Concrete issue 172 26 01 2005

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UEAS AWARD-NOMINATED STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Issue 172 路 Wednesday. January 26'" 2005

THE ROLES OF MODERN WOMEN Centre Spread

BLOC PARTY GRADUATE PageS

ADAPTABLE KEVIN LOADER Page 7

FAULTY SWITCH RESULTS IN LOSS OF POWER FOR THE WHOLE CAMPUS Helen Pike News Editor UEA was plunged into darkness last Monday following a power cut that lasted all afternoon.

Lectures and work were thrown into disarray as the unprecedented loss of power caused upset and a little joy amongst lecturers. staff and students as UEA found out what it would be like to live without electricity.

Whilst the library was evacuated due to health and safety reasons. many lee-

t ures and seminars continued in the dark. mainly due to a misunderstanding of the situation. Much of the canlpus consequently could not function as normai. with all of the shops closing on the street. and the beer pumps in the pub and Hive out of operation. After 3pm lectures and seminars were cancelled as classes could not function in darkened rooms and soon after. both the catering block and the Union !louse were evacuated.

Due to bad weather most people went home. causing

major congestion problems in the car park and Bluebell Road .

The power cut lasted until 4pm . JUSt a" forthcom ing lectures had been can celled for the clay . The repercussions were "nly slight. and could have been much worse had the power cut continued throm(hout the night. The catenng blocks opetwd as normal later in the day_ as did the library. A disgruntled student told Concrete how he lost several hundred words of an essay that he had failed to save Co ntinued on page 2

INSANITY OF 'SLIM' SENATE Despite

efforts

by

Concrete to approach other

The reforms to Senate reported in the last issue of Concrete have caused many in the University community to voice their concerns about the proposals. Staff and students arc worried that the new structure. which drastically reduces the number of e lected representatives. cou ld seriously damage the right to self determination of some smaller schools.

utembers of faculty. until now the only people willing to go on the record against the changes have been Student Liaison rep for the AUT. Rupert Read. and Union Academic Officer Chris Ostrowski. Although one senior member of staff who was. presumably. con cerned about their job secu rity did respond to Concrete's request for a n opionion by saying that they ..... had not been in the posi lion long ...

But the potentially uncle mocratic structure of Senate has now prompted a number of staff to add to the voices of discontent. Such is the con cern. that Union Communications Officer.

Cat Lumb. has joined with Chris Ostrowski to ensure that the concerns of the Union are fu lly known to the Univer ity administration.

Everyone now awaits the report of the joint committee on gove r na nce. which meets on Ma rch 2"".

See Letters, Page 24

MAJOR UEAID DONATIONS EXTENSIVE UEA SUPPORT SHOWN TO ASIA AID Sarah S m ith In response to the Tsunami crisis the union is putting on several events to raise money for the cause. On Wednesday 26th January there will be collections and people will be selling black wristbands with all money go ing to the DEC. Th e ela te has been chosen to mark the one -month anniversary of

the disaster itself. lt is hoped that this reminder wi ll encourage people not to forget about the effects as the aftermath begins to fade from the media's view. The union is looking for volunteers to help with the collections and asks that anyone interested emails su.wel fare1J1uea.ac. uk.

On Friday 21st many Indonesian students from UEi\ ran an appeal for an organisation called

Indonesian Children Relief.

The group is he lping the chi ld vict ims of the Tsunami. They spent th e day selling Indonesian snacks to students and staff around campus and would like to thank everyone who contributed .

There are also plans for col lection boxes at future gigs and RAG will be using their pimps <tnd hos party to raise money for the appeal. On Continued on page 4

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2 co ncrete.new s@ uea .ac.uk

www.concrete-online.com Co ntinued from page one

NESTLEA RIVES ON CAMPUS EMOTIONS RUN HIGH DURING NESTLE DEBATE

Concrete

Wednesdov. Jm11W1-r 26 . 2005

another positive note th e box in th e Co ncrete office has taken donations equa lli ng £ 100. As well as this peo ple have been donating £5 via th eir bank acco un ts.

On the 19tll January th e offi cial reported dea th loll for U1 e As ian Ts u na mi d isaster hit 226.566. Indonesia th e wor t h it country reports that it has lost 166.320 people wh ilst Sri Lanka has reported having lost 38. 195 indi vidu als in U1 e disaste r.

T he la rge rise in lhe num bers from Indonesia came as ll1e country reclas if1ed it missing as d ead. ll is unl ikely that the true num ber of deaths will ever be known .

On Saturday 22nd J a nu a ry as part of th e fundra is ing effort 60.000 people a ttended a co ncert at lhe. Ca rdiff Millennium Stadium for a conce rt.

Artists involved included Keane. Snow Patrol. Eric Clapton. Craig David . Goldie Lookin· Cha in as well a

c lassica l music from Katl1eri ne J enkins and Aled Jones. Th e eve n t organ isers raised mo re than £1 m for l he cause.

This en orm ous sum will be added to th e a lready ph enomen al total of con tri butio ns made by peop le up and down th e country .

The Disasters Em e r ency Committee expects p ri vate co ntrib u tion from lh e British public lo rea ch £200111 .

Th e DEC has a l o broken a world reco rd in its fun dr a i ing.

Between 6. J6pm on 30Ul Decembe r and 6. 16pm 31st Decem ber the DEC wcbs ile took dona Lions total li ng £10.676.836.

U1e most money ever raised onli.ne in a 24 hour pe1·iod.

To the DEC alon e there have been 65 .000 donations made over th e inte rn el and l. 7m by phone.

The internet donations have nol been without their problems howeve r. On 21st January U1e DEC repo rted an attempted hack inlo its online payment page on New

Years Eve. Luckily the a ttempt was detected and re p01ied to colland Yard . A man has been arrested in co nn ection wiU1 lhe attempt.

However th e DEC is keen to rea s u re peo ple that n o money was actually s tolen and every pe nny don ated has reached the organ isation .

Although a iel is final ly reac hing mo t a reas the d is tribution effort has not been wil11out its proble ms. There are problem reach ing rural a reas t hro ugh lac k or destruction of roads and bridges. An othe r problem in Sri Lanka has been caused by le n ions between tl1e gover nme nt a nd Tan1i l Tigers rebels. who have protested tl1at rebel h e ld ar eas are not receiving lhe a id they need .

Negotiators are trying to set up a joint body to oversee the distribution of aid in the country. lt is hoped that ll1is would dispel Tamil suspicions lhal the government is hindering the now of aiel to these areas. accusations the gover nment deni es.

Continu ed fro m page one p1·ior to th e power c u!. "we were told to leave U1e li brary clu e to h ealth and safety reasons so l cou ldn"t make up for my lo t work until much later". Another student got stuck in a s pot of bother wh en ll1e power cut occurred in the middle of him laking a s howe r after th e gym .

Othe r students mad e l11 e most of the sudden afternoon off and weren't a t all bothered by the Ios of power. except U1e lack of alcohol. Two first year s tu dents we1·e notably happy a t th e o nset of a cancelled em ina r. confessing to Co n rete th at they hadn't prepared for it.

The effects of llle events on Monday co ntinu ed U1rough out U1 e week until th e following Mond ay morn ing. when tile whole campus was engaged willi a total s hutdown of power between 6:30 and 7:30am. Although at U1is time of day only those res iding on campus were affected. th e campus power upp ly was s witched to gen erator power in order lo minimise the a mount used by staff and students. increasing tfle risk of losing work and slowing clown the use of essential electrical products.

In an emai l sent to all UEA staff and students , Roger Bond, th e Director of l11e Estates an d Bu ildings Division a t UEA apologised

for the inconvenience and thanked U1ose at UEA for th eir patien ce. "lt has been esta blis hed that U1 e problem was ca used by a high voltage switch. (owned and managed by th e company EDF but located here at the Uni vers ity). trippi n g out whi ch resu lted in the isola tion of the power supply to the who le campu s". Mr Bond a dd ed that fu1ih er to investigation "the fault has been rectified" . which resulted in the need to ensue the total shutdown . Roger Bond continued by saying that "Estates & Bu ildings are working closely \vith EDF to investigate th e problem and minimise the risk of it happening again in lhe future".

Photo by Sarah Watson

Robin Smith

A debate was organised in Nelson ourt Common Room B on 13th January co ncerning the Nestle ban in Union run outlets. The speakers were a representative from Neslle (with PR adviser in tow) and a member of the Baby Mill A lion Group. The primary function of the debate was to allow Neslle to make a case as to why the ban on Nestle products on campus s hould encl.

Baby Milk Action would then respond to the points made by the Neslle representative.· llowever. 1he meeting did not run a smoothly as was first hoped . The d eba te was sched ul ed to begin at 6pm bulll1e e lle represen tative did not arrive until ten past.

She p1·o eeded to deliver a very slick presentation stating U1al whilst Neslle had in the pas t promoted th e ir baby mill to Third World countries as an allernalivc lo breas t-feeding. their practices ha d now changed . The cla im was ma de U1al Neslle now adhered rigidly to the code outlined by U1 e World

ll eal!h Organisation. This code bans aggressive marketing of baby milk formu la; prohibits pictures of infants on the packaging of the product; stops health care professional from being influenced . into suggesting that formula milk be given instead of breast milk in ea es where this is not necessary. and in general protects those in developing nations. The representative cla imed that Neslle was a vital employer in Third World ountries and that the company was beneficial in helping the economy in certain ountries.

After 40 minutes of this presen tation , th e audience grew restless a ncl clema nd ecl that Baby Milk Action be giv n a chance to respond.

As th e debate was scheduled to run only for an hour lliis left very li ttl e lime for lhe responde nt to put across her case. The Baby Mil k Action representative readily ad mitled I hat s he d id not h ave th e benefit of a huge PR su pporl. s he m ade a very favourable case for tile co ntinu atio n of a ba n on Neslle products on can1pus . She chal lenged llle idea that Nestle ha d

changed their practices sufficiently a nd stated tha t Neslle did not necessarily adhere rigidly to the WHO code. She a ls o mentioned a meeting in Swansea in which Nes tle refused to speak on the same bill a Baby Milk Action. This led the Nestle representative to interrupt and state lllat this claim was untrue.

Willl very liltlc lime le ft. it was dec ided that the debate would now a llow questions from the floor.

With many of those present feeling that Nestle had attempted to monopolise the discussion for tileir own persona l gain. the mood wa distinctively our. Questions were mainly ai med at the Nes Ue representative and it was clear that the majo ri ty of tile audience refused lo be lieve U1 e claims made in h er pre enta ti on. ll is clear til at this issue wi ll co n tinue to provoke controversy and high emotion .

For those interes ted in learning m ore on this matter there is a website devoted lo U1e issue. The address is www. babymil kaclion. or g.

There is a lso information on the Ne ll website.

PREMIER

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4 concretc.news @uea.ac .uk

www.concrete-online.com

Concrete

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ABITRARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF ACADEME THE CONFUSION ABOUT INCONSISTENT GRADING BETWEEN SCHOOLS

A Sedated Senate?

Since 1249, when Oxford University became the first university established in Britain, it has long been the tradition that the teachers of Academic establishments govern the institution through Democratic procedures. But this tradition is more than seven hundred years old. Recently, universities have had to keep up with the businesses around them. Lecturers are no longer allowed to sit around gathering dust and espousing the same theories that got them the initial position ; they are now required to prove their worth through research and publication. This and the increasingly inevitable move towartls Top- p Fees is a stark reminder that we live in a world governed no longer by the ideals of Academe, but by cold, hard, accountable cash. lt is in this climate that the changes to our senate have come about. And in this climate we have to question whether schools really should have a say in how they are governed ; subject, as they are, to the relentless drive toward profit. In this light, the role of the VC is more akin to that of a Managing Director, and the Heads of Department increasingly like Middle Managers (but without the obligatory acne).

But if the staff were to adopt such positions, then that would mean that students would be more akin to customers and, as customers, able to seek recompense for a faulty product - the degree they seek to earn. The drive towards profit means staff would spend more time on research and less with their students. This devalued approach to students could result in some disgruntled students claiming tuition fees back from a course that failed to meet their expectations.

Before going down this problematic road , it may be worth considering why the first university chose to govern itself democratically. As an academic institution, a university is supposed to reflect the very best a society can offer.

Independent from Government, it is a university's job to practice what it preaches, to absorb and employ any progress made by the intellectuals. Whether it is sustainable transport policies, or democratic governance, if a university won 't lead by example, then the consequences for society are dire.

Olly Haywood Deputy News Editor Students are beginning to s how con ce rn as th e chances of getting a first class degree could be further hindered for some by unreasona ble d eadline d emands and minimal teaching hours.

The chances of getting a first class degree at UEA is an issue which has recently been under scrutiny. and it seem s th at some schools in the University are making it less than easy for their students to do well.

Furthermore . it seems that policies on co urs ework deadlines and number of teaching hours per unit are anything but consistent.

The Un ivers ity's school of Allied Health Professionals (AHP) . for example. has rece ntly changed their policy to require students to s ubmit coursework at 10 . 15a m and

to award 0% if work is s ubmitted late without an official extension. This is com parable to more conventional policies s u c h as LLTs standard 5pm d eadline and 5% mark deduction per day late .

Such drastic regulations seem to also affect th e sco pe of academic aid offered to students. AHP pe rso nal tutors have been reported to not be allowed to h elp stu d ents with any aspect of academic work in the second a nd third year. incl uding qu eries about the content a nd structure of assignments. This appears to contradict the stud ents' hand book, which states "supervisors should be al lowed to advise tutees as to any aspect of th e course structure and content including issues of assess ment ".

Another issue of concern is of low numbers of teaching hours on so me courses.

Arts students seem to be the

most a ffe cted. wh o. on ave rage. h ave betwee n four and seven hours of co nt a ct time per week. This compares to a full time tabl e for so me science students. such as those in ENV. In addition. units in the School of History have recently been limited to 2 hours leaching per week to a llow tutors to "conduct their research more thoroughly" .

Th e dramatic difference in the number of teaching hours is said to be "related to the varying requirements of different degree subjects". with most arts students expected to do at least four hours a week private study per module. However, stu dents left with as little as tl1ree hours teaching a week in their final year have said th ey are beginning to feel "isolated a nd unsupported".

First-year arts stud ents who have recen tly switched from twenty hours of contact time per week wh en studying A-levels to just seven hours teaching time at Univers ity no doubt have some problems a djusting. A first-year student from LLT said tha t he found it difficult to fo cu s on his work with so little teaching time. 'Tve felt rather isolated with my academic work in that there has bee n little or no one-to -one contact with teaching staff and no -one to regularly monitor my progress" .

Some students h ave also questioned the u sefulness of the current role of academic advisers at UEA. In the majority of schools. advisers tend to have a ra ther passive role. with students being ex pec ted to make an appointment if and when th eir services are required .

This differs from th e role of a dvise rs at collegiate uni -

vc rs ities. s u ch as th e Unive rs ity of Ca mbrid ge. wh e re regul a r m ee tin gs between a dviser and s tud ent a re he ld to monitor a ca de m ic progress and help \vith assignments. A number of students questioned said they wou ld benefit greatly from such a service and say. "it wou ld be nice to know someone is loo king out for me".

Students from various schools have complained that some tutors can be diffi cu lt to co n tact and a re ofte n a lready overworked with add itiona l admini strative duties and research projects.

Low levels of academic s upport for students from certain University schools is said to affect different students in differe nt ways.

Some students may prefer to have less contact tim e and h ave_the flexibility to be a ble to do the majority of their work alone. Other students may be more dependant upon s upport from tutors and co ntinued aca d emic monitoring in order to achieve their full potential .

The preside nt of Universities UK h as sa id th a t t eaching times vary b etwee n different institu tions. and students sho uld be match ed with institu tions that are su ited to th eir learning styles before com ing to University. Professor lvor Crewe stressed. however. that it was important tha t students should be "pre pared to do some of their learning on their own initiative beca use when they leave univers ity they are not going to be s poon-fed but expected to do research and write projects".

AIRPORT EXPANSION SET FOR NORWICH HIGHER DEMAND INCREASES DESTINATIONS AND RENOVATIONS Helen Pike News Editor Extra demand at Norwich airport has resulted in a ÂŁ4 million plan to redevelop the terminal building.

Announced last week. the plans come at a time _ when estimated passenger numbers could shoot up from an average of 450.000 in 2004 to over 1 million in 2007. The bite-sized airport provides services by KLM and has recently started to provide services by Flybe and Air Wales. Des pite its s ize. Norwich a irport h as experie n ced a su rge in d emand . particularly in its services to Dublin and Card iff. and pla ns a re und e rway to introdu ce fli ghts to Belfast. Jersey.

Glasgow and Edinburgh la ter in th e year.

The plans h ave no doubt been proposed in line with an overall strategy to improve Norwich's reputation as an attractive city to tourists. The managing director of Norwich Inte rn ationa l.

Richard J enner. hopes that this redeve lopment will help to reduce con gestion levels that h ave started to rise due to increasing d emand . include an Details extended baggage hall. improved baggage-handling facilities and new chec k-in facilities . There will also be improved catering facilities and more retail outlets .

The eA--tra fli ght services to be introd u ced this year are just the first of a s tring of destinations to b e implem e nted in the n ext few years. Within the UK this includes Exeter. Liverpool.

Newcastle and Southampton. For those

stud ents who can't resist a mini-brea k away. destina tions like France. Portugal and Spain will be considered in the development.

This exten s ion of servic-

es is llie biggest th e airport has seen in years a nd wilT allow businesses. students and tourists an easier way to travel about Europe.

12 concrete.features@uea.ac.uk

Cotcrett Wednesday, January 26"', 2005

www.concrete-online.com

Opinion BRYAN DAVIES

BANDS OF NO AID o the early contender for fashion item of 2005 appears to be wristbands of varying colours, which can be seen adorning the arms of the yowtg and trendy, many of whom are wtaware of their true charitable meanings (Lance who?). I say fashion item of 2005, despite their origins rooting back to early last year.

The first bands to be issued were cyclist Lance Armstrong's yellow 'Livestrong' bands in aid of his own testicular cancer charity, himself having beaten the disease before going on to win five consecutive Tour De France titles. They were a huge success in America, selling for a dollar each and being champione d by celebrities and politicians. They reache d England in the summer and the wrist band craze has truly take n off from there. The yellow bands have spawned a number of imitations by other charitable causes.

S

MATT CANTOR

this is poetry oetry: an intimid ating word for many of us. Personally, it makes me think of old men rubbing their chins and pondering deeply, beyond the realm of thought that any normal person can hope to achieve.

Poets have it all figured out. They're so darn profowtd. They're so smart that they have to say things in this indecipherable code they call a poem.

Or so we think.

I am here today to expose poetry to the world; or at least to those of you who read this article. It's not so hard to wtderstand. The first secret I will reveal is this: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Every poem ever written is simply a rearrangement of those 26 letters! If you're Emily Dickinson, you just figure out really cool ways to organize those letters. Unfortwtately, you're probably not Emily Dickinson, as she's no longer living. But never

P

ROSS GRAINGER

RICE-A-MOAN EY wrote in this colwnn in November that George W. Bush's re-election would mean more of the same from the man who once asked Charlotte Church what state Wales was in more lies, more stupidity, more death. Everything that happened between his re-election and his inauguration on Thursday (the overlyelaborate ceremony in which he officially becomes President for a second term) has made me stick with my original, albeit hate-filled prediction: more of the same.

One thing in particular has led me to this conclusion: Bush's new cabinet, specifically the most important position in the cabinet, Secretary of State. The man who held this position during Bush's first term was

I

Before I get on my soapbox, I should admit to owning a 'Livestrong' band, as well as a blue Radio One 'Beat Bullying' band. However I should emphasis both were purchased in good faith, as charitable gestures as opposed to fashion items, as both campaigns have my support.

Such bands are a technically a good idea, as they, in theory at least, raise awareness and funds for charities and campaigns. My main problem with them is that -they have effectively reached saturation point, whereby arguably the majority of people wearing them h ave no true idea of their meanings or origins.

Using the 'Livestrong' bands as the most popular and obvious example, b ands which were once relatively rare and m e aningful h ave now b ecome b ig }?usiness, with Armstrong's cance r charity the loser.

