Concrete issue 239 09 02 2010

THE SEX SURVEY RESULTS ISSUE

ISSUE 239

UEA'S SEXIEST LECTURERS

Read this year's most weird and wonderful student responses.

Concr te's official winners, including lecturer feedback!

FEATURES PAGE 12·131»

FEATURES PAGE 141»

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 201 0

CRU SPECIAL FEATURE A full run-down of the latest Climatic Research Unit revelations. r~>Jl~'l:

e www.concrete-online.co.uk e UEA'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER e

FREE

VICE-CHANCELLOR DEFENDS CRU Information Commissioner's Office state UEA broke the law with requests for climate data. Vice-Chancellor Edward Acton questions the verdicfs legitimacy: "nothing has yet been established". David Churchill Vice-Chancellor Professor Edward Acton has launched a staunch defence of UEA's beleaguered Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in the face of fresh allegations from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). A statement released by ICO accused CRU of flouting laws under the Freedom of Information Act, insisting that personnel had acted illegally on the grounds that legitimate requests for information were systematically "not dealt with as they should .have been under legislation". The ICO, the governmental body which oversees compliance with the Act, added: "it's clear to us a breach has occurred". However, speaking to Concrete, Professor Acton

questioned the verdict saying the ICO has "pointed to nothing that formally establishes any breach." The offence is normally punishable by an "unlimited fine", but ICO claim that they are unable to prosecute due to a loophole in the law which prohibits prosecutions six months after a violation is committed. As the alleged breach occurred in 2008 CRU personnel have been places beyond jurisdiction. The revelations are the latest in a series of mounting allegations besieging the CRU after hoards of e-mails involving UEA Professor Phil Jones were retrieved from the unit's servers in November 2009. In a determined putdown of the ICO's handling of the affair, he added: "ICO have failed to confirm to us what

the newspapers have been Professor Acton stated that . reporting, failed to confirm "Mr. Monbiot's strictures are any misdemeanour, and failed · gravely misplaced". He also to back up their allegations." expressed the need for it to He suggested that ICO were be publicly understood that "now embarrassed by the UEA is "absolutely committed statement" and he questioned to codes of academic whether their method of public practice" and that "if anybody offends ·any codes there is exposure was "judicious". ICO's announcement has an appropriate procedure renewed widespread calls for for taking action; but the Phil Jones to resign from his university is not a monarchy post. The Guardian's George th<;P: has the power to just Monbiot suggested earlier remove anyone." this week that Mr. Jones's Asked whether ICO's position "is now even less announcement required tenable. The longer he leaves any immediate action, the it [his resignation], the worse Vice-Chancellor responded: it will get". Mr. Monbiot also "No action needs to be branded UEA's response to the taken, nothing has yet been crisis a "catastrophe". established. ICO has failed to But UEA Vice-Chancellor, reiterate and confirm anything Professor Edward Acton, and has pointed to nothing mouAted a spirited defence that formally establishes any of Professor Phil Jones and breach ." the UEA's response to the crisis. Speaking to Concrete, ONTI UED PAG 41»

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THREE STUD·ENTS IN UNPROVOKED EATON PARK ATTACK Jesslca Keating Three male students were violently attacked in Eaton Park on Tuesday 26th January. In an unprovoked altercation, the students suffered repeated punches, leaving them with black eyes, cuts and painful swollen faces. At around 8pm the students were walking home from campus with three

female friends. A group of six teenagers were at the bandstand when one stepped in front of a female and became verbally abusive. The men attempted to lead their group away from any possible argument but the gang leader became physically aggressive, and launched into his attack. During the attack two of the women called 999 and

police arrived quickly. The officers were forced to call for back-up when the offender tried to flee but he was swiftly located and arrested. The male was easily identifiable, as he was topless and had a conspicuous Manchester United FC tattoo over his heart. While the nature of the assault remains undetermined

by the police, it was noted that no possessions or valuables were stolen and the offender appeared intoxicated at the time of the attack. Eaton Park is located behind The Farmhouse pub on Colman Road, and is a popular cut through for students heading to Unthank

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2 NEWS

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

ROYAL VISITOR AT UEA UNIVERSITIES INFLEXIBLE Adlzah Tejanl

contents

Environmental Science and the Climatic Research Unit

Gordon Malloy

repayments of their loans.

The Prince of Wale s visited UEA in his role as patron of the School of Environmen t al

(CRU) is under sustained pressure following the publication of the conten t

Charles Clarke, Norwi ch-South MP, has criticised inflexible universities for the higher

Science

26th

of numerous emails, which

education funding system not

January. The Prince became patron

prompted allegations of the mi shand ling of sc ientifi c data

working properly, when he was ca lled to give evidence in

in 1993 an d he has visited th e

within the CRU ce ntre .

University twice before; firstly in 1988 and secondly in an

urged the scientists at UEA to not get down- heartened with

front of the tuition fees review led by Lord Browne.

OPINIONS

official vis it on 5th January 1994 afte r becoming patron

FEATURES

of ENV. He is known for giving support to various

NEWS

Tuesday

environmental including having

EDITORIAL

organic Originals .

his

issues, own

brand : Duchy Whil e at UEA he

spoke of the importance of th e work t hat staff and stude nts

TURF

undertake in resolving and understanding en vironm enta l iss ue s locally and globally at hi s official reception . This reception allowed

TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL

leading researchers to present their work and discuss a few points of common interest about the latest

FOOD

developments of the school. He spoke to all th e groups

FOCSOC SPORT

Barnes, Officer for

UUEAS' sa id : " Mr Clarke is also right to say that universities have not been ab le to demon strate th e need for additional income from student s' pockets .

Refusing to state a clear

"However, it is worrying that he goes on to advoca te

' little blips', such as the stolen email s from CRU, and to push o n with their vital work.

position on potential increases in tuition fees, he condem ned universities for not making

a system of in centivising early loan repayment. This would benefit only the wealthy

Hi s visit occurred ju st days before the Information Commissioner's Office ruled

fees variable and almost always charging full price . Variable fees were intended " to persuade the higher

and would leave tho se who can't afford to pay in huge amounts of debt for longer

that Freedom of Information requ est s for CRU data were mishandled . He also

ed uca tion world t o recogni se

- far from the fair system of stud ent fundin g th at we so

openly that differences exist,

desperately need."

had

that the sector is diverse, not a monolith," Mr. Clarke

the

said . He also said universities

group

would have to m ake a case that increases would "not be a disincentive to applicants

give evidenc e. reported how

private

meetings with

scientists, including Phi l Jones - Head of CRU - who has ste pped down for the length of th e inquiry. After the event th e Prince said: "I have been patron of the School of Environmental Sciences for very nearly 20 years. lt is a joy for me to ret urn . "I hope th at I can turn to

from poorer background s." Mr. Clarke, however, did assert the fees had

The

review also calle d Vice-Chance llors' Universities

The group t op-up fees

had been used to improve fac ilities, invest in staffing and su pport student s. Wes Streeting, President of the

boosted university fac ilities and teaching standards . He

National Union of Students, also speaki ng to the Browne

made numerou s suggestions

the school from time to time

to the committee, including

review " while s

shook th e hand of eac h and

to ask for help and advice ." Hi s vi si t also hi ghlighted

the ex t en sion of loans to part-time and post graduate

trebled, overall st uden t sa ti sfaction ha s in creased by

every one of them in turn. The Prince's vi sit comes at a time when the Schoo l of

cross-departmental support for the Climate Research Unit 's work.

st ud ents as well as in ce ntives to encourage students and graduates to make ea rly

ju st 1%." The report is due after the

of scien ti st s presenting and

LIFESTYLE

Natas ha Communication

high lighted fees have

that nearly

General Election .

GOVERNMENT PLANS TO IMPACT STUDENT HOUSING Dan Youmans

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safety, such as specifying the number of fire alarms or exits

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The Governm ent has announced new plans that look set to affect how, and where, students live . New laws wi ll give local councils the power to grant, or deny, perm ission for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).

req uired. But the new plans also mean that councils will have the power to refuse a landlord

contributors raised significant

shorthand for 'students'.

concern s with HMOs, espec ially those occupied by students. Prob lems such as

Not only does this create a vast amo unt of additional work

anti-social behaviour, littering, and parking were most often

up and down th e country, but it also further stigmatises

permission to convert, if they

mentioned.

feel that a HMO isn 't good fo r

mentioned,

the local community.

these issues where linked to

it wa s however,

not why

HMOs are houses where three

for

cash-strapped

councils

students in the areas they live in. Comp laints have been leve led that the spread of HMOs is creating student 'ghettos' in university towns and cities; complaints which

unre lated

people

together as live multiple 'households', with shared areas . Most student

look past the huge contributio n students make to their local communities, as employees, con sumers, volunteers, and citizens. HMOs provid e affordable hous ing for student s and ot her low-income groups, therefore limits to their creation would undoubtedly be felt most harshly by such groups . To

hou ses - such as the bu lk of those in the Golden Triangle do not count as HMOs, since th e tenants are living as one household. However, bedsits and some properties do cou nt. At the moment, landlords have to apply for a license to convert a house into a HMO, and special conditions

This development comes at th e end of a govern ment

normally apply. These are usually to do with health and

consultation process, in which it was reported that

the exi stence of HMOs, rather than other properti es in the community. it would seem that the term HMO is being used as

wh at degree th ese powers are exp loited will soon become evid ent- the changes are set to be in place by April of this year.

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

uwould you pay more for a degree that leads to a higher projected Salary?" asks Gordon Malloy

"Yes, I would pay more for a degree if it had a higher projected salary after graduation because in the long run I would be paid a lot more money, and effectively it's like investing in my future which I am more than happy to do. "As long as a variable system isn't so great that it actually puts people off certain courses, that it deters people from applying to 路certain courses, then paying a bit more for a degree is fine. But if you're paying something like 10,000 grand a year that's a bit harsh."

"I think I would and I think that for a lot of students that's why they do a degree. "I'm a languages student and I love languages but of course I'm doing this degree because I know it will give me a good salary - going into translation, or working in the EU for example. "Even though people do moan about how expensive degrees are, and how much we are paying, I would definitely do a degree that would cost more if it meant getting a better job at the end of the day."

NEWS 3

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

"Yes, I would because it makes "I think people would probably sense to. If I'm paying 3,000 a pay more if there was a year for a Philosophy degree guarantee for a better salary, then that's fair enough, but however, it is very hard to if I'm to be a plastic surgery guarantee that. "So until it has been proven face-transplant, Botox-guy to the A-list stars, then of course I think people would be very I should be pay more for my reluctant and sceptical. But in degree, if I'm going to be a the long run if it would benefit millionaire hanging out with you more I don't think people would hold back in paying Tom Cruise. more. Although there should be a cap on fees regardless "If you're going to go for an of course, so students from 路 option where it's a guaranteed poorer backgrounds aren't higher salary it should be paid discouraged from the more for by the individual family rather than the government." expensive courses."

COUNCIL PASS CONSTITUTION Davlna Kesby After months of consultation meetings, the new constitution of the Union of UEA students was passed in a meeting of Union Council on the 28th January. Jopp, Finance Martin officer of the Students' Union proposed the constitution, highlighting the necessity to have a constitution in place when registering to be an official charity. . Amendments to the constitution were formed in conjunction with the 'Building a Better Union' initiative which saw numerous students actively participating in the process for a new constitution. Communications Officer Natasha Barnes, went on to say that she had recently been elected as Deputy Returning Officer for the upcoming Union elections. As Union election nominations opened on Monday 1st February, and there are changes to some elected union positions, the Communications officer said

that the constitution needed to be passed as soon as possible. After the result of the referendum concerning an Activities and Student Development sabbatical officer, all references to this officer had been deleted. Various councillors expressed concerns, particularly in reference to the changed role and composition of the trustee board. Among these councillors were Jack Kiffin, Societies Officer and Bernadette Schulz, Women's Campaign Convenor, who highlighted that there was no hurry when it came to gaining charitable status as the start date for this is 1st June. After further speeches both for and against the constitution, it became evident that there was a problem with maintaining quorum. Leejiah Dorward, Environment Officer, called for the motion to go to a vote in order to avoid having to stop the meeting with no action being taken . A vote was taken and the constitution was passed with 62 votes for, 7 votes against, with 5 abstentions.

SECOND CONSECUTIVE REFERENDUM FAILS TO REACH QUORUM Tlm Marsh The Union referendum on the proposed Activities and Student Development Officer held on the 25 and 26th January failed to reach quorum. This is the second consecutive policy ballot that has failed to reach quorum, the first being the 'You Count Referendum' which took place on the 24th November. The new position had been one of the key proposals of the new constitution recently

approved at Union Council. The University requested the Union hold a referendum on the issue to gauge student opinion on the matter. While there was a small increase in turnout, the referendum was seven votes short of the 500 needed to make the vote binding. However, it was indicative from the majority of votes that it was not a popular proposal, with 294 voting against it with only 180 for. The most contentious issue appeared to be the extra charges induced to fund the role coming

primarily from increasing the sports membership fee by 拢5 and a reduction of 拢2000 in the revenue grants available to societies. Communications officer for the Students' Union,

Natasha Barnes, explained the failure to reach quorum was related to the fact that "only Union Councillors had been involved in the full discussion of the constitution as it was quite a complex issue and not

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particularly engaging. lt seems that students didn't feel like they were able to make an informed decision about the issue having not been involved in the whole debate." Cem Maguire, a second year AMS student, suggested that while she was aware that the referendum took place, none of the information was clear enough for her to make an informed decision, and therefore she chose not to vote. The failure of the recent referendum also marks a setback for the 'Building

a Better Union' initiative which saw students directly contributing and developing new proposals for the constitution alongside the fulltime sabbatical officers. While the objective to make the Union more democratic is hailed as the direction it should take, concern has been raised over voter turnout. The Executive have made a commitment to increase turnout in elections using an online voting system, which they had hoped to use for this referendum but should be trialed later in the semester.

