ein Berliner.

4. The female of the species is more '.Jeadly than the male 5. Should auld aquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind 6. lt was the best of times, the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ...

7. My subject is war, and the pity of war. The poetry is in the pity.

8. All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl 9. They f**k you up your mum and dad, They may not mean to but they do ...

10. I must go down to the sea again, to the vagrant gypsy life 1 1. I can resist everything except tempt ation

Across I . Winner (8) 5. Sodium Chloride (4) 9. Hole (3) 10. 'Have I Got News for You· brand of comedy (9) 11 . View _ _ : a target (6) 12. Consumed (5) 15 . Italian town in John Wchster pl ay (6) 17. Marriage guidance coun se llors (6) 19. There could be a mad woman in there (Bronte) (5) 10. Type of ca"e or Northern British To\\ n (6)

13. The same (9) 15. To compete for attention (J J :16. Mechanical learn ing(.+) 27. Bouquet \endors (8)

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I. To Joc" up (4) 2. Cand id ate (9) 3. Mi xed up dopes pretended to be someone else 15) 4. Deafening din (6) 6. Curve (3) 7. Skilled (8 ) 8. To put on ice (6) 13. You could read your future in

these (\.l) 14. ln scnsi ti \c foll<mer of Cromwell (8) 16. Diamond s can have lots of these (6)

18. Graphite writing implement (6)

11. Brand of gas (5) 22. Step backwards (4) 24. Latin for is (3)

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FRIDAY 30TH APRIL

AN EVENING WITH JACK CHARLTON

Despite a lower than expected turn-out, the first Annual Sports Dinner went splendidly and looks set to become an essential on the Union social calendar.

After emotional opening remarks from Steve Buckingham, guests tucked into a sublime salad, followed up with a cheeky chicken dish and finishing off with the scrumptious summer pudding. As everyone switched notches on belts, big Jack Charlton rose from the top table to deliver a memorable and captivating speech. Highlights include an account of Jack's terror as Bobby Moore dribbled the ball out of his penalty area in the last minute of the World Cup Final and ... well you know the rest, and a bizarre encounter with the Pope.

Although Jack doesn't usually do student's events ("they're a rowdy Jot") he seemed to enjoy himself and even came along to the after dinner party at the Waterfront, where he enjoyed copious amounts of

Guinness and smiled for the cameras.

Those who attended were delighted with the night's events. Rebecca Wells (EUR 4) commented "Jack was unbelievably friendly and the dinner was delish". Roger Edmunds, Football Club President agreed, "It was very good, hopefully next year's will be even better with entertainments all night at a single venue." We'll have to wait and see.

Congratulations to Scott Thomsett who won the first Sports Personality of the Year Award. After a few too many glasses of wine, Scott staggered over to collect the coveted trophy off Jack and delivered a Paltrow-esque list of thank . Good work, sunshine.

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' SUNDAY 28TH MARCH THURSDAY 1ST APRIL Wow' Seriously though it is in my opinion the biggest reason to be a member Union of NUS. NUSSL convention is an annual event attended by Sabbatical Officers and senior managers from Student Unions throughout the country ; it culminates with an AGM which decides what we should buy. who we should buy it from and how we should pass the benefits on to students.

The format for NUSSL '99 was the tried and trusted formula used for the 1st three years, it was held at Warwick University and lasted four days.

The first meaningful event was the Commission; BEER BEER BEER AND A COUPLE OF VODKA RED BULLS is probably the only reason most studeins would because NUSSL as a company is run in a democratic want to ever know what the hell NUSSL is. You'll still be non manner the commission is an opportunity for members the wiser when I tell you the five letter acronym stands for of the various committees to show and prove what they NUS (National Union of Students) Services Limited, in its have been up to for their elected year. These broadest sense, it's a buying consortium for all member committees are: the Board, Purchasing and Student Unions.

Promotions, Ethical and Environmenta l committee NUSSL is the biggest independent purchaser of alcoholic Travel. What they decided and what it all means I'll drinks in the UK and buys more paper pads than WH Smiths' move onto in a moment. Monday evening and Tuesday ,....--- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , morning were occupied by educational sessions where manage rs and students have the_ opportunity to share ideas and discuss the options for NUSSL in the following year.

Tuesday afternoon was certain ly my favourite part of the convention, 'the trade fair'. Over 200 hundred stalls and exhibition stands packed the Birmi ngham NEC to bribe and shower potential

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customers with gifts. Products ~rf!i~I!!!!!!~Bii.!!m!!!!!!~[iii!;;~~~~~~-_. on show ranged from L packets minibuses to mini eggs and of crisps, which is a nice link to what will be the most from interior designs to 15 new noticeable decis ion mde by NUSSL for students at UEA. varieties of energy drink. Oh We will still get our brewed products from Scottish yes and CR ISPS, hundreds of , . . . - - - - - - -.............- - - - - - -...... Courage and Bass, you may however see a few changes to our product range. but nothing too drastic.

CRISPS' After a ayear of having to eat the moody crisp that is Golden Wonder, NUSSL . have awarded a two year endorsement of KP crisps for all Union bars. Back come the wealthy taste of McCoys. Hula Hoops and Branigans.

Finally one less noticable decision made by NUSSL is that they have recognised the need to investigate deals with companies that provide products for shops other than newsagents. i.e. the UFO Well , that was NUSSL for 1999, it wasn ' t the most ground breaking of conventions but it showed my colleagues and I that 'democracy' operates throughout the NUS even when deciding which Biscuit, Flapjacks and Muffins we should sell.

Have you got something to ay but no one to ay it to? Want to talk to others but not risk strangers on the net? Or do you need omething erious like a lift to uni, a gig guide, a British Rail timetable or an opinion on the last student election?

The award winning Student Web is in its fifth year and is growing fast. It ha I ,000 page , which are regularly updated by students, and 80,000 pages downloaded a month. Created in 1994 by the Union to provide factual information on Union ervices, it is now divided into two sections, the UUEAS Service Station (!) which contains the union pages and the volunteers Electronic Student Press, which is student run.