A typical night on the town or at an LCR reveals that as many as a third of all people are wearing the yellow bands, and I would wager that at least fifty per cent of those don't realise their true meaning . Most would certainly not b e aware of who Lance Armstrong is or what he h as achieved. I would also suggest most

bought theirs on Ebay or through an equivalent source, which is surely morally corrupt as it denies money to the charity and gives the profits to greedy mercenaries selling them for ridiculous sums of money. Perhaps the problem is that to buy them officially off Armstrong's website, they can only be purchased in packs of ten or more. But surely even then people could buy a pack (which would only cost ten dollars after all) and distribute them amongst friends and family.

I am pleased to report that I bought mine back in the summer from Nike Town in Oxford Circus, which at the time was the only official retailer of the bands in England.

fear. Just read on.

Poems also often are arranged rhythmically. One popular rhythmic set-up is iambic p entameter. It consists of ten syllables , with accents on every other syllable , like this, from Shakespeare: a ROSE as SWEET as THEE was NEver SEEN. too BAD you LOOK like A bizARRE string BEAN. Iambic pentameter is just one of many different rhythmic schemes.

More recently, we have seen examples of more complex schemes. Take this example from the Compleat Works of Jay-Z: give me that FUNK that SWEET that NASTy that GOOSHy stuff This line contains more syllables than iambic pentameter does and the accents are less regular, creating an element of surprise that makes the poet's work more interesting.

However, many poems, especially more recent ones, do not have regular rhythm at all, per se, and are therefore deeper. They do not rhyme and often deal with dark, sad, or scary subjects, which makes them even more profowtd. Many deepthinking, depressed teenagers are familiar with this category. An examplepoem:

Black Black is my mind Like a black Iabrador retriever Darkne ss circles my heart As !lie I wait I wait and I cry and I die I'm dead.

Studying the above poem, we can learn that the poet is very upset about something.

In this category, too, fall the poems that aren't really poems but are actually simply prose paragraphs wherein the poet pressed "enter" a lot, so that there are line divisions:

Colin Powell, an intelligent, dedicated politician widely regarded as the most moderate (read sane) member of Bush's administration. He was the saving grace of Bush's first-term administration, the pretty flower that grows from a pile of elephant dwtg.

When Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz were clamouring for an invasion of Iraq, Powell was the calming voice that wanted more times for the weapons inspectors and actually treated war as a last resort.

Powell always said he intended to only serve one-term, but I'm not so sure. I think he was simply fed up with the people he had to deal with and the fact that his calming, usually correct views were not listened to.

Bush should have done everything he could to keep Powell in his administration, but just for a change he failed. And when it came time to name a replacement, he failed again.

'More of the same' doesn't just mean the same policies and beliefs, it also means the same people.

During Bush's first term he and his

administration were likened to " a blind man in a room full of deaf people." He had too many people telling him to do the wrong things, and not enough people like Powell telling him otherwise. So rather than p ick someone new, someone who isn't tainted by the lies of Iraq and who wasn't part of the apocalyptic first term team, as Colin Powe ll's successor Bush chose Condoleezza Rice.

st I am still very much in vour of and a supporter of Armstrong's campaign, I am now somewhat reluctant to wear my yellow band as they have been to tally devalued in my eyes. They have even become something of a 'chav' acce ssory. What is the point of some of these people purporting to be supporting charity when in reality they aren't charitable people at all?

At the end of the day the majority of people purchasing and wearing the

Course Unit Catalogue by f. g. witherspoon spring term An introduction the the structure and function of macromolecules from the perspective of their physical properties.

Topics include protein and nucleic acid structure enzyme kinetics and equilibria

nee you get over the fact that Rice is the first black female to hold this vital position, you realise that her appointment is not new, forward-thinking or brave on Bush's part.

50-year-old Rice, to b e fair to her, grew up in very tough circumstances. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1954" under the blanket of segregation. Racism was a part of her everyday life, something so common she barely noticed it.

She came to prominence when she joined Bush's administration in 2001 as National Security AdVlsor.

0

yellow bands are buying them from Ebay, which totally defeats the object and denies much needed money to Armstrong's charity. One could argue that the wearing of the bands offers crucial exposure for the charity, but when the majority of people are wtaware of the charity, what 's the point?

The recent 'beat bullying' bands craze is another interesting case which highlights how the whole bands phenomenon is becoming slightly ridiculous. When they were first lawtched in December we were treated to a number of reports that bullying on school playgrowtds had actually increased due to kids wearing the bands. They have become objects of desire and derision amongst the school fra ternity at whom they are primarily targeted.

The bullying bands were only available for a couple of weeks, and have subsequently become very rare and sought after, more so than the 'Livestrong' ones, for the time being at least. As such they are becoming items of high value. A recent check of Ebay revealed the cheapest ones are going for arowtd e ight powtds. Whilst Radio One issued the bands free of

and thermodynamic properties. o many the above would be simply a course description for a Biological Sciences course, but to the discerning eye it is a poem waiting to happen. Note the use of lowercase initials in th e author's name. This , again, suggests that the poet is a profowtd thinker, too profowtd for normal grammar.

Now you wtd erstand the basics of a few types of poems. Let's end by taking what we've learned and using it to analyze a final poem.

A world of strangers A stranger of worlds On top of old smokey So take my money But take my hand A shortcut through A foreign land And pay my rent But help me through Roses are red, But violets are blue.

In the first two lines, the poet clearly feels disillusioned with his world. The first line implies dissatisfaction with the outer world, while the second implies that the author is an extra-terrestrial. The following line makes reference to a folk song, and the poet probably placed it there

T

But she wouldn't be a true Bushite without some connection to an oil company. During the 90s she was on the board of directors for the Chevron Corporation, and at one point had an oil tanker named after her (it was later changed to Altair Voyager).

During her first nine months as National Security Advisor she really should have done some more advising, something like, 'Mr. President, al qaeda are planning an attack.' But she didn't, and that planned attack came to fruition, resulting in nearly 3000 deaths. Luckily, though, America decided to get behind the President and his administration with no questions asked, rather than asking 'er, didn't anyone see this coming?'

And what kind of advising did she do during the build up to the War in Iraq? Exactly the kind of advising Bush wanted to hear, I'd imagine. Since she didn't have the personal connections to Bush that Cheney and Rumsfeld enjoy, she was just another yes-man, reeling off the

charge, again it seems morally wrong to be paying so dramatically over the odds for a little piece of fashion. if the people buying these bands really supported the cause, surely they could simply give a donation to an anti-bullying charity? Whilst celebrities and footballets such as Steven Gerrard and Andy Johnson continue to wear their bands, demand will grow and the wristband craze will continue to develop. With Oxfam recently re leasing poverty related bands, and soon to be released Kick Racism Out Of Football bands, the charitable posturing looks set to continue, but the question has to be whether the whole thing will start to eat itself and become pointless, as the charitable aspects of the b a nds become more and more devalue d .

Like charity ribbons and badges before them, eventually these bands will become old hat, and the majority of the wearers will continue to contribute nothing to charity. There 's nothing wrong with trying to look cool or keep up with fashion, but if you want to wear a charity related item, at le ast have some knowledge about the meaning of what you are wearing.

to give a sense of down-home familiarity to an otherwise obtuse poem.

The next line is an obvious re ference to the pecuniary difficulties of poets, or of all artists. The speaker doesn't have much money, and he feels it was taken from him, perhaps when he chose this career. After all, he could have bee n a oil executive.

Thus, he is lashing out at himself for having become a p oet when he could have b een rich. Following this, he asks the object of the poem to "take his hand"-the poet was an avid poker player, and wanted someone to have a look at his winning hand, a royal flush. "A shortcut through a foreign land" refers to the French and Indian War, during which one soldier fowtd an easy way to get through unfamiliar territory. The poet was deeply inspired by this-he tried to take shortcuts through his work as much as possible. "Pay my rent/ but help me through" means exactly what it says.

The final two lines may suggest that the poet was reflecting on traditional love poetry, which is in stark contrast with this poem; the contrast is emphasized by the inclusion of the traditional "roses are red ... " Or else maybe he just wanted to add something cute to finish the poem.

necessary lies without a ilicker of guilt. She claimed that there was a connection between Iraq, al qaeda and 9/11, and she said with utter certainty that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and that he was an imminent threat that had to be eliminated with a war.

As usual the Democrats put up a feeble effort to get her nomination blocked, but, as has been the story in the last three elections, they failed. In her Senate confirmation hearing she was grilled for two days about her role during the first term, but when it came time to vote she won confirmation by 16-2. The two Senators who voted against her were Barbara Boxer of California, and perhaps predictably, John Kerry of Massachusetts.

So she's now the Secretary of State. Apart from the President, she is the most important and, on paper at least, the most powerful member of the administration. She's third in line for the Presidency should Bush and Dick somehow be eliminated, and that 's a scary thought.

Concrete

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concrete.news@uea.ac.uk 11

I TERNATIONAL STUDENTS FIT IN WELL SURVEY REVEALS UEA INTERNATIONALS AREEASILY INTEGRATED INTO CAMPUS LIFE Helen Pike News Editor

and Naclia Bennich International Ed itor A recent sun•ey carried out by kcosa. the Cou ncil for International Ed u ca ti on r evea led that int ernati on al students exp et·ien ce clilTi cul ties in m aking Brit i sh friends.

5000 internati onal high er education s t udenls were intervi ewed and the m ain argument concerning their difficulties was th e Bri t ish drinking culture. sa id to b e o n e of the obstacl es to soc i alising with fellow British students.

The report state s that nearly three -quarters of post - ~raduate and over half of under-gr aduate international students h ave no Ul{ fri ends.

In this light. Concrete inten'iewed seve ral intern ational students at the UEA to co mment on the Ukcosa·s s urvey. The ove rall r esult showed that students h er e lend to feel we ll integra ted. describing UEA as a great and welcoming em'ironmenl to st udy. M or eover. tho se int en •iewed feel well support ed by UE:A s taff and consider them and British stu dents to be polite. nexible and tolerant.

The po s itive re spon se stud ents ~ave was marred by the l~1cl that they agree t h at it's difficult to m ake a nd ho ld onto l3rit is h fri end s .

The main r eason given as a barrier to social integr at ion was the langu age and cu l ture barrier h i nder i ng communica tion. St uclents from English spea kin g countries find it easi er to make ft·iends whilst foreign tongues find it challenging to speak in a n o ther langu age.

One E:nglish student at UEA felt that whilst h er intern ational class mates arc fri endly. "they seem r ath er reserved and shy to talk olhenvise".

Overseas stud ents find it

easier to socia li se with other intern at ional stud ents given that th ey arc in the same situation by being far away from home. One internal ion al student currently studying at UEA a t-g u cd that internation al stud ents w ho are used to foreign environ ment s have the l east difficulties in making British friends. "''m so used t o b ein g in foreign environments that making friends of differ en t nationaliti es h as become second nature". The one factor that appears to b e unan imous among stud ents is that the well r en owne d ·drinking cu lture in Britain is one that put s others off

soei a lising in th e sa m e group . This is r eOeeted in the national survey. whe r e studen ts find our drinking ac tivitie s a "banier to social integr ation". A co mmon difficulty felt by international students was th e a14e gap in halls of residence . They m·e often signi fica ntly older than their housemates who have ju st anived at univer sity. and th e difference in priority to work al so b ecom es a hindrance in m aking friend s.

This socia l alienation is felt just as much on th e other side of the spectrum. llom e students fell ju st as unce rtain of internatio nal s tudents ' soci al activities.

w ith some com plaining that international students made limited efforts to integrate with the rest of the univet-si ly. choosing instead to slay w ith o th ers their own nationality.

Th e effort s m ade by the Union of UEA stud en t s to integrate international stu dents w ith h ome studen t s through a r e co ntinu ous societies a nd events in I h e LC R. U p comi n g events in c lud e th e Internatio n al Pa rty on 2nd M arch. and the celebration of C hinese New Year on 9th February. in addition t o constant attention towards religious festivals.

TRAVEL SAFE: KNOW YOUR CABBIE DON'T RISK YOUR LIFE USING AN UNLICENSED TAXI Jane Douglas

If you're visio n is this blurry when you come out of the pub you hould be even more ca refu l to fi nd safe transport to take you home.

Each year over 200 women are sexually assa ult by t<L'<i drivers in London alon e. The vast m ajori ty of these a ttack s are co mmitt ed by illegal minicab dtivers. who are not vetted and often h ave previou s criminal co nviction s.

Th e universit y sec urity t eam is r eminding students. parti c ul a rly t ho se visiting who may not be fa miliar with the situation . of th e cl angers of u sing unlicen sed ca b s known as ·touts·.

Only licensed black cabs are legally p ermitt ed to pi ck up customers from tlw streets. all minicabs must be b ook ed either by telephon e or by going to th e taxi co m -

l<•J~[II ~ ~ i ~ I

pany's office. By getting into an un-licensed minicab you ri s k b eing assa ulted or h aving your possessions sto len. not to mention the fa et that the car may be un-roadworthy a nd/or n ot ins ured. Men a r e a lso a t risk from illegal mini cab drivers as th ere are m any reported cases of muggi ngs each year. i llegal min icab drivers also often c harge ex totiionate fares.

When ge ttin g into a mini ab: • Check that th e driver h as an ID b adge with a ph oto: h e wi ll not mind if you ring th e co mpany to ve t·ify h is identi ty. car type or registration.

• Check that the dri ve r know s yo ur n a me . th ey should ask for your n am e when you t-ing up. i f not h e should at least know your destination .

• Check that th e ca b is from

the firm you called.

• Make sure the ca b h as a license.

• Always sit in the back as you are less likely to be assa ulted.

• A re al minica b usually has a radio and a m eter .

• If yo u have a serious problem with a driver. take the license p late number a nd report it to th e police.

Black cabs: • Have vehi c le licen s ing. usually on t he number p late.

In London alone 18 sexual assau lts ar e committed by tax.i drivers every month: however thi s figure may be gm ssly under -es timat ed as those wome n m any of attacked are t oo frighten ed or ash am ed to report the assau lt to th e police. So n ext tim e you ju st want to b e warm a nd co mfo rtable . r em ember that waiting ten

minutes for the bus or a licensed cab could m ea n th at y our life is not ruined.

Black cabs usually wail outside nightclubs and catJ also b e found. eluting the day and in th e evening. in th e taxi rank outside Tesco E:xpress in the Market Place.

Th e number 25 bu s also runs unti l l ate and stops very near 'Mercy·. opposite KF . If the r e's trans port available k eep walking down Prince of Wa les Road .

Th er e's a taxi office located on the right. just after the train station. which i s usually open and provides seatin g for p eopl e waiting for tax is.

Some l ocal r egi ste r ed minica b firms: ABC: 01 6 03 666333.

Beeline: 01603 767676. Do l phin: 01603 6 33333. 5 sta r: 0 I 603 455555. Best way: 01603 666666.

VACANCIES FOR THE 2005/2006 ACADEMIC YEAR

~======================~====================~

Applications are 1nv1ted for the position of Editor, Concrete, tor the period September 2005 to June 2006.

The _position is open only to cu rren t students at 1110 Universi ty of East Angl ia, NoN11ch. and may be taken as a year-out during a degree (in tercalation) or directly after graduation.

The successful applicant need not l1ave prev1ously been Involved in the production of Concrete. but must be able to demonstate the following skills· • • • • • • •

Good organ1sat1onal and plannmg ablility Excellent grammar and editi ng skills Team leadershrp qualitieS Abrl ity to admrnistrate the needs of the Concrete Sociejy Good desi gn skill s !us1ng OuarkXpress and AdobePhotoshop) Knowledg e of pnnt production tecl1111ques A fam 1l ianty w1th med1a advertis ing sales Ci os1 ng date for applications: 11th February 2005

App licati ons are invited for the posit1on of Di stribution Man ager, Concrete. for the period September 2005 - June 2006.

Th e role mvolves·co-ordinating the distnbution of the paper once a fortnight during te rm-time .

This position is open to any studen t at UEA You will need to be h1ghly reliable and display t11e follow111g sklls: •Excellent organisational ability and team leaderShip qualities •A full . clean . dnv1ng l1cesne.

A compe titive Salary IS pa1d on comp letion of delivery Cto smg date for applica tions . 18th Marc h 2005

Applications are mvi ted for the positions of Advert1s1ng Sales People for the 2005106 Academic year.

Thts pos1hon 1s open to any Student at UEA. You wou ld be requ1 red to wo rk with existing cus tome rs and attract new ones by ra ising the profile of the paper in th e local and nat1onal adve rtising market.

You Will need excellent, demonstrable , communication skills and prev1ous sates experience would be an advan tage You wil l neecl to be dedicated to the financial well-being of the paper. while still being considerate to the student audience and the mterests of the Union A drivmg license would be an advantage.

Excellent rate of commiSSIOn (potential mm 1mum of £'200 per 1ssu e) p111d on all secured adverts .

Closrng date for applications 1str r,1arch 2005

10 concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

Coacnte Wednesday, January 26' , 2005

www.concrete-online.com

B SH INAUGURATE AGAIN I

BUSH SPEECH OUTLINES EXPANSION OF THE 'AXIS OF EVIr AND PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ••• Sam Webber Political Editor George Walker Bush was sworn in as President of the United States of America for the second time on the 20'" January. lt is certainly an appropriate time to reflect on his 1st term and also to look ahead to what his 2nd term might bring. He made it apparent immediately after the election that he had gained "political capital" with the unexpectedly clear result and that he intended to spend this in his second term.

Bush's inauguration speech focused mainly on promoting freedom and democracy acro~s the world: "Freedom, by its nature. must be chosen and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities" he declared. Liberation is something he sees as his greatest achievement so far, having brought an end to the tyrannical regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and bringing about the beginning of democratic governance.

Bush also called for a healing of the divisions caused

by the military action in Iraq, which had threatened to lose him the White House .

As the elections in Iraq rapidly approach, President Bush insisted that there would be no fix and that only the Iraqis themselves will decide who forms the first democratic government in that country for 50 years. saying "America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling".

Those in the US and elsewhere who are not content with the often radical policies that Bush promises, such as outlawing abortion. will have been disturbed by his continued strong stance on this issue. He said in his speech: "Americans. at our best. value the life we see ih one another and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth" .

It is widely acknowledged that much of his electoral support is from right wing Evangelical Christians in the US. Banning gay marriage and abortion would certainly be something of a reward for these crucial supporters. if not altogether in keeping with America's record in promoting freedom of the indi.vidual.

This is not the best indication that George Bush's second term in office will be less radical, although there had been no mention of the controversial idea to prohibit gay marriages as part of the constitution and many political commentators are wondering if he will now ignore this particular electoral movement.

Tony Blair. who may also face re-election in a matter of months. needs George Bush on side to help him in plans such as the new deal for Africa and upcoming climate change initiatives .

Many commentators are also wondering whether Bush will throw himself into resolving the Palestinian Israeli situation which Bill Clinton came so close to doing in his second term.

Some fear that Bush and his new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - will extend the 'Axis of Evil' to other regimes. like those in Zimbabwe.

Iran.

Cuba, Belarus, Burma and North Korea, as well as the previously speculated Iran.

It would certainly be risky for Bush to do this as public support for action in Iraq is already close to turn-

YOU ARE WHERE YOU LIVE POSTCODES MATTER AS MUCH AS SCHOOL CiRADES Jessica Fielder Education Editor The government would like to think that University is becoming more accessible to all. lt is Tony Blair's intention that by 2010, fifty percent of school leavers will move on into Higher Education. Yet new research shows that with only · five years to go. considerable progress is still required if this target is to be met. The report. from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) states that in 2000 about 30o/o of eighteen year olds went to

University. At the current time it is estimated that 43o/o of 18 - 30 year olds either have been. or still are. at University.

The most shocking part of this report, however, centres more specifically on University entry of pupils from different regions of the country. For example, it is fifty per cent more likely for teenagers from London to go to University than it Is for those in the north-east.

Without increasing applicants from poorer areas, it will be virtually impossible to meet the government's targets. Therefore. the question over the coming year

will focus on the elimination of up-front tuition fees in September 2006 to improve the situation. The alternative is that young people continue to be put off by the prospect of paying back the cost of their university tuition over the years following graduation .

The report also revealed some other interesting statistics. Apparently, girls are 18% more likely to go to University than boys.

Perhaps more intriguing still is the finding that pup ils born in September are 20o/o more likely to go on into Higher Education than those born in August.

---------------------------,.