Special valentine Offer

4 NEWS

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

CONCRETE SPECIAL REPORT: CRU Controversy SPECULATION MOUNTS OVER 'CLIMATEGATE' SCANDAL David Biggins Last Friday The Guardian published an article which singled out UEA's Paul Dennis as being questioned by detectives over the Cli matic Research Unit's (CRU) con troversial email leak. In a statement issued by UEA it has been confirmed however, that Dennis (who is currently the Hea d of UEA's Stab le Iso tope and Noble Gas Geoche mistry Laboratories) was not alone in being questioned : " Detectives have taken formal statements from a number of co lleagues across the university and, to our kn owledg e, Or Dennis has not been singled out for

pa rtic ul ar attention." On the online blog Bishop Hill, Dennis has calmly denied any involvement with the email leak: " I did not leak any files, data, emails or any othe r material. I have no idea how the files were released or who was behind it." According to Dennis's account of the questioning, he was intervi ewed twice by the police in December, in what he has described as an informal setting: " I showed them round my labs and they came to coffee with me and my resea rch group." The Guardian's artic le fo llows mounting specul ation over the 'climategate' scandal,

as last week in an interview with The Independent, Tony Blair's former chief scientific advisor, Sir David Ki ng, claimed that foreign espionage cou ld be behind the leak. The latest theory, also pub lished in The Guardian, suggests that the files may have been ur-1intentionally shared online as the data had been archived in the CRU's backup se rver, which may have been access ible by an exte rna l webserver making the data publicly available . Dennis's recent comments on the Bishop Hill blog however, appear to challenge this theory: " The police left me very much with the impression that they were working on the

theory t hat this was an outside hack and was done deliberately to disrupt Copenhagen." lt is believed that Dennis's "association" with "s keptic bloggers in North America" led to his questioning by police. The Guardian's article also claims that Dennis' own research "does not support the more catastrophic current predictions of runaway global warming." Concrete contacted Dennis who re sponded by saying: "I have some small grants to develop a science project that engages schools in a research project in my lab, and have a UEA teaching fellowship to develop 'o pen notebook

scie nce' as a teaching too l. i.e my association with socalled sceptic sites is one of engagement in the true spirit of the public understanding of scie nce." Detective Superintendent Julian Gregory, who is leading the investigation, has so far refused to elaborate on any of the media speculation: " This is a complex investigation and as a co nseq uence will take some time to conclude. As with any investigation we will interview anyone who may have informati on which is of relevance to the enquiry but it would be inappropriate to comme nt on any specific lines of enquiry."

FOI ALLEGATIONS

SCIENTIFIC FRAUD?

SPECULATION OVER ALLEGED HACK

According to -various sources, the UEA systematica lly rejected the majority of freedom of information requests concerning data held by CRU:

Renewed attentio n has been drawn to accusations of scientifi c fraud brought against Professor Phil Jones over a paper he published back in 1990:

There has been no shortage of speculation over how the infamous ema ils were retrieved from CRU's serve rs:

•

105 information request s were submitted up to December 2009. 77 refused by UEA. 6 accepted only in part. 11 remaining outstanding. Only 10 relea sed in full. 1 withdrawn. •

The Vic e-Chance ll or has renounced allegatio ns of impropriety and emphasised that al l such claims have failed to be backed up .

Sir David King suspects a so phisticated intelligence agency del iberatley hacked into servers at CRU. Fred Pearce et al of The Guardian have suggested that the emails were "sitti ng in cyberspace" ready to be downloaded by any member of the pub lic trawling CRU's ftp webserver. The recent questioning of UEA scientist Paul Dennis has increased suspicians that the leak was an 'inside job'.

ALLEGATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC FRAUD PLAGUE CRU

CLIMATE DATA He emphasised that UEA has approached the ICO numerous times "seeking clarification" but that "no direct contact has been received ". Professor Acton initiated an independ ent review with a remit to investigate potential Freedom of Information breaches in December 2009. He stressed that if the review uncovered any acts of impropriety then "action taken wil l be appropriate, proportionate and just". Professor Acton 's ca ll for cla rification from the ICO comes after the discovery of an email sent by Professo r Jones which suggest s t hat t he Information

•

Concrete previously reported on CRU's loss of, and refusal to release, confidential ity agreements with weather stations preventing them from releasing temperature data. Jon es' paper mad e conclusions about temperature rises from data collected from 84 diffe rent locations in China. Keenan suggested tha t the locations chosen were near large urba n citi es which would make temperature rises seem more dramatic, since cities radiate more heat. The leaked emai ls reveal that Jones initially rejected requests to disclose the 841ocatio ns. Emai ls suggest that Jones may have been aware that data was innacurate and failed to rectify.

Co mmiss ioner thought many

Nick Church

information requ ests did not warrant compliance. In 2008 Jones wrote to fellow climatologist, Gavin Schmidt, saying: "Al l our FOI officers have been in discussions and are now using the same exceptions not to respond - advice they got from the Information Commissioner". In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Professor Jones admitted that his attitude towards FO I requests wasn't se riou s enough: "I regret that I did not deal with them in the right way ... ln a way, I misjudged the situation," but he did not concede to ICO's claims that he acted illega lly in any way.

Fresh allegations of scientific fraud by Phil Jones, Head of th e Climatic Research Unit, have resurfaced alongside the deputy information commissioner's criticism of UEA in refusing valid Freedom of Information requests . The leaked emai ls seem to suggest Prof. Jones and an American co lleague, Wei Chyu ng Wang, consciously hid flawed temperat ure data obtained from a group of Chinese weather statio ns for a report published in ·the scientific journa l Nature in 1990. The paper was subseq uent ly refe renced

frequently in IPCC reports negating the effect urban areas had on temperature records. Crucial in understanding allegations of fraud are the locations of th e Chinese weather station s. After data

on the 84 weather stations was released in 2007 following numerous Freedom of

Information requests- so me of which were originally declined by the University - allegations of fraud emerged from amateur climate analyst Doug Keenan. He claime d 49 of the Chinese weather stations had no histories of their location. A further 18 stations had also been moved in the period of study, compromising the accuracy of the 1990 report. emai ls Furthermore, th e leaked appear to suggest an understanding amongst CRU scientists, includi ng former · head of the unit Dr. Tom Wigley, that so me of the criticisms forwarded by Mr. Keenan

may be valid. Wigley warned Jones in August 2007 that "Kee nan ha s a valid point. The statements in the papers that he quotes seem to be incorrect statement s, and that someone (Wei-Chyung Wang at the very least) must have known at the time that they were incorrect." While Dr. Wei-Chyung Wang claims there are exo nerating documents concerning the station s he has been unab le to produce them. The emails suggest Prof. Jones was aware of these inaccuracies and failed to rectify this in a report which is heavily cited by the IPCC. Prof. Jones sa id he was unab le to comment on the allegations.

6 NEWS OBSERVER ETHICAL AWARDS The Observer Ethical Awards have launched for 2010. Now in th eir fifth year, the awards pay tribute to the people behind ethical initiatives, projects and products across Britain. Lucy Siegle, Ethical Living Correspondent for The Observer and chair of the judging pane l said, "lt has never been more important to stand up and take positive action. The new decade is about individua ls, communities and businesses fighting for environmental and social justice." The awards have four main categories: campaigner of the year, politician of the year, online retailer and local retailer. To enter, nominate, and vote vi si t: www.observer. co .uk/ethica l awards . The dead line for entries is the 12 March 2010 and t he winners will be announced at a ceremony in London later in the year. The winner will be annou nced later t hi s year.

PARK AnACK road and the city centre from campus. The attack took place in the centre of the park at the bandstand and pavilion area, where all the walkways converge. This makes it a populous area; however, the one CC1V camera there does not work. The st udents, w ho wish to remain anonymous, have praised the police for their handling of the incident, telling Concrete "The pol ice arrived very quickly and have been very reassuring since that night, even offering us Victim Support Cou nse lling. They have also tol d us they 're bu ilding up a strong case against the male at the moment." Despite th e severity of th e attack, Norfolk Const abu lary have not added patrols around Eaton Park to thei r list of local prioriti es. They only go so far as to pat ro l the roads around the park. When asked why this was the case, they declined to comment.

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

STUDENT LOANS COMPANY'S GRANT BLUNDER Chris King

Around 30,000 students were forced to start t he aut umn term without grants they were entitled to receive, according to recently revealed govern me nt fi gures. This makes a tot al of 50,000 students without grants compared to last year. Of t his numbe r, 17,000 can be attributed to government changes to grant eligibility, meaning that 33,000 stud ents entit led to grants, around 7% of those who begun the academic year, may have suffered due to mistakes and errors made by t he Student Loans Com pany (SLC) this summer. Two directors have since resigned over the issue, with an indepe nd ent inquiry cal led by Universities Minister David Lammy conclud ing that a "conspicuous failure" had

occ ured on the part of the SLC to deliver student grants and loans on time. Professor Sir Deian Hopkin, w ho led the inq uiry, blamed the delays on "management indecision and over-optimism" and cal led fo r a manage ria l shake-up at th e SLC. In a statement released last month Ralph Seymour Jackson, chief executive of the Students Loans Com pany, said "we would like to apologise again to all those affected and reassure stude nts and parent s t hat we are do ing all we ca n to resolve outstanding issues". Despite this defence, criticism of th e SLC has conti nued un abat ed, with NUS President Wes Streeting describing himself as "alarmed by the possibility that tens of thousands of stu dents have gone withou t maintenance grants this year" and calling fo r "a fres h update on t he

num ber of students wa iti ng to have their finance applications processed, or worse still, drop ping out of un iversity as a resu lt of dire fina ncial st raits."

"UNACCEPTABLE" Commun ications Officer for t he Unio n of UEA Stu dents, Natasha Barnes, described the problems with the Student Loans Company as "completely unacceptab le", pointi ng out

th at t he "p rob lem w ith grants not being paid at all affected those students from lowerincome backgro un ds who needed th e fi nancial support the most". The government's decision t o reduce the threshold for receiving a partial grant from a combined family income of £60,005 to £50,020 in late 2008, as a reacti on to greater nu mbers qualifying for support than anticipated, has directly resulted in 17,000 students be ing den ied grants . M s. Barnes commente d, "at a time when the Government is reiterating its widening participatio ns age nd a it is worrying t hat some stude nts may even have their grants slashed", adding "the student su pport system is com plete ly broken." Statistics reveal a decrease of £37.7 million in govern ment spending on

gra nts compa red with th e previous year, despite the fact that the number of student s sta rting unive rsity increase d by 22,400. The number of stu dent s receiving a full grant of £2,906 has decreased by 6% sin ce 2008, a dro p wh ich is not "consistent with th e number of students applying to university from poorer backgrounds", accord ing to Sal ly Hu nt, Ge neral Sec retary of the University and College Union . In t erms of efforts to al levi ate fina ncia l pressu res on UEA students, Deputy Dean of Students Linda Shepherd said t he "fi nance [offi ce ] has extended t he payment deadlines for tuition fees and accommodation and the Dean of Stude nts' Office has made loans t o st udent s w ho do not have parental support, earnings or savings to enable them to survive".

NUS URGE MPs TO VOTE FOR STUDENTS

Curry ueen

Nick Church

Intfian

The Nati onal Union of Students has la unched t heir Vote for Students campaign, in an effort to mobilise student voters for the coming general election. A website for t he ca mpaign will offer information about all candidates standing in electiohs in specific regions and show whi ch ones have signed up to the NUS 'Funding our Future Pledge' which sees potential cand idates pledge th eir res istance agai nst any fee increases. NUS have identified and ta rgeted t wenty 'hotspots', includ ing Norwich, Cambridge, Sheffield, London and Manchester in which candidates from these cities will face pressure to dec lare their positio n on tuition fees such as Norwich -South MP, Charles Cla rke. More th an 200 MPs and parliamentary candi dates have signed the pledge, including former Hea lth Secreta ry Frank Dobso n and form er Liberal

Democrat leader, Charl es Kennedy. The Government's tuition fees review - promised by ministers wh en £3,000 a year tuition fees we re introduced three years ago - led by Lord Brow ne has begun col lecting evid ence but is not expected to report back unti l after the Genera l Election. Both Labo ur and Conservative parti es have refused to state a clear position with regards to pot ential increases in t uiti on fees, t herefo re th e ca mpaign calls for individ ual MPs to state their position. Wes Streeti ng, President of t he NU S, sa id t he stud ent vote can make a decisive differe nce in constituncies with high student popu lations. " Through th is ca mpa ign we hope to remind student s of the power they hold and re mind candid ates of t he dange r of not takin g ou r vote s se riously. Our message to can didates is simple, vote fo r us or pay the price," said Mr St reeting.

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8 NEWS NORWICH STUDENT MANIFESTO Green Party General Election candidate for Norwich South, Adrian Ramsay is the first candidate to sign up to the Norwich Student Manifesto. The Manifesto was formed by UUEAS, Norwich University College of the Arts Students' Union and City College Norwich Students' Union in advance of this year's Genera l Election . lt will be presented to local candidates who wil l be asked to . comment on each section, and asked to explain how they will follow the manifesto if elected . These comments will then be distributed among Norwich students. lt emphasises five points: fa irly funded higher education; low-carbon, sustainable a future; susta inable tran sport solutions; quality student housing; and good graduate opportun ities for Norwich st udents. Mr. Ramsay said : ''I' m proud and delighted to be the first to sign up to the Norwich Student Manifesto. All of its points are key to Green Party policies and are things that I will pursue if elected as MP for Norwich South. "Most important is to ensure that we have a fairly funded higher education system . The Green Party wants to scrap tuition fees and bring back a grants system. We would pay for thi s by increasing income tax for the highest earners ."

SAMURAI STUDENT A student at UEA has been banned from al l licensed premises in Union house - the Pub, Bar, LCR, Hive and Grads Bar - pending confirmation from the Union Management Committee after first carrying a samura i sword within the Bar, and secondly threatening to assault a member of the Un ion's staff. The two separate inci dents occurre d on Satu rday 30th Ja nuary and 31st Janu ary. The suspension was made after two reports and request from members of staff to ban th e student involved.