The Student Web is a brilliant way of accessing helpful information instantly and of discussing up-to-date topics with other interested students. It is basicall y an interactive magazine. MJ Ray-(the Webmaster!) believes that most of the university's problems are to do with communication (or lack of!) and the web site tries to address this situation. For modern-day students who use the web for email, for information (and for much more alubrious reasons!), the Student Web seeks to be political, informative and an exciting and ea y way to be instantly involved in student life. But don't ju ttake it from me- A lex Kibiwott (MGT, PG) says, "It gives students a chance to chip in on a daily issues that are taking place around the world, student ideas from a student's point of view, a way of contributing to make a change."

UUEAS SERVICE STATIO

The UUEAS Service Station - provide

Shops

bigger and more powerful than ever thank to a recent addition to the server family. Called Beed-stu (say it out loud!) it join Rabbit-stu and Yeggie- tu to create the nece ary technology for the Student's Web's world domination!

The Student Web i growing faster than the staff can cope with and it needs YOU to help! A lot of good ideas are in the pipeline such as the growth of the Entertainment Zone and specific What's On guides a well as reviews of all manner of things from music to books to er.. nature reserve parks! There i even a lifestyle page being dreamt up to involve shopping hints and tips although the Webmaster couldn't quite fill me in on the details!

Students are needed for all these ideas to work. Students with flair for writing, with opinions and suggestions and Divine Guidance (well, not that but the other two anyway!)

You don't need computer kills, but any one with the following is desperately needed - Arti _ts, photographers, production people, designer and reviewers. If you have an idea that you think rocks then contact the address below and tell them what it is. They won't turn you away -THEY NEED YOU! The address is: webmaster@stu.uea.ac.uk Log in - you will be surprised! http://www.stu.ue.ac.uk

E lectronic Student Press - For those of you who came to university hoping to stay up late di cu sing Proust, Pinochet and Pamela Anderson as a cultural icon but have found those sessions adly lacking, the Student Web ha omething for you. ESP i tudent-run and contains interesting (and often controversial) opinion pieces and editorial features, written by students and di cussed by tudents. Amongst the current topics are the realism of war movies, the current situation in Kossavo and the Post-Office passport petition (oh ye !) This page gives students a chance to be serious and discuss some really interesting topics without the embarra sment of blushing or stuttering - although it doesn't eliminate the chance of looking stupid!

There is a lotto look through, r---------------------------------. from Cool sites and the Independent News Service to The Alternative Pro pectus (which is worth a look at if only to see what other students think of UEA!) There i also a link to Mag-net, a fanta tic comedy site worth logging into when a nervous breakdown beckons!

You can also access your email from here when you are away from university.

HELL'S All Haircut's

ÂŁ5.00

OPEN TUESDAY AND THURSDAY AT UNION HOUSE ROOM 1.31

OTHER STYLING AVAILABLE ON CONSULTATION FOR YOUR BARGAIN CUT, PHONE :

07"930 215 142

The Waterfront is the Unions very own club in the city As well as promoting fabulous gigs and fantastic club nights (se listings in the Event for details) the upstairs studio room (with 2am bar) can be hired for parties at very special rates by UEA students

PHONE RACHEL WARD OR HELEN MEDLAND on 01603 632717 FOR DETAILS AND AVAILABILITIES

I

L

-~---

ENVIRONMENT WEEK 1999 Monday 26th

Energy Solar Energy Alliance in Sq uare

Thesday 27th

Recycling Litter Collection Around Campus Refuse Display

Wednesday 28th

Genetically Modified Foods Open discussion on GM Foods, Union House (tbc) Rubbish Watch

Thursday 29th

Transport No Car Day University Critical Mass Bike Man Stall, LCR until 4pm Bicycle Registration

Friday 30th

Ethical Investment & Money Martin Strube, Luton Cooperative Development Agency "Workers' Cooperatives" 12pm- Rm 1.33 Union House Lisa Whittle, Friends Provident "Ethical Banking and Beyond" 1pm - Rm 1.33 Union Hou se

Throughout Week: Cafe Direct Coffee in a mug - l Op, Hive

WEEK 11 IS LIBERATIONS WEEK

[!]n

*

-- --- - - --

Dear Aunt Aggie I moved from home in Newcastl e to orwich to do a course at UEA. I am half way th rough my MSc and as we ll as fee ling homesick, I am ru nni ng out of money to li ve on. I already rece ive so me sponsorship money and have a Career Deve lopment Loa n, but I am rea lly strugg ling to cope. Is there any other funding avail abl e fo r me anyw here?

Penny Less

Well, Penny, raising funds for postgraduate study is a difficult task. The main sources are usually awards, employment, loans, and sponsorship.

There are no pockets of money to be given away, and 110 postgraduate student apart from PGCE students are eligible for the student loan.

Postgraduates can get help from the University Access fund, but unfortunately you have missed the deadline of 1st March 1999. In most cases, if the student cannot afford to totally fu nd themselves, getting into some kind of financial difficulty seems inevitable. Usually this involves debts to the bank or other loan company either in the fo rm of loans, or maximising overdraft facilities. Choose your "debts" wisely, at least with bank overdrafts and career development loans, repayments do not need to be made until you have finished your course. Credit card companies are not as patient, so be wary!

But, it 's nut all doom and gloom! Ha ve you approached your sponsors regarding your financial difficulties? It may be that th ey are in a position to assist by increasing the money they already give you, especially if you can be specific about what the additional jimding is for (e.g. travel costs) and if it seems th eir may be a danger of yo u not completing the course.

Check with your bank that you are up to your maximum interest .free overdraft limit. While you are there, talk to them about your finan cial situation but remember to be careful of credit cards. If you are considering a bank loan it is worth shopping around to find the best deals. Working is a way of maximising your income, you did not mention whether you had a job. I know an MSc requires alot of energy and attention but can you spare a .few hours a week to do some parttime work ? At least money earn! this way does not have to be paid back to anyone. Check on the EmployAbility vacancy boards in the Student Advice Centre in Union House. It is also worth asking at your school office about work available, some may know of opportunities specifically .for postgraduates. For example, university demonstrator posts, in vigilation and course work marking; these pay quite well. too.