_,.,.,- <: :"• ••

ing. Anymore US military personnel returning home in body bags could cause some serious embarrassment so early on in a new Presidential term. Others would certainly want to

question the objectives for further military action as 'regime change· in itself is not sufficient to legalise conflict.

The coming mont11s will prove very interesting indeed

as George W Bush. free from the worries of re-election. puts his stamp on America and the wider world in this somewhat unforeseen second term in office.

STUDEN AID CHRISTIAN CHARITY NEED STUDENT REPS Laura Palmer

The international development agency Christian Aid is seeking stu dents to take part in their new scheme called Pressurepolnts.

Christian Aid Is a collection of churches in the UK and Ireland concerned with global politics, particularly the relations between rich and poor countries. The agency works in more than fifty countries across the world and with over six hundred local organisations. irrespective of religion.

Under the scheme. students will be paid £5 an hour and will be expected to commit around six to eight hours a week throughout an academic year (students will be expected to commit less around exam time to compensate for work, and more in the run up to a major event).

Christian Aid Student Representatives will raise awareness of development issues and the work of Christian Aid. Student representatives will receive training, a personal mentor, access to Chr istian Aid resources. a free subscription to a magazine of their choice from a selection that includes New Internationalist and Ethical

Consumer. and an annual budget of up to £200 to organise events.

Christian Aid says they are looking for 'enthusiastic. politically aware individuals who believe th at global poverty is unjust and preventable'. Such campaigns focus directly on welfare issues vital to society.

Student Representatives will campaign on issues such as Vote for Trade Justice, a national effort to implement changes in current trade law. and Hrv I AiDS . which · is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa and is becoming a large problem in other countries in Asia and Eastern Europe.

Christian Aid give examples of planned activities that Student Representatives will take part in which include club/band/comedy evenings. Such evenings have a focused theme to raise money for Christian Aid and an artistic project called 'Thinking positive'. which is based on the idea of memory books to raise awareness if Hrv I AIDS issues.

Student Representatives will also be asked to promote Christian Aid events, carry out research among fellow students. and inform student societies and course tutors about the Christian

Aid resources that are available, through workshops and presentations.

The Reps' personal mentor will help devise a plan for the year to ensure that targets and workloads are realistic.

Patrick Dawes, higher education officer at Christian Aid says "This is a great opportunity for students who are interested in development or campaigning as a career after university, or who are simply interested in global issues. They will gain valuable work experience, get paid and come out with a reference from one of the UK's leading overseas development agencies at the end of the year."

There are also positions available for students who want to get involved with Christian Aid's work but cannot commit to a full year's program of activities.

This can be in the form of voluntary Project Organisers. The position is not a paid one but students will still receive support. training and an events budget so rewards are still rife.

The Pressurepoints scheme is initially looking for fifteen students across the UK. For more information and an application form, please e-mail students@christian-aid.org

Concrete

www.concrete-online.com

Wednesda\'. January 26''. 2005

concrete.news@ uea.ac .u k

9

MP LECTURE ON HOPES FOR UNIS NORWICH NORTH MP SPEAKS OUT ABOUT IMPORTANCE OF GRADUATESAND HIS CONTINUED FEARS OVER TOP UP FEES Katharine Clemow De p u ty Edito r Friday 21st saw lan Gibson.

No nvich North MP giving a n ope n lec ture a t UEA o utlin ing his thoughts on the way th e Government s hou ld c h a n ge its a ttitude to g rad u a tes. He s poke passionately a bout th e important place un ivers ity gra duates s hou ld a nd co u ld take in th e develo pment of thi s country. He was ve h em ently opposed to the Hi gh er Education Bi ll believing th at Top Up Fees would be the end of equal o pportunities fm· pros pec tive Briti s h stude n ts.

The Bi ll went throug h in June but by only five votes.

On Friday Gibson was s ti ll saying how "bitterly, bitler ly disappointed" h e was by what h e terms the ·rank betrayal' of th e MP who e ith e r swapped sides o r a bstained in th e las t te n m inutes be fore t h e r es u lt was cleciclccl. Ha d th e House of Co mmon s voted against it he says there wou ld h ave been a real change in th e way th e Government a nd the

co untry as a who le would have viewed h ighe r edu cation . and g ra du a tes.

He says it 'could have bee n really a mazing a nd h elped to open up the de ba te.· As to th e future of st u d ent applications to univer s iti es and th e involvement of g ra duates in research and development. particularly in science wh ich is h is main interest. h e says th at a n ew kind of elitis m will a rise. In t h e run up to the vote on U1e Bill the Government worked hard to convince people that fees would begin a t and stay around U1e three tho usand pounds a year mark . lt was w idely acknow ledged t h at t hi s wou ld no t be th e case for long with th e top h a ndfu l of unive rs iti es eve ntu a lly charging as much as ten thousand a year.

Gibson was highly scep ti cal of the ·gu a rantees· a t th e time and is now s ure th er e will b e b ig in creases sayin g people ·n eed to be more realisti c' and th a t only those students from weal tl1y backgrounds wou ld be able to afford to s tudy at degree level.

The MP is h eavily involved in findin g o ut what

unive rs ities n eed to h e lp th em work at optimum levels

to serve th e interests of both th e students a nd U1 e \vicler co m m u ni ty.

He is so m ewh a t co ntra di ctory in th inking that unive rs ities s h ould b e open to people of a ll ages. backg round s and abi lities: but by bein g derisory of th e ·gam es· that are played to get people into these institutio ns. He cites as examp les th e mu ltiinte r est d egr ees s u ch as Music a nd Astron o my t ha t are en co uraging people who don't h ave a clear direction in mind to s tudy at a hig her level rather than go in g straight into wo rk.

The Freed o m of Informa tio n Act fi g ures h ighly in Gib so n·s hopes fo r the British peo p le. He ad mits tha t the majority of the population is not that inte rested in the lates t a d vances in nan o-technology but he does th ink it's im por tant that when it comes to issues that a ffect u s a ll . s u ch as researc h into th e MMR vac cine . peo ple have access to j ourna ls detailing scientific fact rath er than fo rm in g their op inio n s off th e back of tab loid n ewspape rs.

Tha t G ib o n . a busy MP with a lot o n his p late. takes the lime to vi s it UEA to give a lec ture on what is h a ppe n ing \vith hig h er edu ca ti on and wh at he thinks s hould ch ange (even just to say h ow liltle he thinks of some of the main playe rs in the educati on debate) a nd answe r their questions. says a great deal a bout hi s co mm itment to th e issue and h is pa rt in th e s truggle th a t's al1eacl fo r a ll those wanting to pursue their s tudi es in wh a teve r fi e ld . lt s hou ld also reassure s tud en ts that while th e fi ght against Top Up Fees was lost there is a community of MPs that cares about th e future for young people a nd wants to make it possible for every one interested to h ave the opportun ity to study in we ll equ ipped. exciting institu tions that are committed to a high quality of both teaching and resea rch where the m a in focu s is 'getting c rea ti vity and inte ll ectu a lis m into people. · G ibson lives in Nof\vich and worked at UEA for 32 years. h e was m a d e an Hon o rary Profes o r in 2003.

CHANGE IN CHILD CONTACT lAWS J u liet Harris Legal Editor Moth e rs who do n 't a llow fa th e1·s to see th eir child ren . despite ord ers imposed by th e courts. cou ld be forced to do community work . be electron ical ly tagged or. pe rh aps. even face j a il u nder n ew Gove r nm ent proposals.

But J u dges a re relu c tant to imp rison pa ren ts fo r b reach ing co ntact o rd ers as th ey feel it might b e h armful to th e chil dren.

Pa r ental contact with childre n h as been th e s ubj ect of widespread and fie rce d ebate in rece nt li m es. as shown by the hig h -profile "Fa the rs4Ju s lice" campaign.

Lord Fa lconer (the Constitutional Affa irs S ecr e tary a nd the m an largely r es pon s ib le fo r th e proposals) d en ied that th e proposa ls were the Gove r n m en t' s pa ni cked r es pon se to this: "There n eeds to b e c h ange a n d t h e re n eeds to be re form beca u se th e sys tem is not wo rking. n ot because of a campaign of civi l disobedi en ce. Th ere is an agen da for real re fo r m and a most profo und acce p ta n ce th at in very many cases U1e system is n ot wo r king at t h e mome nt" .

Despite t h e emphasis on possible pun is hment for di s obed ient pa re nts. the proposa ls large ly a im to preve nt

PAIN IN THE ARTS

parental disputes ove r chil dren from co ming to cou rt in the first place. Conversely. th e co urt s are a lso given powers to interven e before di s putes become irrecon c il ab le. Co urts are empowered to se nd pare n ts to m ediation and are encou r aged to co m e up witll the ir own pa renting pla n s. This is 1·e fi ected by th e changing role of social workers. defin ed by th e Children an d Family Court Adv isory a nd Support S ervice (CafCa~?s) . wh o h ave towa rd s w ri li n g m oved re ports for court hearings. h elping parents reac h agreem e n t and foll owing cases throu gh to make s ure th ese a re fulfi lled . lt is hoped that th e hea r -

ing process is also improved so t h a t a case is heard quicker. and by the same judge. a ll th e way throug h the process. This wo u ld give the courts a grea ter under s ta n d in g o f th e c irc um stances of t h at individua l case a nd wou ld hope fu lly resu lt in a more coherent a nd workab le solution for llie children con ce rned .

It is th e fo c u s on negotiated solutions . rath er than immed iate e n force ment. w hi ch h as d isa ppo in te d g roups ca mpa ig n ing fo r "fathe r's righ ts". John lsson from Fat h e rs 4Ju s t ice described th e pr oposals as "d is a ppointing" a nd J im Parton. of Fa mili es Need Fa thers. criti cised ministers

for not making mediation co mpulsory.

Tony Coe. President of the Equal Parenting Co un cil said "there needs to be a s t a tutory presumpti on in ou r law U1at u p holds th e c hil d's righ t to continu e to be parented by both pare nts. unless e ithe r pare nt is proved unfit". In th e past courts fo cused on each ind ividual s itu at ion before d eciding what arrangem ents s ui ted th e n eeds of th e ch il d. lt m us t be rem embered that c hil d ren are the mo s t im po rtant priority w h en a r ela tions h ip b reaks clown a nd it is their needs, ra ther than parents "right s". that s hould take preced en ce over everything else.

Sallowfield Cottage Wat ll efield

ARTSSTUDENTSTOP ONLINE 'ANNOYING' SURVEY

Nr. Wymondham Norwich. Norfol k

Be d & Breakfas t Helen Pike News Edito r A s urvey conducted by on lin e insurer www. cov e I-4s t u cl en t s. eo m as ked 500 s tud e nts w ho the m ost annoying u nd e rgra du a tes were in the country .

Separat ed by subject. the sunrey concluded that m·t students we re in fact the most a nn oyin g. fo llowed

closely by media a nd drama students.

Art students h ave lo ng been m arred with th e s tereotype of lazy camp people with plenty of lime on t he ir h a nds. Accord in g to th e su r vey. the one factor that a nn oys stude nt s mo s t is their insistence that they are th e "next creative genius to be infringed upo n society".

Another · criticism that art students faced was their

"wacky" dress s ense. A firs t year student w h o under s tandab ly \vish ed to remain anonymous sug,_~este cl it was the fa ct that art st udcnts "aren't doing a real degree".

Bot tom of the pile were th o e who are studying busin ess . leisu re and touri s m .

The we bs ite added that the result s show that students are quick to make judgm ents . wh ilst revealing s tu dent opinion.

2 Doubles 1 Sin!-{le Room with P1·ivate Bath

Co ntact Carolinc Musker 01953 ()05086 07778 316616 caroline.musker(a t esco. net

8 concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

www.concrete-online.com

Coacrttl Wednesday, Janua ry 26", 2005

BRAVING THE ELEMENTS

TRANSPORT IDEAS A SUCCESS

HEAVY RAIN CAUSES LEAKS IN NEW EXTENSION

ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT IDEAS APPROVED Jeff Clayton

Helen Pike News Editor A UEA student has told Concrete of a number of leaks that have emerged in the new extension of the library.

The second year student who wishes to remain anonymous was working in the Library when some noisy drops disrupted her on the rainy Thursday last week.

On searching for the noise, the student found no more than three leaks along the ceiling and only just missing books on the aisle.

According to the student. it looked like the leaks had been there for a long while. as some water was evident on the carpet that had only been laid down some weeks before.

On notification of the leak. the librarian was evidently dismayed at the discovery of such leaks and reportedly said "you've got to be joking". The situation was dealt with by placing 3 bins underneath the leaks to prevent further damage to the carpet. The result, however. was an increase in the disruption in the first place through the echoing drops of

the water into the metal bins. Consequently a number of students. including the one who reported the situation. left the area in search of a quieter place to study.

This type of disruption is one of many that the library has faced over the past year.

Although the end of the dis ruption will see a new section to the library in which a large amount of the university's revenue has been invested. it is concerning to hear of imperfections that are already surfacing in what is meant to be a peaceful place to study.

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2 weeks only

stocktake

clearance

A meeting held on Monday 17th January to discuss alternatives to the UEA's proposed construction of a multi-storey car park has been deemed a success.

Students. staff and outside bodies were invited to the event hosted by the Sustainable Transport Action Group [STAG]. to consider how the estimated £12m cost of the car park could be better spent.

Present at the meeting were members of the City and County Councils. bus companies. regional transport groups and entrepreneurs successfully engaged in proj ects such as sales of electric cars.

Rupert Read. a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and a City Councillor for the Green Party explained the nature of the problem: "We feel the powers-that-be must work together to make it possible for UEA to solve its transport problems . By considering everything much more closely. and instead of building an unsustainable car park. groups can work together to achieve their real long-term goals."

The main worry voiced was that the new car park would similarly reach maximum capacity eventually . when other opportunities to solve the crisis will have been ignored. Beth Brockett. a student who is the main force behind the establishment of STAG, argues that the University would be sensible to allocate money to more innovative schemes.

"With an Environmental Sciences department that ranks among the best in the country. there should be no reason for this University not to produce any exciting ideas. It is disappointing to see UEA try to build its way

out of this problem."

Norfolk County Council received its Local Transport Capital Expenditure Settlement in December. in which more than £29.3m was allocated for the period 2005/6 - £9.7m of which has been specifically designated for integrated transport solutions.

But the County Council is already active In this domain. The "Park & Ride" bus project continues with the City's sixth site opentng at the All I A4 7 Thickthorn roundabout in March . This will coincide with the start of a new contracts system for all P&R services - that has been won by First. Konect and NCC - for which brand new buses that conform to the latest EU Emissions Standards will be introduced. Talk of such facilities extended into possible "Park & Cycle" facilities at Thickthorn. which would establish another link to the

University. This was considered as a feasible alternative to the proposed Hospital & Research Park Access Road project. for which the County Council's bid for funding has been rejected .

The Norwich & Norfolk Transport Action Group was represented by Denise Carlo. who comments: "We must harness positive ideas to formulate a sustainable plan for the Norwich area. We condemn unsustainable projects such as the Northern Distributor Road. which would create a link between the Watton Road (B 1108) and the A4 7. in turn generating more traffic.

"Everyone must act now to work out how best to take greater advantage of existing resources. and we look forward to building upon the success of this meeting."

The University declined to attend the meeting. or to comment.

AWARD FOR UEA GRADUATE MA STUDENT SCOOPS PRIZE WITH NEW NOVEL Olly Haywood Deputy News Editor

half price avlngs across the store •

Former UEA student Susan Fletcher. was awarded the Whitbread First Novel Award earlier this month.

Up against some of the hottest books of 2004 and beating the favourite .

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susa.nna Clarke.

Ms Fletcher's book, Eve Green, was described by the

something different In store · London Street Norwich t 01603 660661 www.jaTOidthHtore.co.uk

panel, chaired by Sunday Times literary editor Caroline Gascoigne. as having a "luminous quality" .

The novel follows the

experiences of an eight-yearold girl who is sent to live an uncomfortable life in Wales after her mother dies.

Having graduated from York University with a BA in English .

Ms Fletcher enrolled on the prestigious Creative Writing MA course at UEA in 200 l.

Professor of the Creative Writing course Michele Roberts. who also has a new book, Reader: I Married Him, is thrilled with Susan's success and recognises the continuing success of many of UEA's Creative Writing graduates.

Also short-listed for the award was UEA student Panos Karnezis, with his

first novel The Maze.

Ms Fletcher is now a member of a highly regarded group of authors who have been awarded Whltbread priZes after being involved with UEA's Creative Writing course. Susan herself is said to accredit much of her success to the quality of the MA course itself and the motivational environment that it provided for her.

Ms Fletcher is currently up against the other four current category wi.n.ners of the Whitbread prize with a good · chance of winning the overall Book of the Year award. The wi.n.ner is due to be announced in London later this month .

Concrete

Wedne.wlav. .ltll/uarv 2fi'' . 2005

www.concrete-online.com

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk 7

GOVERNMENT WATER AID AS PART OF PLANS FOR AFRICA BRUCE LANKFORD OF UEA DEVELOPMENT STUDIES CONTRIBUTES TOWARDS TACKLING WORLD POVERTY Kevin Rowe

After the recent Tsunami disaster the peo ple of Brita in have become more acu tely aware of global poverty and s uffe rin g. 2005 is a vita l year vvith regards to tackling world poverty and a UEA academi c has been asked to play a key role in the task of bu ilding a strong and prosperous Africa which forms a la rge part of the world -wide issue.

Or Bruce Lankford. a se nior lec ture r in UEA's School of Developme nt Studies. has been asked to a id Tony Blair's Co mmission for Africa by writing a strategy for investment in irrigati on across Afri ca. His proposal. if adopted . wou ld c re ate 5 million new hectares of irrigation by 2015 to tackle th e prob lems th e Government has identifi ed.

Or Lan kford 's proposals may cost $2 billion per year but if s uccessful the change in the continent would be massively s ignificant.

Th e Commission for Africa was estab li s hed by Mr. Bla ir in February 2004 and has 17 com missioners . includin g the Ch a n ce llor Gordon Brown and Sir Bob

Geldolf. who was awarded an honorary d egree by UEA last year for his work on fa min e re lie f. The co mmissio n aims to add ress Africa's economic development during th e curre nt year. Gordon Brown has termed this the new "Marsha l! Plan" for Africa. s imila r to th a t u sed by the Un ite d States to rebuild postwa r Europe.

Or Lankford is a water resources expert a nd has 20 years experience of wo rking in irrigation in Africa an d As ia. Or Lankford's 27 page strategy provides a comprehens ive framework for inves tme nt but emph asises the need for peer review and cautious planning to ensu re proj ects. which may a ppear attrac tive and beneficial. a re not inappropriate ly s ited. designed or d eployed. Or Lan kford sa id : "I was hon ou red to be involved a nd felt I could address the task in keeping with th e vis ion for the Plan." Howeve r. he went on to eJo.."]J lain the diffi culties in th e hu ge tas k ahead. "But it is a frighteningly complicated task. lt is not just a question of d istr-ibuting the a iel and new tec hno logy - we must ope n our eyes to the long-term ri s ks as well. For examp le . a new irrigation scheme can deprive co mmu nities downstream of water.

Inevita bly. this ca n lead to co mpetitio n . con Oicl a nd possib le fa ilure of new schemes."

Or Lankford h as also heard news that the De partme nt for Inter n a ti on a l Development has agreed to a further two years funding of his river basin management research programme in southern Tanzania. Bringing the total funding to 拢787.000 over 6 year s. RIPARWIN (Raising Irrigation Productivity and Re leas ing Water F01路 Intersecto ral Needs) is a study of river basin management in a n envi ron ment typical of hi-seasonal subSaharan Africa.

This is where formal gove rn ance st ru ctures are relatively under -developed and the challenge is to s up ply and a lloca te water bet we en far mers. rura l poor people. the enviro n ment and for electricity ge n era ti on.

Prof Mi chae l Stocking. h ead of Developmen t Studies a t UEA said: "We a re totally committed to responding to the needs of the poores t d eve loping co un tri es. Bruce La nkford 's out standing research on making irrigation water access ible to small fa rmers in Africa is just one example of our initiatives world -wide."

UEA Reception Evening Whatever degree you' re working towards, be it Art or Science related, an exciting future awaits you at PricewaterhouseCoopers. To find out more about the opportumties on offer. visit our UEA Recept ion Evening: Wednesday 2nd February - 18:30 Conference Services Sports Park UEA, orwich NR4 7TJ.