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

INCREASED ACCESS FOR POORER STUDENTS Oanny Kelllor Teenagers from poorer backgrounds are 50% more likely to go to university than they were in the mid 1990s according to a recent study by the Higher Education Funding Council for England . The study, 'Trends in young participation in hig her education', looked at various. aspects of universities' social make-up, and high lighted the increased accessibility of Higher Education to all. In particular the report claims that progress has been greater since the mid-2000s than in the previous 10 years : ' The proportion of young people living in the most disadvantaged areas who enter higher education has increased by around 30 per cent over the past five years, and by 50 per cent over the past 15 years', the report says . Increases in young people entering Higher Education has not been limited to those from poore r backgrounds. Teenagers from the riche st

hotnes have also seen their chances improve by 15% in 15 years. Although the percentage increase in students from poorer backgrounds is larger than that of the students from the richest homes, the overall figures still show that t here are significant ly fe wer stud ents from poorer homes . More than ha lf of teenagers from the ric hest households now go to university w hereas just fewer than 20% of the most disadvantaged students attend University. John Selby, the HEFCE's Director for· Education and Participation, admits that despite the positive progress, the work is not finished . ' The resu lts show a substantial increase in the partic ipation rate of those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds . Nevertheless, the participation differences between the most advantaged andthe leastadvantaged , and between women and men, remain very large . There is an awfu l lot left to do.'

Professor Steve Smith, of Universities President UK, an umbrella group for Vice-Chancellors, completely agrees with John Selby: ' The report highlights the recent progress we've made in terms of widening participation which is good news. Although the situation has improved, there is sti ll more t hat can be done.' The agreement between university leaders extends to worries that the proposed cuts of £449 million in Higher Education funding announced earlier this month will halt any further progress or even reverse the gains made in increa sed access. The HE FCE fund s universities on behalf of the government, it has been claimed th at th e evidence of its report show th at students from all ba ckgro un ds have not been det erred to enter Higher Education by tu ition fe es. This could lend weight to the argument in favour of an increase in th e fe es which w ill be discu ssed in th e revi ew of

tuition fees planned for after the General Election. Speaking to Concrete, Academic Officer David Sheppard said : " I do not fee l that this report suggests that tuition fees have been a success. What it does say is that sustained invest ment in an area of t he public sector de livers results . This Government has put significant resources into primary and secondary education and thi s has ra ised aspirations of a generation of young people . "However, the damaging effects of tuition fees are felt by graduates not applicants . Many struggling graduates now feel that they have been sold a lie - that a degree will guarantee a successful career and a wel l- pa id job on graduati on . Aspirations have certa inly been ra ised and the Government should rece ive praise for that but much more thought needs to be given to the damage that tu ition fee debt does to graduates".

SPENDING TO INCREASE DEPSITE CUTS Davld Churchill

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has announced a series of savage cuts to universities' budgets for t he 2010-11 academic year. The confirmed cuts, wh ich tota l £449m, include a hefty £215m slashing of teaching budgets. The reductions come amid soaring demand for places with UEA recording a 30% increase in applications. There are fears within the education sector that national teaching standards may suffer while thousands more students w ill miss out on places. UEA Vice-Cha"ncellor, Professor Edward Acton, expressed his 'deep regret ' at t he announced cuts: " it is a very unfortu nate time for Brita in to reduce investment in higher education ." · He admitted that the cuts were of grave concern and that " UEA

Funding allocations decided by HEFCE included: • • • •

£4,727 mil lion recurrent funding for teaching - a decrease of £215 million (1.6%). £562 million for capital funding representing a reduction of 14.9%. £1,603 million for research - a £32 million increase (2%). £294 million in special funding for national programmes and initiatives representing a 7% decrease.

wil l need to find ways of doing some essentia l things more cheaply.'' But he went on by insisti ng that 'frontline " 'servic es would not be affected: "At th e moment our policy is to increa se investment and numbers in academ ic departments ... and not explicitly cut from

any academ ic school or department. Th e way in which th e un iversity intend s to dea l w ith the cuts is by increasi ng effi cien cy and reviewing spend ing of non support roles." academic When questioned whether the review of non-academic spend ing could carry a risk of

losing jobs, he said : " There is a high ri sk of losing jobs and over time I would expect to see the ratio of academic to non -academic jobs ti lt", wit h support ro les becomi ng fewer. · Although conveying deep regret at potential job losses, he maintained that the predominant objective should be improving academic and teaching standards by ring-fencing and increasing academic spending . In a testimony to the already . 'splendid' teaching standards at UEA, the ViceChancellor also spoke of his 'pride' at the fact that UEA consistent ly fin is hes "up th ere with the like s of Cam bridge and Oxford" in th e National Stud ent Sati sfaction Survey fo r teach ing stan dard s. He added that he hoped qu ality and sati sfacti on levels would conti nu e to imp rove, but that if cuts beca me more severe then 'frontline' services such as te aching may begin to be affected .

STUDY FOR HERBAL REMEDY Patients in the region with lung conditions are being invited to take part in UEA research into a new herbal remedy. Whi le most patie nts current ly prescribed are inh ale rs, AK Ll - t he herba l remedy - comes in. tablet form . lt is manufactured usi ng a combinati on of plantbased products, which have been used individually for tho usands of years. Volunteers must be aged 18 to 80 . Each will be given a a respiratory MOT including an ECG (heart wave test) and an assessment by a respiratory specialist using cutting edge equipment not avai lable on the NHS. They will be expected to atte nd the Clin ica l Trials Un it at UEA in Norwich four times over a 10-week period . Vo lunteers w il l be able to contin ue with their current mepication throughout. Travel expenses will be paid up to £100 . Anyone interested in taking part should contact Dr Andrew Wilson on 01603 289876 or a.m.wilson@uea .ac .uk.

NEW DEAN OF HUMANITIES UEA graduate Professor David Corbett, is returning to UEA to become the new dean for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in August. Professor Corbett studied at the University in the 1970s for his BA and MA in English and American Studies. He is currently professor of Art History at York where he has been working since 1994. Professor Corbett is editor for the journa l Art History and helped set up the interd iscipl inary Centre for Modern Stud ies w hile at the University of York. Vice -Chancel lo r of th e University of Ea ~t An gl ia Prof Edward Acton said: " I am delighted that David has agreed to join us. He will be lead ing a faculty going from strength to strength ."

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10 COMMENT 8c OPINION

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

concrete.oplnlon@uea.ac.uk

LGBT History Month February is LGBT History Month and there are many events going on in and around UEA. Don Youmans looks at the progress that has been made in LGBT campaigns so far and where we should be heading in the future . This month is the fifth annual LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and tran s) History Month. But it shou ldn 't be the last. If anything, we need to step up the level of ca mpaigning that goes on during this four week window. LGBT Hi story Month is a chance for those interested in the fight for LGBT equality to take stock: to review how far our efforts have come, to praise tho se wh o have mad e positive contributions, and to look toward s the future. it's times like the se where the LGBT community is grateful for the legal leaps and bounds that have been made. Over th e past decade or so we've seen the repeal of the mean-spirited Section 28, which outlawed th e 'promotion' of homosexuality by loca l authorities. The Civil Partners hip Act afforded LGBT couples the sa me rights

as straight ones, and the new draft Equalities Bill which draws together hard fought for rights in one act. Not only this, but we've see n the political landscape change: mainstream

"The gains that have been made need to be secured " political parties can no longer get away with LGBT-phobic policies or stances . This is evident when we take a look at the furore surrounding the Conservatives and their controversial European Parliament all ies. it's also time to think about where to go next. Despite all the gains that have been made, there still exists social stigma with regard s to being

LGBT, and many young people still suffer extremely hurtful bullying si mply for being L, G, B, or T. La st years' revelation that Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas is gay was an important event. The particularly noticeable and momentous thing about thi s event is the fact that Thomas is essentially the only current mainstream, active, sportsman to come out. This points to the kind of direction the LGBT campaign needs to be moving in . The gains that have been made need to be secured, so that no person or party can ever again deprive LGBT people of them, but bigger things also need to be contemplated. As the spotlight shifts to UK sport in 2012, we need to become a shining light for a tolerant, progressive, and diverse sports culture. We need

to tackle homophobic bullying in schools, and educate our young people that it's alright to be different. We need to move forward in promoting equality and diversity in our communities and in our society, and to make sure that every step is one in the right direction . The UK needs to show the world how it's done. lt was right for Chris Bryant, a Foreign Office Minister, to say last year that the government would be using its diplomati c presence abroad to press for more libe ral gay-rights laws, and to praise

those nations that were making positive steps. Further, it wa s right for this government (and many others) to come out in di sgusted condemnation of Uganda's draft anti-gay laws . So it's time to celebrate, remember wh ere we 've come from, look for where to go next, and act as a role model for others . Wh eth er that's through iconic film showings, public lectures, workshops, social events, debates, or newspape r articl es, getting the LGBT message out there in this landmark month is crucial. Let's get on with it.

Debate: Are television election debates a good idea? Fact box Britain has finally embraced the tradition of countries suc h as Au stra lia, Canada an d Ireland, to name but a few, which regular ly feature a televi sed debate between the _leaders of the main political parties as part of election campaigns. This is not simply a case of Britain copying Ameri ca, as ha s been argued by some, but a realisation that televi sio n can play a vital role in reconn ecting th e political process with . the people, particularly after the wounds inflicted as a result of th e MPs expenses and the subsequent demand for transparency. There will be those who argue that thi s marks another stage in the development of a pre side ntial styl e of government with the emphasis on the leaders' perso nalitieSrather than on manifestos. There are two thing s wrong with thi s line of argument; firstly it implie s that there wa s a mythical age where voters carefully con sidered all the manifestos before deciding who to vot e for, when all the evidence suggests this wa s not

the case. The debates mig ht go some way in actually inc reas ing the electorate's knowledge on where each party stands on a particular issue which can result in voters being better info rm ed. Second ly, the arguments about personality are not new and in many re spects they are just recycled from the argume nts made against th e radio an d cinema newsree ls. Some might say we already have a televised debate in the form of Prime Mini ster 's Question s (PMQs), but all too often PMQs si mply desce nd into a stage managed affair where point scori ng and narrow partisan 路 interest reign supreme. The debates should reduce the amount of partisan rhetoric; after all, the participants will not wish to look foolish . Of course there will be an element of stage management in the televi sed debates but they will potentially contain a larger element of unpredictability, which might help to energise the election campaign rather than let it fall into a predictable, boring and off-putting affair.

Against Georae Hamlfton路Jonet We live in a period of low voter turnout, alternating political apathy and fatalism. lt shou ld come as no surprise that proposals will periodically be made that seek to includ e a greater number of the general public in deliberative democracy. Already the media are speculating on the specifics of the debates campaigned for by Sky television . There are more than a couple of problems with the plans. The inspiration comes from the USA and France and it is wrong to suggest that the format can be simply transplanted into Britain . Perhaps most obvious is the fact that the United States and France hold these televised debates in a presidential campaign as opposed to a parliamentary campaign. A presidential style event on television would be of dubious relevance to the British electoral process. What do two or three MPs from safe seats

presidential style campaign s and the plan for television debates serves to entrench this criticism. Rather than bowing to the presidential pretensions of our current self-safufied 'political class', we should be trying to return focus to the relationship between MPs and their constituents. The abstraction of a televi sed debate offers little benefit here, instead returning again to the rehearsed talking points of MPs in safe seats. In the safe format that the party leaders will inevitably agree to, there will be little novelty to be had. The only seats at stake belong to MPs with marginal seats. They could hold very different views from their leaders but national politics trumps local politics with the proposals for these debates. Why should we be engaged with politics when it is stale and tied up in a national abstract as opposed to a local immediate? No amount of irrelevant gimmickry such as this will convince the electorate that

if the SNP leader is not

reciting talking points have to do with members of the public selecting their

their MPs work for them rather than national party machines, especially

included.

representatives? The British system is readily criticised for moving towards

in the wake of the parliamentary expenses scandal.

BBC, ITV a nd Sky are all in line to broadcast election debates . David Dimbleby, Alista ir Stewart and Adam Boulton are due to "moderate" . the debates for their respective channels. The SNP have threatened to prevent the debates being screened in Scotland

" If it's real ly, really bad ... awkward OCTOPUS! "- Ben Rhys-Lewis CMP 2

concrete.oplnlon@uea.ac.uk

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

COMMENT & OPINION 11

Welcome to 1984? American Dream Allsa Brlstow

Jack Brtnded George Orwell once wrote of a totalitarian state in which news of a distant, yet constant, war with an invisible enemy was used to manipulate the .masses through fear, hatred and jingoism. None of the three states involved needed to win this perpetual war, since it gave them an infinite source of control over their populations, the majority of whom lived in filth and poverty. On an apparently unrelated topic, the Home Office changed its terror threat level from "substantial" to "severe" at the end of January. Home Secretary Alan Johnson - a trade-unionist turned New Labourite with. the appearance of a man who has just risen from a thirty-year coma - said, "This means a terrorist attack is highly likely". However, "it doesn't mean an attack is imminent". He then urged the public to remain "vigilant" despite not stating what we should be watching for specifically, or even alluding to what had actually caused the sudden rise in threat level. In essence, the government position reads as follows: "lt is fairly likely terrorists will be operating

somewhere, at some point in time, so the British public should keep an eye out for anyone shifty even though they might not technically exist". Personally, my inbuilt scepticism level has just risen from "suspicious" to "distrustful". At a time when support for the wars in the Middle East, or indeed the 'war' on terror, seems to be waning, could it be a mere coincidence that our lords and protectors have decided to call for greater public vigilance against an 'other' in our midst? Perhaps this is just what is needed at a time when the patriotism that t raditionally controls the people so well, might be failing. That concept of 'vigilance' was echoed by every single government source and commentator on every news outlet in the country. But to be vigilant of nothing in particular is to live in the fear of the unknown, dependent upon the state for protection. I suggest that if people are to be vigilant they keep watch on their own state and government, rather than be blinded by the fear of an invisible foe who might as well be the bogeyman. If not, welcome to 1984.

