Concrete issue 236 01 12 2009

-The Christmas Special

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RESULTS OF THE CONCRETE DRUGS SURVEY

ISSUE 236

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TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

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Food festively helps you stuff a bird.

Lifestyle provides low cost present ideas.

Opinions questions the fnclusivity of Christmas.

Features examines the make or break state of the high

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www.concrete-online.co.uk

e UEA'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER e

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STOLEN DATA PROVOKES GLOBAL AnENTION UEA to launch an independent inquiry into the theft and implications of stolen climate data.

Theft provokes fierce debate on credibility of world renowned research of Climatic Research Unit.

David Churchill UEA is to launch an independent review into the theft and publication of hoards of data which was illegally hacked from servers of the University's globally renowned Climatic Research Unit (CRU).

The data comprised of several thousand emails dating back to 1996 which contain exchanges between UEA Professor and director of CRU, Phi! Jones, and other world leading climatologists.

The phenomenon has catapulted the university stage, onto the global after accusations that the scientists involved colluded in manipulating and deleting data vital to the issue of anthropogenic climate change.

Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and the BBC have all reported on the story, which

is seen as an indicator of how influential the University's CRU department is in rddtion to m:e!:;)tion policy and global climate solutions.

The revelations have already caused divis1ons within the spheres of public and • scientific debate over the issue of climate change.

Bob Ward, Director of Policy and Communications at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, called for an inquiry.

"There has to be some process to assess the substance of the email messages a~ well," he said.

"The selective disclosure and dissemination of the messages has created the impression of impropriety, and the only way of clearing the air now would be through a rigorous investigation."

Climate change deniers

have seized on the emails, suggesting they are evidence that climate change is an elaborate hoax which is being constructed on manipulated data.

One particular email which has reverberated across the media network reveals Jones using the word "trick" in order to "hide the decline" in temperatures. Jones issued a statement directly in relation to the email insisting that "The word 'trick' was used colloquially as in a clever thing to do. it is ludicrous to suggest that it refers to anything untoward."

Advocates of climate change have defended Jones and the integrity of the CRU's research.

UEA's Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research said: "The publication of a selection of stolen data is the latest example of a sustained and,

in some instances, a vexatious campaign which may have been designed to distract from reasoned debate about the nature of the urgent action which world governments must consider to mitigate, and adapt to, climate change.''

The Met Office rejected calls for an inquiry: "If you look at the emails, there isn't any evidence that the data was falsified and there's no evidence that climate change is a hoax." On the nature of climate change The Met added: "the UN's panel (IPCC) ... provided unequivocal evidence for a warming climate, and a high degree of certainty that human activities are largely responsible."

UUEAS' has pledged full support for CRU and its staff.

Finance Officer Martin Jopp said: "We as students stand by good science and that's what ...

UEA STUDENTS PROTEST AGAINST A QUARTER OF WOMEN EXPERIENCING DOMESTIC VIOLENC.E.

UNION REFERENDUM FAILS TO REACH MINIMUM QUORMTE VOTES Gareth Coventry The Union failed to gain the necessary minimum votes in the 'You Count Referendum', which took place on the 24th November in the Hive, to ensure that the votes would be binding.

The 'You Count Referendum' gave students four proposals, which they could either vote for, against

or abstain from, with the intention of helping to shape forthcoming Union policy.

These proposals included limiting the number of copies of the Daily Mail on sale, a boycott of Coca-Cola, or building a multi-storey car park, all of which were voted against.

The most popular by far was the proposal to stock East Anglian grown fruit and

vegetables where available, which received 369 votes in its favour.

Students were given the option of casting their vote either in the traditional manner via the ballot box or via online voting, although to do this students needed to register beforehand and had to explain why they would be unable to be attend the vote on campus.

However under regulations

the m1mmum the Union needed to make the vote binding was 500 but since the turnout was low, with only 459 people voting, it did not achieve this task.

In explaining the low turnout the Students' Union Officer, Communication Natasha Barnes, pointed out that "no campaign convenor applied for election expenses and so it can only be assumed

that no official campaigning was done. In most elections you have to rely, at least to some extent, on campaigners to spread the word about the vote. As there was no campaigning I think this also contributed to the relatively small amount of votes."

Many have expressed surprise that a referendum took place last week. Ms. Barnes went on to say that

"We have had referenda in the past which haven't reached quorum and so this is not out of the ordinary. However, it is obviously not a desirable situation ."

In future referendums it is Intended that online voting will become more established and widely-used so that all students, whether on campus or not, will be able to vote online to boost the turnout.

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2 NEWS

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

DELAYS IN LOANS INCREASE EMERGENCY PAYMENTS UEA sees an increased demand for emergency payments: Only 20% of applicants for Disabled Student allowance cleared.

contents NEWS TURF OPINIONS FEATURES EDITORIAL INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FOOD

FOCSOC LIFESTYLE SPORT

Nick Church Universities across England have see n an in crea se in the use of eme rgency funds to support students fin ancially after severe de lays in th is year's loans and grants.

A recent surve y found thre e-q uarters of universities sa w an increase in the number of hard ship payments made to st udents compa red with last year. For many universiti es, this is direct ly attributed to the delay in loans, with figures suggesting there could still be as many as 70,000 students without financial sup port.

This comes after it recently eme rged that bosses at the Student Loans Company (SLC) were paid £2m in bonuses and racking up ove r £100,000 in expenses.

Natas ha Barnes, Communica ti ons Office r of UUEAS sai d; "i t is extreme ly worrying that staff at the Student Loans Company have been receiving five -figure bonu ses wh ilst students are still waiting to rece ive th ei r loans in order to pay for their rent and other essentials.

"A number of U EA students are struggling to

even afford books for their course du e to the huge dela ys in lo an payment s caused by the Student Loans Company. " lt is unacce ptabl e th at our st ud en t s are made to suffer whil st staff at the SLC are rewarded for ' hard work'."

Speaking to Concrete, Deputy Dean of Students Linda Shepherd, who gave information to the survey, discussed the situation at UEA: "There has bee n an increase [in emerge ncy payments] .. . [and] some pro portion of this can certain ly be attributed to th e delay in loan s," she said.

Ms . Shepherd also alluded to a "s ignificant " amount of students, ove r 40 elig ible for disabil ity allowances, that have yet to receive the relevant forms from the Student Loans Company. Di sab led Stud ents Allowance (DSA) forms are on ly "s lowly trickl ing in", she said, attributin g the problem to lack of staff and experience

within the SLC. More than 12,000 di sab led stud ents have been left without vita l funding spec ialist equipm ent for and to pay fees for personal helpers.

Th e University and Colleges Union (UCU) has also expressed concerns over a growing number of loan sharks descending on campuses, and stressed th e need for students to be vigilant in this respect.

Th e UCU 's Genera l Secretary, Sally Hunt, sa id: " We have real concerns abo ut the loa n sharks that are ci rcling around some universities," Moving to University is a stressful and ex pensive time, and to attempt to do that without finances that had been promised is ju st not on."

I National Unio n of Students ;.as ca lled for the resignation of tloe -:;,ipf execu tiv e of SLC, c:n d ministe rs are putting increasing pressure on the governmen t

"o

to co ntrol the problem.

58 universities responded to the survey with 49 reporting increa se d hard ship payment s to students co mpared with last yea r, and 43 attrib utin g this to th e loans system.

John Craven, ViceChancellor for the University of Portsmouth, strongly criticised the SLC's handling of loans, in which his university has had to pay £80,000 to student s waiting for th eir loan s to ar riv e. On ave rage, universi ti es paid ou t £44,000 each to support students.

A sta tem ent from the Company Student Loans sai d: " We are working hard to ensure that this does not happen again next year and are working on a numbe r of measu res, including offerin g clear advi ce and guid ance -, n application dea dlin es, si mplifyin g the application process and increasing our ea// handling capacity." Mini sters have ordered an inquiry that will report before Christmas.

Government statistics recently revealed that the SLC has so far di stributed £43 million less in payments th an last year, despite a ri se in stud ent ap pli ca tion s for fund s.

SCHOOL OF DEVELOPMENT AWARDED QUEEN'S PRIZE BURKINO FASO IN COPENHAGEN Andrea Stromskag

Nick Church A UEA stud ent is to join the government delegation from Burkino Faso at the United Natio ns clim ate co nference in Copenhagen next month .

Meli ssa llboudo, a final yea r DEV stud ent, will join Burkino Faso's Presid ent, Prime Minister and environmental minister at the summit from 6'h·18'h Decem ber.

Ms. llboudo re ce ntly rai sed £45,000 with Christian Aid for relief work in Burkin o Faso .

Thi s fig ure ro se to £180,000 wi th matched funding from the European Uni on.

Visiting two of Christian Aid's partners, who sup ported Ms. llboudo's appea l, she met Bobodo Blaise 5awadogo,

Burkino Faso's represe ntative at the United Nations clim ate change convention in the country's capital, Ougadougou.

He invited M s. llboudo to j oi n hi s team of fiv e whom will be negoti ati ng at Copenhagen.

The We st African country is one of the poores t in the world and has suffered from seve re flooding and drought thi s yea r, which M s. ll boudo experienced when last in the country at the start of the term. lt is also under threat as sands of the Sahara desert shift so uthwards altering what was ag ricultural land.

On December 5t h a coac h is running from Norwich to London for the national rally aga in st climate change, ' Th e Wave'.

The School of Internationa l Development has been awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize, a prestigious higher educatio n award.

Acco rding to the Royal Ann iversary Trust's official w ebsite they state "All eviati ng poverty in developing countries through environmenta l sustainabi lity " as grounds for th is ach ievement.

Announced on 18'h November thi s higher education award is the most prestigious in the UK; the actua l prize is being ab le to use a Queen 's Prize logo for th e nex t 4 years an d w ill be presented by the Queen at a ce rem ony at Buckingham Palace in February.

Or Adrian Martin, chief

executive of International Development UEA is very . pleased and sees it as a recognition of the schools 40 year history of working

address".

Dr. Martin also went on to explain that the sc hool is involved in over 100 development projects all over

in 1967, using a groundbreaking approach to set together an academic staff from different disciplines to tackle some of the world's

in development: " lt is very gratifying fo r us but also sends out a strong message about t he importance of th e work that we do and th e issues we

th e world eve ry year.

Th e University's Vi ce Chancellor Edward Acton sa id : " Th e School of Internationa l Devel opment was se t up

most intractable problems through th eir teaching and resea rch and through th eir own profess ion al practice ... ! am delighted and grateful that the Royal Anniversary Tru st has chosen to recognise it in this way".

Th e Royal Anniversary Tru st se t up the Prizes sc heme in 1993 with the approval of th e Queen. lt aims to promote exce ll ence in universities ac ro ss th e U.K. through its award s. Th e School of Development rece ived thi s awa rd because it met th e requirements of being able to demonstrate outstanding work at a world -c lass level.

NEWS 3

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

"SHOULD VIDEO REFEREEING BE CRU DATA SCANDAL INTRODUCED IN FOOTBALL?" asks Grace Simpson

" Thierry Henry has admitted he was wrong, in the media he called for a rematch but the rules state that what is decided by the referee stands and you have to go with that, even if it's unjust. In terms of video evidence, it should probably be introduced, whether it is goal line technology or video replay like in rugby. lt is debatable when exactly it should be used but in special circumstances it would certainly cut out all those errors."

"lt doesn't matter what technology is introduced, the onus has got to be on the players themselves not to cheat.

Video evidence and goal line referees could act as a deterrent because players are confident that they will get away with it and the lenient punishments for cheating make the risk worth taking."

Players need to be consistently and harshly punished with or without the help of new technology."

"I think that this shows that it is time for video refereeing to come in, especially for the big decisions, maybe not for all the little decisions but definitely for goals and penalties; events that can not only change the course of the game but affect whole competitions, as in Ireland's case."

At the same time, you've got to respect the Irish fans for coming out and saying that they could understand why Henry did what he did ."

"I don't think Thierry Henry is a cheat. Everyone cheats in football nowadays, it's just that a big deal has been made of this instance. I think it's unfair to single one person out and brand them as a cheat. Video refereeing and an extra linesman should introduced. definitely be Replaying the match would be ideal but it isn' t fair making an example of Thierry Henry and it won' t help Ireland to do so."

CLIMATE OF UNCERTAINTY Some would say they saw it coming; what the with specific countries' MET offices led the now infamous emails reveal is the evidence group of sceptics to believe refusals were based on their critical view of Phil Jones' and CRU's needed to legitimise suspicions of data manipulation (see email one), mismanagement work (see email two) . and Freedom of Information breaches within Shorty after the requests, including release UEA's Climatic Research Unit (CRU). Or so they of the physical confidentiality contracts, CRU would have you believe . published a statement admitting that many Suspicions around CRU have long been of these agreements were lost as well as the held amongst a small but vocal group of identity of raw temperature data (which proves bloggers, scientists and climate change the origin of individual temperature statistics sceptics. Allegations of data mismanagement within the average temperature records) whilst and manipulation, inaccurate methodologies, transferring to new offices .

Uncertainty about the data spread after it bias in the peer review process and Freedom of Information breaches is nothing new for CRU, was removed from a UEA FTP (open access) and much of climate science for that matter. server shortly after being subject to a Freedom Although the now-unprecedented high profile of Information request (see email three) . of his research and the theft of data is surely However, Steve Mc.lntyre admitted to Concrete not what Dr. Jones had in mind when he told at the time that this was after a formal refusal Concrete "there is a lot of noise at the moment of the FOI request and was therefore not in breach of the law. because of Copenhagen and some people are Perhaps the scale of opposition to CRU work trying to sow seeds of doubt."

With Concrete reporting on the theft of data can be measured by a letter to the American over a month ago most of the issues now under Geophysical Union (AGU) handed to Concrete scrutiny have developed over a long period of after they awarded Phil Jones his fellowship in May. According to the letter, Dr. Jones' scientific time. Suspicions were raised as far back as 2002 after numerous requests for raw temperature 路 method has been marked by "a refusal to data from scientists, and in particular Steve respect normal scientific transparency" and has Mclntyre, the author of the Climate Audit, a "plagued the climate debate." blog sceptical in tone that provides statistical Dozens of scientists signed the letter, challenges to mainstream climate science . With including three from AGU and some IPCC the requested data allegedly being given to expert reviewers used to peer-review works for other scientists, the subsequent refusals of data inclusion in IPCC documents.

In isolation, the emails seem to provide on the grounds of confidentiality agreements

... we think the Climatic Research Unit is providing. We would hate to see a situation where people like Phil Jones, who is a world leader, don't work at UEA." Advocates have also pointed to the timing of the published data, claiming that it is a concerted campaign designed by sceptics to raise questions over the legitimacy of climatic science in the run -up to climate talks in Copenhagen .

Accusations of impropriety have also arisen over apparent intentions to delete data which may have been open o Freedom of Information requests. In his statement, Jones emphasised that the CRU has "responded to Freedom of Information requests appropriately and with the knowledge and guidance of the Commissioner."

Information But the findings have prompted calls from high

profile commentators, such as The Guardian's George Monbiot, for Phil Jones to resign from his post.

To exacerbate the sit uation, the way in which the university has dealt with the crisis has been severely criticised . The Director of Climate Outreach, George Marshall, described the UEA's response as "frankly pathetic ."

When asked by Concrete, the police press office said that they were notified of the theft on the 20th November.