Th ere may be some trusts and charities who would be able to offer some .funding, there are some ve1y weird and wonderful tru sts out there, some for women only, some relating to particular courses. For more information visit the Student Advice Centre.

Underlying this whole issue is your personal budget It is always usejit! to draw up a list of your incomings and outgoings, to highlight the shor({alls in your income and to help you consider (l you can cut down on any expenditure. This way you will be able to be more specific about how much more money you need and what it is for. Make an appointment to see an Advice Worker in the Student Advice Centre (upstairs in Union Hou se) if you would like help with any of the above.

Good luck!

n WARNING: CAR PARK HOPEFULLY CLOSED THURSDAY

*Glamour Party Wednesday 5th May

Remember. as part of Envi ronment Week. on Thursday 30th. car users should use alternat ive transport (bike/bus/wa lk) or suffer the conseq uences. Thursday is the day to change or you may find de lays.

* Look out for stalls in the Hive and

Regarding the letters about the comms election

other events

*

throug~out

the week

UNION REPLY

Questi oning members of Electi on co mmi llee路s integrity is treadi ng dodgy groun d. Rules arc there to be adhered to and trying to equate by how much candi date. broke the rul es is pointl ess. The dec isions were made on fac ts and letting peop le re-stand is sett ing a dangerous precedent.

Sport 23

Concrete Wednesday, April 28, 1999

Mens Gallpen Press League Division One

HOCKEY Premier Holidays Mens East League Division Four Nth 1.Holt Harlequins 2. Bury St Eds 11 3.Cambs U Ill 4.1pswich Ill 5. Camb City Ill 6.UEA 7.Nch City 11 8.Long Sutton 11 9.Gorleston 10.Peterbro Tn Ill

PLO 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

W 14 12 11 10 7 6 6 3 4 2

0 1 2 2 4 5 3 3 4 1 5

L 3 4 5 4 6 9 9 11 13 11

FOR 66 56 32 56 34 41 34 24 37 23

AGST 26 23 19 31 36 43 42 52 66

64

PTS

43 38 35 34 26 21 21 13 13 11

Mens North East League Division Five 1.Pelicans 11 2.1ES 11 3.Low1 Railway 4.1pswich IV 5.Harleston Ill 6.Waveney 7.Broadland 11 8.Bury St Eds Ill 9.UEA 11 10.Nth Walsham

18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

16 13 11 9 8 6 6 5 3 1

1 2 2 5 4

5 3 2 0 0

1 3 5 4 6 7 9 11 15 17

91 57 46 43 43 36 29 27 16 9

SQUASH

FOOTBALL

LOCAL LEAGUE TABLES

23 19 22 29 29 41 41 55 68 70

49 41 35 32 28 22 21 17 9 3

PLO 1.UEA 22 21 2.Hellesdon 3. Thorpe Hamlet 21 4. Spixworth 21 5. Tudd'm Sdg 22 20 6. Zenith Wind 7.St Andrews A 22 8.Norwich Un. A 22 9.Trowse New1on 21 22 10.Aangers 11 . Jubilee 21 20 12. Yelverton

W 17 15 14 12 12 8 8 6 7 6 5 2

0 3 2 1 5 2 2 4 1 2 4 5

L 2 4 6 4 8 10 13 12 14 13 12 13

Norfolk Squash League Division Three

FOR AGST PTS 54 76 18 32 47 56 40 43 83 52 41 36 58 51 38 42 42 26 48 52 25 40 22 63 37 78 22 20 48 74 37 19 55 11 24 53

1.1pswich V 2.Nch City IV 3.Bury St Eds IV 4.Nch Union Ill 5.Holt Harleq 11 6.Felixstowe 11 ?.Norfolk Nomad 8. Low1 Railway 11 9.UEA Ill 1O.Broadland IV

18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

15 11 10 9 9 6 6 7 6 0

1 2 2 4 2 4 4 1 0 2

2 5 6 5 7 8 8 10 12 16

73 60 25 39 56 42 32 28 19 11

22 33 17 22 40 40 40 42 36 93

46 35 32 31 29 22 22 22 18 2

W 16 14 10 9 9 9 7 7 7 1

L 2 4 8 9 9 9 11 11 11 17

PTS 306 253 225 224 214 209 187 173 135 93

AV 17.00 14.06 12.50 12.44 11 .89 11 .61 10.39 9.61 7.50 5.17

â&#x20AC;˘

TABLE TENNIS

Mens Gallpen Press League Division Two 1.Earlham 2.0ray1on 3.Easton 4.UEA 11 5.Costessey SP 6.Lodden Utd 7.SthWals A 8.Wroxham A 9.Aed Roofs 1O.Biofield Utd 11. MariBorough 12. Bow1horpe

21 21 22 20 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21

14 14 12 12 11 10 7 7 7 5 5 3

5 0 3 3 3 2 5 5 1 5 3 3

2 7 7 5 7 9 9 9 13 11 13 15

93 51 54 49 57 58 42 51 34 47 25 46

31 46 31 26 36 33 52 65 66 64 60 97

47 42 39 39 36 32 26 26 22 20 18 10

27 27 64 53 46 38 48 79 64 46 75 78

58 45 42 36 33 30 29 26 23 20 16 7

Mens Gallpen Press League Division Three Mens North East League Division Seven

PLO 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

1.0ownham I 2.UEA 3.Lakenham 4.Halesworth I 5.Hunter Ill 6.EASRC IV 7. Kessingland 11 8.Barnham 11 9.Potters 11 10.Kings Lynn I

1.Hearts Red 2.Taverham 3.Trowse N'ton A 4.Rangers Exiles 5.Jarrolds 6.Spixworth A 7.UEA Ill 8.Saxon Eng 9.Thorpe V A 1O.Norwich Un A 11. Dray1on Res 12. Tud'm Sdg A