To reserve a space visit the website below and go to the 'Courses and Events' section.

One f1rm. For all outstandin g graduates.

www.pwc.com/uk/careers/

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Cotcrtta Wednesday, January 26", 2005

TIME IS RIGHT FOR NORWICH'S WORLD OF ADVENTURES ACOKE BOYCOTT PROPOSAL SUGGESTS CITY BE PUT ON THE MAP OF UK ATTRACTIONS lsabel Dyson Further information about the effects of a Coca -Cola boycott has emerged recently. According to The Ecologist magazine the time is approprtate to make a boycott of Coca-Cola effective. The statistics suggest that for every person who doesn't buy a can of Coke. the company's shareholders could potentially lose £2.50.

The Investment activist website, KarambanQue calculates that in relevance to its share prtces, sales and market capital, Coca-Cola is very vulnerable to a boycott at this point in time. With shares at $41, sales at $20 billion and a market capital of $100 billion if shares fall 10%, KarambanQue's £500,000 base funding will make approximately £49,000 to support the campaigns of people affected by Coca-Cola.

As previously reported in Concrete, NUS Services Limited have been involved In a sertes of official meetings with Coca-Cola Enterprtses durtng the past year, In a bid to resolve issues of the Coca-Cola Enterprtses (CCE) group concerning workers in Colu mbia and inhabitants in India. The soft drink has already been subject to boycotts by vartous unions and student bodies in Ireland and the UK. The boycotts have come about after vartous allegations over the corporation's activities in developing countrtes. In India, CocaCola extracted up to 650,000 litres of local water for syrup production, despite three years of

drought and crop failure in the area. Tests also showed the level of toxins in cans of Coke sold in India were 30 times above the legal level and contained an entire daily recommended amount of calortes from sugar - 10 teaspoons.

Coca-Cola has also been accused of collaborating with paramilitary groups to remove union activists and workers from employment through intimidation and assassination.

The Columbian Solidartty Campaign (CSC) claims that a total of eight union leaders and numerous union members have been murdered through such practices.

Coca-Cola responded; "1be facts surrounding the murders simply do not support the outrageous allegations that the Coca-Cola Company conspired with the crtminals that committed these heinou s climes." In 2000 Coke was also forced to pay $19 million to black workers after being found guilty of racial discrtmination In its Atlanta Factortes.

However. NUSSL's boycott may be delayed from going ahead at UEA after Coca-Cola warned the Student Union of the commercial implications; CocaCola Enterprtses Ltd supplies all the bar equipment used on campus, as well as soft-drtnk vending machines, refrtgerators and a huge vartety of other drtnks. The Union would also lose out on a £500 pershop per-year display fee and the inability to participate In the Meal Deal at the UFO. However, the simple method of not buying a can of Coke could prove to have an immediate effect In the intervening time.

lsabel Dyson Plans are in motion to upgrade Norwich to a major tourtst attraction.

City tourist chiefs intend to employ the mastermind behind the London Eye and the reviver of the failed Millennium Dome to engineer a similar project for Norwich.

An Alton Towers-type theme park or a London Eyestyle Ferrts wheel, are thought to be likely contenders for tempting tourtsts back to the city. The newly formed organisation Visit Norwich Ltd , whose board includes David Eastwood. vice-chairman of UEA, have

held informal talks with P Y Gerbeau, the man responsi ble for the transformation of the Milennium Dome and Eurodisney.

Gerbeau's company, XLeisure own the Riverside complex In Norwich and are closely involved with the Castle Mall. Tourtsm comprtses a large area of employment in Norwich and Visit Norwich Ltd was formed to enhance the promotion of the city further through implementing new, enticing schemes as well as continuing the focus on the city's histortcal charm.

With the new Chaplefield shopping centre opening next autumn and the budget airline, Flybe flying from Norwich airport later in the

year, hopes are high for the expansion of Norwich's tourtst appeal. The executive member for tourtsm at Norwich City Council, Derek Wood, also plans to introduce trams to the city centre which will support the transportation of tourtsts to and from the Chaplefield, Cathedral a nd Riverside areas.

However, Mr Wood's crttics at City Hall are accusing him of loitertng on a "vanity project" and suggest that the new plans could stain the herttage of Norwich. Steve Morphew. leader of the Labour group reported to the EDP that: "We have got an incredibly attractive city. that's what people to come to look at - not a gartsh trashy

artefact."

Derek Wood argued : "1be loss of 10,000 jobs In engtneertng makes it absolutely obvious that the way forward is to make Norwich a big destination."

The recent boom in hotels with a planned 500 extra available rooms and the promoted status of Norwich City Football Club indicates that Norwich is gaining added attention from visitors. One Second Year SOC student said that the new plans are likely to be more beneficial rather than obstructive to the city: "If it brtngs jobs and a bit more excitement to Norwich then it can't be bad. There isn't a whole lot to do here if you are Visiting anyway."

Colcrete Wednesday. January 261•. 2005

www.concrete-online.com

concrete.features@uea.ac.uk 13

To For ive; Divine?

The Lord's Resistance Army has terrorised the people of Uganda for nearly 20 years, but despite the atrocities soldiers fl·eeing the rebel group are forgiven by villagers. Kate Wilkinson looks at the power of forgiveness and what it means for the people of the war-torn regions of Uganda. · hey abduct children, forcing them to kill, and sometimes even eat, their own families. They torture, rape, mutilate and murder; and yet many of the· Acholi people of Uganda are prepared to forgive them. Why? Because often they are members of their own families, and mostly they are children themselves. Uganda's rebel Lord Resistance Army (LRA) recruits its followers by kidnapping children from villages, initiating them through acts of violence, specifically designed to cause guilt and compliancy. 80% of LRA's estimated 12,000 troops are children aged 6 to 17.

The LRA is run by Joseph Koriy, who took over from his aunt Alice Lakwena, a mystic who

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ers take the pick of the girls for their wives.

Children who escape flee to centres set up by aid agencies, which try to eventually rehabilitate them or return them to their villages. Although communities' reactions vary, most have shown an enormous capacity to understand and forgive these children for the horrific crimes they have committed. In cleansing ceremonies, they step on a raw egg, a symbol of innocence for the Acholi people as it represents something that has life but is pure and has not yet been contaminated. Many children are welcomed back into their former homes or new villages, where communities do their best to help them come to terms with what they have done. In theory, the LRA is despised by the Acholi, who have lost their children, their homes, their land and their cattle to

Forgiving someone who has wronged us is one of the hardest things to do.

' launched a war against the Museveni's government in 1987. He claims to be fighting to liberate northern Uganda. He initially targeted troops but turned on civilians when the government sent civil militia after him. By recruiting children and terrorising them Into killing and terrorising others in turn, he has created an army of 'expendable' troops, from which he and his senior command-

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them. But the rebels are their children. How can they hate them?

We all have had situations where someone has wronged us. From the rude bus driver who didn't wait to the friend who betrayed us to the lover who rejected us. Sometimes forgiving someone who has wronged us is one of the hardest things to do. lt is often much easier to hate

and resent them, as this way we don't have to 'deal' with the situation. The problem with this is it hands that person the power. They will always have the ability to upset us, sometimes just by the sight of them or the mention of their name.

While they may now be in a happier situation we will still harbour bitter feelings towards them, tying up our energy in hating them, sometimes long after we've left them behind. Freud believed that we are born with what he called 'little soldiers' that we deploy throughout life against people who have harmed or mistreated us. If we use up our soldiers fighting ancient battles, we won't have any energy left to face new challenges and people. nother problem with not forgiving someone is that it doesn't allow ourselves to try and understand why he or she treated us badly. Instead we see tend to see them as a caricature of the bad way they've treated us, failing to catch the subtitles of their personality or the reasons for their behaviour. Often when p_eople are nasty it has more to do with their own problems and insecurities than it has to do with the person they are being nasty to. This of course is something that's said all the time and I'm sure you are sick of hearing it, but it's often very difficult to believe it. As caring people we ask whether it was our own fault that someone treated us badly, and although this is the right thing to do if we want to be selfaware, it can often lead us to take all the blame.

Many children and adults who are bullied think that it's because they're boring, or stupid, or ugly, or deserve it in some way. Instead of recognising that the bully may think they're boring, stupid, or ugly themselves and so are projecting this inse· curity onto someone else, the bullied party feels ashamed and humiliated. They then tend to harbour anger against this person for making them feel this way, often remembering it years after the bully has forgotten they said it. All of us sometimes behave badly and do things we may later wish we hadn't. Recognising this and forgiving someone for it doesn't mean we excuse what they did, but it is a constructive way for us to move on.

So how do we forgive someone? lt's not like there's a manual. Nelson Mandela famously forgave the people who had held him in captivity, by trying to understand the reasons for them doing what they did, and not .letting them win by harbouring resentment. He became so close to his jailer on Robin Island that the jailer resigned the same day Nelson was freed as a mark of respect.

But Mandela is an exceptional person and few of us are as magnanimous as him. lt's important to remember that we are all human and prone to anger and resentment, and it is important to allow ourselves time to grieve when someone has treated us badly. No-one can be dumped and then immediately think 'Oh that's alright, I

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see that they're confused and in the wrong place for a relationship right now, and I don'i want to harbour resentment so I'm going to throw a big party for them'. it's never that easy. But after the grieving is done it is important, for our own sake, to try and forgive the person, even if we never forget, by attempting to understand why they treated us this way. Even if we see that we will maybe never understand why someone behaved like they did, we can accept that there must be a reason for this behaviour, and that maybe given their life circumstances, we may have been tempted to do the same. Forgiving someone of course doesn't mean we have to be their best friend , it doesn't even mean we have to speak to or smile at them ever again. lt simply means we try to come to terms with how we've been treated and move on with our lives, rather than bottling up resentment and making ourselves miserable. This way we take the power; they no longer have anything to hold over us, and if they contin· ue to resent or dislike us, well, that's their prob· Iem. But what the Acholi people have done is something special. As difficult and upsetting as the problems in our society are, most pale by comparison to what the Acholi people have to

deal with. Imagine forgiving a child who had gruesomely murdered your family and forced other children to do the same. You might be tempted to think of them not as a child, but a demon, an incarnate of evil. That is what the British press regularly portray homicidal children as. They would have us believe that the 10 year olds in the Bulger Case were born pure evil, rather than addressing the flaws in our society, which contributed to these children doing a terrible thing.

Demonising doesn't help the culprits change their ways, and it certainly doesn't preveni the same thing happening again. lt's high time we changed this attitude, and what better source of inspiration than the Acholi people.

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.Coaaete Wednesday. January 26"

2005

Concrete Wednesdqy. Januarv 26t•. 2005

concrete.features@uea.ac.uk 15

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I'D RATHER ·SPEND MY TIME BOYCOTTING • • • • • • They lie, cheat and steal their way to massive profits, but their dirty secrets are secret no more. Concrete rakes through the muck of six corporate giants and exposes their disturbing secrets of their global success. They are stories of sweatshops, false advertising, pollution and greed. If ever a feature put us in danger of getting ·sued, it was this, and once you've finished reading there should be only one conclusi.on: boycott. ....

Parent company of

McDonalds

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manipulate children with its M11JP.rll•o::-• ing. 11 hooks them from an early Ross Grainger and, using it's annual advertisi budget of $2 billion, keeps hooked for life. And regarding Well, where to start? The mother shortcomings of such a diet, all fast-food restaurants began life Judge ruled that, "a diet high in 1955 after Raymond Kroc bought a burger restaurant from the broth(including saturated fat) and products, and low in fibre, Dick and Mac McDonald. Since over very many years, probably e first golden arches were erected lead to a very real risk of heart in Illinois in the Midwestern USA that the company has become the ease:' With this in mind, it's strange, food service organisation in not plain wrong for McDonalds world. In 1994 there wete 1.4,000 McDonalds in 70 countries. There are. sponsor sporting events such as now 31 ,000 restaurants in 119 counOlympics and the World Cup anger must be dealt equ employing more than 1.5 million McDonalds and the greedy people. lions that accept their money).

So, burger, fries and a coke at a are also one of the FA's five price - what's the problem? partners. This appalling co11tr<td1c:tlolnl you need an ~nswer to that, has been pointed out before in just the kind of customer paper, but it's worth re-iterating McDonalds want: hungry, poor and ignorant. Add 'young' and 'powerless' Having a global fast food giant sor athletic events like the n~t.•mn.if'<> l that list and you've also got and the World Cup is luu••t;rvu:;.

McDonalds' ideal employee, No corporation inllilti't the kind it is the glut of the golden in Britain and the world that angers loathing and activism that McDonalds does. And few companies , many people. Fly half-way around world to Sydney and there is have to deal with sornethlni as damnMcDonalds. They have McDonalds ing as Global And-McDonalds Day supermarkets, airports, near (16th of October). The golden arches Kremlin in Moscow and the more recognisable am~st chilthan the Christian cross - are a promise of quality fast-food or symbol of globalisation, greed and corporate malice. For many ifs increasingly the lat!fr.

You may recall 'the famous 1994 Mclibel case in Brit• U\ which McDonalds sued two Greenpeace '""'"v'~"" for handing out a damning in London called 'What's With McDonalds?' true anti-arches will tell you said In the ,.."'phlet, IM410dbldi!s does get its ):ieef from lcalltle 'tftzed'-on tand that-use<fto be that sufficient con~~Lm~ioo-~~foodat~~um and other ~.-In

Nestle

3,000 to 4,000 infants die eve day in these countries due · denied access to adeq Emma Chaloner breast milk and The World Health Organisation (WHO) Though the need for a Toffee that 1.5 million babies die from Lion Bar, Yorkie or even a diarrhoea as a result from of Cheerio's may be too being breastfed. Other statistics! to bear after a day spent show similar results, make sure your ethical takes temptation's recording that one baby every 30 seconds from Yes, Nestle has reared its head once more, for no spabottle feeding. boycott feature would be In countries where ""''"'t'1nt1 advertising of this brand ''"'mn'' "'" without its presence. that such a product is ">ntinr·~P.rl ''mastermind" behind products as L.:Oreal and by the healthcare system, skin-care ranges, with Nestle handing out free IKr.,.n<o.tnn Pickle, Perrier and Vittel pies, parents are finding they and all the way through to encouraged to bottle feed as Friskies cat food, Nestle is the seem& the "healthier'' alternative. multi-national company lt is of the utmost importance breastfeeding is promoted lon:>baibly best known for the conmuch as possible: a free, surrounding its global way of giving a baby the and aggressive campaign o( baby milk start to life.

There is also evidence Nestle has been involved with With the company controlling 40% of the baby milk powder military government in Bu it is this product it goes on (My~ar) . Nestle not only promote in many Third World es !Opull out of the country, but ntries. By doing so Nestle has pushing Its brand by linking create and encourage a wit~ women's groups in the where many are depentry In ()fder to send out free on Western products, some plies of breast milk substitute. which are simply unaffordable.

There is a light at the end vicious circle is thus formed, the tunnel. With the that is difficult to break. By of The free milk powder to Marketing wards in the Third Substi1utes the ..,._"""'"- "' newborn babies are routect all mothers ted. On leaving hospiina~attt~e~~~~~~=~~ brEi8SitfeEidirlQ is no longer an practice8. S for the mother as the infant tries have dependant on the bottle response to parents are forced to buy Code, but the lattl~jitiLIIt~lj. l of the product, a product jjA in some cases up to 50% C()lt a family's yearly income.

Add to this the water being to mak~Jo up the milk is often

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ld&t'lOEII'OtAS!Y cc--lted and

Coca Cola Matt Shoesmith Coca-Cola is a seemingly unavoidable brand. Their products are in almost every convenience supermarket, restaurant and Indeed, specific contracts, or vending machines often to make Coca-Cola products only option available to conHowever, an increasing numJnl\rP.r~m'~'"' Schools and other are boycotting Coke, as or ironically initialled Action Network (C.A.N.) on their website. This boycott is to the conditions of workers in the '"'"'"""'·"v'"' bottling plant in Colombia, specifically, to the alleged of lsidro Segundo Gil, a union by a gang of armed militants ly paid for by Coca-Cola.

11\U•eQ~~orv. On the twentieth of April Coca-Cola released a stateavailable for your perusal on website, saying, ''This is a pubtltunt. The allegations are false Ifs outrageous to believe that the Company would have lan.vth,ina to do with this type of behavlndeed, two court hearings the incident have failed to find

the mains pipe to their factory. In short, they were selling bottled water, a scheme previously

by Dell Boy in Only Fools and Horses.

However, even before the rRV<F!I>illnns l about Coca-Cola's cheeky were made, the water was more popular than, Springs; as the second most bottled water in America, Coke forced to write off the £7 million

calculated consumer rip-off doesn't improve the image of Coca-Cola company, and if anyth adds emphasis to the calls of who claim Coke to be an mP.thit~::.ll company.

And there's the simple matter Coke being unhealthy, something even the greatest PR worker disprove. it's brown, sugar water, packed for the most with ingredients the average has never heard of. lt might good at first, but dehydrates you the long run, fills your body with and fat, and, as many studies shown, rots your teeth.

Unfortunately, when trying devise a substitute for vvi,;CI·vv•a vast product range, the sumer faces a problem. One might be to switch to sur>errnarketl brand, or at least smaller drinks. However, it is difficult to sure whether or not these firms

Alyssa Morrisey In all actuality, naming all the reasons why you should not buy a cup of lacklustre American coffee fro m Starbucks could take ages, but here is something to tame your Frappaccino Though the website boasts a salary and benefits package its workers, healthy products, fairtrade coffee and corporate responsibility, Starbucks has turned out to be one of the largest corporate nightmares ever.

For starters, Starbucks does not serve fre,e trade coffee. Though the company joined the free trade band wagon years ago, claiming to pay its growers competitive wages, free trade coffee products are not served inside stores, making up less then one percent of total sales.

While corporate leader Howard Shultz cashed in at a record profit of over £1.5 million last year, coffee farmers in third world countries enjoyed a whopping 19 to 30 pounds per year.

On a budget of approximately 19p per of.coffee beans (down from preyears), it would take an Arabica farmer ages to buy one cup of v<C:OIUVv";;) coffee.

ries, while a Butterscotch Pecan Scone has over 500 calcries. Imagine if director Morgan Spurlock, of the film 'Super Size Me', had gone on a diet of McDonalds' burgers Eggnog Latte. One shutters to think.

Being a multi-national corporation, Starbucks has astoundingly predatory business practices. There are over 6000 locations of the popular fee shop world wide, and an ""0 '"nc• of three or more opening every Once the store has made its way into community, it finds creative means drowning out local competition, as paying off landlords to force coffee shops to close do·Nn, and veniently opening severe! store tions in one town.

While many Starbucks emplo•yeesJ claim to earn competitive wages impressive benefits. Starbucks will allow their employees to join a union.

Several employees camJ:algning for secure full-time status o~tion, teed hours, and increased raises have experienced tMiml<iatiOhl ·by company officials.

And the mother of ill te~~IOI~I every penny of Starburs"u~!'llt ·fiUI'II- 1 ports Zionism. Chairman been recognized by Ministry for his '"'''"ir•nfl~ promoting close United States and oured in 1998 by the Jt:mJ::>allt:HJl of Aish HaTorah, a fund 1hat Israeli military arms used in placement of Palestinians, Zionist propaganda website: Starbucks is

Wal Mart Matt Cantor Wai-Mart is a giant chain that pretty much everything at low prices- from CDs to clothing to gro: ceries. The company has grown since 1962 into, not only the biggest retailer the world, but the biggest company beating out Exxonmobil and General Electric. The chain consists of over

was forced to shrink from employees to 1,200 as the f'nrnn~·ni<>" l they supplied shrank or went seas.

Further, Wai-Mart is changing social atmosphere of towns. and Pop"· family-run small find it hard to survive under the petition, making once vibrant nities risk a sterile environment.

Mart stores tend to suck the cN'n"m-• ic and social life out of these towns, many of which whither and as a result," said the President of National Trust for H Preservation, Richard Moe, to New York Times. The Trust has put state of Vermont on its "P.nrl::.r,n">·r">rll"l list because of a rumoured P.xr,;:,n,o::innl of Wai-Mart there.