However, ReaiCiimate stated, via their website, that they notified the University of the breach in security on the 17th November, when hackers attempted to upload the stolen ata onto their website . The niversity issued no statement bout the three day delay in informing the police and made no comment on their actions within the intermittent period .

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Nic~ Church examin~s the b~ck-historyto.the ~urrent climate debate and the vanous calls for a ngorous mdependent mqUiry.

proof of CRU 's systematic abuse of scientific method and a broader manipulation of the peer-review process (see email four) . But there has been no shortage of scientists defending not only the integrity of CRU's highly influential work, but emphasising the importance of context. Michael Mann, director of the earth system science centre at Pennsylvania State University and long term target of sceptics said, " They are going through them [the emails] and cherry-picking them for any word they can find that is cited out of context and can appear incriminating" and, though embarrassing, the emails do not " make any difference at all in degree of consensus on climate change," a sentiment agreed by other climate scientists and commentators.

UEA has committed to an independent inquiry and its rigor will be important for both UEA's reputation as well as climate science in general. Regardless of UEA and CRU's defence, public perception can often trump such truths, as the recent MP expenses scandal has shown.

Jones to another scientist dated Tuesday 16th November, 1999.

THE EMAILS

Email Four

The following quotes are taken from a series of emails between Dr. Jones and colleagues to highlight contentious issues.

" I can't see either of these papers being in the next IPCC report [referring to a paper prepared by "MM'~ possibly Steve Mclntyre and Ross McKitrick]. Kevin and I w ill keep them out somehow - even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!" From Dr. Jones to climate scientist Michael Mann .

Emall One " I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years to hide the decline." From Dr.

Emall Two

j

"...The two MM [possibly referring to Steve Mclntyre and Ro s McKitrick, frequent critics of CRU work] have een after th e CRU station data for years. If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act rjow in the UK, I think I'll delete the file rather than send to anyone ..." From Dr. Jones to close associate and climate scientist Michael Mann.

Email Three "Mike, Can you delete any emails [some say these emails could potentially be subject to Freedom of (nformation requests. If so, their deletion would be a breach of the law.] you may have had with Keith re AR4?

Can you also email Gene and get him to do the same?." From Dr. Jones to climate scientist Michael Mann.

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4 NEWS C ARNAGE URI NATOR

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

THE GREEN FUTURE OF NORWICH SOUTH Chris King

A Sheffield Hallam student who provoked fierce public urinatin g outrage after on a war memorial, after participating in the Carnage pub craw l, has been ordered to do community service.

Phi lip Lang wa s charged after the Daily Mail published a photograph of the incident.

He had been warned of a jail sentence but was told to complete 250 hours of community service.

Explaining his decision, District Judge Anthony Browne said, "I have never se en anyone more contrite for what has happened nor one who regret s more th e hurt and di stress he has cau sed. " No-o ne force d you to ta ke all thi s drin k, or force d it down you, or persuaded you to commit a crimin al offence .

You did that all by yourself and you must take re sponsibility.

"But al l this is set against a backdrop , as your solicitor ha s said , of a culture of drinking far too much. In my view something does need to be don e to change thi s culture."

Th e Sheffi eld Hallam stud ent said he had no reco ll ecti on of th e incid ent until he wa s contac ted by th e Uni ve rsity's press offic e and shown th e ph otogra ph.

LATTITUDE GLOBAL VOLUNTEERING Lattit ude Globa l Vo lunteering are looking for graduate volunteers. The not-for-profit organisati on provides overseas volunteering opportunities to assist in young people's educational development.

Lattitude has a network of placements that spans 17 countries from British volunteer projects to teaching in China.

For 35 years, over Lattitude has provided placements in teaching, caring, envi ronmenta l, outdoor ac tivity, medical and community development in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Ameri cas and Ocea nia .

For further information vi sit www.lattitude.org.uk/ gapyear

Deputy Leader of the Green Party Adrian Ramsay has stepped down from his position as leader of the oppos iti on in the Norwich City Council in order to contest the Norwich South consti tu ency at the next general election .

Ram say, who will remain a City Councillor, is set to go head -to-head with Labour MP and forme r Home Secretary Charles Clarke, hoping to become the first Green Party MP. In explaining his decision he said " the rea son I'm standing down is beca use the Green Party is doing so welll" add ing; "we have a strong chanc e to win th e Norwich South seat

next spring, and for the Greens to overtake Labour in the local government elections to become the largest party at City Hall."

Since Adrian Ramsay was first elected to the City Council in 2003, the number of Green Party Councillors has increased each year. The Green contingen cy now numbers thirteen, and form s the official opposition to the Labour Party on th e City Council. Ramsay is confid ent Labour's headway will soon diminish, stating " we were just 133 votes behind Labour in the ward this year and if we win in next year and make other likely gain s we will almost certainly have the first Gree n Council in th e country".

Ramsay believes that success in th e Norwich South

Constituency and Ci ty Council elections are crucial to the party, saying "we need a strong voice at Westminster" as well as a "fresh approach in politics, locally and nationally". Ram say believes that stand ing down as leader of the opposition in the City Council early will provide sufficient time for a successor to prepare for the forthcoming elections and, if elected, implement key Green policies such as supporting local bu sinesses and making Norwi ch a leader in low-carbon development.

In term s of the importance of th e student population to th e Green Party's chances, Ramsay sai d "as a former UEA stud ent, I thin k it 's vital that stud ents are well represented by th e Norwich South MP

and that their concern s aren't overlooked". On the issue of tuition fees, Ramsay stated: "As a Green MP I wou ld resist proposals for increases in tuition fees", adding that " I wou ld also continue to work with students on a wide variety of campaigns as I have for many years, particularly

on environmental and development issues".

Ramsay also emphasised th e importance of the University ward to the Green Party's electoral chances, commenting that "students on campus could make a very big difference to the election result."

CONCRETE DRUGS SURVEY SHOWS DECLINE IN DRUGS USE AT UEA Heather Crowley Around 80% of stud ents at UEA have taken illegal drugs and 63% of those have done so whilst at UEA, according to Concrete's 2009 drugs survey.

The survey, which wa s last conducted in 2005, asked over a hundred stud ents a range of qu estion s about ill ega l and lega l drugs, includ ing alcoho l.

Questions covered top1cs including drug preference, attitud es toward s drug and alcohol co nsumption, and activiti es und ertaken w hen under the innu ence of drugs.

Co nce rnin g alcohol, over

70% of students agree to some ex tent th at a drinking culture th at en courages students to drink too much exists at UEA and universities in general.

Only 27% of students would still have applied to UEA if the sa le of alcohol wa s stopped on ca mpus.

Over 20% have been on drugs whil st in a se minar, 35% have had sex w hilst on drugs and nea rly 20% have recorded a perso nality ch ange since taking drugs, no dou bt much to th e chagrin of semina r leaders.

Oth er stati sti cs show th at nea rly 20% w ho too k th e survey have sold dru gs and

25% have bought or been offered drugs in a Norwich clu b. Around five students (5%) have had their drinks spiked

and over a quarte r of st udents be lieve more should be done to pro mote an anti-drugs message on ca mpu s.

Compared to th e last

survey's resu lts, UEA has seen a decline in drug-use by around 15%. Higher classified drugs including cocaine and heroin have also seen a decline in use amongst students. However, medical problem s arising from drug use, whil st stati stically low at around 10%, have remain ed con sistent.

Th ere is an apparent in crease in th e number of drinks be ing spiked w ith zero bei ng reco rd ed in t he previous survey but fi ve in t he most recen t figures .

M any of the discrepa ncies between the su rvey resu lts cou ld be attri buted to the

higher number of participants in this year's survey, nearly double from the 60 wh o partook in the 2005 survey.

Concrete, Speaking to Annie Grant from the Dean of Students said, " I am ...very con cerned by som e of th e findings, in clud ing indica tio ns of possible illega l drug use in res id ences. I would enco urage all st udents not to ri sk discipli nary ac ti on by taking or se lli ng drugs."

She continued saying the fin ding on alcohol were time ly as t he university is in th e pro cess of developing a Studen t Al cohol Poli cy.

UEA STUDENTS AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Nick Church Students across UEA showed support for the international day to stop vio lence against women, Wed nesday 25th November.

The day cal ls for the elimin ation of all forms of violence against women .

UUEAS Women's Campaign organi sed events across campu s including a talk from Leeway, a local charity and shelter for victims of domestic abuse, and a demonstration in the square based around the

fact that one in four women experience domestic violence during their life.

Speaking to Concrete, UUEAS' Women's Officer Bernadette Schu lz exp lained th e importance of the day.

"Th e issue [of vio len ce against women] affects so many women as the statistic one in four shows.

Th ese are not abstract women either .. they are mothers, friends and sisters. " lt is still a big taboo. We wanted to break that, show solidarity, and show people are

not alone."

Kate Hinksman, a second year student supporting the campaign, talked about th e breadth of people the issue involves: " lt affects men as well, standards of what it mean ~ to be a man."

As well as being the UN 's International Day for the Elimination of Viol ence against Women, the day has also been adopted by th e White Ribbon Campaign which seeks to ensure men take more responsibi lity for reducing the level of violence again st

women .

In addition to campaigning, the recent trend of some male students organi sing groups to explore and celebrate the con cept of masculinity was discussed.

Manchester's MENS Society - Masculinity Exploring Networking and Support - and Oxford's M an Collective have been formed "as a re spon se to the current state of ma sculinity."

The idea has been derided as "ludicrous" according to the NUS Women's Officer Olivia

Bailey: " Disc rimination against men on the basis of gender is so unusual as to be non existent, so what exactly will a men's society do)" To suggest that men need a specific space to be 'men' is ludi crous, wh en everywhere you turn you wi ll find maledominated spaces ."

M s Schul z fea red thi s could be a respon se and "backlash against the recent advances of feminism .. .th ey have to recognise the political situation which is that women are still not equal."

6 NEWS MEANING OF LIFE Philosopher and prolific writer Mary Warnock will give a talk on 'The meaning of life' in a lecture at th e University of East Anglia next month.

The lecture on December from 3rd, resc hed ul ed October 18th, is part of this year's Philosophy Public Lectures series, which has been devoted to the theme 'Matters of Life and Death'.

Baroness Warnock is a former member of the Hou se of Lords Select Committee on Euthanasia and the Parliamentary Comm ittee of Enquiry into Human Fertilisation and Embryology.

The lecture takes place at 7pm in Lecture Theatre 1.

Admission is free. For more information call 01603 592081 or emai l philosophyevents@ uea.ac.uk

HE PANEL DEBATE UEA Labour Society is to hold a higher education panel debate at the end of the term, 4th December.

Panelists will include President of th e National Union of Students Wes Streeting, Vice Chancellor of UEA Prof.

Edward Acton, Dennis Hayes from Academics for Academic Freedom, Partick Sullivan from the Bow Group and Labour MP for Norwich So uth, Charles Clarke.

The panellists will debate under the title 'What Next For Students?'

The debate is open to al l and will take place Friday 4th December from 5.30pm in Union House Room 1.28.

Contact uealaboursoc@ gmail.com for more details.

UEA CHRISTMAS CONCERT UEA Music Society is holding their annual Christmas Concert on Wednesday 2nd December at St. John Baptist Church.

Featuring in the concert are the Orchestra, Wind Band, Big Band and Cho ir.

The concert begins at 7pm with £3 entry fee at the door.

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

EXECUTIVE CONFIDENCE QUESTIONED

INTERNATIONAL INCOME THREATENED

Davina Kesby

Gordon Malloy

The meeting of Union Council on Thursday 19th November was the Annual meeting of council. The agenda was very long, so counci llors settled themse lves in for what se t to be a late evening.

The first contentious item on the agenda was to do with the membership of Ugo Onyeka, Equal Opportunities Campaigns Convenor. After missing two meetings in the semester, he had been removed from office and was arguing his case for remaining on council. Several members objected to him regaining office, but Welfare officer, Tom Sutton and Ugo himself argued and case, and it was resolved that he will conti nue to hold office.

Martin Jopp, Finance officer then prese nted a summary of the Financia l Statement, before presenting the Budget for 2009/10. He drew attention to the increase in the budget for campaigning. Both documents were approved by Council,

the Union to the Associations of Managers in Students' Unions, British Universities and Colleges Sports, Advice UK and the Citi ze ns Advice Bureau were confirmed. Affiliation to NUS was moved down the agenda until reports from the NUS Zone Conferences were heard. This was also approved.

There then followed an extreme ly lengthy argument over Executive Committee minutes. Some minutes had been changed on the grounds that they contravened staff protocol, but various parttime officers disagreed with the changing of the minutes.

This debate went on for over an hour, with much confusion amongst councill ors, but it was eventually resolved that the report would be referred to a committee for investigation, and the minutes were approved .

Colleges are challenging government plans to tighten controls on en try for international students, to address concerns over scamm ing and an easy means of access to stay in Britain.

Proposed rules would prevent international students being granted visas for any courses below degree level, as these are at most risk from scammers.

Mr Brown said: " The ri sk of ab use is higher in relation to shorte r courses at lower qualification levels below degree level. Our universities conti nu e to offer high-quality degree and post-graduate courses to foreign students. contribu te greatly They to universities, and to our research base and to our economy."

However, critics have argued how the plans would adverse ly affect universities and colleges that often rely on international students for as much as half of their income.

recruitment international is already heavily regulated with colleges sponsoring international students and are responsib le for monitoring attendance for the immigration authorities.

The chief exec utive of the Association of Colleges, Martin Doel, said: "Colleges provide much -valued vocational and academic training to 60,000 foreign students every year. This is a so urce of considerable benefit to the UK economy and to the students themselves.

"This is very different from the so-called ' bogus colleges' that mislead both students and the UK Border Agency.

All our members are subject to stringen t regimes of public audit and inspection."

He continued saying the Government should focus on unregulated private co ll eges.

after a short question and answer session.

The continued affiliation of

The next meeting of Union Council is on 3rd December at 7pm in Lecture Theatre 3.

As we ll as this, th ey argue that under the new pointsbased immigration system ,

No publicly fund ed col lege has been implicated in immigration seams .

UEA BAR REVENUES CIRCUMVENT NATIONAL TREND UNION BAR STEADY

Nick Church Takings at stud ent bars have halved over the past decade to around £25 million leading to fears of endangered bars across unions and forcing students unions to respond to dwind ling revenues.

Statistics obtained by Concrete show that bar turnover and profit margins have decreased since the early nineties, which saw numerous years of profit margins over 20%. However, turnover has remained relatively consistent with only two years in the past decade see ing a dec lin e in turnover from its previous year.

One of these years, 2008, saw a 3.6% decrease in turnover from 2007 which can be att ributed to refurnishing and redecorating parts of th e bar.

Speaking to Concrete, UUEAS' General Manager, Andy Pott, said UEA has avoided the trend affecting many other union bars. "[Turnover] very much cyc li ca l; it tends to depend on entertainment, what bands

drinks price increases in the past two years and are not based on the volume of alcohol so ld - "this is mainly down to many students drinking at home.", he continued .

"Tak ings are down 50 per cent from ten years

The drop is also attributed to the growth of studentfriendly pub chains and supermarkets making it difficult for many unions to compete.

Whilst UEA appears to have bucked this trend, bar

are touring, for example. " However, we have no doubt seen a steady decline in beer volume sold" - the statistics do not account for

ago," said Richard Budden, vice-president of union development at the NUS. "Students are drinking less and being forced to work more."

prices did rise for a second co nsecutive year to ensure healthy revenues remained .