22 22 22 21 21 21 21 22 21 21 21 21

18 13 13 10 10 9 9 8 7 5 5 3

4 6 3 6 3 3 2 2 2 5 1

0 3 6 5 8 9 10 12 12 11 15 17

97 57 68 75 67 57 44 53 34 32 35 26

Norwich and District League Division Five 1.Ciub 75 2.Sands 0 3.0ynamic Rams 4.UEA 5.Taverham H 6.Briston CS D 7.Taverham I 8. Sands E 9.King Pins 10.Foxwood 0 11 .Nch Union F 12.Concrete WB 13.Sands F

PLO 23 22 22 22 22 23 22 20 19 22 24 20 23

W 19 15 13 14 12 14 11 8 6 5 4 4 1

0 3 3 4 4 5 3 3 2 3 1 1 0 0

L 1 4 5 4 5 6 8 10 10 16 19 16 22

FOR AGST PTS 77 179 51 67 158 62 61 146 74 60 84 136 142 78 58 140 90 58 45 115 105 112 35 88 110 30 80 146 26 74 61 179 21 147 53 18 48 182 12

AMERICAN FOOTBALL British Collegiate League 1. Herts Hurrc 2. Surrey Sting.

3.Kent Falcons 4.UEA Pirates

PLO 5 3 4 5

W 4 2 2 0

0 1 0 0 1

L 0 1 2 4

-

24 Spor

Concrete Wednesday. April 28 1999

•

I Occasionally the world comes together for the great SROrting events of the dayJ but there are a minority that seem determined to sgoil the fun. Simon Cogswell investigates whether SROrt unites or divides...

HETHER YOU love or hate sport, it is getting increasingly hard to escape from it. Events like the Olympics and the World Cup get almost constant television coverage and dominate popular conversation.

W

In today's 'oc iety, it seems, it takes C\C nts like the Wo rld C up to make the wh o le nati o n co me toge ther. It is on!) d uring sporti ng l)(:ca, iom, !t he thi s that the cnutllr) un ites. with people from a ll walks of hfc '> haring the smnc drc.tm of their nation emerging \ ictorious.

By Ill ing in g peo pl e togl'thcr. sport he lp s to brea k dow n the harriers he t\\ ee n co nfli cting

Th e two commu n it il!;, of No n hern Ire land . normall y dee ply partiti oned h) r~l ig i o n . ha\ c been a hie to stand togeth er thanks to the re markabl e e ffo rt s a nd aehi ~ ' ement;, of the Ubtcr rugby team. Cat ho lics a nd Protes tant' alike ce lchrated the rece nt triumph of " ·i nn ing the Europea n Cup and such C\ Cill' ca n on ly sen e to hr<.'ak dow n th e harri e r;, bet wee n the people o f Northern Ire land .

In South A frica '> POrt is curre nt! ) being used to heal the scars left h )

nati on,, promotin g g rca l~J t\C n if yo u were n ' t gripped unde r, ta nd ing and to le rance o f h y World Cup fe ve r las t other;, . The Ol ympic Gam es . !o r '> Um mer, you c ould n't have avoided the e lectri c th<.' in co untr~ . oc ic ty \\ Us me s mer ise d b) th e g la d ia tori al b a ttl e s o f team -., a nd na ti o nal co unt rie s a round th e apart he id. T he po licy of the South world re \ c ll c d in a nC \\- fou nd .:xamplc, hrings a lmost e\Cl) nation A frica n Cr ic ket team to alw ays ol th.: "orl d together 10 compete in pr ide as the ) pas sio nat e !) inc lude at \eaq one no n-1\hi tc lru:ndl ) r i ,al r~.

People from ''i ll cd the ir ;, ides to ' ic tOI'). pl ayer i' a sma ll but sig nilica nt di ffe rin g re ligious and po litic al In England. as the tea m mm cd 1110\ C tOIIill'd S hea ling a MKiety backg round(, uni te in cckhrali ng tnto the knockou t stage-, o f the " hich has been se parated in ha tred C\CJ) thing that is good about spo rt . l.'o mpetitio n politicia ns JOined fo r so long.

Eac h of the compctnors, no mallt'r \\ ith pub thco n \ls 111 ge lli ng Com mun i!~ officer'> arc be ing wha t then background. sh are a behind them. the na tton uni ted in used to promote the bcnclits or its support for 'wontkr- id. common In'<.' for their chosen sport. srort to the rcsidcnh ol thc it local \\hid1 ts a good startmg poull l<ll .\l ichacl Owcn and insptrational area. By doing so child ren learn to hrcak ing dm' n the soctal harriers capta in ·\ \an <;hearer ben the co-operate w llh eac h other, as well that divtdc them. 1\:opk ..:an h.:gin mo'>t fervent football hat<:rs lountl as learning to respect the authorll) tn ha\e a mutual respect for each thcmseh cs tuning in to surport of their coach. As such, sport ts seen oth.:r. and thus take th.: fi rst st<:p to the ir team a;, they battled their by the go,crn mc nt as an invaluab le putt ing astde rac ial pr<:J ud tcc, class way through to the highest le1 cl part 111 the upbringin g or ch ild ren ri,alr) and religious conn ict of sporting compet it ion. r - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - and 1s vtgoro us l) promoted.

Lnfortunatcl) nattonal rnde can sometimes overtake Ctlmmo n ~l'lht:, and .._t small rntnorit~ of supporters .:an tah·

"Sport helps to break down the barriers between conflicting nations, promoting understanding and tolerance of each other"

1he1r

patrioli'-111'

to

unacceptable extremes. \port becomes ;t.l excuse for harhartL and pointless a.:ts of 1 io lence. l'nglish ,md ( .crman hooligan . . ,trl' ol t.:n listed as some· ol the worst ofknders, and . . ho~"tng 'ct:rH:'wcre seen at last sunnner's \~o t l d Cup. I a ns fough t runn ing battles "ith Tunis ian fans and local ) o uths 111 M a r~e ill es, whil e

German thu g'> trashcd a fe w later.