Obama's first year in office was recently marked in the British media with a veritable array of news reports, specials and opinion pieces. Whilst t his fascination with American politics i s nothing new, these programmes and reports highlighted the fundamental differences between the glitzy American and drab British politic.al scenes. Whilst we are in the final months of a runup to an election, even the media seems hardly able to summon the same kind of interest in Brown, Cameron and Clegg. Conversely, the US election of a year and a half ago seemed to enthuse the British public as well as the Americans.

"Democracy, in its ideal form, requires the active participation of the populace// I was . studying in the US at the time of the 2008 election and there was a palpable sense of excitement. Regardless of the unique circumstances of the election, and contrary to popular stereotype, the Americans I met took a real and sustained interest in the political process. On campus, discussion panels were frequently chaired by faculty- and almost everyone I knew attended. The televised debates were a major social event. The much touted 'grass roots' nature of

Obama's appeal was very much in evidence. Nor was this an isolated phenomenon: the recent senate election in Massachusetts garnered similar popular attention. So what do we have at UEA? If there are comparable talks and events they certainly don't seem to gain the same kind of mass appeal, whilst the general sense of apathy that has infected the country at large seems present on campus too. The atmospheres in the US and Britain, when it comes to the run up to elections, are two entirely different animals. And whilst it is easy to bemoan the fact that we have no comparatively inspiring candidates, only a multitude of white middleaged middle-class men, surely the question we must ask ourselves is - do we get the politicians we deserve? There is surely a point at which, where if we have surrendered our government to career politicians and fail to engage in the political process, then we lose our right to expect more. Democracy, in its ideal form, requires the active participation of the populace to keep the social contract working. So whilst we may be longing for the election of the first PM from an ethnic minority or even a leader who inspires more than boredom verging on disgust, we should start the process of transforming the political scene right now: whether by picking up a paper and mulling over the issues, registering to vote, or even deciding to run for office ourselves.

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

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GET YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Tesco is terrific! George Gilbert 路 Opposition to the rise of the superm arket is as old as the movement itself. Nowadays this is best identified by resigned fatalism bound up with a pinch of anger, typified by the first line from the book Tescopo/y: "A part of me is dying. I'm standing in the chilled food aisle of a Tesco supermarket. I think I can feel my soul wither"'. Whilst consumerism has led to some embarrassing excess, there are also arguments in favour that are heard less. The supermarket - the title is of course a cipher, standing in general for the growth of this form of shopping as a culture - has greatly increased the range of products on offer to consumers, including those who are less affluent. When looking for something as simple as pasta, one is confronted by a bewildering gamut . of options that were not on offer 30 or 40 years ago. Improvements in communication mean the ranges of products are likely to become more, rather than less, diverse. The supermarket is also more convenient. In today's society, where people tend to be lacking in time, the ease of buying multiple products in one place is, surely, a good thing for most people with their busy lifestyles. The result is saved labour and the precious commodity of time. Many criticisms reflect the inherent 'greed' of the supermarkets. Undoubtedly, they want to make money, first and foremost. However, most people have a choice in where they shop. Those who wish to buy more expensive products, unusual organic goods or niche produce also have more options on offer now, which have not been excluded by the supermarket . Buying habits have, and will, continue to change. But a plu rality of options is not in itself a bad thing, and benefits many. The supermarket is an artifice that, more or less, reflects rather than instigates the greed of the average consumer.

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12 FEATURES

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

concrete.features@uea.ac.uk

THE 2010 CONCRETE SEX SURVEY RESULTS The sensation that is the Concrete Sex Survey has returned! We've had yet another overwhelming response and the results are in for you to peruse just in time for Valentines' Day!

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What role play have you done during sex?

Have you ever had sex to Best Experiences music or a film.?

•

Cartman from South Park. Vampire and victim. That Twilight saga really got me going. Freddie Mercury and Brian May. I was Freddie.

• • •

I pretended I· was in a herbal essence advert. No real narrative, it involved the sixteenth century. She was a harlot

•

• •

Vital Statistics

How old are you? 18-19

25:2%

22-23 24-25 Other

16.9% 1.9% 2.7%

....

Are you ... Male

45.2%

Experience Have you ever had sex?

11111 No

.... 8.8%

...

At what age did you lose your virginity? 13-14 4.8% 30.3% 15-16

.,.. 19-20 21-22 Other

17.3% 4.4% 1.7%

Sexual Health

•

What met'lods of birth control do you favour?

Femidoms Combined Pill Progestogen- only Pill Contraceptive Injection Contraceptive Patch Diaphragm I Cap The Coil Implant Other

1.7% 44.8% 15.1% 2.1% 1.3% 0.4% 0.8% 6.3% 5.9%

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Sexual Practices Sexual Attitudes

.. . .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ... , ... • .. .. .. . -- .. . . . .-* .. .. ·--·-*

What is you sexual orientation?

Homosexual Bisexual

.. 6.9% 7.3%

Do you think this was the right age?

11111

16.4%

What is your relationship status? Single 47.7% 2.3% Married/Civil Partnership

llgM t.J*N 1 Divorced Widowed

.. 0.8% 0.4%

How many sexual partners have you had altogether?

2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9

22.1% 16.9% 13.8% 10% 4.3% 8.7%

10 Other

Ever had sex in a public place?

11111

45.7%

.. .. .. .. ..

Have you ever not used birth control? Yes 45.4%

Have you ever done a role play during sex? Yes 23.9%

Have you ever had an STI? Yes 7.7%

Have you ever had sex with a member of the same sex? Yes 14.5%

Have you ever been tested for one?

Have you ever had anal sex?

11111

Yes

...

Have you ever paid for sex? Yes 3.4% •

Have you ever been paid for sex? Yes 3.8%

1&11

Would you ever sleep with your best friend's partner? Yes 11.5%

Would you ever have sex to further your career? Yes 38.5%

Do you think society and glamourise sex?

11111 No

• •

• • • •

media

•

- 6%

Have you ever had sex to music or a film?

11111

, ..

22.8%

• • • • •

•

• • • • •

Extensive use of a paddle. Using a dildo on my boyfriend. Urinating on someone. On the car in front of my house using a vibrating strap on. When I slept wit!) this girl she said she was going to the toilet, turns out she went to sleep in her mate's bed while her mate came and slept with me. · Blow job while drumming. Sex with my town's bully's girlfriend! Hell yeah!! The time the condom split. Getting head whilst driving on the M25! Haven't had one.

• • • • •

•

• •

Rolling Stones makes you feel like you're h11ving sex in a movie. The Smiths - Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others. Tintin. Take from that what you will. I put the Countdown music on and tried to finish before it ended. I've also had sex to Wagner's - The Ride of the Valkeryies. Lost my virginity to the Star Wars Imperial March. MASSIVELY APPROPRIATE. Goldeneye. James Bond turns her on.

Why did you_choose to wait as long as you did before having sex with a new partner?

If you have, did you enjoy it? Yes 47.9%

Sexual Habits

•

• • • •

• •

•

• •

Because I love sex. I find most relationships begin whilst barely able to stand up in the LCR. it's what the Bible tells us. it's not a rule or anything, just how it seems to work out. To make sure they like you for who you are. Because time limits are pointless, just have sex when you feel like it! Sex is an important part of a relationship. If the man is rubbish then it won' t work. So I don't look too slaggy. Too damn horny for my own good. Because I am a man. Because I don't relate sex and love.

SinSinS LOV E STO R E

for that_special someone on va lent ine's day delightful handmade jewellery. made in norwich :

•

• • • • • •

•

Dropping your knickers for a goodfor-nothing isn't worth losing your self-respect for. To make sure they're not a knob . I love the no-pants dance. I think sex can cloud judgement so better to have an opinion of the personality. To create an emotional dependency. lt felt right and we both realised we loved each other. Get to know each other and what we like, feel comfortable and not

• •

•

• •

•

could you want? When me and mv boyfriend have been drinking

• •

we're far dirtier. Holiday romance when travelling in Costa Rica. Doing it in every room when his housemates were

•

embarrassed. Waiting puts too much of an

•

emphasis on it - it should be for

•

enjoyment

Making a lot of noise at Center Pares. Coming really hard at 6am after an all-night debate about the validity of the Iraq war (invasions of dubious legality get me off). Whilst doing my girlfriend from behind, during the climatic seconds, I pulled out and came all over her teddy bears. Till this day she has never forgiven me. Probably the first time I had sex with my boyfriend when I realised I loved him. Probably my first time, or the marathon of sex which ensued soon afterwards. Was with a girl I really liked and had just started seeing. What more

•

Didn't realise it was a man . Me and the guy I was sleeping with both said the wrong names, and were too drunk to care. Vomiting on someone's penis. Counting tiles on a ceiling due to boredom. With a girl at Sixth Form; I got so bored during a bad blow job, I planned a sandwich and eventually told her to stop so I could make it. This dude went mental when I started to nibble his toes. He had stayed the night and everything, I thought I was in there. Trying to masturbate. lt was like poking raw bacon with your eyes closed. Being caught wanking by my aunt. Having my ex-girlfriend put on a strap on, tie me up and literally ram it into me. Having sex with a guy, half way through he says 'everyone assumes I'm really good at sex....but I'm not'. I tried to pretend I didn' t hear. However, not only was it sad, it was also very true. Being pelvically g,round into agooy and then left to finish myself off. Had an argument with an ex-girlfriend during sex because she was being ridiculously crap in bed .. Broke up on the same night. An ex, after getting me to orgasm, used to ask if I was 'better'. lt always made me cringe. This horrible greasy guy who made me vomit. I was drunk, but it was definitely him making me vomit. Not the fact that I was drunk. Random LCR guy forcing his fingers down my knickers. Anal sex with an ex who hadn't cleaned properly.

out• Really drunken tlnowdrown sex in a kitchen cupboard in California. UEA lake - avoiding randomers was exciting.

When me and my current girlfriend came together for the first time. Just amazing.

Thanks to everyone who completed this year's Concrete Sex Survey! The winner of our prize draw will receive a fantastic and very sexy goody bag worth £75 from Sinsins love Store!

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Worst Experiences

•

34.2%

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................; What is the most times you've had sex in 24 hrs? 1 1.8% 10.2% 2 What is your favourite sexual position? 19.5% Never 7.9% 3 Missionary 27.7% 30-45mins 20.9% Doggy Style 22.6% 7.4% 17.7% 45-60mins How long do you wait before 5 More 2.9% having se~ with a new partner? 11.5% 6 2.1% 69 7 6.6% Spooning 6% A week 4.4% 15.9% How often do you have sex? 8 3.8% Standing Up More than once a day 3.5% A fortnight 0.9% 19.6% 9 Other 2.6% 10 1.8% 3.9% Daily A month 21% 2 months Other 2.2% 6.1% How long does sex normally last? Weekly 15.4% 10.3% Longer Less than 5mins 7.4% Monthly 17.3% Have you ever had a multiple orga~m? 17.7% 10-15mins 25.8% A few times a year Yes 40.8%

•

46%

Is there sufficient imformation available on campus about sexual health? Yes X. No 25.4%

• • •

suspected of being a witch, I was a puritanical w itch -hunter overcome by her lusty ways. I pretended to be interesting and she pretended to be interested. Pretended he is a tribal warrior! Princess and the stable boy. Dominance/submission is always to some extent roleplay. But we have never been specific characters, we would both crack up too much. French teacher and student. She wanted to pretend we were Victorian maids who had to share a bed ... and I had to try to seduce her... I couldnt stop laughing! A disappointment.

•

Lethal Sizzle Pow. Don't Stop Me Now- epic. Half way through, Chariots of Fire came on, pretty inappropriate, but funny. Freak Me by Another Level, we had to stop from laughing so much. Friday Night with Jonthan Ross - it was sort of creepy. Most embarrassing song would have to be Air Hostess by Busted. I got Hos in Different Area Codes inappropriate.

FEATURES

TUESDAY 9fh FEBRUARY 2010

into@angliafriendshipbureau.com www.angliafriendshipbureau.com

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14 FEATURES

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

concrete.featuresOuea.ac.uk

Concrete's Sexiest Lecturer Results The polls have closed, the votes have been counted Qnd verified, and now we can finally reveal the University of East Anglia's Sexiest Lecturers as voted for by you, the students.