Mr. Pott suggested UEA's student bar is at an advantage due to UEA's campus structure of accommodation and relative distance from the city centre compared to other universities.

As well as this rent prices for the bar itse lf are low - due to the University's block grant -allowing money to be pooled into creating a competitive ly priced, and well furnished bar.

UUEAS' bar came out mid-table in the last price comparison carried ou t by the NUS Service Ltd, which supplies all student unions.

£100 RESEARCH PRIZE Volunteers are sought for a research project which seeks to explore how people comprehend different socia l situations.

The st udy is part of a broader programme funded by the Wellcome Trust that aims to develop a tool vi a which flexible thinking is enhanced and individuals can endorse different ways of perceivi ng and comprehending a given situation .

Pa rticipants will be required to read several scenarios - which could be pleasan t or slightly unpleasant and answering simp le questions about them.

The researchers are based at UEA but participants will be able to take part in the study online from home.

Information on answers and the participants will be kept strictly confidential.

Storage and use of information will be fully comp liant with the Data Protection Act. Every participant will enter a prize draw in which they will have the chance to win £100.

The resea rches ai m to recruit English nativespeakers, aged 18-65, who are not experiencing mental health issues and who are not currently seeing a mental health professional.

If you would like to participate in the study or for further information please contact Gisela Perez-Oiivas Ph.D, preferab ly by email g.perez-olivas@uea.ac.uk or phone(01603)593607.

NORFOLK NURSING AWARD A team of neonatal nurses from Norfolk have won the prestigious Nursing Times ·award for Team of The Year.

The neonatal nurses at th e Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital won the award for their joint work with the University of East Anglia's School of Nursing and Midwifery, and Quidenham Hospice.

NEWS 7 CAMBRIDGE TOWN T+KEOVER Heather Crowley Tuition fees demonstrators in the region took to Cambridge on Thursday 26th November as part of the National Union of Students' nationwide 'Town Takeover'.

Students led a rally through Cambridge's town centre and finished the day with a panel debate on tuition fees, consisting of local politicians.

NUS president Wes Streeting challenged Labour Parliamentary prospective candidate Daniel Zeichner as well as Cambridge councillor Chris Howell.

The takeovers aim to raise awareness for the 'Funding Our Future' campaign which supports an alternative to the current tuition fees funding

system. The current funding system is one of many areas subject to the governmentinitiated review that could see the cap lifted on tuition fees, allowing universities to charge whatever they deem necessary.

Overseen and organised

by Anglia Ruskin students, a contingent of UEA students made the journey to show support for the campaign.

Natasha Barnes, UUEAS' Communications Officer said: "The Cambridge Town Takeover was a chance for students across the Eastern region to gather together to show opposition to any rise in topup fees. The Government and Opposition need to know that students find it unacceptable for them to stay silent on the issue of higher education

fJnding until after the General E~ection - we will continue to s~out about a fairer funding system until politicians listen."

Matthew East, president of Arglia Ruskin Students' Union, ~ho oversaw the organisation of the event said he was h~ppy with the support from s~udents and the community: "In the future students face being priced out of education i~ the higher education tuition c~p is lifted. Several potential students I have spoken to are now strongly reconsidering gping to university solely because of the extortionate debt they would face after ~raduating." .

I Other takeovers have been held in Newcastle, Liverpool ~nd Bristol, and the series ends ~t the beginning of December J..ith London and Birmingham.

MEDIA DIGEST: ARE WE IN DENIAL? David Churchill shares his opinions on the proliferation~~ climate change denial.

Ignorance is bliss. People across the globe are discovering that the issue of climate change conveniently disappears if they simply deny it is happening. The blogosphere is now awash with internet pages suggesting that climate change is a grandiose hoax, and books such as Global Warming and Other Bol/ocks are dominating Amazon's stock piles. Climate change denial is spreading at an alarming rate.

But the vast majority of scientific peer-reviewed studies over recent years, show unequivocally that there is a global consensus among scientists about the reality of anthropogenic climate change.

Papers published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), show a resounding consensus that radiation trapped in the planet's atmosphere increases in line with the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. it is also the consensus that it is human activities which are responsible for the scattering of radiant energy. Some papers also point out that since 1997, we have had eight of the top ten hottest years on record in the UK. So how do we explain the societal response of denial?

The answer lies in the field of psychology, not science. has Monbiot George recently drawn attention to a paper published by Janis L. Dickinson entitled 'The People Paradox', which draws on the work of the twentieth century anthropologist Ernest Becker.

Becker's basic idea was that the imminence of death was the fundamental source of human anxiety and repression.

We repress thoughts of death to control anxiety and actively eliminate them from consciousness.

Dickinson proposes that talk of climate change reminds us painfully of our mortality, which makes it difficult for us to repress death thoughts. Thus, people deny that climate change is happening and seek to create alternative realities; they create myths which ensure thoughts of death are repressed. These myths become established beliefs, which in the face of climate change, manifest themselves in outright denial.

But what then exacerbates things is the human tendency to only search for, and value information which matches already established with beliefs. Unfortunately, this has

happened with the recent emails Involving UEA Professor Phil )ones. Climate change deniers have filtered the information In a desperate attempt to anipulate details which, taken ut of context, match with their ready established beliefs and eed their egos. The thousands f emails which contained no evidence of a conspiracy or admission of a hoax were simply filtered through and discarded.

But science aside, mitigation policies simply make sense.

According to the UN thinktank, Global Humanitarian Forum, we're all mass murderers.

They found that through pollution alone, our emissions are responsible for 300,000 deaths globally every year.

Furthermore, with the recent whistleblower from the International Energy Agency revealing that oil may run out sooner than we expected, isn't it time we started looking towards alternative, cleaner sources of energy?

Now is the time for us all to be responsible and make a rational response to the issues surrounding climate change, not an irrational one. One based on scientific fact, not arbitrary myth.

t

8 TURF

concrete. turf@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

Copenhagen critical for developing countries 99% of the casualties of cli mate change reside in t he developing world, yet the 50 least developed countries emit less then 1% of pollutants, as recorded in the Human Impact Report by the Global Humanitarian Forum.

As governments in the West donate aid targeted at helping developing countries, the emissions their industries belch out are contributing to the issues they are supposed to be tackling. Although these emissions drive economic growth, they are forcing millions into poverty. Higher temperatures in Peru have lead to a 70% reduction in mango production in certain region s.

Disruption like this has been seen throughout the world, but nowhere as badly as the places that ca n least afford the effects.

Climate change causes erosion of coast lines, rivers to dry and loss of species: biodiversity lost forever.

For many of th_e developing countries of the world beauty is a commodity th ey have to offer to appeal to tourists. The rural poor are often the ones who suffer most: a plantation owner and his workers who re ly on the income it generates, or a family of subsistence farmers living hand-to-mouth where th e weather affects the chance they have of survival. Stronger storms, heavier rains and hotter days all bring their efforts for a better life to a standstill.

The Copenhagen climate summit this December is particularly significant to developing countries.

Yu

envoy, has been arguing in the media that developed cou ntri es need to make significant al lowances for developing countries.

He has been reported as saying "developed countries should also earnestly ask themselves: 'In solving this problem that I have created, am I keeping my promises and honouring my commitments?'"

Developing countries are call ing to keep the framework of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which doesn't require any binding commitments from developing countries but will ensure that the 37 most developed nations are committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The US wa s the deve loped country to reject Kyoto in 1997; however, Barack Obama's administration have reported that they are willing to agree to emissions cuts. Nevertheless, they will be seeking a level of commitment from developing countries such as China and India. Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, has argued that the summit needs to focus on four main iss ues: how much th e industrialized countries are willing to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases; how much major developing countries such as Chin a and India are willing to do to limit the growth of their emissions; the financial help required by developing countries to engage in reducing their emissions and adapting to the impacts of clim ate change; and how this money will be managed.

Quingtai, China's top climate

Thomas Hague

''Mur'"l, kids in Afnca.. o.re ..S o luc.k~.

Th~ do n'~ ho..ve to 3 o to Sc.-hoo l AND i~ neve r ro_ins"

Turf advent calendar

1st UEA Teach-In See www.ueastudent.com/ teochln

, ./

6th - 18th

Copenhagen Summit

1st December: UEA Climate teach-in Teach-In timetable Information In US universities in the 1960s, students and staff opposed to the Vietnam War often arranged their own 'alternative university' for a day, organising a 'teach -in' on the war. UK climate campaigners encouraged students and lecturers to do 'teach-ins' on the current threat of runaway global warming.

SU environment officer Leejiah Dorward and student environment activists have worked with the University and College Union to host a UEA Climate Teach -In. The Teach -In looks at many aspects of climate change: how it will affect hea lt h, how it affects women and men differently, the impact on developing countries, and what we ca n do about it by ca rbon reduction in our personal lives, at UEA and in Norwich. lt is a fast-track to understanding a complex but important issue and finding out how you ca n respond.

More information and room confirma tion s can be found at www.u eastudent.com/teachin Trevor Philips

10.00-16.00 Green biotech nology, a poster display Or Margaret Wexler. Atrium, BIO. 12.00-13.00 Never Waste a Good Crisis: Health and Well being in a Low Carbon Society.

M s Stefi Barna . MED 1.02.

12.00-14.00 Climate inform ation sta lls. Campaign Against Climate Change; Amnesty 'Shell is hell'; Sustainable Christmas decorations; "Get me home for Christmas" Student car share scheme; News of national climate demonst ration. Sign up and ente r prize draw. The Hive and LCR .

Building TPSC 0.1, Academic 路 Building East.

13.00-14.00 Developing community responses to climate change and peak oil.

Transition Norwich is working to help Norwich become more resi lient in the face of peak oil, climate change and an ongoing economic dislocation.

Person : Tully Wakeman, Transi tion Norwich.

Room: Arts. 2.02 14.00- 15.00 Climate change and energy security - the hard choices.

Or Keith Tovey, Reader in ENV, working on energy and carbon reduction. Arts 1.02.

13.00-13.10: 'Th e Wave ' a dance for the planet' : UEA Dance Society. The Square.

Lunchtime: Chaplaincy Christmas carol service will include the theme of environment/ climate amongst its choice of hymns, prayers and speeches.

13.00-14.00 Investing in Low Carbon Technologies.

Dr Chris Harrison, Chief Executive, Low Carbon Innova tion Centre. Thomas Payne

. 15:05 ~ 16:00 Buddhist Ethics and the Environment.

Ms Sue O'Mahony ENV. Chaplaincy.

15.00-16.30 Increasing Happiness, Decreasing Consumption Workshop on sustainable living. This will provid e a brief introduction to research findings on what makes for happiness and wellbeing, and will include exercises and discussion on how these find ings translate into activ ities that cost little or nothing in environmental and financial terms.

Dr Theresa Belton . 1.33 Union House .

14.00 -15.00 What might climate change mean for a village in Africa?

Dr Marisa Goulden (ODG) E. Fry 01 .08.

16.00 -17.00 Women, men and climate change: why climate change is a gender issue.

Geraldine Terry, post graduate researc her on gende r and climate ri sk (DEV) Room : tbc.

15.00-16.00 The portrayal of climate change in the US media - and US progress on climate legislation.

Mr Ed Sears, Postgraduate ENV student doing MSc on climate change. Room : LT4.

18.00: Film: Eleventh Hour and discussion. A 2007 feature film documentary, created, produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, on the state of the natural environment.

Union House 1.28.

I

•

•

Maastricht Un1vers1ty

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Graduat study at Maastrlcht Unl¥ rslty:

Dreaming spires without spiraling debt The nmes reantty detctfbed studying at Mutttldtt University at 'lite amid the dramIns spires of Maattrlcht' and rightly made the link to the famous UK untversltlet that share this characterlstk.At Mustt1cht University studentt can expect to follow MI~Urt proarammes which are excellent In terms of tetearch and education and rated accordlnsly In various International publlcltlons.lndeed the Unlwrstty could be called a Ratln&J hl&f1 flier rltfng aslt did 6o places In just one year In the nmes Hfpr Education Supplement of the top two hundred unlwrsltles. The unlwl'ffty leaped from f'!ztti position In 2006 to 1161" In 2009. This year our School of Business and Economics wat rated by the Flnandalnm as the~ best Sutlnm School In Europe for the

mana ment progr.~mmes offered.

The unlwrtfty Is lnternatlonalln location and In temK of students and staff. tt Is situated In the heart of Europe and attracts students from all the su"oundlng CDUntrfet and much further afteld. Most at the Master courses are In English and take place In small groups fo lowlng the lnnowtlYe Pr'oblfm Based Laming method of

teaching which fostert teamwork and leadership skills. Employers value Maastr1cht students h ghly for their knowledp and ability to WOtlc together constructlwly In teams. Academic and Career prospects are excellent for our students.

There are still placet available at the lltWerstty for a ran of Master courses.

This Is expected to be a start contrast tD the UK where the economic crisis Is leading to dramatic Increases In postgrad~Ute appiJcatJons.

In addltJon to the high standard of our education nd research the charged by the Unlwrslty are only a fraction of those charged by UK unlversttJes. The Dutch gcwernment sets the fee levels that unlwrsttles an charge. Many Master courses In the area of1lnance and management In the UJC cost between 8-18,000 pounds per year whereas they cost 1620 Euros at Maastrlcht. Students can expect proven research and educational quality at th university without the debt mountain that they would have after studying In the UIC.

10 COMMENT AND OPINION

concrete.opinion@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

The Chilcot Inquiry: Iraq uncovered?

There have been many reports on the Iraq war already, so why is the Chilcot inquiry any different? Gareth Coventry looks at the inquiry which began hearing evidence last Tuesday and examines whether if can be truly effective and comprehensive.

The Chilcot Inquiry fo rmal ly began its public hearings last week after being officia lly launched in July. Socalled because it is being lead by Sir John Ch ilcot, a retired civil servant, this is the fourth inquiry into the Iraq conflict, follow ing most notably the Butler Report of 2004 and the Hutton Report in 2003. The purpose of Chilcot is to "examine the United Kingdom 's involvement in Iraq, including the way decisions were made and actions taken, to establish as accurately and re li ab ly as possib le what happened, and to identify lessons that can be learned". This means it has a wider remit than the previous inquiries. it is hoped that the inquiry will be able to conclude before the end of 2010 before publishing its findings in early 2011.

The previous inquiries into Iraq

have been whitewash, Chi lcot from Firstly, as

dism issed as being a so what will prevent meeting a simi lar fate? mentioned previously,

"Th e previous inquiries into Iraq have been dismissed as being a wh itewash, so what wi ll prevent Ch ilc ot from meeting a similar fate? " Chilcot's remit is wider than previous inquiries. Hutton looked specifical ly at the death of Dr. David Kelly and the issue surrounding the 45 minute claim, whilst Butler examined matters relating to intelligence gathering.

Secondly, both the Hutton and Butler reports were conducted in the relative immediate aftermath of t he war, when there was the mistaken possibi lity t hat Saddam Hussein had hidden potential weapons of mass destruction in t he sands of Iraq, in order to undermine the reasons for war. Such a possibility might have influenced the findings of these reports. Chilcot has the advantage of having more fixed and estab lished facts at its disposal than Hutton and Butler did.

Yet Iraq remains an emotive issue for many people, and Ch ilcot is unlikely to satisfy those who wish to see Tony Blair on trial fo r wa r cri mes and nothing less. There are legitimate concerns su rrounding Chi lcot, namely that those who will be conducting the inquiry have been chosen by the

Government, although admittedly after consultation with opposition parties. This may mean, in theory at least, that Chilcot has been loaded in the Government's favour.