You might wonder if they can't jobs at their old companies, why workers just work for Wai-Mart? problem is that Wai-Mart seems care little ,about its employees, ing few healthcare benefits, with employees· turning to grams for insurance. According New York Times, a study discc•ver·edl that 10,000 children ofWai-Mart ers were covered under the ment's healthcare, which meant taxpayers were paying $10 year to support them. The Unive of California reported similar Full-time employees of Wai-Mart not receive health care coverage they have worked for six months at store, while part-time employees work for two years.

Wal Mart now owns the supermarket Asda so over few yeaNJ adS 'Always Lowering Prices' '~~.~~...:~ mented with animated smily rolling back prices) and ·the practice of setting up a mega without any regard for the mamflnOIInt footprint it stamps on the local munity.

Wai·Mart may be appealing for low cost to consumers- but the to workers and towns is much high.

we._

-

16 concrete.features@uea.ac.uk

www.concrete-online.com

Colatte Wednesday, January 26", 2005

;

A Different Kind of Cubism UEA has many famous alumni, but a celebrity walks among us. . Jeff Clayton talks to a fellow UEA student whose passion is for all things cubed...

u s t think to yourself for a moment, why you decided to come to instirution in Norwich. We, as University students, will all reflect upon our graduation, that the proverbial journey of a路thousand miles begins with a single step. lt will be an accomplishment of which we will all be forever proud. One man from nearby Gorlestonon-Sea is on his way to realising that dream, but a different tale of inspiration, ambition and dedication began two and a half years ago.

Dan Harris, 19, is a second year student reading Meteorology & Oceanography. His interests primarily revolve around sport, including pool and snooker, swimming, dance machines and - perhaps most notably for him - cycling.

Notable because a biking accident in April 2002 resulted in a badly broken jaw and it was during his stay in hospital that Dan found Rubik's Cube nestling in the bedside drawer. "I had a go, trying for ages to solve it though really thought nothing of it."

But once Dan was fit and well again, he toyed with a computer search engine to find out -more about the Cube. Points of interest included the Rubik's Cube actually having been invented in the 1970s by Erno Rubik, a Hungarian obsessed with 30 geometry, who started visualising his 30 cube in late 1974. Interestingly, it was a mathematician who brought the cube its first significant public attention outside of Hungary. David Singmaster found the mathematics of the cube engrossing. This led to an article and front c0ver picture of Rubik's cube appearing in Scientific American in 1979.

Dan discovered that an American 'Speedcuber' named Chris Hardwick once solved the 3x3x3 puzzle in 17.83 seconds. Initially unbelievable and surely untrue, Dan realised with some more research that it might just be possible. "I found a solution, learnt it, solved a Cub~. and it's worked ever since." He goes on to explain that "most people are quite happy to stop at knowing how to solve the Cube at a leisurely pace, but I want to work on my performance and improve my technique, because my aim is to be the best in the world!'

Dan does devote considerable time and effort to this cause -most recently he attended the 2004 European Rubik's Games Championships in

a

to share tips and advice for solving these puzzles with new people, just as those already involved in the game have. with him. "lt's mostly thanks to the interne! that I've progressed to wflere I am now, though I feel that Speedcubing has room to be an even greater success in the future." Features on local and national media further help ban's cause, including an appearance on the BBC's Blue Peter on Monday 19th October - the show's 46th birthday.

He has created his own website dedicated to his many ventures and conquests in Cubing.

On a visit to www.cubestation.co.uk, the viewer is greeted with a plethora of manoeuvres, challenges, profiles and videos. The site itself looks like a Rubik's Cube, and is a veritable pictorial and written diary of one young person's ever increasing accomplishments in the field of mathematics, logic and puzzles.

If you are interested in finding out more about the sport, you can get in touch with Dan by e-mail: dan@cubestation.co.uk. He promises not to go into too much detail too quickly!

Science in early August. The event, to which competitors from nations far and wide flocked, was organised by Ron van Bruchem, a Dutch speedcuber whom Dan has come to know through online networking. espite Dan's University course involving a lot of mathematics, he maintains that grasping the concept of speedcubing isn't as difficult as it sounds. "You don't have to be good at maths to be able to solve a Cube; you just need a good memory. For instance if you can learn how to play an instrument, then you can probably learn how to solve a Cube too."

Nonetheless, Dan proved in Amsterdam that his understanding of logic and patterns comes in useful, as his application of the most efficient methods in solving a Rubik's Cube earned him no fewer than six British national records. These include the first recorded instance of a 3x3x3 Cube being solved by a Brit in less than 20 seconds since its invention almost a quarter of a century ago. Dan completed that puzzle in 18.7 seconds.

He came away from the Netherlands ranked number 1 in the United Kingdom, 8th in Europe, and 13th in the world.

An undoubtedly impressive feat and one that anyone might happily walk away from krrowing that some phenomenally fast times have been set. Until, that is they hear of Shotaro Maklsumia young Japanese man who at an international tournament held in the spring this year, set the fastest 3x3x3 time in the world, at 12.11 seconds, a whole 6.59 seconds faster than Dan's British national record. The UEA student has a new challenge on his hands.

Although a competitive character, Dan is keen to continually promote the sport and also extend the Speedcubing community. He is eager

THE BIG. SIX: DAN'S BRITISH TI.TLES First recorded instance of a 3x3x3 Cube being solved by a Brit in less than 20 s路econds - 18.70s The Best Average Time in solving a 3x3x3 Cube 21.11s The Best Time in solving a 4x4x4 Cube - 116.82s The Best Average Time in solving a 4x4x4 Cube 130.92s The Best Time in solving a 5x5x5 Cube - 357.01 s Solving a 3x3x3 Cube in the Fewest Moves - 42.

Colntt Wednesday, January 26"', 2005

www.concrete-online.com

concrete.features@uea.ac.uk 17

The First Lady of Fash.ion After dismantling the swinging Sixties as a mythical construct on the course 'British Fiction of the 1960s', Tali Bees/ey, Victoria Brierley and Sarah Griffiths travelled to London to meet the fashion designer and sixties phenomenon Mary Quant. Expecting an enlightened artist, they found a paradoxical icon stuck in time. uddenly there's something surreal about the whole event. No one seems to mind the irony that the event is held in a museum, exhibiting Quant herself as a museum piece. Quant doesn't seem to mind this role, and keeps spooning up stories about the revolutionary sixties, while it is obvious that these stories are part of a popular mythology exposed as highly subjective.

Sure, the sixties were revolutionary in that many changes occurred simultaneously. But they were part of an ongoing historical process. And books such as Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange (1962), Ne// Dunn's Up the Junction, (1963) and Angela Carter's Several Perceptions (1968) predicted the downside of the booming consumer culture, the sexual revolution and the negative effects of the lashion industry on women's lives.

The evening reveals Quant also as a tragic figure: she actually believes the swinging sixties myth.

Like a scripted robot she talks of the unending parties, dancing and celebrities: 'We would work all day and dance all night.' Her tale contains hardly any hardships or nuance. Her sixties is a story she has told so often she thinks it's true.

No wonder she is stuck in time. Just as Suzie Mackenzie recently stated about Armani, Quant 'prefers to Uve smiling behind the walls of [her] reputation, securely hemmed in by [her] achievement.'

U She's complicit to this process. This becomes clear from the promotional films from the sixties Quant shows, revealing her as the willing participant in the mythification of herself. In the background looms the well-connected puppeteer Plunkett-Green.

Quant has become the victim of the very thing that brought her greatness: fashion . Asked what inspired her to make the miniskirt, Quant

S

he auditorium of the Museum of London has drawn a crowd of young women, fashion students and Mary Quant fans, all buzzing with anticipation to hear the icon reveal her secrets. Is it 1964?

Have we been transported back in time? No. Actually it's 2004, but with all the retro clothing you almost forget this.

'The Sixties was a complete revolution in art, music, fashion,' says Britain's first lady of fashion, who, to make sure we get the joke, has dressed up as Mary Quant. Besides the spectacles of nostalgia, she's wearing a modified version of the sharp geometric haircut given to her by Vidal Sassoon: the five point cut. Two intelligent eyes, still containing a sparkle of youth, are set in a sympathetic face.

Quant's enthusiasm for the age that she . helped create, and that created her, remains undiminished: 'lt was an unusual time. A fatal change happened in everything. But you can't have a revolution all the time. You want evolution.'

As part of the exhibition 'The London Look', currently on at the Museum of London, Quant takes us on a tour of her life and career. Quant, a Londoner, was born in

'swinging sixties', her work was anti-establishment. In 1966, she boldly stated that 'in this new Britain we belong to a kind of meritocracy. And whether you like it or not it is here to stay.' Mary was on a mission to take 'the snobbery out of fashion' . To tease London's City types, she used Harrods tweed to have Mr Curry (yep, an Indian immigrant) make women's suits called the "Bank of England". This outraged the double-breasted bowler hats.

Plunkett-Green and Quant were experts at promoting their merchandise. Waterproof mascara was marketed with a close-up of a crying woman and the text 'Cry, Baby.' This undercuts the stereotype of women as hysteric weepers, while keeping the idea they are not allowed to show their emotions in public. Quant explores this tension between rebellion and conform ism until this day.

You cannot but revere her as an artist, and she's clearly a sympathetic woman who unendingly tells anecdotes about fellow icons such as 'hair artist' Vidal Sassoon ('a brilliant genius') and David Bailey ('simply brilliant'), whose photos would make girls come alive. She has had an enduring influence on many designers; everyone

1934 · S~ewasanevac-''

Clothes, as writer Angela Carter says in her article 'Nothing Sacred', are many things at once: 'Our social shells; the system of signals with which we broadcast our intentions; often the projections of our fantasy selves ... Ciothes are our weapons, our challenges, our visible insults.' A similar philosophical take, as a defence against those rampaging feminists and the PC-police out there who vent at Quant for subjecting women to the male gaze, remains absent: 'I designed what I wanted to wear, and what my friends wanted to wear, for the kind of life that we led.'

Quant, who thinks of make-up as a means to sculpt the face, also admits: 'Vidal Sassoon created me.'

Ironically, this affirms what first lady of modern feminism, Simone de Beauvoir, said, in The Second Sex {1953): women are not simply born but created - by men.

Obviously, her intentions are good.

She tried to convert the male dominated fashion world, stating: 'A breast is not shaped like a tennis ball but like half a lemon.'

Ideally so, but in these days of silicone madness, the average breast is more likely to look like a stressed-out football.

The seIf -p roclaimed feminisi also created the highly embarrassing 'Daisy'doll, a supermodel with an "English Rose" face in a trailertrash style gingham skirt. Hardly ravelutionary.

She could even be held responsible for the installation of what Naomi Klein in No Logo calls branding: not only did the daisy become her trademark, she herself became a brand. Still adored in Japan, where she owned 200 Quant shops, Quant as Director of Mary Quant Ltd after a Japanese buyout in 2000. But perhaps this first female multinational is a good thing: And the Mary Quant we see 1s staged. But her performance is so good that it raises the question whether there actually is a real Mary Quant behind the facade.

In the meantime her passion for fashion remains undiminished, and she's excited about contemporary developments: 'We have now arrived at an exiting stage as well : the scene is extremely rich but also very complicated.' And a shimmer of the original Sixties spirit is detectable when Quant is asked what her advice is to young fashion designers: 'Do it yourself! it's the only way.'

Quant. .. •keeps spooning Up• Stories about the revolution-resigned • • • • ary SIXtieS, While lt IS ObVIOUS that these storieS are ' ' f · I h I d h. hI b. . part 0 a popu ar myt 0 ogy expose as IQ y su JeCtlve.

uee dunng the War, and • returned to London afterwards. Despite her working-class origi~s she was brought up 1n an intellectual and liberal milieu, and educated at Goldsmith's Design College, where she met her future husband, the upper-class Alexander Plunkett-Green.

'Everything was stuck,' she says, affirming the stereotype of the fifties as a decade during which nothing happened. They opened their first boutique, 'Bazaar', in Chelsea's the King's Road. it was 1955, Mary was 21 and Woman of the Year. The rest is history.

The exhibition leaves no doubt about Quant's significance. From the Regency dandy and the Burberry coat to punk and the new romantics, London has always produced a particular Zeitgeist. But it was Quant's style that was unique and aesthetically innovative. Like Giorglo Armani , also 70, Quant goes for simplicity: 'Simplicity is very powerful and opens up many different possibilities. And it can be very sexy.'

Despite being part of the upper-class elite that determined what we now conceive of as the

has worn something inspired by her.

Quant continues: 'Chelsea was our patch, the centre of our lives.' A restaurant, 'Alexander's' was opened under Bazaar: Mary was literally on top! it became a hit with A-list celebs such as Audrey Hepburn, Brlgitte Bardot and Grace Kelly.

Her logo - a daisy - was lodged firmly into the British psyche. Two years later a second boutique in Knightsbridge was opened. The American department store JC Penny asked her for designs which caused her commercial break. Clearly overwhelmed by the USA, Quant states: 'You can't say no to the Americans .'

After this, 'Mary Quant' became a growth industry and things became a bit bizar. She continued to successfully design clothes and makeup, but during the seventies branched off into insanely coloured carpets and upholstery, interior decorating, vitamin pills and a homE: ware range.

She even created a fashion doll , called Daisy.

grins cheekily, and states: 'Legs. I had good legs.'

More flesh exposed meant more power for women: they were in control of their bodies and sexuality. They could control men. As one of her working class south London girls says in Dunn's Up the Junction: 'Seduce me.'

But the sexualisation of society had its downsides. The question whether her miniskirts were just a new way to objectify women falls on deaf ears: 'I wouldn 't know what to say, because my skirts were empowering .'

According to the famous 1966 article in Time magazine that proclaimed London the "swinging city", 'a typical secretary or shop girl, earning $31 a week, will spend at least $17 of it on clothing , which leaves her with a cup of coffee for lunchbut happy.' Skipping lunch in order to fit into unaffordable mini skirts and tight clothes sported by hunger artist Twiggy would have been considered a bonus. So much for taking the snobbery out of fashion .

'The London Look: Fashion from Street to Catwalk' is on until 8 May 2005 at the Museum of London , London Wall , London , EC2 £5 Adult/£3 Cones For information: 020-08704443851 or www.museumoflondon .org .uk

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Concrete

\\ 'ednesda,路. Jtmw1n 26 . 2U05

CUTS HORT

FOR LIFE liVITHCJ .U T CO_N:CR.ETE

CAR PARK ALTERNATIVES Your move would li ke to focus you r attention to all the iss ues raised today in thi s iss ue. There are so many important campaigns and projects that need e ncourag1n g,

a nd

too

often

these group s are suffering at the hands of an apa thetic student body.

There are some truly dedicated people out th ere, giving a ll their free time to ma ke the changes they believe in. But it does not a lways requ ire this much effort.

at new Government legis latio n wil l soo n e nforce public bodies suc h as Uni versities and Hos p ital s to m eet tough sus taina bility targets which, when it comes li

cars coming onto ca mp us.

This suggestion was made by Professor Ti m O'R1ordan, a member of th e Government's Sustainabl e Developme nt he

look at alte rn atives to UEA' s proposed multi storey car park.

The meeting was organised by STAG (UEA's Sus tainable Tra nsport Act1on Group) and was attended by sixty five people representing various organisat ions a nd businesses including Norfo lk County Council , Norwich City Council , Firs t Eastern Buses , Angli an Buses, the University Bicycle Users' Group an d local residents gro up s.

Pro pon e nts o f tro lleybuses, supertrams a nd electric cars gave s hort presentations on how their technology could be used at U EA before Bus companies Anglia and First annou nced a wil lingn ess to work further with the University to encou rage public transport use, possibly in the form of greater ticket subsidies.

A numbe r of p ractical suggestions to Increase numbers cycling to U EA were also made , these included the prov1sion of more cycle facilities such as a dedicated 'cycle centre' to provide loan or hire faci lities, a cycle workshop to prov1de bas ic m a in te na nce and services, and a s ubstantial increase in cycle parking facilities.

The meeting was not attended by any of th e university body responsible for car lan. This has furt hered ain ts

about the way in which the project is being deve loped. When no one is rea d y to defend the position, it d oes not lend we1ght to their argument.

A further meeting strengthens the car park opposition - Jack Guest attended From the meeting a working party is to be set up to put alternative so lution s to the University administration before they dec1de whether to go ahead with the car park as planned in 2007.

Lets hope the University accepts a sustainab le alterna tive as I for one don 't actually want to put my moral appreciatiOn of 'direct acti on' into practice and thus ha ve to lie in front of a bu lld ozer, dig an e labora te un derground tunnel network or grow dread locks.

Re ad through Turf tod ay a nd

GM: SCANDAL AFTER SCANDAL

decide what it is th at yo u feel strongly about , and then ask yourse lf what it is you're doing about it?

Ma ybe there is a cause that you feel isn't be ing fought at all.

Maybe you could spare a few hours to aid in an exis ting cause.

Or maybe you feel it is time to make a stan d and become the next Environment Officer, us ing the union to help you achieve you r aims.

he reputati o n o f genetically modified pro du cts cont inu es to get worse an d worse. T he science has always been worrying to many people, and many governments ha ve been criticized for the la ck of research that has gone on.

What rea ll y concerns people is the com pl ete lack of et hics in the act ions of most of the big GM companies. Thi s new science ha s been portrayed as one that wi ll help th e impove ris hed farmers, boost s trug gling econom ies and end th ird wor ld hunger. Ye t count less s torie s have been coming to li ght , revealing how b ig b1otech s h ave been tramp ling over fa rm ers to get th ei r way.

Last week th e world heard about the injustice suffered by lgn acio Chapela .

Once a professor o f microbial ecology at Berkeley un ive rsi ty in Ca li fornia , lgnacio was fired from h is jo b after questioning

T

d ona ti ons to the university from major GM compa ni es and com pleting resea rch th at s howed G M contamination in hi s home cou ntry of Mexico . lt became clear to h1m the university was being fu nded to help excuse th e biotech businesses from ecolog1cal damage.

Even wit hout the news of cove r-ups like this , the current science is unnerving.

GM mater ial has been contaminating c rops all ove r the wo rl d, and it is o f no surpnse w hen th e facts a re examined .

Considered that dust from the Sahara de se rt ha s bee n foun d in great Brita in , a nd G M cro p s a re grown o ut in th e o pen ri ght nexr to no rm a l plants . The biotech companies hold no responsibility fo r containing their produce . There was th e shocking s tory o f Percy Schme ise r, a Can adian farmer growmg crops next doo r to the GM gian t Monsanto. When his crops were contaminated he was ordered

Day or Night ['

I

': t

H.:

I'

Open Mon - Sat

10am -11pm The Old Fire Station Stables, Labour in Vain Yard , Guildhall Hill Norwich Tel Fax: 01603 765562

to pay $140,000 for "patent infnngement" , fo r g rowing the co mpany's GM product s wi th ou t permi ssiO n . Percy has been in and ou t o f the courts for over a year attempting to get th e m a t te r resol ved. He is 73Aiso disturbmg is th e fli msmess of the EU leg1slati o n. The Euro pean Union a llows a load o f gra in to be up to 1% GM and sti ll de clared GM free . Th1 s is obvio u s ly incredibly mislead1ng , for as described be fore , th is is easily eno ugh to co ntami nate m a ny fields . it wo uld be nice to be li eve that genetica lly modified crops wo uld so lve a ll the wo rld' s prob lems , but it seems th a t the w hole indu s try is yet to put a foot right .

The biotechs have tried everything to prove the wo rth of t his new science, yet until success stories begin to replace the tails of corruption it wi ll never be a popula r a lte rnati ve .

GM MAIZE

FUNKY FAIR TRADE ai r-trade is o ne of the most pe rti nent issues at UEA. it is a subject that regul arly swings in and ou t o f the student con sciousness , bu t some important eve nt s are on the horizo n now.

There ha ve been man y members o f the Univers1ty campa1gning to get us fairtrade status. A range of fair-trade prod ucts ca n be fou nd on site, and over the last yea r fair-trade coffee machines have been phased m. But due to the bureauc racy invol ved in passing any such legislation, we are a long way from becoming a fair tr ade university like Edmburgh and o th ers .

Now somethmg has come along that may help this long runnmg campa1g n the format1on of a fair-trade soc1e ty.

Although the group is yet to become an offic1al un1vers 1ty soc1ety, they have t he 30

F

members requ ired and a re wai ting on the unions response .

All this will come together when the b1ggest fair-trade event of the yea r is launched at the beginnmg of March. Fairtrade Fortnight is a national campa1gn aimed at promoting ~1 1 the issues Invo lved and last year UEA had a b1g part to play.