There is a neverending debate between the celebrators and critks of arts and humanities-based education on the value of studying aesthetics over irrefutable facts and statistics. However, since last month's announcement of the Concrete's Sexiest lecturer shortlist, such highbrow debate has taken second place amongst our academic community to the discussion of cheeky smiles, lustrous locks and amorous accents. ...,· This left us with the irrefutable facts from our highly scientific survey: when it comes to our Arts and Humanities educators, who sit astride our list triumphantly, the study of beauty is merely the act of looking at their own reflections. While the shortlist included nominations from the School of Development, with' a strong showing for 'fishy dishy' Tim Daw and 'goddess' Vasudha Chhotray, it is the Schools of American Studies, Political; Social and International Studies and History who will be celebrating, or shooting envious glances, at their colleagues this week. The female category has divided the voters, and thus has been won by two lecturers: American Studies Angel Sarah Churchwell and Politics Princess Heather Savigny. On her joint win, Heather, whose recent hair

•

I colour change has been a topic of much discussion amongst her fans, commented, 'I'm very flattered and have laughed as this is the first thing that has happened to me at UEA that hasn't included me filling in a·form - so thank you!' Sultry Sarah commented that her win was 'wonderful news': "it's hard to know what to say in such a situation except I'm gratified to know that students have their minds firmly fixed on their studies. As for the secrets of success, I'd say the same thing I say about essay-writing: presentation counts." Meanwhile, despite strong competition from the Politics boys,

History lecturer Thomas Otte (more commonly known as UEA's own Hugh Grant) has topped the male vote, proving that his fan base extends far beyond the dizzying heights of 27 · members that ' his coverage in last month's issue has undoubtedly helped accumulate for his Facebook fan group. Ever self-deprecating, Or Otte said, 'For me, one of the attractions of academia has always been the little puzzles one gets·to solve. But this vote is a puzzle that is well beyond me. However, the earlier nomination has been the source of much amusement in the School of History, and I suspect that this issue of Concrete will cause

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even greater hilarity here on the fourth floor of the Arts building. And as we academics don't seem to have much to laugh about at the moment, I am sure we are all very grateful to UEA's students for providing us with some light entertainment. Thank you very much. I shall try not let this go to my head.' Hiscommentscertainlycapturethe excitement and discussion the article has inspired among the lectUrers. The article featuring the original shortlist has been proudly displayed in a makeshift frame on floor three of Arts, with annotations encouraging pe.ople to vote for themselves or each other, and lecturers have been caught asking about the lack of their own presence on the list. One nominated lecturer even told a Concrete writer that he will be sending it to his girlfriend. Meanwhile, the article attracted ·

including former Home Secretary and Norwich South MP Charles Clarke and NUS President Wes Streeting, but was

"the secrets of success .. .I'd say the same thing I say about e~say-writing:

presentation counts" largely dismissed as a bit of fun. That it may be, but the ongoing cataloguing of UEA's finest faces is considered a serious business here at Concrete, where it will no doubt be offering a much coveted item of interest for academics' CVs for years to come.

controversy when it was brought up in

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of professors when I first visited UEA as a sixth former. \.Yhen Mark Currie, then head of the school of literature and Creative Writing (he is currently on sabbatical) gave his introductory talk to potential UEA students my mind was made up- UEA must be the sexiest university in the country if such a beautiful man could hold such a high position. Though my initial judgements on

gushing English students: There are two key facets to Mark Currie's sexiness - interior and exterior. Anyone who has sat through one of his lectures cannot fail to be in awe of his articulateness, his soft-spoken politeness and his charming ability to make the tedious Heart of Darkness sound vaguely interesting. Accentuating his sexy brain is his immaculate appearance.

front of a Labour Soc organised panel

Kirsten Peter

~~~~ ··· ~··· ···· ·· · :

~~~ in his sharp suit trouse.rs and crisp shirts is simply mesmerising. This is without mentioning the occasions I have been lucky enough to see tiim running on Bluebell Road ... lt is quit e frankly a travesty that Mark Currie has not been voted sexiest lecturer. Mark Currie is the

~:~:•st:.=~~ ''.'::~:~~:~:::.d~ ~~~:·:.:':=~. :~~~~::::~~ ::~~{ ~:u:~::~~:,::h ~~:"~~~;:.·-.~ ' I

: Do you want to contribute to psychological understand: ing of distressing life events, personality and identity?

:IF YOU TAKE PART, YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A :DRAW TO WIN A 16GB I POD NANO! :Please contact Heather Webb by email: : heather.webb@uea.ac.uk or telephone:

: 07949 864363.

....

concrete.edltor@uea.ac.uk

EDITORIAL 15

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

CONCRETE EDITORIAL EDITO IAL concrete.editor@uea .ac.uk Hannah Livingston

IT R concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk Alice Violett

concrete.travel@uea .ac.uk Rachel Conquer

ITOR

F OY concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk Denise Bartlett

Avani Shah, Bethan Collins, Becky Harrington

OOD D

a Lianne Tapscott, Sarah Cox and Rachel Handforth

concrete.food09@gmail.com Edward leftwich

riters

Kelsie Button, Leejiah Dorward, Bex Wiles, Concrete Vegetarian Barn Owl

concrete .news@uea.ac.uk Nicolas Church

TOR

e s Editor

concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk AI ice· Violett

David Churchill

Gesa Burchards, Kate Barnett, Tamsin Lillie, Matthew Butt

conerete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk Samantha Lewis

concrete.turf@uea.ac.uk Rebecca Wiles

All joking aside, I know a lot of you look forward to the results of the Sex survey so kick back and enjoy!

LtiVe Hannak

CORRECTIO S

rite

Jessica Keating, Adizah Tejani, Gordon Malloy, Dan Youmans, Davina Kesby, Tim Marsh, Danny Keillor, Chris King, David Biggins

While this issue, featuring the results of not only the Concrete Sex Survey but of UEA's Sexiest Lecturer, may portray the team of editors and contributors to Concrete as sexually-deprived deviants with voyeuristic perversions I can assure you this is not the case. Naturally, being students of this superfluous academic institution, rigorous standards of methodology were applied in data collection alongside a strenuous analysis by our Features Editor. There appears to be a theme of surrealism in sexual practices at UEA - Freddie Mercury role play, Tintin, Star Wars and unfortunate signature moves involving teddy bears - that our researchers could only attribute to escapism and disillusionment with the stagnant economic woes of most students.

The article entitled " Conservatives Seek Elite Teachers" which featured in Concrete issue No. 238, is to be credited to David Biggins as it was credited to Nick Church in error. Further, the photo of "UEA's School of Education and Lifelong Learning" which accompanied the article is to be credited to Laura Smith. lt has also been brought to our attention that the student to staff ratio at UEA is, in fact, 17.1 rather that 18.8 according to the latest Times League Table. The latter figure was taken from an outdated source which appeared in the article "Class Sizes to Rise as Funding Falls" in issue No. 238.

Kristina Stephens, Olivia Webb John Ferguson, Will Stone, Tony Neil

TOR concrete.opi nion@ uea .ac.uk Davina Kesby

Dan Youmans, Gareth Coventry, George Hamilton-Jones, Jack Brinded, Ailsa Bristow, George Gilbert

E ED OR concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Melissa York

We express sihcere apologies for the stated errors.

concrete.sport@uea .ac.uk Danny Collins

lan Hobbs, Rob Schatten, Mark Roach, Ben Frith, Chris King, Beccy Bownas, Georgina Wade

NON-EDITORIAL C lE

HOTOGRAPHER

Greg Mann

e Kirsten Peter

1, TERNATIONAL TO concrete.international@uea.ac.uk Qingning Wang & Filipa Mendes

Pho

Christopher Buthart, Casper Palmano, Greg Mann, Kyle Spencer, Laura Smith

IBU Martin Lippiatt

T 0

Hector lowe Cris Hau, Julia Sherman, Yang Cao, Hui Zhou

ATHER FORECASTE Dan Holley

CONCRETE PO BOX 410, NORWICH, NORFOLK, NR4 7TJ 01603 593466

Concrete is published by UUEAS Concrete Society ©2009 Concrete. ISSN 13512773 Letters should be addressed for the attention of the Editor, Hannah Livingston . Letters must include contact details, but we will consider anonymous publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity as necessary. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Publisher or Editor.

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16 TURF

concrete.turf@uea.ac.uk

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

The cost of Britain's waste John Ferguson Week five at UEA sees the University take part in People and Plan et's 'Go Green' campaign. The week long nationwide event enco urages both staff and students to reduce their detrimental impacts on th e env ironme nt in various ways, from going meat free on Monday to cyc lin g on Wed nesday. In light of UEA's green efforts, Concrete looks at the state of Britain's waste today, how it is dealt with and its influences on the environment. Although som.e are worse than others, we are all guilty of producing waste and many of us are furth er the improper accountable for disposa l of it. Waste, in this se nse, is virtually anything that is used to th e point where it is no longer needed and is subsequent ly di scarded . As a count ry, we produce ove r 400 million tonne s of such waste each

year. Approximately 30 million tonnes of thi s is produced at hom e, which equates to about half a tonne per perso n per year, a staggering statistic even without factoring in waste produced per capita away from home. Indeed, Britain's annual per head producti on of waste is sig nificantly above the EU average and much higher than many of its neighbouring co untri es. Today, Britain's waste is prima rily dea lt with in four ways : t radition ally it has gone to landfill sites across the country, but it is increasingly · being used efficie ntly in recycling, composting and as a so urce of energy via in cin eration.

Although the technologi es behind th e construction and management of landfill s are im press ive, these sites co ntinue to have a negative impact on th e environment. They pol lute and contaminate important water resource s, en hance the glo bal gree nhouse effect by outputting methane as a res ult ofdecayingorgan ic waste, harbou r diseases and injure wildlife. Britain 's consumer culture shows no signs of halting, especially as it leaves un easy econo mi c tim.es,

Our incessant reli ance upon landfill sites has led to Britain being labelled the "d ust bin of Europe", as we co ntinu e to dump more waste in landfills than any other EU nation.

waste problems should ultimately help to protect th e environment. lt is wide ly regarded that alternative waste management regimes, primarily incineration and recycling,

and with the rapid consumption of goods and their unnecessarily the heavy packaging comes accumulation of more landfill waste. The national ·solutions to Britain 's

Feel-good sandwiches

must be implemented on a greate r sca le both locally and nationa lly if Britain is to combat th e use of landfills and their harmful environmenta l impacts. At a more basic leve l, anyone can help reduce the impact their wa ste

REDD Alert

The SASSAF society is the longest-runn ing charity at UEA and has been operating for over 30 years. SASSAF

supplies and provides health education throughout the country. SAS SA F is comp letely run

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), deforestation acco unts

supports an d donates money to health and educatio n charities in Southern Africa. One charity th at SASSA F sup ports is the Gr-~..~po Desportivo de Manica (GDM) project in Manica, M ozambique, which is a sport and education programme that runs - among ot her thin gs- English and IT lesso ns as well as sports coac hing and life skills training . Recently, SASSAF generously donated £1,000 to GDM. Th e work they do is magnificent and

by st ud ents who give up th eir lunchtimes to sel l sa ndwich es upstairs in the Hive. If you want more information abo ut SASSAF or if you would like to volunteer then vi sit us between 12 an d 2pm, upstairs in the Hive o r email sassafbar@ yahoo .co.uk. For more information abo ut GDM vi sit www.fcmanica.com and for Canon Collins vis it www. canonco ll ins.org. uk. Just buying a sand wich from the SASSAF bar every now and again makes a difference, so if you're on campus and hungry plea se visit th e SASSAF sandwich bar for 'food that makes you feel good'.

with the su pport of SASSA F this can continue. SASSAF has also donated £3,000 to Canon Coli ins, a South African charity which delivers medical

U 's 'G Gr

Monday 8th : Campus wide "Meat-free Mond ay" with UEA catering outlets offering special deals on vegetarian food. Tuesday 9th: LCR "Carbonget dating" experience matched to someone who has a simi lar carbon footprint to

you, pre-LCR. Wedne sday lOth: Mass bike ride to Marriot Way for staff and students. Meet behind the LCR for a 1-2 hour bike rid e followed by the pub (helmets compu lsory). There will also be waste-reduction stalls in the Hive.

Thursday 11th: Wastereduction stalls in the hive. Friday 12th : 'Canned' fi lm scree ning. Bring along a few

drinks cans for recycling instead of an entry fee. Th e film shown will be either I Love Trash or In Tran sition with a choice on the night.

has on the environment by following th e three Rs; recycle, reduce and reu se. Recycle properly anything that can be recycled , select only th ose items with reduced packag ing and reuse anything that can be reu sed as often and as much as possible.

an estim at ed 17% for of ant hropoge nic global gree nh ouse gas emission s. However, stopping deforesta tion is one of the cheapest mitigation strategies current ly avai lab le. lt is reckoned that if forests were to be comp letely integrated in t o a carbon tradin g scheme, t here is the potential to red uce globa l emiss ions by 50% from 1990. Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degrad ation (REDO) is the UN 's answer, to curb deforestation and

are typical ly the first target for deforestation, wh eth er in th e form of illegal logging or agricu ltural expa nsion. The idea is that the double incentive of land tenure and payments at eithe r a co mmunity or household level sho uld provide more attractiv e opportun ity costs to people on th e ground ·wh ilst crucially keeping ca rbon locked up. Howeve r, in practice REDO is fraught with prob lems. The safeguard clauses in the UN working paper on REDO in Copenhagen proposed "the effective participation of relevant stakeholders, including indigenou s peoples

Carbon Trading (OCCCT) in early 2009 illega lly iss ued credits to carbon traders, and also tried to fl og US$500 million worth of forest carbon offsets for land they did not own. Th is provoked an ons laught of carbon cowboys who in certain in stances we nt as far as holding people up at gunpoint to sign away their carbon rights. Other se rious threats to any REDO proposal include Paying to halt leakage. deforestation in one place does not mean th at it will not happe n elsewhere, especially if that means a shift to an even poorer country with

sequester carbon. In theory, REDO aims to pay participating co untries to prevent deforest ation and degradation . Practitioners and foresters alike hope this will trickle down to local and indigenous peop les to look after their local forests. Research indicates that the safest way to prevent deforestation is to devolve ownership to the local inha bitants and give them the right to the land . This has proved particularly succe ssful in vulnerable buffer zones on the periphery of large forested areas. These areas

and local comm uniti es". A late night hatchet job by the US had the safeguard s relegated to th e non legally-binding preamble which effective ly gives nation states and private enterprise an inequitable carte blanche. Papua New Guinea (PNG) highlights this duplicity. As part of the Coalition for Rainfore st Nations, PNG was one of the progenitors of REDO, citing lofty aspirations to "facilitate new and improved revenue st reams in order to underpin community-driven environmental ly susta in able eco nomic growth". PNG 's Office of Climate Change and

less equity and transparency that is not a REDO signee. Also the question remains: should emitters be allowed to continue unfettered thanks to tenuous tropical offsets in the first pla ce? There is also the issue of effective monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) and the establishment of reliable baselines for future payments. For REDO to work it must offer real reductions, rather than sha dy inequitable offsets that emitters off

simp ly let the hook. Tony Nei l

concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk

TRAVEL 17

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

Family Ties: My India Magical Moscow Bethan Colllns

With family ties in India, Avani Shah gives an insight into her experiences of a country which she considers both foreign and also a second home. Say the word India to ten different people and chances are they'll respond in ten different ways - it's no wonder that I've lost my place amongst this landscape that is about as diverse as you can get. Born in Britain, my passport will tell you that technically I'm not even Indian. My Facebook page, on the other hand, will tell you that I speak Gujarati, I don't eat meat and I'm intrigued by the concepts of Hinduism. Click on the photos link and you'll see memories of extravagant and colourful family weddings, embarrassing Bollywood dances and, perhaps most importantly, my · four holidays to India. I say holiday, but am I actually going to a foreign country, or am I going home? The travel guides are completely right when they say the Taj Mahal and Red Fort are beautiful, the cows really do hold up traffic and Goa is the place for parasailing and partying, but having experienced all of these, as well as the less appeaTing squatter toilets and mosquito bites, the things I remember the most are moments that could easily have happened at home. Catching up with my cousins over iced coffees at a horribly commercial Starbucks equivalent, for example, should probably have been overruled by a chai stand on the roadside - but let's face it, even India's becoming too modern for that. Then again, ·I'm also visiting a world where a simple shopping trip involves being taken into a private room and offered refreshments whilst assistants bring out clothes which will later be altered to my size. My English accent means I'm treated like a celebrity even in my

own home, where dinner is p'repared and dished up by hired staff. This feels odd considering that a quick Google will tell you that 42% of the country's population live beneath the International Poverty Line. What's perhaps worse is how quickly you become accustomed to being served, as the 'at least I'm giving one more person a job' mindset settles in. In the hustle and bustle of city life, it's easy to get caught up and forget your beliefs and indeed that your life isn't