This accusation is perhaps unfair, as Sir John Chilcot has already go ne against Gordon Brown's wishes that t he investigation be conducted in private by insisti ng that much of the inquiry, with the exception of issues relating to national security, be conducted in public. The arguably most worrying point was pointed out

by Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, during last week's Prime Minister's Questions. At present, W hiteha ll departments cou ld veto information with nine reasons given as to why the information cou ld be suppressed - none of which have anything to do with national security.

IRAQ INQl)IRY Obviously the real test of Chilcot will be in its findings; howeve r, this is not as simple as appears . This is mainly because a lot will depend on what is expected from Chilcqt in the first place. For example, those who want justification for the view that Tony Blair is just a war criminal are likely to be disappointed, as it is expected to be a balanced and fair report. Ultimately, peop le's pre-existing views on t he Iraq War will end up informing their views on w hat the Chi lcot report concludes.

Debate: Is Christmas a time for everyone?

Fact box James Dixon Ch ri stmas or 'Ch ri st's mass' is rat her unsurpri singly, a Christian holiday.

Trad itiona lly, the holiday celebrat es the birth of Jesus Christ. This newborn child has grown old though, choosing a red and white attire whilst allowing a heavy white beard to adorn his port ly face. Christmas has changed and deve loped over the years into a time fo r giving, fami ly reunion and pleasant food. lt stil l maintai ns its Ch ri stian origi ns; however these have become less prominent . Notice that the aforementioned quaJities bear no definitive link to Christianity.

Therefore Christmas is a holiday that can be ce lebrated by peop le from all wa lks of life an d any re ligion .

Yet for all its positives, Christmas possesses some negati ve also characteristics as well. lt appears t hat San ta's sleigh may have lost its way in a snowstorm of commercia lism. Mat erialism and greed have put an emphasis on the receival of gifts and presents, fo rcing peop le to spend money that they

might not have. This can put unnecessary strain upon people w hic h is th e po lar opposite of what Christmas should encompass.

Along with thi s mass of sugarcoated commercia lism, Coca Co la seem to have unofficially dec lared themselves the right to determine the 'start' of Christmas with their famous festive TV advert.

How eve r, Christmas is natu rally a holiday with positive connotations and t his is somethi ng that cannot be changed. A holiday that celebrates family un ity su rely cannot be frowned upon. The Christmas spirit of goodwi ll also extends beyond the family meaning that it is a time to reconnect with old friends and enjoy an air of amiability. Peop le of differing faiths shou ld feel welcome to take a sha re in the Christ mas spirit and enjoy the festivities. They are unde r no o bligati on to celebrate the religious aspects of Christmas . Santa Claus can emancipate his reindeer and rest well this Christmas, for all that people rea lly need at this ti me of year are each other.

According to the

gainst Alice Violett

TUC, one million people work on Christmas day.

In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal.

The ban was lifted when the Puritans lost power in 1660.

About 35 million Christmas trees are produced each year to cope with holiday_demand.

When you're small, Christmas is exciting . Everything seems to revolve around you: advertisers target you more than usual, you're encouraged to write a Christmas list and go to Santa's grotto and your sc hool makes a huge fus s about the occasion .

When you 're older, though, Chri stmas loses its magic. Whether you have kids or not, when you hear Chri stmas so ngs and see Christmas adverts, Chri stmas lights in the city centre and Christmas displays in shops, the sentiment is no longer " holidays are coming! " but "o h crap, it's here agai n". Gone are t he carefree days when it wa s enough to give your parents a gift you'd made at school; instead, you have to think careful ly about what to buy people.

Food -re lated excitement becomes apprehension as you have to fight through crowds to buy it and rea lise how much it costs and how unhealthy it is.

For those who live alone - a demographic on the increase Christmas can be especially difficult;

"She's going to be as sober as a ...SOCK!" Annie Chalmstein, DEV 2

the focus on the family is so strong that they feel like they ' re invading if they accept an invitation to spend Christmas with their friend s' familie s, and if they don' t have a partner, they might as we ll not exist. The group of friends larking around in Wham !'s Last Christmas video is a myth; peop le generally feel compelled to spe nd Christmas with their fami li es, or alone. In a way, Christmas imprisons people; whilst some people enjoy their own company and doing as they please, for others, the lack of public transport and places to go se rve to amplify their loneliness. 'Special ' or family-o rientated TV programmes might also make such people feel sub normal for not joining in the festivities .

Even those who do visi t their familie s, through choice or otherwise, can fee l lonely in a room full of people; being related to someone does not infer automatic friendship . For the black sheep of the family, Christmas is something to endure rather enjoy.

Christmas is seen as an occasion on which families come together and eve ryone's happy; however, t his image is, for many, purely idealistic.

concrete.oplnlon@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

COMMENT AND OPINION 11

Say NO to Nuclear The 'Jedward' phenomenon Jack Brinded Recently, potato-faced Ed Miliband said the UK cannot afford to 'rsay no" to nuclear power as he prepared to announce plans to fast-~rack a new generation of reactors. Nuclear is a "proven and reliable" energy source, he said. If by proven and reliable, he means in the production of waste and the endangerment of lives, then yes, it is. .

This unpopular government, knowing time is running out, seems set upon rushing us into an industry that will not only mass produce toxins and contaminants, but create fewer jobs than renewable energy, before we (the voters) have any chance to be rid of the farce of a cabinet who current ly reside at Westminster.

Not that it would make a blind bit of difference if we did oust Flash Gordon and his miserable men, since our outstanding opposition party has an identical policy!

Greg Clark, shadow Energy Secretary, said that "every one of the measures cont ained in this statement should have been brought forward ten years ago," no doubt attempting to prove his party's glowing green credentials.

Now, these people will undoubtedly tell us nuclear power is a better choice than all renewable equivalents, but let me ask you t his: how many Chernobyls has renewable

energy caused?

Of course, one of Britain's major parties is opposing the ascent of nuclear power. After the scandal of the Dounreay and Chapelcross sites and the beaches they continue to contaminate, the Scots know only too well the dangers of nuclear power, so plans for any plants in Scotland, which already has two sites, are. opposed by the SNP government.

As for the argument that nuclear power at least gets results, people who state this o'ften glibly overlook the fact that there are many sources of renewable energy, for example, the often overlooked tidal power.

In the United Kingdom, 42 sites are currently noted as available, and it is forecast that 34% of all the UK's energy can come from tidal power alone. How about in future, rather than poisoning our country's natural forces, we instead seek to harness them?

George Hamilton-Jones The "Jedward" phenomenon has eluded few in recent weeks. Even the Prime Minister has been quoted on the subject . John and Edward Grimes, of course, left ITV's the X Factor but it's alright for them.

Whatever their shelf life, they currently have the trappings of bona fide celebrity: plentiful bookings, tremendous earning power and there is even talk of a biography. lt would be interesting to see how much could be made from the

contents of a leaflet. The pair have similar acts in the 1990s that graced been at the centre of the annual "is the screens of children's television the X Factor karaoke?" debate and and Top of the Pops? There are as I certainly think that at the end of many reasons to love as to路 loathe.

2009 John and Edward are as good a I for one find their difficulty during snapshot as any with which to reflect interviews a great antidote to mediaon the year gone by. trained politicians of all parties and Simon Cowell's programmes plutocratic, aloof Am~rican pop have been a feature of the nation's stars. I am sure they appreciate their viewing for the better part of the good fortune. ) decade. I cannot help but wonder I have read that were the twins if a Grimes twin victory would have to win it, the X Factor would be had a similar effect as Fonzy jumping forever tainted by mediocrity and the shark in Happy Days. They have, 路 doomed to die shortly after - the MY after all, been at the forefront of Fair Lady story brought to life, but allegations of declining standards on with a 'can't polish a turd' attitude. I the show, and increasing dependence prefer, though, to think that they tell on backing tracks and choirs by the us something about what a celebrity performers. However, The X Factor is in this new celebrity age is. The television, not music. Whilst I do not starmaking powers of Cowell and want to jump on Sting's bandwagon eo. seem to have worked despite the (another year, another album to tunelessness, despite the consistent promote) and call it karaoke, the upstaging by backing dancers and only act to make a full crossover.to despite the frequent allegations of the world of mainstream commercial miming. The .X Factor and its spawn are stories with talent relegated to pop, in my o~inion, is Girls Aloud.

The Facebook group: "We want an article of faith. What is certain Jedward at UEA Summer bash" (339 is that we like to watch the stories members on the 27th November) has unfold, the media like to tell the it right. Are John and Edward real(y stories and 路 some of us are even any worse than the succession of believers.

IF YOU HAVE A COMMENT OR OPINION THAT YOU WANT TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST ON ANY ISSUE, THEN THIS IS THE PLACE FOR YOU. PLEASE CONTACT CONCRETE.OPINION@UEA.AC.UK AND WE'LL GET YOUR VOICE HEARD!

I 12 FEATURES·

Defining the Decade As we m~rch ever onwards towards the new year (less·than 5 weeks now, cri pes!), ifs time to reflect on an undeniably tumultuous ten years. In the last of Features' Noughties series, Duncan Vicat-Brown analyses the . . five events that defined the past decade.

September 11th, 2001

Conflict in the Middle East As you may have noticed, America has been engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan for quite some time now, continuing their amusing trend of moving into smaller countries and pushing people around, only to realise a little too late that getting back out is going to be one hell of a hassle (see also: Korea, Vietnam).

The main significance of this conflict, aside from exposing America's inability to learn from prior mista lies in the

.

We all know what happened, but let's give the events of that fateful day a little context. In September 2001, America was not only riding on the crest of a wave, but also at an uneasy crossroads.

After spending the majority of the 20th century developing from a large but insular world power into one of the most powerful and influential nations on earth, the United States enjoyed a period of unprecedented economic original dec~sion to engage. No other growth under Clinton's Democrat political initiative of the last decade government following the end of is shrouded in so much mystery and the Cold War. As far as the average contention. Was there sufficient evidence American was concerned, America was that Saddam Hussein was developing untouchable. And, of course, there was weapons of mass destruction? We'll a new government in the White House. probably never know, and the suspicious So, into this fly three hijacked fate of Dr. David Kelly should probably American passenger planes, which take encourage us to stop asking. out two of America's most prominent The reasons for engagement landmarks and damage The Pentagon, are vague and widely contested. A the figurehead of her military. And who diplomatic mission to rescue a nation pulled this off? A loose collective of from a tyrannical despot? A necessary nomads the US used to fund. David and conflict to protect America's security?

Goliath don't even come close. As far as A wonderful excuse to take control single days in American history go, only of Iraq's plentiful oil supplies? The Pearl Harbour can be said to have had a motivation was cloaked in so much comparable impact. flowery, sensationalist rhetoric that . So how has it changed the world? many assumed the worst, tarring Bush's Well, it was the catalyst that set Bush's government and, by extension, ours, 'War on Terror' in motion, leading y.~ith the 'Evil Capitalist' brush. to engagement in Afghanistan and, Our government's involvement is eventually, Iraq. Fundamentalist Islam another sore point. Although presumably was suddenly thrust into the public intended to promote Blair's government sphere and perceived as an everyday as crusaders for humanitarian causes, threat. Further incidents followed, such the controversy the engagement stirred as the 7/7 attacks in London. Political up instead made them look like Bush's rhetoric has been changed irrevocably, ineffective lapdog. and the impact" can also be felt in Since then, the politically minded countless films, songs and works of public has been split into two camps: literature, as well as in journalism. If the those who support engagement, and Sixties was the decade of free love and those who oppose. There is no-one on the Eighties t he decade of excess, this _the fence, and the debate rages on. was the decade defined by paranoia ..

Climate in the Spotlight

The Rise of the Internet

In 2006, David Guggenheim directed

The Internet is hardly a new toy, but We may not have the flying car yet, but prior to this decade it was little more · we still got a little closer to a cinematic than a reference tool. Certain major future thanks to technology going sites,_ including Amazon, Yahoo and portable. Although mobile phones eBay, were already establishe;d by the were already around by the turn of turn of the century, and commanded a the cent ury, they didn't become the large number of hits. But con:pared to essential gadget they are today until today? the first few years of this decade, and Take Google: it went online in 1998 now everyone has one. First they got as a privately held company, and by smaller, then they got colour screens, 2004, was worth 23 billion dollars. then cameras, then video cameras, Today, it's worth over 153 billion, and is mp3 players, touch screens... now, one of t he most powerful companies in thanks to Apple's iPhone, you can the world. actually run a bath from your office The most significant development so it's ready for when you get home. is the emergence of the Internet as a Seriously, Google it.

While we're on the subject of lifestyle accessory, in particular that most addictive of web-based evils - Apple ... if one gadget dominated the social networking! Even though the decade, it was the ultra portable, ultra trailblazing FriendsReunited has long stylish iPod. Mp3 players removed the since slipped into redundancy, its major flaw of Wa.lkmans and Discmans successors have literally consumed {tapes and COs are hardly the most lives. MySpace has evolved into a one- portable of items), and Apple took stop shop for up and coming music, that technology and made it essential. and as for Facebook? Well, don't we 10,000 songs in your pocket? Yes, all fundamentally distrust people who please!

This has inevitably lead to an don't have one?

But that's not all; online banking, influx of copycat digital music players; online shopping, online gambling, in fact, everything that the British online stocks, ·online games (vast designer Jonathan lve has produced ones), online newspapers, magazines, for Apple, namely the iPod, iPhone, books... you can put online in front Macbook and iMac, has massively influenced the format in which we receive information in the Noughties.

Portable technology has enabled digital entertainment to rule supreme, meaning that the music labels, distributors, film studios, televison and radio broadcasters (collectively ·. .: defined as t~e Middleman) have to .;;..,.,.

4 lo chase the consumer (collectively ·'defined as You lot) by catering to their .: • ~ every need and desire. Lovely.

An Inconvenient .Truth, a documentary

about former US Vice President AI Gore's campaign and legendary accompanying sideshow, which carried a simple yet terrifying message; we are destroying the planet we call home, we are doing it far quicker than we realise and it's getting worse every day. Sure, this was hardly news, but what was different with Gore's campaign was its urgency. Before, the catastrophic effects of our negligence seemed distant, like something for future generations to sort out.

But Mr Gore was not the only one pushing for dramatic reform to policy regarding the environment. The Kyoto Protocol was first introduced in late 1997, a knee-jerk reaction to terrifying projections with regard to the level of greenhouse gasses that were released in the early 90s. How:ever, by 2005

it became clear that climate change wasn't teing taken as seriously as was hoped, so the treaty was enforced in February of that year.

You can see the impact of increased interest in environmental concerns all around you. Walk down any high street and you'll see adverts encouraging you to cut down your emissions, or promoting a company's efforts to reduce theirs (a cynical marketing tool?).

A political p~rty's image is influenced by environmental issues, hence the Conservative Party's new green tree emblem. And, lest we forget, this is the dec3de which coined the muchbeleaguered phrase 'carbon footprint'.

More recently, and a little closer to home, the recent Climatic Research Unit email hccking scandal has not only put UEA in a very compromising position, but has also brought the scientific evidence behind climate change into question.

•

Portable Technology

FEATURES 13.

concrete.features@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

concrete.features@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

Drugs Survey Results The Concrete Drugs Survey has returned! last seen in print in 2005, the Survey has been resurrected and updated to include legals highs and drugs that have experienced a sharp surge in popularity in recent years like ketamine and MDMA. But now the results are in and they are here for your perusal!