F oo t ba ll ' io le ncc not con fin ed m atches. though. lt has r eg ul a r! ) threatened to d i s r u p t d o me s t ic gam~"·

'so toriou' occa ~ JOil\

' uch '" the ' Ol d tl erhy G la~go\\.

Range rs and G l asgow Ce lt ic eamed t h c reputation for both the

Brits and Argentines forget past differences and come togeth er for the 1984 World Cup

haulc on the ~;::::~.::.....::::lm••••••••••••iiiiL---Piteh and the one that follow' 111 the \\'right, and just plain hat red. hca' ) weight champton and sllects. as nval sets of wpporters epttomiscd h) han k Rijkard susp tc ion'> O\CC the action'> of \ent their anger and commit acts of spttting on Rudt Voller. Such sce nes promoter Don King ha\C resulted in \andaltsm. arc a com mon sigh t in sport. and a stead ~ Jecltnc Ill tts populanl) • The Fast Ang li an derby betwee n hard ly a wed r asscs hy witho ut M ike Tyson bi ting olf a part of :"-Jorwich and long-qand ing arc h ano ther sport ing ce lebrit y bct ng l::.van dcr Ho lyfi c ld' s car. and enem ies Ipswich l (mn has also had splashed O\ Cr the back pages of the w id espread spc.:ulation that the 11'> fatr share of trouble in the pas t, t.thloid' for another 'hust up·.

JUdges we re hri hcd in the Lew tsHo l) field light, ha\c done nothing tn impnl\t: boxing\. alread) tarnished reputation, in . . LcaJ pnn id1ng ih numerous oppon.:ms with further ammunitton \\'ith so much .tt stake ,n prolessinnal sport these days. connict IS htllllld tt' Uc<:ur l.1cn the 01~ m pies. dcsptt<: thetr as does Cl er~ hcat.:d de rh) mate h het\\ecn indi' iduals 01 teams who undisputed title as the world's But while supporters battle oft are dcsperat.: to\\ 111, and umuptton greatest sporting event, hmc not the pttch. the sportsmen thcmschcs is also likely to emerge. Patnotism escaped contrm ersy. ,\ llcgat ions of can arL' oflL'n fa1 from innon::nt on clearly also leads to 't degree of con·upuon ..lmong"l thl.! org:lnl,t:rs 11. cnnlltct But sport unties f.tr more• ot the Salt Lake \\'inter Games 111 The rul'lll inctdcnl bct\\ce·n than 1t "ill ewr di1 tde it manages 2000 and the use ol pettonnance 1.1\crpoo\'s Rohhtc l·ow kr and tu tmoke the positi\c, unify tng enhancing drup h~ athletes merely Chclse·a lelthack Ciraham J.c Sau~ cmouon seen recently 111 "\tllthcm 'it:n~' to t...•au~e conflic.:t. di' iJmg. slwwed all too dearly ho\\ personal ln:l;md ur in the \\orld Cup. Sport is people into separate camp'>. conllicts <:an hot! mer on the pitLh. no t o nly a n! lu ahlc asse t in today ·s And one o l tht• world' s most Whtl.: thts cptsode imohcd 'ociety. it is, as man) of the abo' e con troversia l ~ ports. boxi ng, has homophohta there has also hecn tnstances show, a vttal clement in hecn in a had state for a numhcr o l all eged ractsm, as 111 the hust up bind ing it togeth er. years. The lac k of an undi , putctl between Peter chmeichc l and \an

"Sport is regularly marred by corruption as t he will to win supersedes the true spirit of the gam e"

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

Sport 25

Concrete Wednesday, April 28 1999

Paper chase

Concrete takes its fortnightly triR to Carrow Road

West Ham fan, Jamal Mughal has found himself in trouble after hitting Charlton's Serbian goalkeeper, Sasa Hie with a paper plane.

The plane struck Hie on the chest while he was being stretchered off, as the crowd chanted "We love you Nato."

Police ejected Mughal, 29, but West Ham have let him off with a stern warning.

Hand·held

ANOTHER DISMAL run of results has banished any faint hopes of Norwich City reaching the Division One play-offs.

Having taken just seven point from 27, and scored just six times in nine games, it has become obvious that City may lack the vital firepower needed during the closing stages of the season.

The fact that the side have conceded eleven goals in nine, with eight coming in two consecutive games, does not necessarily point to a leaky defence, but a goalscoring haul of just six is a derisory total for a club with designs on promotion.

The poor points haul began at St Andrews, where Norwich faced an in form Birmingham.

The Canaries gave a defiant perfonnance despite being reduced to I 0 men, escaping with a very creditable point from a goalless draw.

Confident City will have been confident ahead of their next away trip at the Stadium of Light, where mnaway leaders Sunderland awaited.

Last season, orwich were the first team to win at the new arena, as Daryl Sutch 's deflected shot secured a 1-0 triumph.

The score wa. reversed this time however, as Kevin Phillips' strike for the Rokermen edged them nearer the Premiership.

A thriller was in store in midweek as relegation-threatened Port Vale visited Norfolk.

After trailing 3-1, Norwich 's fightback to 3-3 was in vain as a late goal for Vale stole a 4-3 win.

Things got even worse for City fans as Bradford hit four past the Canaries at Valley Parade, with the only reply being an !wan Roberts.

Frustrate The following Saturday, Portsmouth became the next opponents to fmstrate City's efforts to return to winning ways, in a game which saw few openings a goalless draw was inevitable.

Another draw followed at the plush McAlpine Stadium, home of Huddersfield, who like City, have suffered a dip in form in 1999.

Norwich had goalkeeper Andy Marshall dismi sed early on, leaving Daryl Sutch with the task of protecting the posts for 80 minutes.

Minutes after Marshall's departure, Dare! Russell shot Norwich in front.