"... it's easy to get caught up and forget your beliefs and indeed that your ·life isn't normally this glamorous." normally this glamorous. Even a holiday to Kerala, also known as India's Spiritual South, came with trimmings that I wouldn't have dreamed about when I left England. Seven star hotels with private beaches suddenly become affordable and although you see some of the country's most spiritual sites (for example Kanya Kumari, where one can see the union of three oceans, each sea a dtfferent

colour), ultimately you are cocooned in a mere representation. You are surrounded by spa treatments and massage therapies that are supposedly healing. Whether it's a boat ride on the backwaters or dinner eaten straight off banana leaves on the beach, there's something for everyone and the funniest part is that this beach resort is deemed far less commercial than some of the others. You know, if my mother ends up reading this article she's going to go crazy and start calling me ungrateful. 'What about Lonavala?' she'll ask, and she's right. Nothing was more amusing than turning up in this tiny town in vest tops and shorts to find the locals shivering away in woolly hats and jumpers. Hiking, campfires and chikki, this luscious hillside district has it all from mountains, to caves, to waterfalls. lt was a magical place to spend the New Year, secluded and safe from the noise of the city, with our nearest neighbours just visible on the top of the next hill along. Fireworks are certainly more spectacular when the world qround is pitch black and there's nothing else to be seen or heard. 'What about dancing through the streets for your Bhai's wedding?' my mother will ask next, 'You can't tell me that wasn't an experience!' And that's just it. I've been to countless Indian weddings but none of them could rival this one in colour, adventure or the fact that it was one of the people I love most in the world that was getting married. I don't go to India because it's another exotic world to explore; I go because my family are there. Everything else is just a perk.

Moscow: an enigmatic and bustling city of culture and great historical interest. Perhaps one of the must-see places in Moscow is Red Square, right in the heart of the city. In the centre of the square is the granite tomb where the body of Lenin is displayed in a glass case. For the less morbid visitors, Red Square also includes St Basil's Church, which is absolutely stunning to look at with extravagant and brightly coloured domes, and has a fascinating history. Alongside Red Square is the Kremlin, which has played a dominant role in Russia's history, serving as a medieval citadel and a modern centre of power. lt is also home to the famous Faberge eggs. However, Moscow has plenty to offer as a city for those not necessarily interested in its history: alongside Red Square is a fantastic shopping centre, which is one of many in close vicinity to the city centre. There is even an underground shopping centre which includes shops selling well known brands as well as delicious ice creams.

When it comes to buying souvenirs, Cold War memorabilia, antiques and art, lzmailovo Park is highly recommended . For those interested in trying traditional Russian food, there is a chain of restaurants called Moo-Moo Restaurants, made obvious in the landscape by the cow stc;~tues outside them, but for the less adventurous there is also plenty of western cuisine available. Getting around Moscow is easy enough as there is a metro, which is a must-see in itself as it includes ornate stations displaying socialist realist art. Moscow is perfect if you're interested in experiencing a city with a very diverse culture, and if you want to spend time in a city that you will.never forget. ·

Need a VISA? Becky Harrlngton lt's around this time of the year that those students who are planning on a year abroad have the somewhat daunting task of starting to apply for their much needed visa. The journey to obtaining this golden ticket can be a somewhat stressful period, especially with classes, coursework and exam prep still going on. However, the key to keeping the stress levels down is to prepare, plan, and leave plenty of time. Looking back at my own visa experience, I felt somewhat overwhelmed and panicked at how quickly time was disappearing; it felt like everybody was miles ahead of me. However, the important thing to remember is that most people during the visa process will be having similar feelings. Your faculty is a great source of information for any worries- I spent many a time in the year abroad office! lt may seem daunting and complicated to start with, but when the initial administrative tasks are dealt with, such as the preliminary paperwork (which is not as terrible as it looks!) then it is just a case of waiting for the all important visa

..... . "

..... --· -·----meeting in London . I remember the day of my interview; it was quite taxing, especially because I had forgotten 'some of my documents! As I learnt the hard way, the key to this whole process is to be organized by making checklists and providing ample · time . After nervously waiting for around four hours in the impressive American Embassy, followed by a very short 30-second meeting, I was informed that I had been awarded the visa. All those months of stress suddenly became worth it - I was going to America and I could hardly wait. The visa process can be lengthy and somewhat stressful but it was more than worth it after having such an incredible year abroad .

18 INTERNATIONAL

TU ESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

Chinese New Year celebration

concrete.international@uea.ac.uk

Valentine's Day Julia Sherman

Cris Hau Chinese New Year is the most celebrated festival for peop le of Chinese descent. The world rejoices the coming of a new year, which does not start until after a week o r a month of happ iness, according to ancient Chinese books. Pronounced as "xin nian" in Mandarin, "xin" stands for "new" wh ile "nian" represents a myt hica l monster that once ha unted peo ple in the streets. In order to va nquish the evi l creature, the Chinese used loud

sounds and bright lights to chase it away, thus creating the tradition of using firecrackers to we lcome the New Year. "N ian" has since been used as a word t o re present t he start of a brand new year wit h the defeat of evil. This is also a time to get new clot hes for t he year and spri ng clea n the house to ac hieve a f resh start. Ano t her famous tradition is the giving of red packets w it h tokens of blessings in the form of money from the elders to the young. The

young will offer 'well' wishes and two mandar in oranges to the elder in exchange for the red packets. There are diffe rent practices and bel iefs surro unding Chinese New Year but the most impo rtant and common aspect is that this is a time whe n fami lies (including extended family members) come together to celebrate the New Year. Given this, t his time of year becomes the most meaningful festival in the Chinese calendar. At UEA, the Chinese Society will organise a celebration to welcome the year of the Tiger on Friday, Februa ry . 12t h, from 8pm in the LCR. A performance will be give n and traditiona l Chinese candies and snacks wi ll be served t hroughout the ce lebration . The CSSA promises the event wil l be unique and exciting and we lco mes all natio nal iti es to jo in in to ce lebrate this special festival for Ch in ese people. Ticket are now on sa le in the box office .

Spring Festival in Norwich Yang Cao After Christmas comes the biggest yearly Chinese festivity - Chinese New Year! 2010 is the year of the Tiger and incidentally coincides with Valentine's Day. Traditionally, this festivity means a lot to Chinese people, as families are bro ught together. Activities such as making dumplings and watching the spring festival gala on TV are common in China. But for those living and

studying overseas the situation is different. A Si , a cook at ' Lucky Star', reports that he has no special feelings toward this event. After moving to Norwich over two years ago, he has gotten used to his new life and supports the saying: "when in Rome, do as the Romans". He is now likely to celebrate Christmas rath er,than the Chinese New Year.

Chen, a postgraduate student at UEA, talks about his true feelings toward Chinese New Year: "I will have dinner with my Chinese friends, but I feel it is, to some extent, an option to remove the loneliness, especially during this time ... " A famous ancient poem confirms this: "you will feel twice as homesick when the festival comes". At Chapelfield information desk, Concrete was told that there is no big scale celebration in Norwich, and that only larger cities like London or Manchester have more traditiona l celebration s.

Valentine's Day, also known as Sing les' Awareness Day for t he more cynical members of society, is all about love. it's pretty obvious the red, pink, and white greeti ng cards practically flood the aisles of any store that sells stationary, w hile the grocery stores are fi ll ed wit h an endless supply of chocolates and sweets, cut into the shape of hearts covered in pink frosting with t he message "I love you." But why does this global ho liday

always seem to just be about romantic love? W hat about t he love you feel for your family, your friends, even for those people you pass by on campus and sim pl y wave to? Valentine's Day should be abo ut all forms of love, and add itionally, it is a holiday th at shoul d be ce lebrated every day of the year. And not with giant teddy bears or red roses, but by simply letting peop le know how important they are to you, in words and in actions.

Feel the Love Hui Zhou "Love is a tempora ry mad ness . lt eru pts like an ea rth quake and t hen subsides." I love t his quote beca use of t he use of the word "madness" and for its tru t hfu l insight. How ca n one forget t he ve ry fi rst time wh en he or she fell in love? Or the crazi ness and pain t hat ca me wi th it ? How ca n one have got so used to accepting t he idea that love does not exist, even after all t he torment it has brought? Love is so precious and free, it may not be held by human beings. A gl impse oft his potentially unattainable emotion can reveal a brief moment of beauty and eternity, which has been carefully shaped by our lives and souls. Love is not trying to teach us how to live in sufferance. What it does is open a window to a more privileged world, cautiously keeping the door of reality closed. Valentine's Day used to be about reminding people of their loved ones. lt may be that nowadays, February 14th has become secularized as people tend to get more and more apathetic. Even so, and in memory of love, here is "Bright Star" by John Keats, dedicated to all of you, regardless of whether or not you actual ly believe in love.

"Bright st ar, wo uld I were stead fas t as th ou art-... Not in lone sple nd or hung aloft the night And w at chi ng, with etern al lids apa rt, ... Like nat ure's pa ti ent, slee pl ess Eremi t e, The moving waters at the ir priest like task ... Of pure ablution ro und ea rt h's human shores, Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask ... Of snow upon the mountains and the moorsNo- yet still steadfast, sti ll unchangeable, ... Pillowed upon my fair love's ripening breast, To feel for ever its soft fall and swell, .. . Awake forever in a sweet unrest, Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath, ... And so live ever - or else swoon to death."

...

concrete.food09@gmail.com

FOOD

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

19~

A Little Slice of Australian Vegetarian Heaven Kelsie Button I am almost a little reluctant to write this review. The moment I stepped into Amnity Point, I knew that I had found myself another of Norwich's little gems that together make this city what it is for me. I thus sit torn . Part of me feels compelled by a sense of duty to my fellow students, who, like myself, try to spend as little time as possible doing their reading in . a place that looks like a 1960s concrete prison (please don't get me wrong, UEA campus has its charms, the library is, however, not one of them). Whereas another part of me feels like crumpling up this page and keeping Amnity Point as my little secret; my personal retreat from the world. Unfortunately I have now eaten sandwiches and drunk coffee at Concrete's expense, so I am obliged to continue. Indeed, a retreat is exactly what this little coffee shop on Onley Street is. Although determined not to preach their 'green' principles,

Amnity Point is founded on a commitment to ensure that their business adds nothing to the unethical bubble of pollution that encases western corporations and businesses. Pledging to only use fair trade ingredients, offering a 100% guarantee that they buy absolutely nothing from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Lidl or their counterparts and promising that they have only ever used reclaimed materials and wood to build everything in their shop, Amnity Point successfully avoids all of the uninspiring and drab characteristics typical of a coffee house chain. With its delicious homemade cakes, good, rich coffee, freshly squeezed juices and smoothies, variety of loose teas, second hand books up for grabs and, perhaps most importantly of all, its genuine appreciation of your custom, this endearing little coffee shop is honest, quaint and unique, whilst remaining

anything but pretentious. This is a business that clearly embodies the principles of those who own it. In terms of food, Amnity Point offers a variety of homemade sandwiches, hot and cold, and a soup of the day. Although the menu is strictly vegetarian, meat-lovers do not fear! The organic ingredients and unusual, rich combinations of sandwich fillings leave you feeling quite content about the curious lack of animal in your lunch. You can find this little haven away from home just off Unthank road, behind Lloyds TSB and The Co-op. Perfect for all those who live in The Golden Triangle, and want nothing more when they fall out of bed than a peaceful place with good food and coffee to nurse their hangover. Just remember! Amnity Point is only open Wednesday to Sunday, so there won't be any caffeine fixes before Monday 9am lectures.

Before making a lifelong commitment to Amnity Point, check out their website, http://www. amitypoint.co.uk/. Here you will find opening times and an outline of how and why they advocate fair-trade principles. Oozing character, honesty and delicious food, Amnity Point is a small but well loved coffee shop that I highly recommend . Take a book, buy some coffee, sit your bum down on a pillow and feel pleased that you've spent your precious loan somewhere that exists because its owners believe in it, not because it's going to make them rich. So go! Enjoy! But please ... don't tell anybody about it.

Meat Free Black Bean Mondays: A New Burgers with Corn meal Club Night?