The Survey went online for the first time, which meant that Concrete received results

from the largest demographic of people we've ever had.

88% of the respondents were undergraduates aged 17-22, _ making it a good reflection of young adults' attitudes, with a gender ratio of 62% male and 38% female. The age at which most of these first tried illegal drugs ranged from 11-21 years old but 63% had tried or continued to take them while studying at UEA.

,- -

-

-

-

Have you ever taken any

Ktt3"*>e Magic Mushrooms

Crack Spet<l Popper'$

l SD

-

form of illegal drugs?

H<roln

Camabls

====:;:, ~

No

Is the policing of drugs on campus sufficient?

Yes 49.5% No 10.7% 39.8%

Have you ever been offered or bought drugs whilst at UEA? 61.2% Yes 38.8% No If so, where?

41.7% Halls 7.8% Union Bar 16.5% LCR 28.2% Party Other 21.4%

~ou ~~~ ~ere .., ... •

N/A

40.8%

Has anything bad happened to you or a friend after consuming drugs?

Yes 36.8% No 63.2% If yes, can you write what the worst event has been?

• Tea bagged to the max.

• One friend had an out of body experience and saw herself waving at her from across the room.

• We learned French and will never forget.

• My mate smoked an entire sixt eenth of cannabis and

~

•

of most words and chances are it exists somewhere. it's also a far more powerful tool now; can you imagine streaming entire movies on a Windows 98 with dial-up Internet? Madness!

The Internet has got plenty more tricks for the future, too. Watch this space and you will see it transform education with online teaching and television with on line soaps.

Oh, and now there's loads more . porn.

I

19.6%

If you have taken drugs, Have you ever had your drink spiked at UEA? Yes 4.9% No 59.1%

Where do you get drugs from?

Friends 69.3% Home · 4% Dealers 34.7% Colleagues 4% Other 5% N/A

25.7%

Have you ever sold drugs?

Yes · 18.8% No 81.2%

The Effects of

•

•

Have you had medical problems as a result of drug Tick any of the following that you have done whilst using a use?

9.4% Yes form of illegal drug?

72.6% Had sex 36.8% No 17.9% Been to a seminar 21.7% N/A Operated heavy machinery These included: 4.7% Driven a car 15.1% • Paranoia.

'---------------, • Depression.

• Bronchitis.

• Panic attacks.

Do you consider legal highs to • Loss of long term memory. be less physically dangerous • Indirect factor in a heart than illegal drugs?

Yes 22% attack.

63% No N/A

If you've taken legal drugs, how did they compare?

Better 3.4% Worse 20.2% About the same 20.2% Can't comment

57.3%

18.9%

15%

Do you think more should be done to ban legal.highs?

Yes 29% No 51% Don't ca re 23%

~a

Yes

12.5%

No

88.6%

Do you enjoy taking drugs?

Yes

37.4%

No

8.4%

Sometimes

36.4%

N/A

17.8%

• • • •

•

Bad trip -Thinking they might have died Rape of a friend.

Freake~ out, ~an.

She threw stones at her best friend because she thought her friend was a pigeon.

Someone threw up on my head while I was throwing up in a toilet.

.Alcohol How r:nany units of alcohol do you drink on average per week?

3% None 6.1% 1-2 13.1% 3-4 17.2% 5-6 12.1% 7-9 48.5% 10+ How often do you have an alcoholic drink?

Daily 9.1% More than once a week 59.6% 26.3% Weekly 2% Monthly Never 3%

sons

Do you think that taking drugs is socially accepted among young people?

17.2% Yes 6.1% No In most social groups 43.4% In a minority of social groups 37.4%

do you regret it?

rugs .

fainted after eating a burger the size of his head in like under 5 seconds. No joke.

Me arid two of my other friends took some legal highs, purple ohms and had really bad trips, horrible feelings afterwards and vomiting and the like.

Friend lost his clothes and found the street outside

8%

80.4%

I

rugs on Campus

Unsure

-lave you ever taken a legal high?

Yes 49% \lo 46% ~/A

Yes

C~aine

Ecstasy/MDMA

N/A

Legal Highs Type of Drug Taken

Would you say that you've ever been addicted to any illegal drugs?

8.5% Yes 91.5% No

Have you had flashbacks or blackout s because of drug use?

Yes 10.4% 70.8% No

Thank you to everyone who went online for a couple of minutes and took part.

With the Concrete website also undergoing a makeover, the Concrete Sexy lecturer Nominations and the highlyanticipated Concrete Sex Survey to look forward to in the new year, we'll need you again!

Illegal Drugs NIA

·Medical Problems

Do you think there is a drinking culture at universities that e~courages students to consume too much alcohol?

Yes, definitely 36.4% Yes, I suppose so 37.4% Maybe 17.2% Definitely Not 9.1%

How many of your friends take drugs?

6.9% None A few 70.3% 18.8% Most All 3% Unsure 1%

Do you think the drinking age limit should go up to 21?

Yes 6.1% 93.3% No

Do you think the media encourages drug-taking?

Yes 16.2% No 71.7%

Would you have come to UEA if the campus were 'dry'?

Yes 27.3% No 72.7%

N/A

12.1%

Do you think that, on the whole, celebrties who take drugs are presented as 'cooler' than those who don't? · Yes 20.2% No 75.8%

Why do you think people take drugs?

4%

N/A

• Friends D Media

Have y~u ever bought or been offered drugs in any clubs in

0 Boredom • curiosity

N~rwich?

• other

24.8% 75.2%

Yes No

•

•

•

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14 FEATURES

concrete.features@uea.ac.uk

I

TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

Consumer Crisis 50掳/o of the High Streers profits are made over the festive period. This means that ifs make-or-break time for many of our much-loved brand names. David Biggins explores the natural selection theory of consumerism.

Christmas is a-coming! The streets are filled with a collective sense of optimism and merriment.

So throw on your boots and winter coat find a friend and charge into the shops. The perfect gift is waiting in every window and soft, white SfiOW has fallen all around. If you head into Marks and Spencer, Stephen Fry路 will personally be handing out mince pies.

Okay, maybe not. lt is, however, a vision that retailers have been peddling in their Christmas advertisements for decades, and we at least look forward to them, don't we? Many shoppers will gauge the time to start looking for their dad's new socks by the arrival of the Coca-Cola advert.

When Santa starts selling Coke, it's time to get on the streets and buy some.

Despite their splendour, this year's Chr istmas adverts reveal a slightly different message, albeit subliminally: 'money off', 'half-price', 'three for two', 'buy one get one free'. Prices are falling so dramatically that it's going to be tough to tell the difference between what we're seeing now and the January sales. The high street is becoming more and more desperate as Internet sales are increasingly dominating t he market. "Lot s of lovely stuff delivered to your door, eh, Gromit?"

Well, if Wallace is telling Gromit that there's no need to leave the house for an adventure this time, you know something must be afoot. Internet sales, combined with recession austerity, are going to have a devastating effect on t he high street, where some sources expect that 500 million pounds less is going to b.e spent this year.

Borders, the first casualty in what is going to be an out and out high street war, went

Concrete Apology Concrete would like to apologise for attributing the article 'A Time for Reflection', which appeared in the Features section of the issue published 17th November, t o Laura M oore when it was, in fact, written by Lucy Moore.

into administration only last week. it's not too surprising. If you head to Amazon you can buy the latest paperbacks for little over three pounds.

If you click on a book tha t you know your mum loves, Amazon w ill come up with suggestions for this year's present and then deliver it to your door. Click, click, click and you're done. Click once more if you want it wrapped. lt's a lazy way of shopping, but we're all doing it. Many of Concrete's devoted readers no doubt work in retail, and are servicing their own profession with a glorious own goal.

Britain has had a consumer culture since the 1950s. In fact, we have been so busy buying and selling goods, that we've forgotten how to make anything. Glance for a moment around your own bedroom at all the stuff you've bought while you have been at university alone: books, posters, DVDs, CDs, clothes, shoes, computer games. Just think of all the money that you've spent this year alone on material goods. We're all consumers, but as consumers we are becoming lazier and we are demanding that our goods be cheaper.

Logically, the economics of this aren't going to work. 'Buy-one-get-one-free' (or, somew hat amusingly, BOGOF} doesn't make any money.

Stores normally do such discounts because they are forced to compete with indefatigable supermarkets. Tesco has 1500 stores in the United Kingdom. Borders had only 42. Tesco can buy one million copies of the latest Star Trek DVD and -as a result receive a huge discount from the

only able to purchase what they thought they could sell on a monthly basis. Tesco can discount a DVD to whatever it likes, and still probably make a profit, so Borders never really had. a chance and neither did Zawi or路Woolworths. lt is going to be interesting to see the effect that Tesco's clothing brand will have on the market.

Marks and Spencer already smells blood, and has recently appointed Marc Bolland (of Heineken and Morrisons fame} as their new CEO. Once famous for its clothing brand, the classy retailer is now moving into the safer (and more profitable) food industry, where it is likely that they'll focus their growth for the next few years. lt's a sensible move when other shops are showing further signs of their desperation by simply not knowing which area to grow in.

If you have a look around t he city centre you will increasingly see that stores have expanded their product range in the hope of finding a new market. Bookshops selling toys, DVD shops selling books, toyshops selling DVDs. lt's a sad, pitiful circle. Perhaps one day you'll be able to pick up your Christmas turkey from HMV; at least you'll be able to get a student discount.

Christ mas has a remarkable way of focusing the retail industry. The rough period between the end of October and the start of January is actually the time when retailers will make over 50% of their profits. lt is literally the make or break period so don't . be surprised if a few more retailers pop off the market come New Year. This fear translates into strangely improved customer service - th~ only real trump card that the high street holds over online retailers. lt's also the reason why Christmas music infuriatingly starts playing in shops in November.

They're not trying to kill Christmas with overcommercialisation; they're t rying to save it. By getting you, t he consumer, t o spend your money they will not only save themselves, they'll save the economy. As skint as you may feel, or weary, as much as you may hate charging through the masses of other shoppers, heading out into the high street is the only surefire way of getting out of recession. So go on, try browsing offline for a change. Ask a bookseller, not a computer, what you should get your mother as a present.

Try a sample of that whisky before you buy it. Christmas might come again, but when the shops go, they're gone forever. lt might be Santa's favorite colour, but don't let the poor 'ret ailers see red t his Christ mas.

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LETTERS AND EDITORIAL 15

concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

EDITORIAL

RETRACTION "Wh ere to gra b your groce ries"- Con cret e 17.11.09

DITOR

The UFO is a convenie nce store not a su perm arket.

Fres h Past a sa uce is " 2 for £3" and not "£3 for 1" as st at ed in th e arti cle.

Conc rete apologsies for an y offe nse th e artic le may have caused to UFO employees.

conc ret e.ed itor@uea .ac.uk Hannah livingston

DEPUTY EDITOR

TRAY L EDITO ·

concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk

conc rete. trave l @uea.ac .uk Rachel Conquer

Ali ce Viol ett

Writers

HIEF COPY EDITOR

Poppy Jones, Sara h Mo rga n, Ruth Gaukrodger

concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk Denise Bartl ett

FOOD EDITOR

Proofreaders

concrete.food09@gmai l. com

Katy Qu igley, Ali ce Bru nt, At ephanie Art ley,

Edward Leftw ich

Mia Wecker, Aye sa Bail ey

Writers Dan ie Ha dley, Grace Simpson and t he Concrete

EWS EDITOR concrete. news@ uea.ac.uk Nicolas Church

Reporters David Churchi ll, Ga reth Coventry, Andrea Stromskag, Gra ce Simpson, Chris King, Heat her Crowley, Davina Kesby, Gordon M alloy

Cocktail Collective (CCC)

FOCSOC EDITOR con crete.ed itor ial@uea .a c. u k Alice Vi olett

Writers Sian Ham er, Martin Lippiatt

TURF EDITOR co ncre t e. turf@uea.ac.uk Rebecca Wil es

L FESTYLE EDITOR concre te.lifestyle@uea .ac.uk Samantha lewis

Writers Thoma s Hague, Trevor Philips

Writers lsa bel Skrine, Vicki Wheatland, Jessica L. Ball

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OPINIONS EDITOR conc rete.opinio n@uea .a c. uk Davin a Kesby

SPORT EDITOR

FEATURES EDITOR concrete .features@ uea.ac. uk Melissa York

Writers

Writers lan Hobbs, Trevor As ian , Tilly Burrows, Henry Cro ft, Georgina Wade, lois Net hersell, Ki rsty Maclean

NON-EDITORIAL

Dun ca n Vicat-Brown, David Bigg in s

CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Mann

INTERNATIONAL EDITORS conc ret e. i nternationa I@uea .a c.u k Qingning Wang & Filipa Mendes

"'::lF :'

co ncrete .spo rt @uea .ac.uk Danny Coll ins

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Concrete is pub lis hed by UUEAS Concre te

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Photographers Laura Smith

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Society ©2009 Concrete . ISSN 1351-2773 l etters should be addressed for th e attention of t he Editor, Hanna h livingst on. Lett ers must include contact detail s, but we will consider anonymous publicati on. We rese rve th e right to edit for lengt h and clarity as necessa ry.

Opinions expressed are not necessarily those o th e Publ isher or Editor.

Use of th e name The Event is by arrangement with th e copyright holders, Planet Zog Ltd. No part of thi s newspaper may be re produced through any mea ns without th e express permi ssio n of th e Editor, Hann ah Livingston.

Print ed by Archant.

•

•

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•

16 INTERNATIONAL

concrete.lnt•rnatlonal@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

Round the World at Christmas Santa in the Southern Hemisphere Georglna Duncan

Christmas is a time when it is cold . Isn't that why Santa wears a warm red suit?

Christmas means snowflakes, mulled wine, hot roast dinners and fireplaces. Right?

Well, not exactly. See, not all countries have Christmas in winter. I know! How can that be? But in places like Australia, hot roast dinners and snuggling up in front of the fireplace playing a family game of monopoly don't really

work when it's 40 degrees outside .

People seem to get easily confused by this. A 20-year-old IT student asks "Do people in Australia still have Christmas in December?" The answer is yes, however we tend to do things a little differently.

Lynely Myers, a student from New South Wales, Australia, describes her Christmas as being a family day in the sun: "We normally have a BBQ

lunch with prawns, sausages, steak, salad, lots of beer...you know, the Aussie stuff! Then we hit the pool, play cricket in the driveway, have water fights and get ridiculously burnt trying out what we scored from Santa."

Other people responded with similar stories. When asked to .describe his Christmas, 21 year old Reece Piper, says "I think the lyrics to Bucko and Champs' "Aussie Jingle Bells" should pretty much sum it up. it seems that in Australia, all we do for Christmas is lie around in the sun, drinking beer. You could say that it's not that different from England, where all people do is lie around by the fireplace, drinking mulled wine. The only difference is, us Aussies can multitask -we can get drunk, while getting a tan!

Bucko & Champs' "Aussie Jingle Bells" Dashing through the bush In a rusty Holden Ute Kicking up the dust Esky in the boot Kelpie by my side Singing Christmas songs it's summer time & I am in My singlet, shorts & thongs Chorus : Oh, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells Jingle all the way Christmas in Australia On a scorching summer's day Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells Christmas time is beauty Oh what fun it is to ride In a rusty Holden Ute Engines getting hot Dodge the kangaroos Swaggy climbs aboard He is welcome too All the family is there Sitting by the pool

Christmas day, the Aussie way By the barbecue!