City held out until late on, but their rearguard was breached by on-loan Paul Hughe-.· own goal. ext at Carrow Road were the cash strapped, but resurgent , Crystal Palace.

Defender Dean Austin, unpaid for a month. pinched the points with a goal for the South Londoners.

Deadline-day captures, Paul Dalglish and Philip Mulryne made their debut on the Easter Monday clash at Grimsby.

Immaculate And Mulryne made it Norwich's seventh success of the season away from home with an immaculate free kick.

Sky TV were present at Carrow Road six days later, as Norwich looked to complete the double over arch-rivals Ipswich in the heated derby. Chances again went begging but a draw was a fair reflection of the contest.

Last Saturday Norwich made the trip to the Manor Ground in order to face relegation -threatened Oxford United.

And the Canaries added to their troubles by recording a magnificent 4-2 victory thanks to a resounding team performance bringing them

Volatile Coventry boss Gorden Strachen is facing another rap after branding the FA 'communists'.

The outburst followed a £1000 fine for the controversial manager after he encroached upon the field at Stamford Bridge and used "industrial language".

Following the decision, Strachen said, "I am advised not to talk about it. In the land of free speech you are seemingly not allowed to speak your mind."

"The communist state of the FA decrees. Do not speak against us or you will be in trouble".

From maul to brawl The Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield rematch could take place in Britain after all if promoter Frank Maloney gets his way.

Maloney is proposing to stage the contest in the new 72,500 seater Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The much anticipated clash is proposed for November 17, the day after the rugby World Cup final takes place in the

bad, to .winning way-..

City fell behind in the 29th minute, but replied immediately with a picturesque lob from Frenchman Cedric Anselin. orwich took the lead in the second half thanks to goals from !wan Roberts and Craig Fleming.

And although United's substitute Kevin Francis had Canary hearts racing after a 77th minute goal, Craig Bellamy got a fourth to seal the victory for orwich.

CITY STAYS PWDLGSPt 7. Watford 8. Shelf. Utd. 9. Norwich 10. Huddersfd 11 . C. Palace

4319 44 17 44 14 44 f5 4414

1311 13 14 17 13 14 15 1515

60 67 60 60 56

70 64 59 59 57

NORWICH CITY TOP SCORERS lwan Roberts: 22 Craig Bellamy: 19

THE TROUBLED people of Kosovo will be £200 better off thanks to the gruelling efforts of a UEA student.

Dm id Fustt•r l ;T 21 raiwd the mnnl'~ tal, in:,: pat·t in the Flora Lundun 'laratlwn un Sunda~.

'J(

milt•s. hut un•·•· I n·adwd till' 2:! milt• mart,. 111~ ft•t·t ht·::;m tu lh•l liht• lt·;ul. "llutlhl' ma"iH• snppurt uf lht· <Tmnl kt·pt llll' ::uin:: tu linish till' l":.ll' l ':·

Support Fuqt·r had nn,tllTl'ssfull~ a pplit-d tu nm tht• maratiwn fur tht· pa't 1\Ht ~t·ars . hut it "a' third timt· hu· J.~ fur tlw liE.\

OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK

DIVISION ONE

Marathon man

,\11ril IX. It "a' far from l'a'~ nwm· ~ tiwu::h. 'inn· Fu,tt·r had unl.' hl't·n trainin:: li•r till' :!6.:! milt• l'\l'nl 'inn• Dt•n·mht·r.

Tht• studt·nt 1'0111 17 milt•' l'H'r~ \\l"l'h in prl'par;Jtiun fur Ulll' uf tht· tuu::ht•st ran·s in till' "urld - and lini,ht•d in tht· hi::hl~ l'l''P''l'lahlt• tinll' uf thrl'l' huut·, and ~~ tninull''· fit• l'UIIIIII l'nll'd. "lt \\a' fair!~ t• as~ ::uin:: fm· thl' lirst 17

-

studl'nl \\ hu \\a' dn1" n uut uf I ht• hat uut uf U\l'r a IIIU.nnn hupt-ful,, Tlw •·a•·•· ihdf "as a ::n·at sJHTl'" fur dmrit it•s all UH'r tht· \\ nrld \\ ith a sum hdit·H·d tu ht• \\t•ll intn thl' millinn' hl'in:: raiw1l.

Tht· mar.1thun "as """ h~ uuhidt· hl'l El .\ lnu;uiz. \\ hu lini,IJl•d in l\\u huurs and 'l'\l'n minutt•s.

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26 Sport

Concrete Wednesday, April 28 1999

VILLAGE GOES

BUST

.

_

IN AN unexpected move the popular Nowich Sports Village has been forced to call in th e receivers.

Desp ite its s uccess , the debt s of its ailing paren t compa ny have mea nt that rece ivers hi p was t he on ly possibility for the Village.

A spokesperson for the Sports village said " lt is our parent company that has gone into receivership rather tha n t he Sports Vi llage itself."

As a result there is optimism for the future of the Sports Village which is one of t he most used leisure facilities in Norwich.

The Sports Village contains both a hotel and t he Aquapark, and students are some of the most freq uent users of the centre.

Representatives of the fac ility are adamant that there is no danger of the Village closing wit h the present situation being a period of limbo for the company.

All of the fac ilities are open to the public fo r use and noth ing has changed on the everyday ru nn ing of the Village. " Everything is ru nning as normal, we have got a number of buyers interested and are j ust waiting for developments" insisted the spokesperson.

Rowers resP-ectable finish at the Head of River

By NICK HENEGAN, Assistant Sports Editor

IT WAS all hands on deck for the UEA Boat Club over the Easter break as they took part in three important races, including both the men 's and women 's Head of the River Race .

The four and a quarter miles from Mortlake to P utney- the same route th at is used for the Universi ty Boat Race- is a stern test for any rower and gave the competi tors from EA every chance to prove the mse lves.

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The Women's Head of the Ri,cr Race took place on March 13 with senior and nov ice eig ht s rac ing for UEA, both fi nishing in respec tab le positions.