Roasted Butternut Squash

Thumbprint Chocolate Cookies

These burgers have l got loads of flavour I and can be put on the barbeque just as easily as the grill. '• j You could always try adding some chilli Vegetarianism was once the preserve of hippies, i to heat things up a Buddhists and those of an overly sensitive notch. I disposition. Nowadays there's a new reason

Ingredients

Thumbprint cookies are so cute. With a fudgy texture and deep chocolate flavour, these are not your average thumbprint cookie. You can use any kind of jam you like. Of course they' re good with your typical strawberry or raspberry jam, but there are so other many possibilities like peach or blueberry!

to go veggie : the environment. According to a 2006 UN report, the meat industry is "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global". Famous people such as Paul McCartney and Daryl Hannah tell us that every cow is a evil, farting, monster. As a meat eater you are complicit in the worldwide bovine conspiracy to cook humans via global warming in a twisted

! l! Ingredients

l I j

scheme of irony and motor skills far beyond those usually attributed to cows. . '1'

The fact is though, revelations of this strange and terrifying conspiracy aren't enough to change us as a society. Meat tastes great, and there is a huge social stigma against vegetarian food . Most people still assume it tastes bland and lacks nutritional value. Sure, vegetarians do eat carrot sticks and lettuce. However, by thinking this is all they eat, you are confusing vegetarians with rabbits. Vegetarianism is long established, in some cultures it's the norm. So here are three recipes that taste great and are great for you, full of nutrients and flavours. Try them out; not only will you please Paul McCartney, you will help fight the stigma. You never know, you might even find something you like!

2 tins of black beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour 1/4 cup yellow corn meal 1/2 cup salsa 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp garlic salt Hamburger buns

Method

I 1) Place beans in food processor; process until j

fairly smooth . Add flour, cornmeal, salsa, cumin

I and garlic salt. Process until well combined . j

2) Spoon mixture into 6 balls on a large plate and refrigerate for 1-4 hours before cooking.

3) Heat barbecue grill or ridged grill pan over

Form each ball into a 4-inch patty about half an

l !

to 5 minutes per side.

I medium heat. Coat grill or pan lightly with oil.

I inch thick. Place the patties on the grill or in pan I and cook until browned and heated through, 4 ·'l,

4) Serve your black bean corn meal patties on hamburger buns with your favorite toppings.

2 small butternut squash Garlic clove, crushed 5 tbsp of oil, olive oil is best Courgette, cut into 2cm chunks Red pepper, cut into 2cm chunks 2 small red onions, cut into thin wedges 200g cherry tomatoes lOOg goat's cheese, alternatives are mozzarella or cheddar

I Leejlah Dorward

1/3 cup canola oil 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup soy milk 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon almond extract 11/4 cups flour 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Method 1) Heat the oven to 200' C/fan 180' C/Gas 6. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds then cut criss-cross patterns over the cut-side of each one. Mix together the garlic and 2 tbsp of oil, and brush this mixture over the flesh . Bake for about 30--40 minutes until the flesh is tender. 2) To make the filling, put the courgette, pepper and onion in a roasting tin and drizzle with 1 tbsp oil. Season and roast for about 20-25 minutes until tender and starting to brown at the edges. Add the cherry tomatoes 'and cook for another 10 minutes. 3) Once everything is cooked, scoop out most of the flesh of the butternut squash, leaving just enough round the edge to keep the shape ·of the squash . Mash the flesh with 2 tbsp of oil. Once mashed stir in the roasted vegetables very gently, and spoon back into the squash skins. Put your cheese on top and place in the oven for a final 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and just starting to crisp .

,.,_ 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 3-4 tablespoons jam, any flavour.

Method 1) Preheat oven to 180' C/Gas 4. In a mediumsized bowl, mix the oil, sugar, soy milk, and extracts. Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt and stir until complete ly mixed . Add a bit more flour if the dough looks wet. 2) Shape into tablespoon-sized balls and place on a lightly oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet (do not flatten) and bake for 9 minutes. 3) Remove from oven and using your thumb, press into each cookie, making a thumbprint. Put about 1/2 teaspoon of jam on each cookie. Return to the oven and bake for 3 more minutes. 4) Transfer to a wire rack to cool and enjoy!

! Concrete Vegetarian Barn Owl

lngredl nt

Concrete Vegetarian Barn Owl

Bex Wiles

•

.~20 IN FOCUS

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

Norwich Rotaract: have fun, make new friends, raise money Gesa Burchards Thinking about joining a society or club? Why not try Rotaract, a network of clubs founded by Rotary for students and young professionals aged 18 to 30. We are part of a global effort to bring peace and international understanding to the world . Starting from the co mmunity level, we organise service projects, help out at local Rotary clubs or charities; but also socialize and have fun together. Apart from making a difference, you can develop your leadership skills and take responsibility on a local, national and international level. Norwich Rotaract became an official club last September and held a grand charter night -- ·!where we raised £300 for local charity Nelson's Journey. We have also been busy fundraising for other worthy causes including a Ch ildren In Need pirates fancy dress pub crawl, which raised £570 in one night, and an auction evening

raising £900 towards a water pump in a village in Gambia. The club is very active socially and has taken part in a range of activities. We have held club meals at local restaurants, been to the cinema, celebrated festivals such as Diwali, visited Cromer and Norwich carnivals, taken part in sporting activities including laser games and hosted a Rotaract District rounders event, which ended in a well-deserved tie . We have also tried some more unusual activities such as lawn bowls (not just for the older generation)! our Most importantly,

members decide what they wou ld like to get involved with both for charity and for fun . So why not come along and have your say? We currently meet every second Wednesday at the Beehive pub, Leopold Road, Eaton, Norwich. You can contact us by emailing Club President Roshan at enquiries@ norwich rotaract . org.uk or by joining our Facebook group "Norwich Rotaract" (the UK one!) Have a look - 145,000 members in 7,300 clubs from more than 150 countries can' t be wrong!

Support Medic to Medic and help train doctors in Africa Tamsin Lillie .. 'The UK has 230 doctors per 100,000 people, Malawi has just two. The WHO estimates that there is a global shortage of 4.3 million healthcare workers and Africa alone needs 1.5 million more just to address basic healthcare services. One of the main rea sons for this shortage is that not enough people are being trained as doctors. Ethiopia produces 200 doctors per year for a population of 75 million; the UK produces 6,000 for a population of 60 million. This is w here Medic to Medic can help. The charity was set up in 2007 and raises money for trainee students who are in financial need. Through are sponsorship, students able to concentrate on their studies and don't need to rely on outside employment to pay their university fees. Supporting these students

helps to increase the number of doctors in countries with critical shortages by widening the opportunities to study Medicine. This goes some way to improving international health. The UEA branch of Medic to Medic started this year and to date we have raised over £1,000. With this money we have sponsored two medical students in Ma lawi, Winnie and Innocent. The most successful event of last term was the Norwich Half Marathon, where we rai sed over £600. You may also have seen us in LCRs, at cake sales in the Hive or you may have heard about our mobile phone recycling project. You can donate any old mobiles to the Hive reception or medical school IT room and they will be traded for funds. This term, we're planning to be involved in more LCRs

and street collecting in the city as well as running social events to raise awareness about the charity ...including speed dating!! If you'd like to get more involved in the group - and it's not just for Medics, anyone with an interest in improving international health is more than welcome to get involved please join the Facebook group "UEA Medic-to-Medic", where we' ll keep you updated about upcoming events.

concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk

Book a re-style for READ Kate Ba rnett Ever fancied having your hair cut at a designer salon but have never had the cash to splash on a first rate 'do? For one day only READ Book Project and Max Giammello are offering UEA students a chance to have their hair cut at a reduced rate at a top class salon, with proceeds going to charity. READ International, winner of 'Best New UK Charity' in the 2007 Charity Times Awards,is a studentled initiative whereby disused textbooks from UK schools and universities are collected and redistributed to schools

in Tanzania . Each book costs an average of just 50 pence to collect, sort, ship and de liver end-to-end . By donating just SOp and a pen anyone can send a book to a student in Tanzania. Max Giammello is a Norwich-based sa lon boasting 'state of the art' facilities and a service 'second to none .' Max and his team have won many awards over the last few years including the finalist prize for the We lla 'Trend Vision' 2006 and the L'Oreal Colour Trophy in 2005, 2004 and 2003. Haircuts will be available from 10-4pm Sunday 21st

February. Girls' wash, cut and blow dries are £25 . Boys' cut,wash and b~ow dries are £10 . Appointments can be booked from our stall at the Hive between 12-2pm, Tuesday-Friday. READ International have already successfu lly delivered over 564,000 textbooks to Tanzan ia - please support us and make this year even more successful than the last! For more information please email us at: norwich@ readbookproject.org .uk.

Debate the issues with the Alternative Politics Forum M atthew Butt The new year and new semester brought with it a newly forming UEA society, calling itself the Alternative Politics Forum . Springing from the seeds of an idea planted last te rm in t he heads of seve ral students residing in Suffolk Terrace and thereabouts who noticed how much time was spent sitting up late into the night talking through all things political, the APF is the brainchi ld of one Eliot Short, its current president, and is attracting a growing internet following. Their aims are simple, and were laid out before the small but tenacious and growing group of some 20 students who arrived for the inaugural informal meeting. Primarily, they are a discussion-based group a1m1ng at bringing together people of all different political beliefs to debate issues both old and current. They also plan to hold regular meetings in which relevant

films are viewed and to hold subsequent discussions on the issues raised within them . Unlike most of UEA's political societies they do not advocate any particular po litical belief; as Mr Short said, "We are an academic forum aiming to broaden horizons and encourage debate. We don't want to push our views on anyone". The APF, then, is perhaps unique among political societies for being, well, apolitical, although they of course agree that any natural consensus of political opinion among members could lead to a side effect of activist activity. In a time of recession and notably after last semester's student voting fa iled to achieve the required numbers, Mr Short commented aptly that "many people feel so apathetic about the current system." The organisation aims to address this apathy by offering discussion on ideas alternative

to that very system. The group has faced problems in being officially recognised by the Union, and has not yet been afforded the status of an official society on the grounds that the APF as a society overlaps too much with the pre-existing Politics Society. One APF member remarked that they had no qualms with PoiSoc but felt it was necessary to have a medi um through which ideas other than mainstream ones could be exp lored : a wider scope was desirable. That isn' t to say the APF and PoiSoc are at loggerheads - far from it. If anything, they seem to compliment each other: PoiSoc recently advised the APF committee regarding establishing themselves as a serious group. Anyone interested in the APF can contact them via their Facebook page, or by contacting Eliot Short, Sam Starke or Ava Maria Gaida.

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Want to write for In Focus?

Societ y, club, chari ty or group, on or off-campus -we want to focus on YOU! Email AI ice Violett on concrete .editorial@uea .ac.uk.

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~ concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

LIFESTYLE 21

Confessions of a VlE}I

student An anonymous reader tells us why Valentines isn't all about romance and roses. I don't know a single person who enjoys Valentine's Day; it is one of those dreaded days like New Year's Eve when both couples and singletons feel it is necessary to mark the occasion . Last year I decided to embrace it and take out a girl I had been introduced to the previous weekend at a flat party. We met outside Sella ltalia, she was looking gorgeous and greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, so I thought my luck was in. Once seated I was ready and waiting to debate the menu, . but without looking she simply declared, "I'll have what you're having". Who uses that anymore? Under .pressure I went for the classic lasagne and medium priced red wine (red seemed romantic). Things were about to get worse. Whilst we waited for dinner she somehow managed to steer the conversation to discussing her menstrual cycle. Personally I didn't consider this appropriate Valentine's Day chit-chat. Evidently awkward, I searched around for anything to distract me and caught the eye of the waitress serving us. I thought clearly this date wasn't going anywhere so I should seize the opportunity. My date smiled inanely as I checked out the woman bringing me lasagne. Nothing I could do seemed to bother her, so I lent right over and took a gouge out of the centre of her pasta and then poured myself the rest of the wine. Again she remained unfazed and politely asked what I thought of the meal. With one more thing up my sleeve to provoke a personality out of her, I let my brewing fart ripple across the restaurant. Then the unbelievable happened; she smirked sweetly and said, "you're so cute". We were so done here and without dessert I asked for the bill and we caught the bus back to campus. As we went our separate ways, my phone beeped and I had a text from her saying, "that was fun, we should do it again". lt was here that I decided that Valentine's Day is a bloody sham and I will be spending this February 14th at home with a curry.

Defending the student lifestyle Kristi na Stephens dismisses claims that all students are Pot Noodle loving, seminar skiving layabouts. The so-called 'student lifestyle' has traditionally inherited a bit of a bad name. Frustratingly, there is an assumption that students have access to abundant funds allowing us to seek out a careless, selfindulgent lifestyle at the expense of parents or the government. But are we really the indifferent druni<en louts the media have often made out? Are non-stop bar crawls and bed hopping for the average UEA student a reality or a poorly informed misconception? The general disapproval of the country towards students and their hard partying was exemplified at the end of last year with outrage across the country over 'Carnage' bar crawls and the resultant alcoholfuelled debauchery. But do we really have such poor self-control and loose morals? A quick look at posts and photos added to the two new Facebook groups 'UEA: get a room or this happens' and 'Overheard : University of East Anglia', which have attracted thousands of members, might encourage one to agree. On these pages the silly and sometimes promiscuous antics of our friends are published online for everyone's amusement. The media have also been quick to pick up the Skins craze and maybe it is programmes like

this that have branded us an oversexualised, drug taking bunch of teens. Although drunken nights out most weeks do seem to be the norm for a great number of students, in moderation this needn't be vilified .

event "passed without incident" and was even "good natured" despite the fuss and the extensive police presence. Plus, there tends to be a greater number of police and more visible incidents on a Friday or Saturday night when local people

it's not as if indulging in a few drinks is something that only students enjoy. Largely student behaviour in the city does not appear to be problematic; the Norwich Evening News stated that the last Carnage

are more likely to frequent the pubs and clubs on Prince of Wales Road. lt seems unfair to suggest that students are apathetic; often on the whole they are one of the most vocal sections of society.

UEA societies are politically and environmentally aware, with diverse options ranging from the popular Raise and Give fundraising group to UEA Permaculture, who grow fruit and vegetables on an allotment on campus, for those "interested in sustainable lifestyles and agriculture". Additionally, UEA was one of a number of universities that hosted sit-ins to protest over the continuing situation in Palestine. The UEA Go Green society also has over a thousand members and lobbied successfully for the University to employ a new environmental member of staff, develop a carbon reduction strategy and complete an audit of the campus . As the bright young sparks of the future, surely such activism should inspire confidence in the students of today. .. _ Assuming the student lifestyle is defined by constant partying is more than a bit unrealistic, and on the average student budget relatively impossible. University life is just as much about the solitary slaving away on assignments and doing our best to leave with a respectable degree. Whilst it cannot be denied students do occasionally cause carnage and chaos, give us a break; these are meant to be the best three years of our lives.