Chorus Come the afternoon Grandpa has a doze The kids and Uncle Bruce

The festival before Christmas

My Christmas Wish

Julla Sherman

Nisha Murthi

Thanksgiving. it's the American holiday known for the food: the turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and of course the pumpkin pie.

But other than an excuse to wear those elastic waistband trousers and eat far too much food, Thanksgiving is about people coming together.

From the first Thanksgiving meal celebrated in 1621 by the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians to commemorate their cooperation and sharing, Thanksgiving, as the name

of this holiday suggests, is a time to give thanks. Whether you are thankful for family, friends, opportunities, or just being able to share a meal, Thanksgiving is a holiday that focuses on the good things in life. it reminds us that no matter how difficult life can be, there is always something to be thankful for. But rather than being thankful simply on the last Thursday of November because that is the American tradition, being thankful is something that should be celebrated and recognized

every day of the year. So even if you are not American and have no histgrical claim to the settling of North America, you can still celebrate being thankful, both on Thanksgiving and everyday of the year.

The Norwich Ice Sculpture Trail Sunday 20 December, 9.30am to Spm Explore Norwich city centre at this unique and memorable event. The lifesized ice sculptures will enchant and amaze as you journey through the city's streets and find out more about its stories and history.

Are swimming in their clothes The time comes round to go We take a family snap Then pack the car and all shoot through Before the washing up Chorus

What would YOU like for Christmas this year? Would an iPhone be a good present? Or would you rather have the opportunity to go back home? This issue, we decided to explore what our very own international students are hoping to get in their stocking!

I would like pass my foundation year and hope t#lat all my loved ones are healthy and happy Rachel, China

TRAVEL 17

concrete. travel@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

The Atlas Mountains Poppy Jones reflects on her time spent in the little village of Asni, located in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, which she visited last summer.

The Atlas Mountains of Morocco are as yet littl e ex ploited by the touri st industry, and this greatly adds to the exc itement of visiting and exploring them. Las t summ er I spe nt a week in the village of Asni , located in th e 1\tlas M ountains, as part of my sc hoo l's 路 co mmunity se rvi ce programme. The vill age and its sma ll commun ity offered th e chance to escape from eve ryday life, and it was fascin ating to immerse ourselves in a culture so different to our own. After a ferry rid e to Tangiers and then a ten hour coach journey through Morocco during th e heat of th e day, we finally reached our dest ination only to find th at our first chall enge was to climb to th e top of the hil l in the dark, carrying our luggage !

Th e point of our trip w as to experience anothe r culture and lea rn to understand a way of life so different to ou r own. On e barri er which became apparent very quickly was language . The peop le generally spoke li t tle English, and we also soon di scovered t hat Frenc h is only lea rnt as a seco nd language in Morocco, where most people speak Arabic.

Neverth eless, some how w e managed to commu nicate, an d interacted throu gh gesture s, smiles, songs and ga mes.

We stayed in a building recently co nstructed in the vill age, w hic h consisted of just a few room s, and we greatly app reciated t he fact that they had t hought to install a toilet

Majorcan Summer Sarah Morgan Last Ju ly my fri ends and I ven t ured out to the island of Maj orca in sea rch of sun , sa nd and cocktails, and it didn ' t disappoint.

fo r us - we had been expect ing the tradition al hole in th e ground!

Moroccan cuisin e is defin itely worth ex ploring, and with our mea ls being prepa red for us daily by th e local wom en, we tried a variety of new and different di shes . Perhaps the most famous Moroccan di sh is the 'tagine', a slow-cooked stew cooke d in a distinctive pot, wh ich co nsist s of a variety of different

We also leve ll ed an area so t hat the children could have so mewh ere to play games like foo t ball . We pl ayed with th e chi ld ren and exc hanged songs, ga mes and gifts.

We also delighted in activities that else wh ere may have been outs ide the Hea lth and Safety regu lations - a highlight wa s t rave ll ing to a nearby lake to swim; w e all stood in the bac k of an open truck as w e

"We delighte d

hurt led round the winding mountain roa ds. Another morning wa s spent

in activities that e lsewhere may hove been outside Health and Safety regulatio ns." fr uits and vegetab les comb ined with ei th er lamb or chi cke n. Also not to be mi sse d on a visit to Morocco is the mint te a, which is delicious. Tea wa s se rved in both the mornings and the even ings, and we wou ld eage rl y await the sight of the ornate silver tea pot headi ng toward s us.

Travellin g to Asni or to the Atla s M ountains is a trip w hi ch requi res a diffe rent approach from th e kind of sight-see ing weekend spent in somewh ere like Pari s or Rome. We we nt wi t h onl y a vague it ine rary, and just idea s of how we might spend th e tim e. We enjo yed eac h day as it came, and just being in a new pl ace provided a va riety of ways to spend our days.

We helped t he community, taki ng pa rt in the farming acti vitie s of plant in g, waterin g and digg in g.

in the local market, which had stall s selli ng everything from clothes and j ewe ll ery to live rabbi t s and do nkeys, furn it ure and haircuts. We decided not to follow the man who passed by with a half-butchered cow's carcass across his back - no doubt hea ding for th e meat ma rket.

Another day w as spent trekking in th e surrounding area, which boas ted so me spectacu lar view s. Desp ite being so close to the Sa hara Dese rt, Asni is locate d next to a river, which gives ri se to a lush, green valley in t he mid st of t he dark red hill s.

The people of Asni were ju st as cu riou s about us as we were about them, and we th o roughly enjoyed gett ing to know one ano th er. Every day ended with t raditiona l Moroccan mu sic and lesson s in dancing to it, standing in o ne huge circ le and slowly shuffling ro un d w hilst clap ping and singing choruses.

As the week came to an end we were all very so rry to leave, and I thi nk we all returned home altered in some way by our ex periences an d by wh at we had see n. As we parted with the little community, we were left deeply affected by t he rea lisa t ion that whatever our cultu re, language and customs, as huma n beings, we 路have mo re simi lariti es than differences.

The white, sa ndy beach of Puerto Al cudia stretche s out for miles and t he sea is a brilliant mix of tur quo ise blues. Framed by towering cli ffs t hat provide muchneeded shade, as a beac h lover I wa s sui tably imp ressed. We spent most days at th e beach , hirin g out peda los an d surf boards, ex ploring the side streets on th e outskirts of th e town , and browsing the market of fre sh fruit, brightly coloured fab ric s and leather sa tchel s.

We tended to stay away from any English -looking bars, preferring to discover where t he loca ls went.

Most nights we drank during happy hour at th e cocktail bar Venu e 21 in the ce ntre of th e town, or a place ca ll ed Goodfe ll as. Bo t h, despite their British names, were crammed with Spanish locals. We di scovered 路 a gorgeously retro karaoke ba r on

t he seco nd night w hi ch we loya ll y returned to from th en on, swift ly advancing to first-name term s w ith mo st of the staff. Bell s was a small club that ticked all t he boxes; the mu si c wa s an expert blend of mode rn genres and the drinks were cheap.

Despite our origina l intentions, we did venture out to M aga luf a couple of times, the most memorable being to a ad ult show called Pi ra tes, which undoubtedly was one of th e bes t part s of a brilli ant holiday.

There wasn ' t an awful lot of plot, but th e ac robati cs an d th e at mos ph ere were fanta sti c, and the gia nt jugs of sangr ia were free.

Th e holid ay was a w o nd erful , drunken blur of sa ngri a and cocktai ls, sa ndy feet, sa lty bronzed sk in and many laughs. If you're loo king for a relaxed, fun, an d very youn g destin ati on, w ith out th e ma ss of England shi rts, this place comes hi gh ly recommended.

Berliner Kunst Ruth Gaukrodger Be rl in is a ci t y weighed down by its own history. The Seco nd World Wa r annihilated the German cap ita l and a lot of it had to be rebui lt. The effect of t his is a practical and con tem porary layout, with archaic buildings and monumen ts peppered throughout.

Probably th e biggest benefit of th e modern layout of Berlin is t he wide pavements; it's a small thing, but not feeling choked with the swarms of people in any capital ci t y is a rare t reat, and ma kes for a much more relaxing holiday.

The best examp les of both contemporary and classic architectu re are found by the river Spree, with the Paui -Lobe and Mari e-Eii sa beth Li..id ers government buildin gs being two of the most striking pieces of mode rn desig n there is to see. More centrally, the Sony Cent re at Potsdamer Pla t z is a vast and beautiful bu ilding, bu il t over th e No-M an's- Land t hat was crea t ed

-a nd destroyed - with the Berl in wal l.

Section s of th e wa ll rem ain across th e city; big, colo urful blocks with th e peop le's graffiti etched over it. In t he summ er, artists are invited to paint a mural on a large section of the wall found near th e 02 ce nt re of Berlin .

For a capi tal city, it is relatively untouched by tour ism . The re are a few shops se lling chea p t-shirt s and so uveni rs, but largely the place is filled up with restaurants, cafes and small j ewe llery shops. On Wednesdays food markets pop up all over the ci t y, and various fl ea markets occur throughout the year, prese nti ng disorderly mounds of ru sty trinket s and old, di sco loured papers. Th e fa ct th at the ci ty manages to retain a rea l sense of cha rac ter, and not be drowned out by ot her invading cultures or tou ri sm, makes it an appea ling and interesting visit, which is why Berlin fe els like the bestkept sec ret of Europe.

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18 FOOD

concrete.food09@gmail.com TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

How to Stuff a Bird this Christmas Here at Concrete Food we have had a thought: why do people eat turkey at Christmas? Chicken is tastier, cheaper and easier to cook. How many people do you know with a pan big enough to make turkey stock? So forget tradition, find yourself a huge great big free-range chicken, stuff with this Christmas stuffing and tuck in.

Method

,..

Ingredients

1. Preheat your oven to 190°C/Gas 5.

Stuffing: lOOg white breadcrumbs (about 2-3

2. Put your breadcrumbs into a large bowl. Finely chop the onion, garlic and parsley and add to the breadcrumbs with all the other ingredients. Season this with salt and pepper and then get your hands in there to mix it al l together.

thick slices worth, crusts included) Half a large onion , quartered 1 garlic clove Handful of parsley 200g sausagemeat 1 apple, cored, peeled and finely chopped SOg chopped walnuts 1 tsp curry powder 1 egg Zest and juice from half a lemon

Chicken: A huge chicken Loads of garlic cloves Lots of oil Salt and pepper for seasoning Roast Potatoes: 2-3 medium potatoes per person, Maris Piper or King Edward are the best roasters. Peeled and part boiled for 10 minutes.

3. Make sure the cavity is clear then thoroughly rinse the chicken inside and outside and pat dry with kitchen towel. Then stuff that bird till it's full, but don' t put too much in, as it expands inside. Any leftover mixture can be rolled into balls and put in the roasting tin next to the chicken when there's about 40 minutes to go.

4.Sit the chicken in a roasting tin and drop the garlic in next to it. Season the chicken with salt and pepper before drizzling the chicken with oil, then put an extra glug in the tin .

S.Roast the chicken for 20 minutes per 450g/llb plus another 20 minutes (eg a 21b chicken would need an hour).

6.Chop up the potatoes and chuck them in with the chicken after 20 minutes. If there isn't space in the roasting tin, heat a separate tin with oil in first; do not add the potatoes until the oil is really hot. ?.Check the ch icken is done, if you pierce the bird quite deeply, then the juices should run clear and the meat should look white. Take out the chicken and garlic and put in a warm place. Turn the oven up to 200°c/Gas 6 and crisp up the potatoes for lO minutes. Once the chicken and stuffing are done, remove the stuffing immediately. If you're not confident carving the chicken, a good alternative is to pull off the legs and wings. Then cut chunks of meat off and place in a big bowl for people to help themselves to. Put it all on a plate and serve with some tasty veg and gravy. Magical.

Say goodbye to Ben & Jerry's Danie Hadley "What?! A fiver? Do they even know that a fiver to me is two pints???" Such were the cries across a Norwich supermarket; a poor craving student desperately needing an ice cream mixed with an abundance of brownies, chocolate and toffee swirls, cookie dough pieces and chocolate fishes. Without it, we won't be able to make that deadline.

So here we have an Ice Cream Cake: a cheap yet absolutely wonderful alternative to spending your last fiver on that B&J fix. We promise you, it's insanely delicious. The most ridiculously easy desert to make, an ice cream cake will most certainly hit that spot. Whether eating it out of a tub (naturally) or on top of some warmed Belgian waffles, we promise you' ll forget the names of those two guys ....

Ingredients A tub of ice cream; nothing too special, of any flavour you fancy!

150g of Bourbon biscuits, broken into crumbs 60g of Crunchie bar, broken into pieces

Butterscotch or chocolate sauce Anything else you add is completely your choice, however we suggest chocolate chips, peanuts, melted chocolate, or high street Malteasers, confectionary e.g.

M&Ms, Mars Planets .

Method 1.AIIow the ice cream to soften .

Line a springform tin with clingfilm, allowing it to overhang at the top .

Empty the ice cream into a bowl and add lOOg of the biscuits, the broken Crunchies and your Chocolate Chips and such like to the bowl, then mix.

2.Scrape this mixture into the tin, flattening the top, then place in the freezer. Serve your ice cream

cake straight from the freezer and sprinkle the remaining bourbon biscuits on top. Serve with warmed sauce . If you 're worried about the sauce, these can be shop bought and warmed up at hQme. 3.1f you don't fancy using your mixture as a cake, take an old ice cream tub and fill this with your own ice cream and enjoy!

c ~co~n~c=r~et~e~.f~o~od~0~9@ ~g~m~a=i~l.c~o=m=----------------------------------------------------=f_()~~()~[)=-~1~~=-~ TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

Your UEA Kitchen

Christmas Cocktail Make time for tea!

The Pink Snowglobe

Danie Hadley

Concrete Cocktail Team

Scary t hings, ki tchens. Es pecia lly with out mum workin g it. Well, if you want to eat, we' re very mu ch afraid th at you've got to get in th ere yourselves. Fea r not! Concrete is here with a qu ick and easy guide to th e oven-less UEA kitchens, and th e th ings you ca n cook in th em.

Firstly, we' ll deal with thi s wh ole lack-of-oven thing. The oven is the stud ent holy grai l: th ings go in for 20 minutes and com e out ready to eat!

We know you're worri ed about its abse nce and really do feel for you all.

Luckily UEA have provided you with a microwave: a wond erful piece of machi nery wi t h wh at is esse ntially an "oven" button. This is th e convection button, and ca n be used to coo k pasta bakes, pi zzas, shepherd's pies, stea k and ki dney pies, and one or two fl ats have even bee n kn own to achieve oven chips. Yes, you heard us ri ght.

Chips. Just set your temperature and tim e, but do be aware th at coo king by microwave co uld ta ke a wee bit longe r

than a no rma l oven. Also, health note!

Whe n used on an convection oven settin g, its not using its microwave bits, so you ca n put metal in. However, any setting th at sa ys com bo, or microwave, qui ck start etc. mean s th at you rea lly rea lly can't pu t metal inside it.

"The grill.