The men's squad competed in the Ki ngston River Race on the o;ame weekend. using it as pan of a warm up for the Mens Head of the R i\'er Race whic h was on the fo llow ing week.

Traffic However. the men's senior e ight's chances of success were dealt a blow befo re they C\e n hit the water, as lrafli c delays meant that they arrived late and had 10 start from the back of the field. autthisfailedtodampenthe cre\\ ·s spirits as some strong and controlled rowing saw them carve th ro ugh the rest of the fie ld to wi n

in a time of 12 minutes 50 seconds. beat ing many crews of a higher status.

The result put the UEA crew 36th overall out of a total field of 120.

The novice eight. which contained a number of oarsmen who were racing for the first time , also managed to pu t in a good perfo rma nce by finis hi ng 68 th overall.

Fresh from victory at Kingston the men's first eight had high hopes or finis hing in a commendable posi tion in the Head of the River Race o n March 27.

Talent The crew, who were compel ing in the BUSA Shield section for the Ist eights. rowed exceptionally to fi nish I 69th out of an immense and

form idab le field of -nO teams, consisting of a considerable amount of intematio nal talen t.

Talent Such was the qualil) of I he other teams that 1he ere\\ containing O lympic Gold Meda li sts Sieve Redgravc and Mauhew Pinsent were forced into second place.

The second eight also showed that they have co me a long \\ay by showing \\ell in the B USA seco nd eights competi tion fi nishi ng 36 1si. two minu tes be hind UEAs firs t eight.

The club's aucntion now turns to the BUSA regalia on May Ist whe re a number of crews are hoping for success.

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Sport 27

Concrete Wednesday, April 28 1999

UEA ski success UEA SKI Club returned home from Ski the British University Championships in Les Arc over Easter with huge optimism for the future after a promising performance.

The achievements of the Club were all the more impressive due to the fact that many were making their competition debuts.

Club President. Melissa Cannon. turned in the side's outstanding display. finishing a tremendous sixth out of a field of 94 in the individual Giant Slalom.

The team event also saw good perfom1ances with the women's squad exceeding all expectations, skiing consistently well to finish an impressive 15th.

As part of the team Giant Slalom event Melissa Cannon finished 13th, Julia Pearson 67th and Diana Fenton 70th out of a field of 89 while in the Slalom Pearson finished 48th and Fenton Sist.

However, the men's attempts to achieve the sufficient point~ total to gain a team placing was • hampered by the fact that they could only aiTord to enter three team member~ instead of four. meaning that if any of them failed to complete the course they would be automatically ineligible.

Unfortunately, only two competitors finished in both the Slalom and Giant Slalom.

But the two fmishers m the Slalom event Dominick Cerrninaro and Adam Bumpus did themselves proud finishing 35th and 40th respectively.

Con~idering the funding row that the Club experienced with the Union (see left) and the consequent ditliculty in entering a full squad. the ski club certainly seemed to have triumphed against the odds. "'It was an amazing performance from the team with first time competitors beating 20 or 30 other people" said Melissa, adding. "Next year we can do even better:·

SP-orts club funding row eruP-tS over ski club

By NICK HENEGAN

THE UEA ski club has launched a stinging attack on the Union, branding it 'elitist' and accusing it of stifling the development of smaller clubs by unfairly favouring established sports.

The broadside comes after five out of seven Ski Club entrants to the British University Ski Championships were forced to pay their own entry fees, because the Union did not believe they were up to a reasonable competition \tandard.

However. many of the UEA competllors finished in the top haiL a standing which Melissa Cannon. club president, believes more than justifies funding.

Guarantee "The Union told us that they would only fund entr} into the competition if we could guarantee that our squad members could show we'd finish well."

"110\~ can dubs possibly achieve success if they have to prove themselves successful before they 'can he funded . its ridiculous" stormed Melissa.

"The whole system is biased against smaller and newer sports," she added.

But Union Finance Oflicer. Neil Fox. hit back at the accusations. claiming that funding constraints meant the Union could only pay for so many competitor<•. "lt was unfortunate that we couldn't fund the ski club but the decision wa., made at the time" he said "We only have limited funds and we did enter two competitors."

And he denied that the current funding system restricted newer clubs from advancing. ''Clubs can gain experience through training

ii•t.ii:tUi

without having to enter fom1al compctittons - if they have experience they are more likely to gain in funding and re~pectable positions .competitions."

And although the Union reaffirmed it., commitment to a ·sport for all' poliq and denied any elitistism. eil admitted that problems can arise.

Support "We wanL to support excellence where it " shown but still pursue sport for all. but sometimes it is difficult to balance the two."

That still isn ' t enough for Ski Club President.

Melissa. though. who fumed. "The Union should adoP.t a funding policy which at least gives people a chance. the whole point of the Union is to give >tudents the chance to compete."

However. thanks to their performance at the Championships this year. it looks as though the S~i Club could receive more funding next year. " If this year they've pro\·ed themselves to do well then maybe next year we could enter more people," promised Neil.

Jubilee 0 UEA 1 I

HAVING ALREADY been crowned Gallpen league champions, UEA's mens first football team relaxed in their last game of the season against a very average looking Jubilee side.

The I - 0 victory, a fortnight ago, was immaterial to the university side. after they claimed the league championship for the second year in a row thanks to opposition losses during the Easter break.

In the lir<.t 45 minutes m:ither .,idc seemed willing to chase the game. and a tight defensive performance from LEA' > delcncc meant that Jubilee resorted to long distance shooting.

Thundered

goal. the mo\t notahle being "hen Stcvcn Bonnet threaded a ball through to Tom Pcarson. wlw thundered 111 a shot which was well saved by the ~ceper.

In fact. the Jubilee goal~ccper proved to he a consistent thorn in Ul:A's side. pulling off >omc nccllent stop-. to dcpri,·c the nivcr-.it) '>idc of a brea~through.

The re'>t of the period JXt\sctl fairly unc\cntfull) . \\ith LEA onl) getting a couple of glimpses at goal.