There were two weeks o f acliv1 t1es here on campus, taking over LCR night s and usmg the who le squa re to raiSe the cam pa1gns profile. This year promi ses to be b1gg e r and better, and plans ha ve already begun.

An y s uggesti ons are welcome a nd a ll the groups involved will be lookmg for vol unteers . Conta ct Tuif for more information on any fair-trade 1ssue . Fair-trade IS an 1mportant campa1gn, an d needs all students to keep the proJect gomg.

www.concrete-online.com

CoiCntt Wednesday. Januarv 261h, 2005 Plans have been released that outline the building of a new road and over 72,000 homes in Norfolk. A consultation meeting was held in Norwich by the East of England Regional Assembly, with some seeing it u a much needed boost for the region, while environmentalists were concerned over the lack of sustainability involved. All sides agree that the plans require much further development.

Throwing paint away is almost impos.sible. You shouldn't put in your rubbish bin because it's toxic and for the same reason it can't go out with the recycling.

But Norfolk charity has come up with the perfect solution. Community Re>Paint is run by Mini-Scrapbox, a charity which collects, stores and then passes on a wide variety of materials from local businesses. Anyone can drop off unused paint at B&Q on Boundary Road, in Norwich. They prefer only half tins or more of domestic paint.

A sixty year old anti-hunt protester sustained head injuries and whiplash after being hit by a horse at a private meet last week. Around 20 protesters wearing balaclavas confronted 35 huntsmen riding with hounds and a leading member of Dunston Harriers today said a counterclaim of assault would be lodged after protesters allegedly whipped a huntsman in the same clash. A police spokesman said that officers were called out to nearby Eccles Road, East Harling, following reports of a breach of the peace.

The Government has announced that it wants to fine companies up to lsso if their buses fail to leave depots within five minutes of their timetable. Norwich county council has spent [9million improving the roads for buses over the last two years and feels it had done its bit. They want the First bus company to now uphold its part of the deal by providing a service the public can rely on as a reliable and environmentally friendly transport option.

ARE YOU OUR NEXT ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER? Turf turns its attention to the election from the selection of candidates to the result itself

great precedent set by Ruth Cole. When status. this occurs, there are by-elections later on But it's not all a selfless mission there is a lot to be drawn from the experiin the term, and last year this second round saw much more exciting action . ence of Union C:ouncil work. Andy The election was a close race, with Andy describes how he "found out about enviHigson winning by less than ten votes. ronmental and ethical issues in more This year Tuif has spoken a number depth than ever before and met a lot of of times with Andy, following the implegreat people". He lamented that his time mentation of his manifesto and seeking · was coming to an end and encouraged his opinions on a variety of environmeneveryone to take advantage of the opportal matters. Here he is again, offering us tunity now available to them. an insight into his job so far, and explainHe was also ready to offer a small ing why you should stand for the position warning, pointing out that the role isn't this year. all plain sailing and at times can even prove very taxing. "I was surprised by the s the Environment Officer, Andy explains, you get to amount of work the most innocuous "campaign on the most important issues facing our planet and the people who live on it". He admits this may be a little dramatic but feels that this is ultimately "what it all boils down to" . But he does stress the importance of having the "opportunity to use the union as a resource" for all kinds of environmental campaigns." As well as heading their own campaigns, the Environment officer acts as a point of contact for students who looking things take", he cautioned. He want to know how to get things done and explained how hard it can be to find the who want more involvement in all the time to get everything done and balance issues facing the student body. "You your Union responsibilities with your acameet with people from the University to demic commitments. He says he's learnt some very useful lessons in time manimprove things on campus ... ensure the Union and all its facilities are as environagement since he took up the position a mentally sound as they can be". year ago. But he finished by letting us As well as whatever individual interknow that the time and effort are "more ests and policies the next Environment than worth it."

Officer wishes to persue, there are a couBeing a member of the Union ple of big issues that are bound to have a Council does come with a lot of responsibig impact on their year. Obviously the bility, and a decision to run for any posicar park debate will continue to rage on, tion should not be taken lightly. However, and although the University may not the dividends can be enormous. Tuif begin the project within the year, there is would like to encourage all readers to a lot that the Environment Officer can still consider the option · the wider the choice act on. How this is done, and how publicof candidates the better the election . ity is arranged may well be an election Don't be put off if you feel you do not topic. know enough about the issues. Andy Another matter that has seen less himself has often described his job as a attention in the recent weeks is the learning curve. All you really need is a University's stance on fair-trade (see dedication to the environment and the opposite page). The Environment Officer ability to motivate others. will be heavily involved with the referenAnd finally, good luck. Tuiflooks fordum on the Nestle Boycott, and the ward to speaking to all the candidates University needs someone strong to consoon, and offers our support to anyone tinue work on the University's fair-trade trying to make a positive change.

A

lections are looming.

Yes, the much criticised Iraqi one, but also one a little bit closer. The Union Council Elections are just around the corner, and the next few features in Tuifwill be following the process, paying particular attention of course to the selection of our new Environment Officer.

Firstly we need some candidates. If you were thinking of applying for any position on the council, then you had better make a move soon as the deadline for nominations is the 2nd of February. By

the time Concrete next goes to print all those running will be known . The whole paper will be reporting on the choices, but Tu if will offer you a full breakdown of that most prodigious seat, the Environment Officer. The issue after that will hit the shelves after the results are known, and once again Tuifwill be there ready to interview the winning campaigner. But this week we examine what the job actually entails.

Last year there was a serious cause for concern when nobody decided to stand as an Environment Candidate in the first round of elections, with everyone seemingly too afraid of failing to meet the

"The Union can be an amazing· resource for campaigns and solving problems"

SUMMED

UP ·'

The number of homeless households in England The number of children being counselled by Unicef in Southern Indian state ofTamil Nadu for trauma due to relatives lost in the Tsunami = Weekly print run of entertainment and gossip magazine HEAT=

100 000

Number of complaints received by the BBC over the screening of the Jerry Springer Opera= How much a Welsh boy conned out of peopleon eBay = The contents value of the average British home=

45000

Children orphaned by Aids in sub-Saharan Africa

Afghans registered to vote=

Death toll in Congo following 6 years of conflict=

TREE OF THE FORTNIGHT The team that produce Tree of the Fortnight are regularly approached by animated young students demanding to know why the tree that they have always most admired is yet to make into this section. lt is only with our deepest regrets that we are unable to portray the beauty of every tree in this magnificent world, and while we do our best to bring you only the most worthy specimen, it must be acknowledged that some delightful trees will have to go unproclaimed for now. But please reflect upon the caliber of tree that does get selected. Take this weeks Tree of the Fortnight. The llex Aquifoliun. The English Holly.

Don't begrudge it those spiky leaves. Pity it, for those spikes have only evolved to protect it from the bellies of malicious her- • bivores. If you were to climb the branches of a llex Aquifoliun until you were out of the reach of pesky critters, you would discover that the top leaves are enchantingly soft. But please don't eat the berries.

Height: Up to 30ft Spread: Varied Shape: Varied - often as a hedgerow Foliage: Leaves can be shiny, leathery or waxy, and are spiny Dex Aquifoliun Flower: Small white flowers Fruit: Red berries · poisonous=-- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -

Yts, wt 1 ll orlstnal and compatible• tool We also ' llllfln 11, PIP ~t~d · fix supplltl While you w t rtftll m-..ice

-- - . . .- eWorl

=

3.8 million

You UEA discombobulated as department turns out to be bogus

Discombobulation Studies

UEA was licking metaphorical wounds c aused by actual embarrassment last night, as it emerged an entire department may have spent the last 25 years teaching a wholly fictional subject.

A top s ec ret report has confirmed wha t ma ny had s u spected for so me time - tha t the Un ive rs ity 's once p res tigious Disco mbobu la tion S tudi es progra mme gen uin ely is a joke. Lectures are to be s topped immedia tely a nd th e d epartment's 3 1 leac h ing staff h ave b een se nt on paid leave. More th an 300 hundred s tuden ts n ervo us ly await news of th eir future.

A class trip to Swaffh a m Ae rodrome wi ll s till go ahead .

Discombobu la ti on was introdu ced to UEA in 1980 by Prof. J ohnny Va n Doughnuts. an Arm enian Academ ic with seemingly flawless. now proba bly fa b ricated , creden tia ls. Van

Dou ghnuts pitched his s ubj ec t as an exciting new combinati on of p rose math ema tics. contact philosophy and lacrosse. It proved extrem ely popu lar. an d by the mid-nineti es UEA Disco mbob u lators were a mongst the mos t so ught after gra duates in both the fis h eries indus try and th e London varie ty circuit . In recent years. however, do u bts were bein g voiced as to how seriou s ly a s ubj ect tha t cons isted largely of aggressive tanning and sh ot-by-sh ot analysis of world cha mpionship s n ooker fm als s hould be taken by the acad emi c wo rld.

It is thought the d ece ption s lipped through UEA's rigorous quali ty co n t rol processes becau se of Van Dou ghn uts' d eviou s ploy of u s ing two s pellings for 'Discombobula tion ' on his a pplication fo rm . making it extremely diffi c ul t to ch ec k in a n illu s trated

e ncyclopedia.

The full effects of the deception wi ll not be kn own for some month s.

Any former Discombob u la tion Studies stud ents with concer ns regarding the s udd en . total worth lessn ess of the ir d egrees have been a dvi sed to "slop m oaning becau se th ere are ple n ty of people far worse off than you ." One of th ose peo p le is und e rs tood to be th e Discombobula tion Dean who was overheard to an noun ce. "My whole life h as b een a s ham ." His upcoming Discombobua tion text boo k (provis ional ly titled New Approach es to Moon Kill in g) has been postponed indefi nitely.

Professor Van Doughnuts was not avai lab le for com ment. as he is curren tly fulfillin g a th ree- m onth s inging engagement on a cruise ship in th e Adriatic Sea.

Problem Solved Prof.

Roderick Mulhapton Filkington-Phipps, Rodders to his friends, senior economic adviser to the World Bank and the IMF gives informed counsel to your personal problems.

No on e expects to get yo unge r and I am now of an age w here my youth vis ibly dwind les with each passing minute. I have p ut away my childish things and with them has gon e my acne and my over -active libido. I nave become tired and write to you now as one whose d ai ly fo rays in to the bath room are greeted wi th a reflection in the mirror th at grows increasingly weary of seeing itself in the m irror. the image b eing m ere ly a s harp reminder of how bloated an d balding I a m becoming.

As you su rely know. age brings with it m em ories steeped in regret and the mind d oes nothing b u t torture u s with th e way th at things could have been . Bu t U1is mental anguis h is nothing compared to that most feared of aged a ffli ction. I speak. of co urse; of piles.

For the last year I h ave fe lt this affliction arrive and h ave a ttempted to h old it off by the pu rch ase of increasin gly softer toilet tis s u e (wi th the result tha t I a m now a regu lar u ser of Pampers wet-wipes). But I fear the time is a pproaching where I will hobble to and from my seated pos itions like a cheap hooke r plying her trade after a football ma tc h .

With your gr eat esteem ed knowledge. s ure ly you can s uggest s ome way in wh ich I can s tave off th is wretched affliction . If you are una b le to h elp. then I am s ure I will h ave to a dopt th e 'J ohn Wayne路 a pproach and learn to h old soft eider betwee n by clenched buttocks.

You rs.

Tender Dear Tender Thou gh you r pain transcend s th e written word . I have no a dvi ce on this m atter.

IT'S OVER: BRIAN &BETTY SPLIT After weeks of rumo ur and s peculation it's finally official - UEA couple Brian Wilkins and Betty Serpico have called it a day.

A source close to both parties to ld the UEA Enquirer. "In the end they just drifted apart as people. neither one is blaming the other.

and they' re going to stay close frie nds."

Wh ile llie announcement still co mes as a shock. the writi n g was on the wall fo r the fou r -month re lationship last Thursday. when Bri an was spotted laughing with an u n-nan1ed brunette woman after a Business Studies lecture. Residents of Brian's Norfolk Terrace residence hal l said they hadn't seen Betty in a lmost a fortnight.

So what really went wrong for UEA's Golden Couple? The Enquirer has the inside story.

Brian Wilkins and Betty Serpico both arrived at th e University of East Anglia as freshers in September. Brian from Milton Kenes to study Business. Betty from Leeds to study Literature: but in their search of knowledge. they hadn't bargained on finding

love.

The pair first laid eyes on each oilier across a crowded LCR dance floor and were instantly smitten. Months later Brian would remember. "I thought she was dead fit."

However. their romance had to wait as Betty puked all over her shoes.

After that initial hiccup (or chuc -up). they moved fast. first appearing in UEA society as an item just two weeks later. Friends commented that it seemed li ke a match made in heaven. One said yesterday. "They were at it all the time. " But happ iness rarely lasts. and over the Christmas period the strain was beginning to show. Brian was said to be "disappointed"

by Betty's gift of a book. while Betty expressed her disapproval of Brian seeing an

ex-girlfriend wh en he went home of the h olidays.

In the end it may have been the pressures of work that drove them apart. Betty often had to read two novels a week for her course . <;Uld Brian is believed to have an essay due at the end of January. There just wasn 't time left for each other. Our source suggests it was Betty who first decided it was over.

Many on campus are devastated . One tearfu l student told us, "If Brian and Betty can't make it. what hope is there fo r the rest of us ." Th e University has set up an advice centre for anyone wh o fee ls th ey need help.

A spokesperson said, "People need to remember that. in the high-stakes world of education. love sometimes has to take a back seat."

ColcrttJ Wednesday, Janunry 26.., 2005

www.concrete-online.com

concrete. fashionlifesty le@uea.ac. uk 21 ~

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A night in the life of Rob Castell

;.;~

uantanamera!

Guajira Guantanamera!'

By far the most enjoyable line to sing from Jose Marti's glorious poemturned-song that is now the unofficial anthem of his homeland, and in my case, the Proustian madeleine of an inspiring night in Havana, Cuba. If you can imagine a room not mucli bigger than a dorm in Waveney filled with a group of octogenarians singing that chorus with more fervour than the entire cast of the original Band Aid single (the original, yes, we're talking HIGH energy) then you can begin to imagine the scene. Add to that rum-on-tap, the haze of ridiculously strong cigarettes and a man who should be a pop star playing an out-of-tune guitar in the corner and we have atmosphere as well as energy.

'G

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around the disorientatat the tentative stage of our travels, but ing streets in the nevertheless poked our heads around vague direction of our the door to take a closer peek.

As soon as we did so we were casa particular (effectively a hostel) we thrown into the room described above, came across the greeted with cheers and pats on the sound offun. Singing, back, given a seat and a pap~r cup whooping, laughing, a (soon to be filled) and allowed to join.

In fact, made to join. As I took in the guitar, bottles clinking, this was definitely a scene, I realised we were in a circle against the walls of the room, the dance party and we were in the perfect mood. Day floor in the middle and we were going three of the holiday, around one-by-one, each person delivering a song that we would then all get having spent hot and heavy days absorbing carried away by and freestyle with for a the dusty bustle of this good few minutes. A chorus of bizarre city we were 'Guantanamera!' was the default setting feeling that the time if ever there was a dip in the energy. Our for a groove had turn came and Tim and I delivered a come. We ventured finely executed bit of harmonising from down the street in the a South African reggae song (we were listening to it a lot at the time) and it direction of the noise Add two sunburnt but euphoric English and found ourselves in a fairly dirty side was received with smiles and applause. students and finally you have the full street, with one door that kept swinging As the evening went on each of these picture. out into the street and looked as though fantastic old characters that had adoptAt the time, my travelling friend Tim it could swing off its hinges at any given ed us as grandchildren for the night and I were on our way home from the moment. Panic struck as I realised we came out with a story or song, dance or rather depressing tourist centre of Old were about to enter somewhere that cerjoke. I discovered later from Rodolfo, a Havana, where you get the package vertainly wasn't listed in the 'Places to go' sturdy and handsome man of around sion of Cuba- the brochure photos in 3section of my lonely Planet. I decided to seventy-five that this was the normal .

D, just --:-::~-:---------..-------------------..------..--- course of as eventsfora you'd Sunday

'We were about to enter somewhere that certainly wasn't listed in the 'Places to go' :::~:~-t~~e _s_e_ct_i_o_n_o_f_m_y,_____L_o_n_e_l_y_P_I_a_n_e_t_.'______ ~:~h~~;t:i~~-

hoped, smiling hombres with loud shirts shaking maracas and cocktail waiters sal sa-dancing their way to your table under the colonial arches (sadly we have no photos). After a hasty exit and a good half hour of winding enjoyably

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go against my instincts though and told myself reassuringly that I was probably going to have a 'life experience'.

Student-paper-sarcasm aside though, there wasn't an immediate air of welcome about the place and we were still

tion while two excitable ladies seemed to organise the chaos and ensure everyone got their turn and had enough to drink. These were old friends who had seen Castro come and would probably see him go and provided the onlooker with a paradoxical reaction. Here was

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.. J

the dream of Cuba as I had read it in books about Che Guevara, a trusting and safe environment where l'lP significance was given to anything material, everyone listening to each other, everyone with an equal fill of food and drink, where strangers would be welcomed from the street. However, here was also the defiant dance of the frustrated masses, the solidarity of those whose equal fill of rum could only be afforded once a week and whose songs and energy were unlikely to ever be felt outside Havana. it's hard to witness anything in Cuba without using it to continue the debate with oneself about whether or not the Romantic Revolution has in fact been realised or not. This was one such occasion, with my thoughtful student hat on, asking myself 'hey, should I be dancing here or trying to understand these peoples' underlying suffering?' I quickly berat.ed myselffor this and settled back into the beauty of the night that easily topped any trip to the LCR, even though the average age of the dancing girls was around seventy-two.

Half way through singing a freestyle in Spanish about how happy we were to be in these people's company I lost my thread and cried 'que mas?' in exasperation, which means, 'what else?', as in, 'what else can I say?'

The reaction I got from the entire group of our hosts always makes me laugh, they chanted it back at me, 'Que mas!', with accompanying hand gestures as though they were the heckling hip-hop crowd at the end of '8-mile' and as I felt the. force of that wonderful moment I felt the most alive I did all year without a doubt. Such positivity, such energy and warmth, such fun. I hope I'm that cool when I'm old.

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FASHION

Fashion Resolutions: Have More Fun With Fashion This Year!

Forget those fashion fears of last year and instead of ignoring the idea of turning over a new leaf, embrace it by redoing your wardrobe, re-vamping your style .and taking fashion on in 2005!Haven't Got Anything To Wear? Can't Shut Your Wardrobe Doors?

Kathryn West, Gets To The Bottom Of It!

r-·---------

Instead of telling you what's 'in' fashion at the moment, here's some thoughts on how to handle those fashion movements by starting in the right place ...

1

Clean out your

wardrobe! lt has to be faced: sort out those clothes!

Having lots of clothes does not necessarily mean you can be more fashionable than someone with less. Most of us pick and mix our clothes so that we actually buy our clothes because we wanted to wear them (and not to let them gather dust in the wardrobe). Re-doing your wardrobe means you can re-vamp your style and welcome in fashion trends that take your fancy. So, a great place to start is to get to the bottom of your clothes and throw those ill-fitting garments away. If they're· out of shape or out of style, put them out of sight!

2

Get the basics

Think of the simple garments that

will virtually go with anything you own, for example, a white top, black top, one solid jumper, black wraparound cardigan, white, black and khaki knickers, denim jeans ... you know the requirements. Get these basics because the secret to them is that they are timeless. Everyone knows that fashion changes - ev~n cutest have a life .1 -ICY·Cie. but classics

1_

S.J.ct and Rejod

This may seem like a contradiction to enjoying, buying and wearing the fashions, but be trend picky! Are the 'in' trends our 'rule book' for what we should be wearing? Avoid fashion mistakes. lt seems the purpose

.

of fashion is lost when clothes are chosen because they look trendy, which over-rides the idea of personal taste and style. Let the trends of 2005 influence, but not consume you and your budget!

4._

A<eouoriu, A=s•orize,

Accessorize Jewellery is often forgotten or over done. A matching turquoise beaded necklace and bangle can be the finishing touches to a plain out-fit.

Some might say the essential finishing touches.

Accessories also say originality.

And they are a celebration of femininity. Shall I even venture into the girl's world that is shoes and bags?