Surprisingly, some tasty meals can be produced from this piece of viciouslooking kitchen apparatus" Second ly, take a look at t hat mea n-loo king thing on th e wall above the cou nter: the gril l. Surprisi ngly, some tasty mea ls ca n be produced from thi s piece of vi cious-looking ki tchen apparatu s and at mi nimal effort. For exam ple, marinade a few chi cken drumsti cks with basica lly

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whatever you have to hand : salt and pepper, garlic, herbs, soy sauce, cajun and paprika . Th en ju st sti ck t hem in some foil under the grill until fully cooked. Beware of th e temperature dial th ough: low often mea ns " rare" and high can mea n " bu rn". Pizzas also work great un der th e grill, as do th e old favou rites: tu rkey dinosa urs, sa usages, and chicken nuggets. Th ey' ll go great with you r chips!

Thirdly and finally; those hobs.

We recko n by now you know how tem peramental th ey ca n be: it takes ha lf an hour to heat up and another 30 mi nutes to cool down again. Still, th ey can provi de the nouris hment you need to reach your lectures. Great fo r quick nosh like pasta, a sausage and bacon sa rni e, stea k and fri ed potatoes.

So all you fi rst years, maybe just give cooking a quick go. We pro mise you, oven or no oven, it's do-able!

This little creation was rustled up in the Union Bar amidst t he happy experim enting of Co ncrete's crack cocktail crea ti on team. it's ca lled a pink snowglobe because it's pink, and, if the lemonade is fizzy enough, the little fl akes of go ld lea f bounce around on the bubbles, just like a snowglobe!

Ingredien ts 1 pa rt Go ldsc hlager 1 pa rt vo dka 2 pa rt lemo nade 2 pa rt cranberry juice Pour t he 1 part Goldschlager into your glass, and th en pou r in th e 1 pa rt of vodka, add t he lemonade an d top th e glass off with cranberry juice.

Drop in a co uple of cu bes of ice if you fancy, and fin ish wit h a slice of lemon .

165,000,000 cups of tea are consumed 1n the UK da ily and it is fair to ass ume that a large amount of t hese are dru nk by procrastin atin g students. Tea has been a Brit 's best friend for hun dreds of years an d in th e 18th ce ntury it took over from ale and gin as our favo urite thirst quencher ...t hough mayb e t his pa rti cu lar statisti c is ye t to apply to students.

Accordi ng to t he UK Tea Cou ncil, tea is also ve ry good for you: it is a natu ral source of flu orid e pro tecting aga inst tooth decay and gu m disease and is a preventati ve aga in st ca rdi ovascul ar disease and some cance rs. So, in additi on to your fi ve-a-day, make sure you get you r opti ma l fou r cu ps of tea a day. If you wa nt an even healt hier cu ppa, go fo r the green variety. Gree n tea is full of antioxidants to fl ush toxins from you r body and boost yo ur metabolism so now the only naughty pa rt of your tea break is th e bi sc uit! ~

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Tuesday 12 Jan uary

2010

Refreshers Fair- in the LCR- nam - 3pm Don 't miss this chance to meet bus inesses and get some great freebies, offers and promotions!

Wednesday 13 January 2010 SportsMart & SocMart 2- in the LCR - 12- 4pm Another chance for you to get involved and join one of the Unions many Clubs and Societies!

Grace Simpson

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20 FOCSOC

concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

Deviant Society get ready to rock Sian Hamer

Concrete: Pick up your pen and get involved!

Alice Violett

Deviant Soc is for anyone interested in alternative music; that's everything from indie rock to black metal, from poppunk to goth. We're a society for anyone 'alternative' and we put on a wide range of varied activities for our members. We meet every Thursday evening (from about 8pm) in the Red Bar on campus; this is the best time to get to know our regular members, have a drink and a chat.

Put simply, we are a social society that brings people together. Deviant Society is the place to come if you want to get in touch with the Norwich alternative scene; we go to gigs, there are several Deviant bands, we go on pub crawls and to club nights and are ~generally about having a great time! We're not limited to the University either; many of our

members have graduated but still turn up to our events. We put on gigs for local and touring bands, as well as themed pub crawls. We also run a club night called Deviate at Hades Bar where the DJs are Deviant members.

So if you want to see some shows, drink some beer, trade festival stories, or start a band, drop by on a Thursday evening and find out if Deviants is for you. it's a great way to meet

like-minded people, and you will never meet a more welcoming and friendly group of misfits.

Upcoming Deviant events include: Pub Quiz at the Stores (Dereham Road). End of Semester Pub Crawl, Laser Quest and Paintballing. Search UEA Deviant Society (UEA Network) on Face book or email s.hamer@uea.ac.uk for more information.

Obviously, you're aware of Concrete; you're reading it now, after all. However, how much dO you know about contributing to the newspaper and the society behind it?

Since 1992, the paper has been providing you with news, views and entertaining and informative articles every fortnight. However, this would not be possible without the editors and contributors who, with the exception of our full-time editor-in-chief, are all UEA students.

Students are the lifeblood of Concrete and it's for this reason we're keen to see budding writers, photographers and cartoonists contribute to the paper. Lack

of experience doesn't matter as long as you want to write, similarly if English isn't your first language, don't worry - our excellent team of proofreaders and editors are here to help make your writing look its best.

Between Concrete and The Event there are sections to cater for all tastes, and if you have an idea that doesn't fall into any of the established categories, why not apply to edit Canvas for an issue, and grab the opportunity to make a whole page dedicated to something you're passionate about?

But Concrete isn't just about producing a newspaper.

We have a lively social calendar

and all society members are welcome at socials; so far this year events have included a pen party and a cheap trip to Mustard. We still have a fantastic Christmas party coming up and 18th birthday celebrations to look forward to next semester, as well the annual Mediabowl, the battle of the media societies! For more information and to become part of the team, find 'Concrete - The Student Newspaper' on Facebook, email Hannah Livingston on concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk or email the editors of sections you're interested in: the addresses that can be found throughout the paper.

UEA Revelation Rock Gospel Choir hit all the right notes I

Martin Lippiatt

Fila~st llulia~a Restatu·a~at ha

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E stab6slte() Silac~ 1984 0pftl12llOOll2.30pln 6p1n- Latt FULLY LICENSED 19 Princt of \'Valts Road No1wich T tltphont: (01603) 666933/616937

Close to Bars ~t(l Niglttclltbs Big Parties \'\1elco1ne Plivate Bootlts Available Halal aJt(J Vegetmimt Foo'l Available Takea,va·y Set·vice Available • SPECIAL STUDENT DISCOUNT 15°/o off with UEA ID N at valid with an other offers

We at the UEA Revelation Rock Gospel Choir have a saying; "If you sing in the shower, come give it some power... join the Rock Gospel Choir!" We are part of a nationwide network of university gospel choirs from Aberdeen to London that aim to be diverse, low-pressured and above all fun, that people of all talents can join.

We sing in a wide range of styles, from spirituals to catchy contemporary music, and everything in between. There is a tune to match every taste at the RGC. The choir often takes part in a wide range of University events - including Carols in the Square, the INTO International Christmas Party, the Club and Society Awards, Change (the Making Poverty History event) as well as the International Party which is always great fun and allows us to show our talents at singing international music.

Offcampus, we perform carols at Chapelfield Shopping Centre

in the last weekend of term (Saturday 5th December) and we also sung at the Norwich Christmas lights switch-on on Thursday 19th November, a major event in the city attracting thousands. At the end of each academic year we also lay on our own end-of-year concert to showcase our talents and hard work throughout the year, with the proceeds going to charity.

The committee firmly believes that the society should be run by the members, for the members. We are always open to new song suggestions and tips for improvement on how to run the Choir; in fact, we encourage it. Major decisions

regarding the events planned out are always consulted with the Choir first to make sure as many people are available to attend as possible. The charity that that we supported with our Chapelfield Carols event in 2008 was suggested and voted for by our members. This term our charity of choice is the British Legion.

We look forward to seeing you at rehearsals! If you've got soul, then make sure you come and join in.

Check us out and join our Facebook group, 'UEA Rock Gospel Choir.'

Rehearsals take place every Thursday from 6-8pm in Nelson Court Common Room B.

l·Merrv·christmas··;rom··Focsoc·i······jf_'] ~ Why not use your spare time in the Christmas break to write an article about ; your society and its great plans for the spring semester? Email AI ice Violett : on concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk.

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LIFESTYLE 21

concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

Conftssions of a Vt£}1

C hristmas

student lsabel Skrine raves about jam making and cake baking We all ex pect certa in t hings wh en we fi rst get to university - messy nights, slee p dep rivatio n, extra st ro ng coffee (or rocket lo lli es in my case) to get through th ose nights befo re th e essay dea dlin es, and of co urse th e hangovers. Th at see med to sum up being a fres her for me.

However, ove r t he su mm er something changed. So mething I had missed and had fai led to realise.

Cooki ng. Don't get me w rong, I cooked in the first year, eve ryday food included t he odd sti r-fry, pasta and sauce, rice etc. Whe n I moved in to a house, I suddenly started maki ng jam and cakes. Be fore term sta rted, a housemate and myse lf wo ul d go and pick blackbe rries, eld er berries and plums from lake on campus an d·ma ke jam. Blac kb erry jam is poss ib ly on e of the most und errated jams around .

The free fru it has stopped now, but I suspect we have enough to la st us all year round.

The other change in my cooking habits included cake baking. I've always enjoyed making cakes and often bake at hom e. I suppose th e difference between this year and la st is that now we have ovens! I know th ey're not the most exc iting of appliances, person ally I th ink blend ers are more fu n, bu t t hey make such a difference . Over t he last weeks I have beco me more adve nturou s in my cake baking. I stretched beyond th e norm al victori a sponge and hea ded fo r carrot ca ke.

Here I di scovered a hitch in cooking away fro m home, I was withou t loa f tin. Alth oug h th e ca ke wa s good, it was nat an d loo ked like a pan cake .

Aesth eti cs aren' t everythin g and my housemates soo n go bbl ed it all up.

Cooking fill s me with an enorm ous se nse of wellbeing and I would st ron gly recomm end spending som e se riou s tim e in t he kitchen in t he nea r fu t ure.

Vicki Wheatland Since the Coca-Co la advert has made its annual appearance in mid-October, Christmas and its entourage of expensive necessi ti es have been forced upon us like the co nt roversial force of X Factor's 'J edwa rd'.

However, whether you love it, ha t e it, or loo mi ng dea dli nes sim ply do not all ow time for it, Christmas t his year can be conquered quickly and cheaply with just one click. {And you don't even need to leave the comfort of the library!)

Every year the average person spends £260 on Christmas presents alone according to W hich.magazine.co .uk, and that's not inc lud in g th e average of £141 on foo d or the £67 on deco rations and cards . W it h Christ mas being th e most expensive time of the yea r and £2 60 co- incidentally sittin g ju st over the st an d ard overdraft li mi t fo r most st udent loans, it seems that even a maxed out overdraft is not enough to cover Christmas demands . Us students will be forced to make severe cutbacks in order to even 'afford' Christmas let alone indulge in it.

"Looking at my account, I'm rea ll y going to struggle with Christmas thi s year", ~aid Tamara Holden, a Philosophy Student at

UEA. " I wi ll definitely be suggesting Secret Santa to my friends and family", she conti nued.

However, althoug h setting a firm budget and cu ttin g back in a few unnecessary areas is handy, the key to unlocking t he secret to a t hri fty Chr ist mas is t o thin k of it as Cl ick-mas! {Oh we at Concre t e just get wittier and wittier).

A snap shot survey by Which? looked at electrical items, fragrances, books, CD's, DVD's, computer games and toys. The total bill for these items in the high street came in at over £2,030, whilst buying the same items from a range of sites online resulted in a me re £384, almost 80 percent chea per. lt appears t hen that the w eb has effec ti vel y pl ace d t he high st reet outle t s in a posi ti on much like a showroom ; peop le can vi si t an d look around for t he prod ucts the y like and t hen re t ur n home and buy them f rom a much che aper source online.

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Concrete has scoured th e web to bring you so me nifty li ttl e Ch ri st mas ideas, all und er £20.

Gifts for Fun Sudoko loo roll. Grea t as a st ocking filler, a talking point in any st udent home and somet hing t o stimul at e yo ur bra in in those spare mo m ent s. £4.99 from iwantoneoft hose.com.

Desktop Hetty Hoover. Small enough to fit on any student desk and essential for picking up those digestive crumbs. A little bi t more expensive at £9.99 but well worth it. I know it will be going on my Christmas list!

Perfume.

Guaranteed to be on most girls Christmas list.

Using comparison si tes such as M oneysupermarket.com you w ill be abl e t o find it cheape r t han t he RRP in st ore. A must have ite m .

Scrapbook. Us gi rls are a sucke r for something sentimental, so why not compile a scrapbook of the year's memories. Not only is this a thoughtful gift it is great for all those on a low budget. Plus photobox.co.uk or snapfish .co .uk ~ always has huge offers on photo prints.

Gifts for He r Spa days or bea uty t rea tm ents.

Every girl loves a mass age and a long soak in t he tub . Lastm inute. co rn are cur ren t ly offering tw o t rea t ments fo r only £1 2.50 at 65 locations across t he U K. Also prezzybox.com at the moment are

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se ll ing a spa day for two for £20.

Barga in .

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Gifts for Him Pl ay. co m . An ythi ng t echno logy based w heth er it be th e lat est CD, DVD, X- Box ga m e, you nam e it , it can be up to 50% cheap er on play.com. Jay-Z's new albu m 'The Blueprint 3' is only £6.99 {R RP £15.99) and Michael Mclntyre's new tour is a steal at £10.99 with free delivery.

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Clothes . Something simple yet effective is the branded T-Shirt. lt 1may be an idea to browse ebay, looking out for the BNWT (brand new with tags) sign.

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Oh UEA is wonderful ...

Jessica . L Ball reflects on her first semester at the rabbit-ridden, filthy-kitchened UEA campus.

Like many fres hers' my first se mester at UEA has been one of th e most exc iti ng, chall enging and alco holfu elled tim es of my life. I hadn' t co nsi dered before I arrived j ust how muc h I wou ld lea rn in my first few weeks living away from home; how to make skittles vodka (leading to th e need to discove r t he ul timate ha ngover brea kfas t ). how to grill a pizza to pe rfec ti on and how to do my own laundry. And also, mos t important ly, th at th e house kee pers kno ck is not a requ est but a warn in g (often lea din g to a half dress ed dive

bac k und er th e covers).

I have me t so me amaz ing peop le from all ove r th e cou ntry, taug ht peo pl e th e mea ning of 'mardy' and ot he r Yo rks hire lingo and learnt 'henc h' and ' lush' in retu rn . I don't th ink I've had a sing le day w it ho ut somet hing new or interesting happening to me. Yes it 's been disconcerting and a bit harder to sett le in at times t han I'd expected but th e peo ple I've met and th e expe ri ences I've had have made it all wort h it.

Freshers' flu, vomiting hou se mates,

a fi lt hy ki tchen, lac k of ove ns, water shortages and 3a m fire alarm s are al l th ings th at co uld see m like hellis h aspects to universi ty living. Bu t it 's when a two-day water sho rtage leads to an epic game of mid night mud rounders, t hat you real ise t ha t through all t he bad t hings at uni versi ty, when your living wit h good people you are going to have a bril liant time in spite of it.

Yes, its corny but t he best thi ngs abo ut bei ng a fres her at UEA are definit ely free; fu ll hou se water fi ghts, see ing how many people ca n

fit onto th e bac ksea t of th e bu s, watchin g peopl e run soa kin g wet from th e lake as t he ir cloth es are bein g whi ske d away. Not to menti on fl at to nat pra nk warfare (i t s amazi ng how often a screw driver comes in use ful). t he oh-so famous sport of rab bit-cha sing and of course t hose nig hts spe nt marc hi ng down to the LCR w ith the rest of your buil ding proudly singi ng "Oh UEA is wonderfu l ... " They all cost nothing.