After the break 11 looked a-. if the gam.: \\Ould progrc" in a similar fa.,hion \\ ith neither -.ide mitiall) able to capitalise on mistakes and b11:ak the dcadlod.

But Tim Bamber linally managed to get the goal to cn.,urc the victory to end UEA's season.

A long cross from the left hy Ben Woods was met perfectly hy the head of Stc\cn Bonnot. and the keeper could only parr) the powerful header leavmg Bonnot free to head back across goal.

Heroics This time there was no heroics from the goalie as Bamber en·onlcssly headed into the bad of the net.

Juhilcl· responded \\ell to the goal though and piled the pressure on a solid ' EA defence.

But ULA ~ceper. Richard Cnl1ier. held linn "ith an c cellcnt displa} hct\~ccn the ticb . a all the more performance commendable considering he i'> normal!) thl' side ' s first choice striker.

Jubilee had one Ia·.t ch.111ce tn get hack into the game alter the) won a penalty 111 the la t I0 minutes , but it ""' blasted \\ idc ensuring U h \'s good defcthi\c record \\,Ls intau l.. I.: A managed l\l hold on for the linal \\ histlc making the end of the ....l!a...,on a "lltTl' ~'rul onl!

Fin.t learn Captain. Sean Righy said, " It was a pretty low-key game after knowing that we had already won the league.

"It's expected of us to win the league, but we know \\C\c worked hard for it." He added .

...,.,,,.

HIGHLIGHTS

job a'> 'tand-in ~ccpcr, keeping a clean shee for the linal a me.

Tim Bamber's goal was a breath of fresh air from a close and frustratino match .

.

'

THE MUCH awaited Sports Park currently under construction at UEA may become a centre of excellence helping to train England 's next generation of sporting stars if University bosses get their way.

Although Bedford has been named as the administrative centre for the Eastern regi on Keith Nicholls, Director of Physical Education and Sport, believes that this is only a tempora ry measure. " They are still looking for a permanent headquarters and we are arguing that that w e will have the best facilities so we are making a bid for the Sports Park to be the headquarters," he explained.

Tom Thompson suffering fin al disappointment

Nurturing

Tennis team succumb to St. Marys in Shield final UEA'S HOPES of lifting more BUSA silverware were dashed in March as the mens tenn is team crashed to defeat in the Shield final against St Marys College, Univers ity of London.

The St. Mary's 'ide. which contained a number or players used to compet ing in tennis satellite tournam.:nb, imprcss.:d from the -.tan at th<.: final in Loughborough Univcr-.it).

UEA 's Tom Thompson was unable to impose himself on his opponent . going do\\ n 6-2 in the first set.

The second set followed in much the same \\a). 11 11h Thompsnn <llli) able to 'claim 1110 games thanks to his opponents mistakes.

Both players seemed shocked at their opponellls fautless displa;s. each losing 6-0.

6-.1 after failing to come to grips \\ ith the long and length) rallies.

Disappointment

snuation. Jng" Thcusinger restored both pmk illlU hope to the teams perfonnance \\ ilh a remarkable ellort 111 the l11sl sc'l. outcla-.. ... ing. hi" opponenl 111 C\ l'r) "a:.

11 tlllllllg the set 6 0.

!her,· \\as also dtsaJ'J1<lilltlllellt fot Zicrckc and Tll<Hl1as \lathaL' in ihL' ..,1ng.k ..... ~Lithias

Pride

The second set saw Theusinger conti nue to play some astonishing tennis as he forced his opponent to cover al l area-. of the court before winning the match 6-0. 6:l.

But the tie was left in absoloute tatters for UEA ''hen Zierde and Matt he\\ Dodds lost in straight sets to their superb opponents.

In the doubles. Thethinger once again sho\\ed his superb form alongside Thomas \lathac. as the~ matched ihL' St. 1\br) ·s pair all through the match ''hi eh lead to a final set tic-break.

Fatigue But In this time ihL' L 1: \

ullnhtno~li"n

match ''as lost and the final conceded b) 5-1.

Strong Such an emphatic defeat \\as a disappointing ''ay for CEA to end their impressi\C run. but the St. Mar) 's side \\Crc _just too strong and skilled for the Ub\ team to colllend \\it h.

Club president. Tom Thompsnn "lm \\as disheartened at the loss. cotnmentcd. "ll \\a~ a . . IL.lllll' to g~...·t ...,o L1r. and not gl't a result.

"Jlut th,· St. 1\l.Jr) ·s team arc an l'\l'L'Iknt 'iLk. and it \\a' ah\a~" going to be i(lugh to heal them. hut thL' squad ha\ c doll<' h1 d Iiallll) to gL'I so far. and \\ e arc

\\'ere -.hn\\ ing oh\ iou-. ..,1~11-. of r..uiguc. and

hop1ng for ('\en morL' 'ucc~...·-.. ...

some cruci,tl mistaJ..cs lllL'alll that the

he added.

nL'\1 )

('ar.··

With sports such as swimming, judo and badminton already expressing interest in nurturing talent here at UEA, Mr Nicholls believes it is only a matter of time before other sports approach the University. " The range of sports we can accommodate in the Sports Park is enormous so it is up to the governing bodies to say 'We want a squad in Eastern England, can you accommodate it?" ' he said.

The scheme would also mean top coaches coming to UEA , which it is hoped w ill boost student sporting ach ievement Said Mr Nicholls, " Student s will defi n itel y have acc ess to the c oac hes and they will be training alon gside el ite at h letes which I' m sure will inspire t hem. "

Success " Success here at UEA will raise the profile of the University and will attract other people who want to achieve," he added .

If the proposals go through at UEA there would be a number of top coaches who wou ld be based at the Sports Pa rk.

And 12 sportspeople would be sponsored by the ir ind ividua l sport ing bod ies t o tra in and study at UEA .

inside: tae·kwon·do club impress · page 26 ....football team claim title · page 27 ... canaries easter round-up · page 25 ..... scorecard · page 23