Well, you can prepare for the months that follow by having that bag at hand and making sure you are one step ahead with what shoes to wear.

Experiment. And shop. Have no time?

Nonsense! The January sales

are a perfect time to hunt for accessories that will make every out-fit of 2005 complete from head to toe. Many of us add that little something, which matches the out-fits colour or style or so on, in a way that transforms our look. This is because accessorizing so fantastically perfects a look, whether it is a dressing up or dressing casual one. Perhaps a variety of accessories at your fingertips will allow you to achieve that finished look stress free.

<

22 concrete.fashionli fes tyle@uea.ac.uk

Concrete Wednesday. January 26''. 2005

www.concrete-online.com

s vegetarianism 1s now a way of life r so many, Donna Boam takes a oment to remind everyone about at they're missing out on.

Meat and two veg???

Yes please!!!! uck .... Another LCR. Another vodka-fuelled hangover. I slowly emerge from my bed in an oath-like state, avoiding the mirror at all costs, stumble into the kitchen, find the Alka Seltzer, plonk, plonk, fizz ....

Vision starting to return, headache is still present, light is still hurting my eyes ... There's only one thing for it.

Y

Frying pan . Bacon. Butter.

Ketchup. Ooooh yes, that's the stuff. And slowly, as I tuck into my greasy culinary treat, I emerge into my regular goddesslike self! Magic. Like all meateaters , I widely acknowledge the fact that there is no better way to get over a hangover than having

people choose to give up such delights as the bacon buttie or a glorious Rodney burger?!

I think it started at a young age, when my best fr iend, with whom I had shared numerous chicken nugget and chips, decided to become a veggie after watching some TV show. Gone were the days when she could just pop round to mine for tea ; she was all into veggie burgers and soya sausages. I remember once trying one and, being a chi ld with very little decency or manners immediately spitting it out and demanding true meat.

The thing is, I've always been a great meat eater. My parents always encouraged me to eat meat so I could argue the main reason that I love my meat is because it's what I was brought up on. Every Sunday, roast chicken with all the t ri mmings. Every Thursday night, Bangers and mash. In fact there weren't many days as a child that I would go

How can people choose to give up such delights as the bacon buttie or a glorious Rodney burge r? a big, greasy bacon buttie. No, let me retract that, there is no better way to start ANY day, hungover or not, with a bacon buttie.

You just can't beat it.

Vegetarianism has always baffled me. OK, so I know this is rather un-PC for me to state, and I will proba bly be heck le d by hoard s of veggies as I next enter t he H ive a nd t uck into my chi c ke n salad bap, but vegetarianism ... I just don't get it. How can

Meat-based Recipe For all you budding Delia'sl!!

wi th out consu mi ng some fo rm of meat.

However, my love for meat goes so much further than this. I love my foo d . And in my opinion, there is not much more satisfying than tucking into a great meat dish. Roast chicken, put it wit h so m e potatoes, some steamed vegeta bles, an d yo u 've got a wonderful , nutri tiou s m ea l.

Try com p a rin g t hat to Q uorn burgers. Mmmm(!)

To warm your cockles on those cold winter's nights!

50g Cheddar (Mature) 2ooml Beef Stock 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil 1 tablespoon Flour (plain) 1(2 teaspoon Rosemary (dried) 1/2 teaspoon Thyme (dried) Salt Black Pepper

You will need:

Method:

5oog Minced Lamb 8oog Potatoes 1 large Car ro t 1 la rge Oni o n 6oml Milk 30g Butte r

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (gas mk 6, 400°F). Dice the o ni o n a nd ca rrot. Heat t he oi l in a large s a ucep a n a nd a dd th e onion and ca rrot. Fry fo r s-8 minutes stirr ing occa si o na ll y

Shepherd's Pie:

The rise in vegetarianism over recent years has caused much concern amongst British farme rs, many of whom believe that the increase in vegetarian products on the market has contributed considerably to a decline in sales of fresh meat.

Things are looking up though -celebrities such as Madonna are leaving their vegetarian diets behind and favouring meat. lt appears there is a gradual realisation that meat is an excellent addition to any diet, providing a good source of protein which is vital to any diet and something that vegetarian substitutes alone cannot provide. Whereas a meat eater is in little danger of missing out on essential nutrients, a vegetarian has to be very careful to eat the right foods in order to get enough of them. lt was recently discovered by the TNS Family Food Panel that one in five so-called vegetarians admitted eating poultry and over half ate fish . Gone are the days when vegetarianism was the 'hi p' thing to do. Vegeta rianism is on the out dah ling! Chicken is th e new bl ack. hen there are the vegetarians who fo ll ow a strict vegetarian d iet because they don't be lieve in the way some animals are treated. This is a fair comment, and KFC has recently (an d rightly) come und e r fire for p rovidin g poor con ditio ns for its chi c ken s to live in . However, ma ny of th ese ve getaria ns still conti nue to wear leath e r shoes.

Surely if they were that committed then they would give these up too?

Ma ny peo ple take u p a vegetarian diet because they believe it will be health ie r. Yes, it is certainly fa ir to say th at ma ny meat dishe s d o co nta in a la rge amou nt of fa t , but m a ny vegeta ri ans eat a lot of c heese an d cre a m-b ased dishes, resu lting in a d iet extremely h igh in fat. As Sarah Stanner, of t he British Nutrition Foundation explains, "You cannot assume that by taking meat out of your diet you are necessarily going to be healthier. lt de pends upon what you replace it with. Peop le cannot just take something out of their diet and not replace the nu "

T

Following a vegetarian diet is also no cheap feat. The vast majority of meat-substitute products are considerably more expensive than normal meat products, something that I, as a cashstrapped third year, cannot afford.

I am prepared to concede a certain amount and state that, despite horri d recol lections o f spitting out a veggie sausage aged 7, I recently had a Quorn burger and discovered that I actually quite liked it. lt was relatively tasty, yet it just did not compare to your regular quarter pound beefburger. There's no changing me- I will always be an avid mea t eater.

I do ad m ire vegeta ri a ns . They

until the onion is lighlty browned. Meanwhile, skin quarter and boil the potatoes in water until softened.

4· Mash the potatoes with the butter and milk until smooth .

Grate the cheddar and mix into the potato with a pinch of salt.

2. Add the minced lamb to the on ion and carrot and fry for a further 10 minutes, stirring and breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon.

5· Check the lamb for seasoning, adding sa lt if necessary (be careful with the salt as your beef stock will already contain salt).

Spoon the lamb into a baking dish , and cover with the mashed potato. Use a fork to draw ridges across the top if desired .

3· Stir in the flour. Add the beef stock, rosemary, thyme and tomato puree. Season with black pe pper. Simm er for 15 m inutes u ntil m ost of t he liq uid has eva porated .

6. Bake t he she phe rds p ie fo r 35 - 4 0 minutes until th e po ta to is li ghtl y bro wned .

are certainly a lot stronger willed than I am; I really don't think I could go for a whole two days without eating meat! I respect the wishes of all veggies, for I am close friends with a few, but surely it is time for a Carnivore Society. The veggies have got their Vegetarian Society, us meat eaters should to unite and declare our love for meat\\\ Call me ignorant, call me rude, call me blood-thirsty, I'm just going to go and tuck into my bacon sandwich . Delightful.

c:.cnta Wednesday, January 26"', 2005

hen a vegetarian is asked "So, what exactly do you eat? ... (as if meat is the only food substance on the planet), to answer in a few words "Well, nuts, lots of vegetables .. ," is about as interesting as a dry crust. lt is hard to express the range of delicious foods that vegetarians can and do actually eat. Millions of us are vegetarian, and they are not people reluctantly munching away on 'rabbit' food, lentil burgers and nuts, hating every minute. As Juliet Gellately from'The Vegetarian Society' states: "Vegetarian eating is about imagination and expermentation, diversity and change."

W

'Change' is perhaps the word to express such diet,one without meat. 'Change' is what is taking place- a food revolution. lt is true to say that vegetarians are becoming more widely understood and accepted. A decade ago vegetarians were seen as "weirdos" but today everyone seems to know one- perhaps because almost four million of us are one.

a

The idea of cutting down on meat and animal products and eating more fresh vegetables and fruit (as well as lots of bread, pasta and pulses) in our meals is becoming very popular. The statistics of a recent major Vegetarian Society food survey (by Bradford University) show that apart from 28,ooo becoming vegetarian every week, over 4 million people eat no red meat and over 9 million have drastically reduced their meat intake. The change is definately growing fast, a firm 40 % of the popula~ion have c~:msidered becommg vegetanan.

Vegetarian cookery is a whole new world for some of us, one that can be as mouth-watering and variable as meat dishes.

Although this may be a shock to many meat-mad students, vege路tarian eating can suit all tastes, pockets and occasions. As with many students, if you leave writing your essay one day before the deadline, cram your revision and study late into the night (after partying first) it is vital that you eat a well-balanced diet, whether you eat meat or not.

Students, like ourselves, who have moved away from home and into university may find these upheavals difficult alone, without having to think about converting to non-meat eating as well. Although being a vegetarian means you do need to consider ways around not eating meat, by thinking again about cooking, eating out and choosing what to buy when cruising the aisles of the supermarket, it is not as difficult as it may seem at first. If it was that much of a hassal we would start to wonder if students would bother at all. But they do ...

www.concrete-online.com

So why do people become vegetarian? Many are simply repulsed by 'humane' slaughterhouse methods and believe killing animals and eating them is wrong.

Many children become vegetarian when they learn that even leftover lips, eyelids and other scraps of the corpses are made into sausages for them to eat.

Some become vegetarian due to environmental concern or becuase of Third World Impoverishment, while others believe it is healthier.

concrete.fashionlifestyle@uea

23

are there IS no need for me to eat meat as I have a healthy balanced d1et Without havmg to cause additional deaths Ecosystems are so effe ed by farmmg and p st1 e at I to a cl

-

...

Whatever the reason is for becoming vegetarian, one of the main concerns is whether vegetarian diets are actually less healthy because of the absence of meat. lt has been argued that a vegetarian diet can be equally as healthy as a meatbased one; the nutrients that meat provides can be found in other foods. Across India and the East, millions of people eat nothing but vegetarian food, whilst the Japanese diet contains very little meat and traditional African and Middle Eastern foods are largely meat-free.

This shows there are thousands of ingredients from around the world, (ones most meat-eaters ignore, some might argue), for us all to experience.

'Cauldron,' a food company, believes that "if you want to reduce, or cut out the meat in your daily eating, you shouldn't have to eat meat substitutes, or compromise on the taste or the texture of your food.

There are so many delicious alternatives."

Therefore, being a vegetarian has a lot more to offer than dreary nut cutlets or lentil hotpot. One could actually live for months on sucha range of -delicious and colourful dishes, without noticing an absence in meat. So if you are one of those meat-mad students, why not try something different- you cannot say until you try it out, and it can be quick and simple (and yummy) when you know how!

Delete the meat from your diet and VEG OUT...you might just never look back!

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24 concrete.editori al@uea.ac .uk

Concrete Wednesdar. Januarv 26'''. 2005

www.concrete-online.com

HOROSCOPES

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,

WWW.CONCRETE-ONLINE.COM

Aries Ma r 2 1 - Apr 19 ..---= :----, You 'll find th e strange me lanc h oly of '" missing cat/d og .. poste rs overcom es yo u t hi s fort n ight a nd m a ke it yo ur ~===== mi ssion to hun t down eve ry waywa•·d poach a nd puss. It's thankless wo rk. a nd you 'll soon lea rn to ignore th e pleas of heartbroken pet owners.

Cancer J u n 22 - Jul 22 Th e stars h ave some s urprises in s tore for yo u . pet! You 'll be so me a pproach ed time next week by a ta ll man or wo man ~;;:;,:~=::;:!!="~ cla iming to have th e a nswe rs to al l yo ur qu estions. follow th em a nd they'll lead you into a la byrinth of reve la ti on in wh ic h yo u 'll lose your sou l.

Libra Sept 23 - Oct 23 Thi s fo rtn ig h t yo u mu st go camping to fully reali se yo ur pu rpose in li fe my sweetpea. No more d uvets a nd wa ll to wa ll car pe t in g for yo u . they' re on ly obstacles s hie ld ing you from true h a ppiness. Fas hi on a lent f.-om duffel coats a nd ta ke a packed lunch .

Capricorn Dec 22 - Jan 19 Tu t -tu t. yo u Ca prico rn yo u !

You 've s pe nt so long on ca mp us yo u 've n eglected yo ur loving re latives back home.

So many long overd u e phonecal ls to be made! Ma ke th em al l gifts fas hi oned from plas ti cine a nd hope th ey lea rn to forgive yo u some day.

Lucky Words: cupcakes s mu pcakes

Lucky Words: candy. s trangers

Lucky Words: Co nrete duve t

Lucky Words: artis tic grovelli ng

Taurus Ap r 20 - May 20 .-------..., As a fee l-good past ti me thi s fortni ght. fi nd a inte llect u a lly gifted pal a nd pers u ade th em to let you di sgu ise you rself in ~..-"====---= their cloth es. atte nd th eir lectures a nd bath e yo ur ego in U1e awe their h uge bra in ins pires.

Tape reco rd yourself doing so and then wa tch repeatedly.

Leo Ju l 23 - Au g 22 .,..,.---, Wear red to the nex1: LCR and the movement of U1e planets will leave you irres istable to me mbers of the opposite sex. wear gree n a nd you 'll end u p exchanging wi tty bante r wi th th e glib and charming alike.

Do n 't wear fu scia . yo u 've bee n warn ed .

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 2 1 Th e stars h ave shown me th a t you 're feeling unde rwhelmed with your ted ium dre n c h ed existence.

Quench .__ _ _ ___, yo u r thirst for excite me nt by changing you r mi dd le name to '"danger.. by Deed Poll. Th en s how your new passport to passers-by . as king th eir opinion .

Aquarius J a n 20 - Feb 18 .------,,....-..., This fortn igh t yo u 'll feel the u rge to re live you r yo u th. Spend a ll nigh t on a street co r ne r d ri n ki ng economy cider. then ge t u p really ea rly the next m orn ing and p u t on yo u r old school u n ifor m. th en loite r in a friend's back garden s moki ng c igarettes that a ren't yo urs.

Lucky Words: incogn ito inge niu s

Lucky Words: Lilac a nd ma uve

Lucky Words: Officia lly in te resting

Lucky Words: Ha ppy Birthdays!

Gemini May 2 1 - Ju n 2 l ..-------, Th is fortnigh t you'll feel an immen se bubble of tranquili ty protect you from al l life's woes. You can h ide in this bubble a ll fortnight a nd esca pe from the mad ness s urrounding you .

Virgo Au g 23 - Sept 22 .-------..., This fortn igh t you' ll be a t you r m ost ene rgetic. only good things will befa ll yo u and al l yo ur foes will become your fri ends.

Probab ly a good time to buy a lotte ry ti cket. Smiles!

Sagittarius Nov 2 2 - Dec 2 1 r---r-----, S tre tch your crea tive d a rli ng. m u s cles.

You 've a lways h a d an artis tic s treak in you . Sell tickets to your own exhibition =E==----"~ in th e h ope you 'll pu ll it all together on the day .

Pisces Feb 19 - Mar 20 ,.----~---, Mys tic forces revea l you' ll h a ve seve ra l rude a wa ke n ings in th e com in g wee ks.

Rid e th e for tni g ht out an d yo u 'll feel ==-- -"----' mu c h rosie r co me F'ebuary.

Lucky

Lucky Words: al l of them

Lucky Words: Luck of the draw

Lucky Words: n one. none at al l.

Words: novacain e non ch a len ce

Letters ...

=

ok

Please s end letter s a ttention of t h e Editor. Philip Sainty, to: Concrete, Union Hou s e, UEA, Norwich , NR4 7TB, or e mail : coner ete.editorial@u ea. a c.uk

To the Editor, Concrete, We are ten Lecturers/Professors from severa l qui te di fferent Schools across the Uni versity, and we are w1itin g because we were all very disturbed to read in your pages recentl y of the Govern ance Commi ttee's proposals for the radical transform ati on of Senate. from a broadl y- based democratic body of over I 00 members. the vast majorit y of th ese elected, to a co mm ittee of 28 with no elected members except for the 3 student reps.

An y Senate worth y of the name sure ly needs to have the clear maj ority of its members e lec ted, rather than appointed by the admini strati on or by the Deans of Fac ult y.

Furthermore, Senate will fail to represent UEA adequately if it does not have on it at least one academic from every School in the Universit y. Under the CUITent proposals, many Schools may- in fact, will - be entirely unrepresented in the new Senate.

Preserving th ese two pri nciples - the e lection of most members of Senate and the representati on of every School on Senate- would suggest a Senate with somewh ere between 35 and 50 members. This is not, we submi t, und ul y un wieldy, and still represents a massive (and , on balance, we lcome) decrease in size from the current Senate.

We urge staff (and students) across UEA to ensure that, when the Governa nce proposals co me to Senate. they are amended in roughl y the way we are suggesting here. Allowin g the proposals to go th rough as they stand would, by contrast, mea n in effect the renu nci ati on of the most basic princ iples of academic go vernance at UEA. Such a move would in the end benefit no-one: not the reputati on of the Uni versity, not staff, not students, not even the admini strati on itself.

Dear Concrete, The stu dent's union are most disa ppointed by the proposed reforms agreed by the Joint co mm ittee on Govern ance on the I Oth December 2004 (yo ur report in the las t iss ue) The student 's union support the idea that the uni ve rsity Senate needs reform but such a radi cal reducti on in numbers means that vast chunks of uni versit y staff, both acade mic and non-academi c, wi ll not be represented in wh at is the hi ghest academi c decision-makin g body at UEA .

The fact there will be only twe lve academics is un fo rtun ate as it mea ns that there wi ll be some schools which wi ll have no represent ati ves at a ll sitting on the new Senate.

And it gets worse! As these twe lve pro fessors and lecturers will not be selected or chosen by their fellow academi cs means that they will have not a mandate to represe nt the ir fe llow academics, they will just be appointees (selec ted by th e Fac ulty Deans, the ir bosses). This underm ines the basic principle of democ racy that you have to be e lected the people you are supposed to represent.

The stud ents fee l that these chan ges will result in a decision makin g process heavil y dominated by a manage ment style, narrow based group.

The co llegiate respo nsibi lity, and broad based deci sion maki ng, that is essenti al for the academi c we ll being of the university is being compromised .

Yours Si ncerely Chri s Ostrowski , Academi c Officer, Union of UEA Students Cat.Lumb, Commu nications Officer. Union of UEA Students

Marg it Thofn er (ART), John Greenaway (PS I), Ken Lodge (LLT), Paul Chilton (LLT), Ken Cole (DEV), Joc k Cameron (DEV), Barbara Goodwin (PSI), David Seddon (DEV), Rupert Read, (PHI ), Johannes Sieme ns (MTH ).

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Project Manager: Philip Sainty concrete.advertising@uea.ac.uk Advertising Sales: Ben Millar Team:

concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Editor: Philip Sainty concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk Deputy Editor: Katharine Clemow

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Editor: Helen Pike Deputy Editor: Oily Haywood Education Editor: Jessica Fielder Health Editor: Clare Aitchison International Editor: Nadia Bennich Legal Editor: Juliet Harris Political Editor: Sam Webber

conuete.leatures@uea.ac.uk Editor: Ross Grainger Deputy Editor: Lucy Mowatt

Disappointed Student Union

Disappointed Staff

..

CONCRETE

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concrete.turf@uea .ac.uk Editor: lames Conway Deputy: Hannah Newton conuete.lashionlifestyle@uea.ac.uk Editor: Anna Steward Deputy: Donna Boam

conuete.sports@uea.ac.uk Editor: Marc Dudley

Amy Denyer

- -- - - - -- - - -- ----- - - - ------

- - --

..

Coacnte Wednesday, JatiU(lry 26"'. 2005

concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk 25

www.concrete-online.com

BUSA TAB ES (UEA TEAMS) BUSA Midlands Division One aASKETBALL MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION ONE ~A) Wolves

!' W 0 7 6

-·~~-------·----

Birmingham

UEA Warwicl<

7 7

5

5

2

5 7

0

5

L GO

TS

1 125

18

. -----.