Ye t, th ese are th e ex per iences tha t have mad e my first se mester at UEA co mp let ely unforgettab le.

â&#x20AC;˘

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22 SPORT

concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

Canary Corner

UEA Triathlon impress at BUCS Trevor Asian

lan Hobbs Another busy fortnight for Norwich City began with a thrilling clash against Southampton at St. Mary's.

J~st four years previously this had been a Premier League match and the quality of the two teams suggested that they are both eager to climb back up the football league ladder.

Adam Lallana gave the Saints an early lead in the first half, but Wes Hoolahan equalised early in the second half after initially missing a penalty.

A cracking strike from David ~ Connolly restored Southampton's advantage but the Canaries dug deep, and substitute Stephen Hughes scored an equaliser from close range to make the score 2-2, which was how it stayed until the final whistle.

Norwich's next challenge came in the form of a home game against Gus Poyet's inconsistent Brighton side at Carrow Road.

City captain Grant Holt opened the scoring with an exquisite lob before the unstoppable Wes Hoolahan made it 2-0.

Hoolahan has been one of a 4 number of players who have been on great form in recent games and manager Paul Lambert will do well to hold onto him during

the January transfer window, with Middlesbrough reported to be interested in the highly-rated winger.

Brighton pulled a goal back, but an own goal and a fine finish from Chris Martin secured a convincing 4-1 victory for the Canaries.

Norwich City have brought in two loan signings to bolster the squad as they aim for automatic promotion. Russell Martin, signed from Peterborough, will act as much needed cover at right-back and the signing of Antony McNamee from Swindon should inject some pace into the side.

Basketball

UEA Women's Panthers - 40 Nottingham Trent Women's 1st- 66

Tilly Burrows

City's next match came in the form of a second round FA Cup match away to Carlisle. The Canaries fell behind early on and despite a headed equaliser from Holt, the home side went onto to win 3-1, ending City's seven game unbeaten run in all competitions.

UEA Women's 1st - 10 Leicester Women's 1st- 0

Netball UEA Women's 1st- 32 Birmingham Women's 3rd- 33

Football UEA Men's 1st - 2 Loughborough Men's 4th - 1

UEA Women's 2nd - 34 Nottingham Women's 4th - 31

UEA Men's 2nd - 4 De Montfort Men's 1st- 2

Rugby

UEA Women's 1st- 6 Warwick Women's 1st - 0

UEA Men's 1st- 11 Oxford Brookes Men's 2nd - 29 UEA Men's 2nd- 28 Staffordshire Men's 1st- 25

Hockey UEA Men's 1st- 2 Lincoln Men's 1st - 5

Pearson with an impressive time of 1:01:48.9.

Congratulations to all who took part. The clubs next event will be the City of Norwich Half Marathon on the 29th November.

Women's Volleyball qualify for student finals

BUCS Results - Wednesday 25th November UEA Panthers- 77 Cambridge Men's 1st - 62

On Sunday 23rd November the UEA Triathlon Club took part in the first of three BUCS multisport events this academic year.

Members new and old had an early start with a four hour journey to Wiltshire to take part in the 'Chilly Duathlon' at Castle Combe Race Circuit.

The race consisted of a two-mile run around the perimeter of the race circuit, five laps cycling on the twomile track and another two-mile run to finish.

For some it was their first such event and apprehensions about what to do in the 'transition' stages between the running and cycling, and about our pace over the distances soon set in.

These worries, however, were soon blown away for everyone by the

wind which continued to gust all day and proved tiring on the cycle stage, especially the severe headwind at the back of the race circuit, which by the fifth lap became particularly testing.

After being blown across the finish line, and with legs like jelly, it was time for some group photos and a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep on the journey home. Some of the competitors were exceptionally professional but UEA proved their ability with respectable finishing times from every club member.

The club was not expecting too much sunshine, and 'chilly' certainly summed up the day's weather, but for everyone it was an enjoyable event, especially the first-timers who have certainly caught the multisport bug.

The fastest UEA male was Lee Calderon who came fifth out of a field of over 200 BUCS competitors with a blistering time of 46:40.8.

The fastest female was Rachel

UEA Women's 1st - 15 Oxford Brookes Women's 1st - 29

Starting their day at Sam, the UEA Women's Vollevball team made their way to Kettering for the Volleyball England Student Cup qualifiers.

The Student Cup is the main event in the girls' volleyball calendar; the finals are usually held in Leeds, but this year it will be held at the UEA Sportspark, putting the pressure on the club to qualify for the event at their home venue.

The day started with a match against Nottingham, who appeared to be the team's biggest rivals; they played well, but were no match for UEA who made lots of noise and played with aggression, beating them 2-0.

Next came a match against Sussex, who crumbled under the pressure and again were defeated 2-0.

Oxford 2nds were no match for UEA, who at this point were on fire.

The Oxford team seemed like a nice team but just weren't up to the standard of UEA. UEA defeated them 2-0 and coach, Tomasz Morawski, said of Oxford, "If I were their coach, I'd have to be drunk all the time."

Finally came a match against Cardiff,_who appeared a weaker team than UEA, but they also appeared to play well defensively, so it could

potentially have been a tough game; however, no competition was too difficult for UEA and they again won 2-0.

UEA Ladies were the only team of the day to win every single set, and were certainly the loudest. Well done to Becca Kitchen, Sam O'Connor, Tilly Burrows, lnes Scares, Nichar Gregory, Gioia Canciani, Natalia De

Martino and Mikaela Knutson who all played well individually and even better as a unit.

The Student Cup Finals will be held at the UEA Sportspark on Saturday and Sunday 13th and 14th February. it promises to ~e an event filled with some spe4tacular volleyball and a fantastic atmosphere.

SPORT 23 "'

concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

The trials and tribulations of a long-distance runner Henry Croft An orgy of cheap lager and fast food this summer left me feeling decidedly unfit, and so it was, with a mixture of aspi ration and stupid ity, that I decided to do so mething about it and I entered the Milton Keynes half-marathon.

A misguided choice, perhaps, seeing as my abiding memory of running is finishing a cross-country race in Year 5 and throwing up all over the fini sh line. My regurgitated banana had provided an added obstacle to an already gruel ling course and, for one exhausted and particularly poor-sighted chap, an ill-a dvised spot to lie down after the race.

Nevertheless, I downloaded an optimistic training schedule from the Runner's World website and on a summer evening in May I set off on my first run, in which I planned to cover four miles in less than 40 minutes.

I returned an hour later having gotten irrevocably lost, rained on and with shi ns in so much pain that I felt as if they had been brutalised with a

hockey stick. I remember sitting on our so fa like some kind of 118 advert gone wrong: soaking wet, a bag of peas on each leg, thinking "sod this."

The time soon went though, and,

armed with three months of aching legs and approximately 300 mi les under my belt, I felt quietly co nfident when race day eventually arrived .

I lined up at the start line with a

demographic consisting of balding men , well-muscled women and, for want of a better word , nutters.

After a fairly rough first half, I heard a famtliar voice call my name,

and with a mixture of horror and embarrassment, I watched my old history teacher, hardly a specimen of physical excellence, waltz past me with a sa rdonic nod. Luckily, this incid ent provid ed me with the motivation I needed , as being beaten by an overweight Sirnon Schama wa s not on my list of priorities.

And so after 90 minutes of vomitinducing pain, the finish line rose on the horizon and, with a final push, I crossed the line with what was as near to a sprint finish as I could muster. The first thing I was given was a banana, which provided an unwelcome sense of deja -vu; however, my time of 1.36.50 did prove satisfying, as I had hoped to get under 100 minutes.

Sitting down after the race - an ambulance seemed an appropriate object to lean against - I remember th inking that I would never race again. So here I am, four months later, having already entered a marathon ~ and with an even more demanding, pressuring sc hed ule about to begin.

Michael Johnson might have once said that "pressure is the shadow of great opportunity", but I will freely admit that I am bricking it.

Button engineers switch to ensure British super team

Mc l aren man ... "

well, you might think; M ercedes have increased their F1 monopoly and are se t to make million s, while Jen so n is sitting pretty on hi s world championship .

Unfortunately not, for Mercedes have ruled out increasing its offer to keep Button in the team, which leaves Mclaren to snap him up.

Not since t he 1980s have we seen an aii-British line-up taking the whee l in an aii-British team - when I say 'ai i-British' I mean, of course, in name only, we mustn ' t forget our good friends in Germany who in fact own a substantial amount of the Mclaren F1 team - but never before in history have we see n two consecutive world champions sharing our very ow n Waking factory.

How will th is bode for the newly crowned King of F1? In Concrete's opinion, not very well. Lewis Hamilton has been and always will be a Mclaren man, despite denials

Despite mental images of an old married couple, all is set to change at Brawn GP, for Mercedes have recently announced that they will be buying 75.1% of the team and will re-brand it Mercedes GP. All is

by Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh that Hami lton is favoured above the other drivers in the team - a proposition that the ever-charming Fernando Alonso would strongly agree with after his bitter season in 2007. lt cannot be argued, though,

Georgina Wade

Mclaren F1 are poised to rep lace its previous "seco nd fiddle" dr iver Heikki Kova lainen with the newly crowned world champion Jenson Button for the 2010 seaso n.

Sadly, the reality is that Brawn GP can simply no longer afford Button's salary demands of a massive ÂŁ8 mil lio n. Ross Braw n, Team Principa l of Brawn GP commented, "I hope Jenson will be with us, as we've been together for a few years ... but the reason we' ve survived as a team is that we have operated within our means ."

"Lewis Ha milton has and a lways will be a

that the team and the car are tailored to the preference of Hamilton, their Stevenage-born protege.

Jenson will be set for a rough ride in 20Hl, not only having to prove him se lf to the team, but to show the world that he has the substance and

calibre to be a true world champion, rath er th an a racing one-trick pony.

Although Button is undoubtedly talented, Lewis Hamilton's talents are unique. Not since the days of Ayrton Senna has the world witnes sed such raw talent, and

natural ability to be world class, and he rarely disappoints.

Jenson needs to pull up his socks, have a shave and get ready, for the 2010 season is going to be the biggest test of all.

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concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk

FoRMULA

1

Georgina Wade examines the creation of a British superteam at Mclaren for the forthcoming season

TUESDAY 1st DECEMBER 2009

VoLLEYBALL

TRIATHLON

RUNNING

Concrete reports on the progression of women's Volleyball team to the Student Cup Finals

An impressive debut for UEA Triathlon in the opening round of the. BUCS competition

Henry Croft charts the process of preparing for the Milton Keynes half-marathon

Women's football put six past woeful Warwick

Lacrosse record impressive win

Lois Nethersell

Kirsty Maclean

This season UEA Women's Football has been a near-unstoppable force in the Midlands 2B league. The team currently sit joint top V'.{ith rivals, Leicester and, with a string of emphatic wins under their belt, promotion is looking a real possibility.

Most recently, on Wednesday 25th November, the girls put six past newly relegated Warwick. Gina Atherton scored early in the first half, which put Warwick on the back foot straight away. Christy Haynes added the second soon after, before two from Aisha Shuaibu left UEA in a commanding position as they went into the half-time break 4-0 up.

Shuaibu's second goal required some swift footwork and pace to beat the keeper before neatly tucking the ball into the open goal.

In the second half Haynes doubled her total with a surging run from midfield and a strike from outside the 18 yard box, comfortably beating the keeper. The sixth was added by striker Lauren Hosking who received an early ball from the wing, placing it in the bottom left hand corner.

Defensively, UEA never looked troubled, with the midfield using a combination of fancy footwork and passing to dominate possession. The team were, as always, marshalled well by captain Bernie McSharry whose strong vocals motivated the

Having not had the most prom1smg start to the season, training before Wednesday's game was intense; full of blood, sweat and tears.

On the walk down to the pitch, the nerves were combated by the exGitement and determination about w~at we hoped would be a successful gaJne. Playing the team who are cu~rently second in the league, however, caused a slight air of anxiety amongst the team.

Once the whistle blew, it could be seen immediately that the extra t~ining had paid off. A fast goal in the fir$t minute by centre Patsy McNeil se~ured a UEA lead and caused concern amongst the opponents.

As the first quarter progressed,

girls throughout.

With five wins and one narrow loss to Leicester in the league the team have consistent form both at Colney and on the road. With an outstanding 49 goals scored in both league and cup games this season, and only six conceded, the girls can be proud of their strong defence and their flamboyant attacking play. Their most emphatic win to date was a 14-0 thumping of Cambridge at Colney on 21st October. it is evident that the hard work

UEA sports roundup Danny Colllns With the Christmas festivities fast approaching, Concrete examines the state of affairs for UEA's teams in BUCS competition at their mid-season break.

Basketball The UEA Panthers are currently languishing at the bottom of the Midlands lA division with two wins from six. However, an encouraging victory over Cambridge 1st gives cause

for optimism for the remainder of the season.

The women's Panthers team lie bottom of their league and are yet to win a game.

Football The men's 1st XI lie third in the Midlands 2B league on seven points, one point behind second-placed Cambridge.

The women's 1st XI have won five out of their six games thus far, and sit at top of t~e league on 15 points

and dedication that the girls are putting into training is reaping the rewards.

New coach Dan Cooper has been invaluable and much praise should go to him for his dedication and persistence at training sessions.

McSharry is confident of her team's abilities and has a clear goal: to win the league.

"I am proud of the girls this year as every match they have come out battling and the effort at training has been exceptional. Whilst this

semester has been successful there are still challenges ahead but I know our team will stay fighting to conquer the league," commented the captain.

This week sees the team host Nottingham 2nds at home, a team they have already put ten goals past earlier in the season.

The crunch game in the league comes in the last game of the season when Leicester travel to Colney on 3rd March in what is bound to be a closely fought battle that is likely to ultimately decide who will be promoted.

For BUCS results turn to page 22 alongside Leicester.

Hockey The UEA men's 1st XI lie second in their Midlands 3A league, after four wins from their five matches.

The women's 1st XI, who have prevailed in only one match so far this season, are placed fifth in their league. However, they recorded an impressive 10-0 victory over Leicester on Wednesday.

Rugby The men's 1st XV have won two of

<1<1

their six encounters and are placed sixth in Midlands 2A. Having only lost once this season, the women's 1st XV are joint top of the Midlands 2A division alongside Oxford Brookes on six points.

Tennis The men's 1st share the lead of the Midlands 2A with Cambridge and Oxford.

The women's team, having only taken one win from their four matches, lie 5th in Midlands 2A .

Uf's team skills, stick work and d ermination led to a rather promising le d, of 9-1. The game carried on at a fa pace but by the third quarter UEA were beginning to tire, resulting in Nqttingham Trent scoring a few more goals.

A much-needed team talk pushed and motivated the UEA girls, resulting in an exciting final quarter, and the gatne only got faster and sharper as UeA dominated. The whistle blew to mi!rk the end of the match, resulting in an incredible score of 24-6 to UEA. Kitlsty Maclean, Lena Schulze and Elaine Rogers were amongst the scorers.

This match was an excellent, skilful and successful example of women's la(frosse. The UEA team, compiled of a driven and fearless attack, an aggressive and determined defence, and a goalie with spectacular saves, all