-

-~- ----

15

2 121 2 26 3 42

15 6

4 -34 7 -280

3 0

------------·----------------------------------

Cambrodge Oxford 2

1

FENCING MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION ONE (A) P Birmingham

6

W 0 6 0

L GO PTS 0 395 16

-·-....--·--·------------- ------ ----~--

7 5 0 2 6 4 0 2 6 4 0 2 Letcester 6 3 0 3 Warwtck 6 2 0 4 Cambndge 7 2 0 5 Noh1ngham 2 6 2 0 4 S 'sh~re (Stoke) 6 0 0 6 • only play each other once UEA !.:borough Oxford 2

83 15 98 12 -48 12 89 9 -143 6 -155 6 -176 6 -132 0

FOOTBALL MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION ONE ~A) PWOI.GOTS

7

Lincoln

5

1

1

12

16

-------+-~-----.-----------------------

Birmlf19ham Cambrodge Warwick

7 7

4 3

1 2

3

1

2 2 3

5 I -2

13 11 10

------------·----- ---------- -~--------

UEA

7

DMU (Bed)

7

2 1

0 1

5 5

-8 ·8

6 4

NottsTrent ------------~------~--

NoWngham UEA Warw1ck

--~--

1 3 4

10 0 -3

13

2

I 0 1

2 1

0 0

5 -27 5 -18

6 3

4

6 7 7

4

7 Derby S'shire (Stoke) 6

12 7

-----------------------------------

Cambridge 4 Warwick 5 Nohingham 2 3 Oxford 2 5

4

0

0

10

3

0

2

-1

1

0

2

1

0

12 9 3 3

-7 4 -15

UEA 5 0 0 5 -10 0 • 2 matches with teams withdrawing

under review

BUSA Midlands Division Two GOLF MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B) UEA Nohingham 2 7

UEA Notts Tren1 2

Derny Lmcoln

1

6 {) 30 7304 6 7 3. 0 4 -16

7 2 70

0 0

p -16

7-48

18 9 9

t> W 6

3

1)

L

GO PTS

1

2

10

10

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

DMU (lei) UEA As ton Lincoln

B

1

1

8

3 2 1

0 8 2 -4 4 ·22

S'sltire (S1oke) 5 Lincoln 2 6 Noningham 2 5 DMU (Loi) 6

W 5

3 2 2 0

D 0

1 2 0 1

L GD PTS 1 14 15

6 2 1 3 0 5 -21 1

10 8 6 1

6 0

BA INTON WOMEN MIDLANDS PJV:ISIO TWO (A) Warwick

P 6

10 9 5 1

FOOTBALL WOMEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B) UEA

7

W 5

0 2

L GO PTS 0 41 17

Warwick Leicester Ox. Brookes Derby

6 7 7

3 3 2

3 2 1

0

14

12

2 -2 4 -13

11 7

6

2

0

4 -14

6

Nottingham 2 7

0

2

5 ·26

2

P

HOCKEY MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B) P Notlingham 2 7 L:borough 3 Ox. Brookes Oxford

W

0

5

0

L GO PTS 2 12 15

6 4 1 1 27 7 4 1 2 17 53020

13 13 9

---·-·r·······--·--·--·-··-···--·· 7~ 2 0 5 -4 6 6 0 0 6 -52 0 match withdrawals und8r

21

OMU (Bed) 3 6 Warwick 3 6

1 1

82 65

15

UEA 2

5

5 5 2 2 1 1

0 0 0 0

w 6

0 0

L GO PTS 1 78 18

·········------·-····-,.·---. -·--·····-.

L:borough 2 5 1 166 15

..__

6 0 1 3 0 4 -49 Coventry UEA 6 2 D 4 ,. ........--..-- ..........._..

7 2 0 5-1~ 5 1 0 4 -157

__

.........

9

6

6

MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B) p

Notlingham 2 5

w 4

D

s

Nottlnaham 3 OMU el) 5 LeJcester 4

Notts Trent LeiC!lster 2

5 5

4 3 2 2

L GO PTS 0 30 13

-,, 1

---~·-····------· ·····

.......

1

1 0 1 0 1 0 D 0

0

22

20

1 12

3

·4 4 ·22 4 ·30

5 UEA 4 4 48 • 1 matell with a withdrawal under

Lincoln

.......

13 10

/

7 6 3 3 0

•

NETBALL WOMEN MIDLANDS DIVISION FOUR {D) 0 137

p Nottingham 2 7

revitlw

dlands Division PWO OMU (Bed) 2 7 7 0

A MEN MIDLANDS DIVISION TWO (B)

LGDPTS

6.

-25 -75

6 4

4 N'hampton 2 6 1 4 Leicester 2 6 Coventry 2 5 0 4 Coventry 3 5 1 0 4 DMU (Lei) 2 4 0 1 3 • only play each other once

-39

3

·96

3 1

-107

2 2 1

15

3 58

2

10 -2 1

-40

9 9

6 6 3

..

....

.

26 co ncrete.sport@ uea.ac .uk

www.concrete-online.com

Concrete

Wednesdar. Janua/'\' 26''. 2005

HE CiAP BEFORE ITS TOO lATE Amazing comeback by Canaries fails to hide the cracks in the City wall that could cost Norwich their Premiership status

Marc Dudley Soorts Editor There is never a dull moment at Carrow Road and Saturday 's amazing c omeback was another e xample of the Canaries' fighting sprit.

The "never give up" attitude of the players and the passionate hearts of the

"real" fans (the disgraceful fans that left when City were 1- 4 down shou ld think about all the true Norwich fans that were left outside wit h out a ticket for the game!] that go t behind th e team wh e n they need ed them the most sends out a determined message to the rest of the Premiership.

However. a good fighting

RICE Indian '&? Banglad

defensive play.

Dean ton is a n llent s igning the club. but is natural scorng instinct will not he lp a bit if goals keep on leaking in at the other end. They have given away too many goals cheaply this season. and I hey will be playing Champ ionship football next season if they don't s tart getti ng the ir act together. Yes. on Saturday they were extremely luch")' to get one point. but if it hadn't have been for the poor mark-

ing in the area for two of the goals on Saturday. City could have been celebrating three points for on ly the third time this season.

Now. the defensive respon sibility is mainly down to the defenders but it is not really fair to criticise only the City defence. The City defence does lack Premiership quality. yes. but without some help from the midfield the Canary defensive wall \vill be broken down quite easily.

This is where the problem lies: the midfie lds lack of respo n s ibility. d efensive Don't get me WI·ong. there is a lot of quality in the Norwich midfield. but Mulryne. Francis. Johnson.

McVeigh. Safri etc . all have the strengths in the final third of the pitch. The only City midfielder with good defensive skills is Gary Holt and without him the link between th e defence a nd midfield seems to have been lost.

Holt's lengthy lay-off clue to h is recovery from a haemothora;x suffered in

November. left a gap in the teams link-up play. F'rancis has the determination to succeed in Holt's ro le. but City can't afford to lose his su rging runs into the box. which has seen him net five limes this season . Every team needs a player that can play between defence and midfield. a player that helps out the defence and links the defence and midfield.

All teams need to have a player with this responsibility and without them. they often struggle. Holt's end uran ce is a m azing and he runs arou nd like a Duracell bunny constantly trying to close down lhe attacks of the opposition. That's his main job on the fi eld and when he is not playing. the other midfielders are too committed forward and it seems nobody wants to take full responsibility in that position. With 46 goals again t. they have th e worst defensive record in the league. and it may not be the most glamorous of positions on the field. but with out someone taking the

pressure off the defence.

City will not survive. The whole midfield needs to take a bigger responsibility in their defensive duties a nd now that !loll is back. his presence on the field will hopefully rub off on the rest of the players. He is an important part of the City team and like any team. if you are missing a part. it does not work .

Finally. if Norwich can also improve on defending set pieces then maybe the Ca n ar ies can s urvi ve.

Worlhington does like his players to play attractive football. and although it is great to watch. it does not a lways get resu lts. Unless City can top giving away s illy goals. and start taking more responsibility in their defensive duties then the points won't come. Like Worthington said "There are 14 cup 1\nals left" and City must win the majority of them if they are to keep their Premiership dream alive.

HOSTS UEA WIN FOR ~PICE THIRD YEAR RUNNING

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...

1. P padum, Onion Bhaji, Chicken Kurma Pu o R c - nd Onio S I d £4.80 2. Papadu , Omon Bhaji, M t Cu ry Pulao Rice an Onao Salad £4.90 3. Pap dum, Oni n haf, Chi en T1kka £5.30 Ma I , Pul· o Ric and OnionS I d 4. P p dum, Omon Bhaji M at Rogon.

Nan an On1o S lad £4.90 5. Pap du , Onion Bhaji Chick n B lti. N d Omon Sal d £ 0 . P padu , Omon B Jl, V g t bl Batti, lad £4.30

l(i ~ 1...:~ rlhan1 lous<l~ Shoppin~ (.'<. ntrt.:arlha1 1 l~oad. or ri ~h (-{2 :~ v. •·icL~-and -s .lice .co.uJ-

VISA

()J H03 50-:JOSO

01.603 504020

••

Mon-'1 hu 3pnt-l 1 pn'l Fri-Sat 5pnt- 1iclnight '

Sun ~ T ~ Se

m-1 O.:~Opn'l c I ·~.lal J.. -.od

:::::_:c-•

On Saturday 4th December the UEA Korfball club played host to the BSKA Southern Championship.

Teams fro m across the southern region of tl1e country came together to co mpete in a tournament to d eterm ine the seed ings for March's Nation a ls co mpetition. The hosts we re set to de fend th e ir Southe rn champion s title for th e third year running. and co m peted agains t 6 other univers ity Cardiff.

Bristol. s id es; Oxford. Oxfo rd Brookes.

Cambridge a nd Cante rbury .

Th e UEA team went und efeated thoughout the whole tournament. winning their matches 8-0. 6 -2. 9-0. 5-2.

4-2 and 8-2 respectively. going on to collect the tro phy . The squad: Luke Adam Preston.

J effrey.

James Phillips. Paul Beale.

Ni ck White . Neil Wa kefi eld .

Amy Sam so n .

Alice Tomlinson . Ami Brou ghton and Laura Jedrzejewski, ca ptained by Sophie Rob ins. a ll contributed goals towards the resu lt and are co ming toge the r s u ccessfu lly with th e aim of winning th e Na tiona ls h aving b ee n

pipped to the post as run ners-up for the past two years .

Alongside the main co m petition the club ran a separate co mpetition for the second teams from the various universiti es. UEA e nte red two teams from the curren t club and many ex-UEA players return ed to form an Old Boys s qu ad. The UEA teams played we ll and the cl ub s u cceeded in promoting the spo rt wi thin the univers ity. wh ilst proving their capability to host a furth er friend ly tou rna ment in February.

- ----

- ~~

CoiCI'Itl Wednesday, January 26 , 2005

concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk 27

www.concrete-online.com

HEARTACHE FOR BLUES

'

TEAMS CLOSE IN ON BUSA SUCCESS Continued from back page

UEA footballers suffer cup defeat and now face a tough battle against relegation in BUSA strength squad for the first time in weeks. Firstyear centre back Paul Andrews had recovered from a broken toe in time to take his place alongside Pendry in the centre of defence. Dan Petto.

Tom Burton and Duncan McHardy were the frontmen in a 4-3-3 formation, the formation used when UEA brushed aside Cambridge in the BUSA league and Earlham in last round of the cup.

But there would be no walkover for UEA on Saturday. They came up against an unfancied, but determined Dersingham side who wanted that trip to Carrow Road as much as UEA did .

The first half was a scrappy affair. with neither side creating many clear-cut chances. The standard of play was not helped by the Colney Lane field. Heavy rain the night before meant the pitch was soggy and

_ ...........,.....,ili-......,"""'"'""'--.-'""""-.....-.....;-.......,...,._...,.................

Ross Grainger UEA's men's football team had a disastrous fortnight as they crashed out of the Junior Cup at home to Deedeedomdee.

After winning the trophy last season there was huge disappointment amongst the players after losing at home 2-0. UEA must now turn their attention to their BUSA campaign, where they have

just three matches to climb out of the relegation zone.

Keeper Henk van Dalen and left-back Dan Ward were the only absentees for captain Lee Pendry. who was able to pick from a near full -

worn by the time the match kicked off.

In the second half UEA continued to press but could not stamp their authority on the match. Right-back Rob Moore went off injured. as did midfielder Sven Siegin. It was shortly after these two forced substitutions that Dersingham took the lead. A cross-shot from the left was parried straight into the path of one of the Dersingham strikers who tapped into an empty nel.

UEA battled to try and salvage extra time . but with just ten minutes to go Dersii!IRam scored a wonderful second to put the match out of reach.

All that remains now is for UEA to avoid relegation from the BUSA Midlands Division One (A). With four points up to Warwick. UEA have all to do in their remaining matches and they must put the shock of their Junior Cup exit behind them.

Four of our second division teams are in with a chance of a promotion playoff spot th the wC11llen rugby and football teams currently topping their groups. The golfers and women's badminton team are also enjoyIng success. and all four teams would qualify for the BUSA Shield If they managed to succeed In becoming Champions. The men's hockey and rugby teams and the netballers face relegation battles. and will be hoping not to drop down to the 3rd Division. ee out of UEA's four second teams are also topping their groups. with the men's footballers already confirmed champions. A place in the BUSA Plate awaits the three teams if they manage to finish as group winners. ith only three weeks to go before the end of the BUSA gain promotion or avoid relegation and it is important we all get down to the matches to support tl1em.

Knockout competitions will take place after the BUSA league matches are over and hopefully t11ere will be some UEA success to celebrate.

BUSA Tables on Page 25

ALL HOTTING UP IN CANARY ZIGGUARAT GAMES CUE CLUB Marc Dudley Sports-Editor

The battle for the top spot in the Ziggurat University School games is as close as it has ever been with many schools still in with a chance of being named the best sporting school at UEA. Last years winners CAP have slipped down to sixth position, but they are still in with a chance as they have only played one of their jokers. BIO, who won the competition in the first year it was run in 2002/03. currently top the school charts.

However. only one of their main rivals have played both their jokers. so everything is up for grabs If schools like ENV and MED can play their jokers in the right event.

The mixed Netball is finished this week with the knockout stage of the event getting underway. A sportsrep of one of the schools. who wishes to remain anonymous. says that the previous winners of Ziggurat are the tean1s to beat. and that most of the schools want a different school to win this year. "BIO and CAP are the Manchester United's of Ziggurat and everyone

loves beating them. It would be great if someone like ENV could win. as they might not have the talent. but they certainly have the commitment and that is what Ziggurat is all about!

With the games only at the

half-way stage. a lot can still happen. The schools at the bottom of the pile will want to avoid the wooden spoon. and currently the old EAS school is looking in danger of picking that up.

Current Ziggurat School Standings BIO (Biology) (JJ) 986 ENV (Envirornental Studies) (J) 880 (J) 875 MED/HPP (Medical/Health Policy & Practice) (JJ) 796 AHP/CMP (Allied Health Professionals/ Computing Sciences) 5. DEV (Development Studies).

(J)771 6. CAP (Chemestry & Pharmacy) (J) 744 7. MTH/NAM (Mathematics/Nursing & Midwifery) (J) 677 8. EDU (Education & Lifelong Learning) (JJ) 671 9. LAW (Norwich Law) 652 10. PSS/SWK (Social Work & Psychosocial Studies) 4 79 11. ms (History) 475 12. LLT (Language, Linguistics & Translation) 410 13. ECO/Pm/PSI (Economics/Philosophy/ 402 Political, Social & International) 14. MGT (Management) 310 15. WAM (World Art & Music) 242 16. AMS/FTV/LIT (Arnerican/Film & Television/ 121 Literature and Creative Writing) 1.

2.

3.

4.

(J) =One Joker Played

(JJ) = Both Jokers Played

Remaining Ziggurat Events Tuesday 25th January (5-7pm) Mixed Netball Finals Tuesday 1st February (5-7pm) Obstacle Course Relay Women's Netball Tuesday 8th February (5-7pm) Women's Squash Wednesday 16th February (1.40-5pm) Wednesday 23rd February (1.40-5pm) Mixed Rounders Mixed Archery Wednesday 2nd March (1.40-5pm) Suprise Bonus Event Sunday 13th March (9an1-5pm) Mixed Tug-0-War Wednesday 20th April (1.30-3pm) Women's Athletics Wednesday 20th April (3-5pm) Men's Athletics Wednesday 20th April (3-5pm)

OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK

20 Snooker tables 3 pool tables 2 American pool tables Satellite TV Video Games £250 jackpot machines Hot and cold food available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Licensed bar at low prices 1Oam·11 pm, 12·1 0.30pm Sun ISTUDENT MEMBERSHIP £31 St ·Mary's Plain, Norwich Tel: 627478 Only 5 minutes from Norwich market

•

, •

Sports teams face promotion and relegation battles as the BUSA season draws to a close Marc Dudley Sports f rli1o1

•

The BUSA s eason gets under way again this week with UEA teams involved in pro m o tion and rele gation battle s.

All ou r university I st teams are eithe r in th e Mid lands first or second divisions and the step u p to

the Premier Division j u st seems to far. However, one of our teams a re hopi ng final ly m a ke it to th e Premie r Leagu e prom oti on playo ff a fte r so m e impres s ive form .

Wi th three games to go th e m en's b asketball team lie in thi rd position a nd are ba ttlin g it out with Wo lve rh a mpton a nd Birmingham fo r th e one p ro-

motion playoff spot. With their two rivals facin g each oth er in their fi na l game.

UEA mu s t fa n cy t h e ir chances of ma king up the three poin t gap and clinch ing th e playo ff s pot.

However. s ince their goal d iffe re n ce is th e ir wo rs t among the three team s, they must rea lly not d raw leve l on poi n ts with th eir rivals if

they wan t to s ucceed. The Pan thers a lready h ave a place boo ked in an end -seaso n knoc kou t tourna me n t. as fini s hing second or th ird gives th e Panth ers a place in the BUSA Shield .

The UEA pa n thers face Cambri dge an d a tri p to Oxford before fini s hing the season at home to Warwick on the 9th Febru ary.

The only oth er team with ch ance of getting a Premier Leagu e playo ff s pot is th e wom en 's hockey team . wh o s till have a s lim c hance of s u ccess. This week 's home aga ins t lead ers ti e Nottingha m Trent will eith er m ake or break th eir bid , bu t fin is hing in the top th ree will gu aran tee them a s pot in the BUSA Shield. The only team

to have already qu alified for t he BUSA Sh ield a re the m en's fenci n g team. who with th eir impressive 2nd place mu st feel confid en t of m aybe going all the way.

Elsewhe re in Divisio n One th e men's football and squash teams face tough re legation battles. continued on page 27

GOT ASPORTS STORY FROM YOUR CLUB? E-MAIL US AT CONCRETE.SPORT@UEA.AC.UK

I. Aim and Fly back to rela · lions (4) 5. See :16 7. Anger removes llrst of llre (3)

8 . Oi! Log in to inuil home (5) 10. Italian the (2) 13. Nine returned without end to hotel (3) 14. Tricked end in ice· t (7) 15. Crazy almond. say (3) 16. No start is said for help (3) 17. Region of map card spread out to set tlement (4) 19. Flag a level of q u ality? (8) 21. Journey on drugs (4) 23. Requt>sts some askew with s lant (4) 26. Hymn palms up (5) 28. Put a _ in it (4) 30. Stir tea to swallow food (3) 32. Pit grin down to find the bark (4) 34. Clear beet out to engage In festivities (9) 35. Round ten of is clone fre quen lly (5) 36 and 5. LCrrR. _ of the King (3.6)

I. Fir ends up at US sitcom (7)) 2. Military or rebel force (7) 3. Press strong metal (4)

4 . Acting influence for aviation or shipwrecks? (8) 6. The way out is to leave (4) 9. Aiel groi.tp wilh coloured mark (3.5) I I . Walk \vith difficulty and \vilh out energy (4) 12. Transmitted for screen (9) 18. Commercial after Christ's birth (Abbr.) (2) 20. Upset roots for a trunk (5) 22. FC'el with long group of ships

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24. Starts football and ends boxing (Abbr.) (2) 25. No man cramps out a fight (5) 27. Masculine post. I hear (4) 29. All the parts of equipment (3) 3 1. Net sum is X 33. Stir 31 to catch fish (3) 34. Refer to californium (Abbr.)(l.l)

Solution to crossword #61

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