Is it time to ditch the di(lry? lt worked for An ne Frank, but are the days of private diary writing being taken over by the blogosphere? Olivia Webb puts forward the case to hold onto the pen and paper. As someone whose sister very inconveniently decided to move to the other side of the world, I can see the benefits of the whole blogging thing. By reading my sister's blog I can track what she's doing (which mainly consists of lying in the sun, eating mangoes and teaching English to some adorable children), and this saves her having to individually write to all her family members and friends. I can therefore completely understand why, in some cases, blogging has rendered diary writing obsolete. However, it's hardly a place to divulge you r deepest darkest secrets. Most free blogging sites

such as LiveJournal and Blogspot have a feature where you can read a blog at random . Whilst this provides the general public with a new procrastination outlet, I personally would feel strange knowing that someone I didn't know was reading about me. Besides which, whilst there is more chance of hell freezing over than my computer illiterate mother stumbling across something I'd written on the internet, the thought of her reading a blog detailing what I did in the LCR last Tuesday is enough to terrify me into never wanting to blog about my life. I suppose I'm also naturally biased, I've kept a diary since I was

nine and for me blogging could never replace diary writing. Keeping a diary is something completely personal, it's somewhere where you can bitch and moan without feeling guilty and express (at length) how angry you are with a housemate, friend or lecturer. The only pitfall with keeping a diary is that you end up with a large box of used diaries under your bed, which you occasionally feel tempted to read for nostalgia's sake, only to cringe at sentences like "I will never forgive her for doing this to me! I love him and she knew this!" (in my defence I wrote that when I was 14 - a very angsty age) .

Slogging is a great way of keeping up to date with what others are doing but when it comes to wanting to let out personal feelings, a diary is always best.

â&#x20AC;˘

22 SPORT

TUESDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2010

Canary Corner

concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk

UEA's newest sports club: Handball Concrete Sport speaks to He lie Aanonsen as she explains the background behind her drive to set up a club at UEA for Scandanavia's most popular sport, handball.

lan Hobbs

Norwich City have been on fire in recent weeks, achieving 44 po ints out of a possible 48, which is an astoundin g feat for a club in any tier of English football. Since smashing Colchester United on th eir own ground last month Norwich have go ne from strength to strength, th anks to a number of gutsy performances, al l within the space of seven days. Firstly, th e 'never say die' attitud e was present in the home game agai nst Brentford, where despite captain Grant Holt having been sent off for a rash challenge in the first half, Norwi ch went on to be victorious - a goal from Chris Martin in the 77th minute seal ing all three points. 路~-'1 Fighting spirit was once again evident when City fought back from a goal behind to defeat Walsa ll2-1. Thi s game saw the first start in months for Cody McDonald, who rewa rd ed his manager with the winnin g goal. Chris M artin also got on the sco re sheet to take his tally for the season to 16 in all competi tio ns. M artin has been a key player for City this season and fan s were delighted when before the home game against Brentford it was announced he'd signed a new three and a half year deal with club. Martin's development was greatly aided by a season-long loan spel l at l. Luto n Town along with fellow city youngster Micha el Spillane. Former boss Glenn Roeder famously desc ribed th e pair as

'tweedle dum and tweedle do' during his disastrous reign in charge. However, Martin now looks like an accomplished finisher si nce his return and Spillane had shown promise before suffering an injury blow earlier thi s seaso n.

Norwich had the chance to achieve a record eleventh st raight home win going into the game aga in st Hartlepool. Hartlepool took a su rpri se lead when Neil Au sten thump ed th e ball in from outside the box. However, the Canaries responded within 60 seconds thanks to a Cody McDonald header. Five minutes later debutant left-back Michael Rose, brought in on loan from Stockport as cover for the inj ured Ad am Drury, scored the decisive goal to seal a 2-1 victory and th e reco rd 11th home win . Norwich's run of good form ca me to an end on Saturday, however, des pite another goa l from Chris Martin. The Canaries slipped to a 2-1 defeat away to Millwall .

Rob Schatten Th ere may already be clubs for nearly every spo rt you can imagine - from korfball to ultimate frisbee - but UEA's already extensive sports society is about to get another member, as a Norwegian stud ent is planning to establi sh a handball club. Helle Aanonsen, a seco nd -year PSI student from Bergen, Norway, is attempting to set up the club as a way to broaden the appeal of handball in th e UK, where the spo rt has never enjoyed much publicity. "I think it's sa fe to say that handball is signifi cantly bigger in Scandinavia than here in th e UK where team s are few and far between," Helle points out. " Handball as a sport is second only to football in Norway, Denmark and Sweden .. . Th e closest club you'll find to Norwich is in Great Yarmouth ". As well as getting more people interested in the sport, Helle hopes to use the club to brush up so me old skills of her own . " I played handball for about ten years before I moved to the UK to go to university, so I have quite a

lot of experience," she explained. Starting the club wi ll give Helle a chance to get back to playing while also giving her a chance to introduce others to the game. " I believe that the experience of playing myself will be sufficient to t each all our members who are new to handball," she added. In fact, Helle isn ' t alone in trying to raise awareness of handball in these parts. The British Handball Team has been recru iting heavily for the last two years, taking hopeful s to training ca mps in Aarhus, Denmark for preparation for internation al play. One significant drawback is the low-profile nature of the sport here, with the current members of the GB men's and women's squa ds mostly plying th eir trade in Denmark, Sweden or Norway. Though the team have recently su ffered a coup le of significant defeats, British handball was buoyed in January with the announcement of an IOC grant to the team to help it get to the 2012 European Championships - where a good perform ance is essential if there is to be home representation in the sport at the

London Olympics. A new team at UEA won't be setting itself such a lofty target - but Hell e reports a positive early response to the announcement of a new club. "Curre ntly there are 69 people in the Facebook gro up I've crea ted, whilst 50 people have signed up with names and email addresses," she said. "Anyone who's interested can join the club, we welcome all members!"

FOOTBALL MOVE TO WITHIN ONE EDITOR'S COLUMN GAME OF CARROW ROAD DATE The next month will see the UEA

UEA's M en's Football are now just one game away from a dream trip to Carrow Road after defeating the

minutes when a clever run down the left from Adam Seekings resulted in him cu ttin g inside and nestling the ball into the bottom corner from what seemed an impossi bl e angle. The next 15 minutes were played mostly in the home team 's half as they defended stubbornly, limiting the vi si tors to long range shots and

previously unbeaten Bradenham Wanderers sid e. The first half of the game wa s a sta lemate, with the best chance of the half falling to Bradenham when goalkeeper Tom Adams was cal led into action to make a save low to his right . UEA st art ed the second half well and were rewarded on 58 minutes. A run from Iwan Lewis on the left forced a corner from which Nick Hea p's near post cross was dropped into the net by the Bradenh am goalkeeper under pressure from the challenge of Matthew Wedlake. After consu lting his linesman the referee rightfully waved away the protests and the goal stood to put UEA 1-0 ahead . The lea d was doubled on 74

half chances. Ball afte r ball was pumped into the UEA box, with headers, blocks and tackles being consta ntly won by the university team until a goa l mouth scramb le wa s turn ed in by Bradenham's central midfielder from close range on 83 minutes. After a ten se and ne rvo us five minutes of defending UEA were ab le to finish the game off as the outstanding Heap used his pace to get away from the Bradenham defence. His shot across goal rebounded out to Emmett Rowe who coo lly placed the ball over the advancing goalkeeper and into the empty net, se nding the UEA players into raptures and securing their place in the semi final of th e Norfolk Junior Cup.

M ark Roach Brade nham Wand erers - 1 UEA M en's Football - 3

sporting year reach its climax. In a month's time UEA's sportsme n and women will be travelling to Colchester to defend their Derby Day crown against the University of Essex. Having lost the title at Essex two years ago, UEA will be keen to prevail in Essex's back yard this time. That same week UEA's elite sportsmen and women will head to Sheffield for the annual BUCS Champion ships. Th e multi-event championships will see up to 6000 el ite student athl etes descend upon the steel city for five days of intense competition. The next month will be crucial for tho se UEA clubs hoping to qualify for this prestigious event, which is to be broadcast on Sky Sports. Away from the university sports scene it has been a busy fortnight. An England captain has been lost and a Briti sh tennis player has again fallen at the fina l hurdle. Check out page 23 for more on last week's action. To keep up to date with all the news from UEA's spo rts clubs at Derby Day and the BUCS Championships be sure to check out Concrete Sport every fortnight.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010 concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk

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SPORT 23 .

MURRAY STILL APPRENTICE TO THE MASTER FEDERER Ben Frith asks whether Murray is destined to be the next nearly man of British tennis, or if he can become the first male British grand slam winner since Fred Perry in 1936. it's been five years since tennis fans first watched Andy Murray stumble on to the big stage, defeating the then 14th seed Radek Stepanek in straight sets at Wimbledon. Five years older and wiser, Murray missed out on winning his first Grand Slam title last

0/ their elwen eneount.rJ Murray ha• prevailed In 1/x, ,.d•rer ha• eome out on ttlp five

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undoubtedly the best tennis player the world has ever seen, Roger Federer. Andy Murray will be 23 by the time he next gets the opportunity to play in a major tournament, an age at which many tennis players expect to reach their peak. However, with Roger Federer showing no signs of announcing a much deserved early retirement, are Andy Murray's chances of winning a . Grand Slam tournament destined to follow the pattern set by the ultimate nearly man Tim Henman? Two Grand Slam finals in the space of 18 months would suggest and head-to-head otherwise statistics reveal that Murray is more than capable of beating Federer. However, he is yet to conquer the Swiss master in a best of five sets encounter. If there is one criticism of Andy Murray's game that presents itself time and time again it is

that he is not aggressive enough in big matches. UEA Tennis President Jonathan Stratton told Concrete that, "playing until your opponent makes a mistake is fine until you come up against the best in the world. Federer doesn't give many free points, and if you play too passively he will hit winner after winner." This view is shared by former Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, who believes that when faced with the prospect of playing the world number one, Murray "reverted to his usual defensive game, and allowed Roger to play such great tennis." Victory in Melbourne would have been the pinnacle of Murray's career so far; and his disappointment was evident as he fought back tears to congratulate his Swiss opponent. lt was disappointment that stemmed from a feeling that he had let down his loyal supporters who have followed him every step of the way ever since he walked onto Centre Court as an

18-year-old and ranked a meagre 314th in the world. Murray's endeavours in Australia have seen him climb back up to 3rd in the ATP rankings and he will be more motivated than ever for success this summer after tasting final day disappointment for a second time in his career. Next up is the clay court season,

with Murray due to begin his French Open warm up nextweek in Marseilles. After that it's the grass season and Wimbledon once more. On home soil, expectations will be higher than ever. Win or lose you can alwayst'guarantee that the nation will be gripped by 'Murray-mania' year on year until the Scat passes the baton to the next young British hopeful.

CAPTAINCY PROVES A BRIDGE TOO FAR FOR TERRY Chrls King Following talks with manager Fabio Capello last Friday, John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy. The move comes after a week of intense tabloid probing into an alleged affair between Terry and Vanessa Perroncel, the ex-girlfriend of former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge. Since taking charge of the national team in January 2008, Capello has had a reputation as something of a disciplinarian, demanding that his players set a good on-pitch example, and it appears Terry's actions were deemed inappropriate for a player in the role of team captain . Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has been chosen to replace Terry, with Steven Gerrard taking Ferdinand's previous role as vicecaptain. In a statement Capello said "After much thought I have made the decision that it will be best for me to take the captaincy away from John Terry", a decision he described as "what is best for all of the England squad". Capello said Terry had displayed "extremely positive behaviour" as captain, whilst taking the opportunity to thank the

FA for allowing him both the time and authority to take this decision. Terry reacted to the news stating "I fully respect Fabio Capello's decision", adding "I will continue to give everything for England". In terms of his future at club level, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has resolutely backed Terry to continue as captain, saying "all the club, the players, management and staff are supporting him and his family at this time". A host of figures within the game have reacted to the news, including Mark Lawrenson who called it "the only decision Capello could have arrived at", and PFA Chief Executive Gordon Taylor, who emphasised the difficulty Capello would have faced when making this decision, whilst calling for the players to move on and focus on the World Cup. Public reaction appears to be mostly in favour of Terry's removal as captain, with a poll of over 25,000 people on the BBC website indicating 76% support for Capello's decision; however any dip in team form over the next few games would surely bring about a change of opinion amongst the fans. The extent to which the rE!cent revelations have impacted upon the

England squad remains to be seen, but the decision taken by Capello is likely to have an effect on the team's preparations for this summer's World Cup. Whilst Rio Ferdinand has amassed a wealth of experience as captain of Manchester United, he has no such experience at international level, and it will almost certainly take time for the rest of the squad to adjust to a new figurehead. Wayne Bridge's future in the England set-up remains doubtful, with Capello unlikely to risk jeopardising squad unity by including two players unable to work together due to irreconcilable differences. Phi I McNulty, Chief Football Writer for the BBC, summed the issue up perfectly, saying "Capello clearly reached the conclusion that his side could not be led into the World Cup by a captain who threatened to fracture the unity of squad and purpose essential to success in South Africa". Of more pressing concern to England fans, however, will be whether or not this incident has destabilised the squad and undermined its collective spirit, a question that will remain open until Egypt visit Wembley on March 3rd.

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concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk

TUESDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2010

ENGLAND

TENNIS

HANDBAU.

FooTBALL

Chris King gives his verdict on the ongoing John Terry furore that has seen him replaced a s captain.

Ben Frith discusses the prospects for Andy Murray following his Australian Open final defeat.

Concrete introduces UEA's proposed new sports club: Handball.

Mark Roach reports on UEA Football's progress towards a match at Ca rrow Road.

LACROSSE STORM TO NORTHAMPTON VICTORY

UNION OFFICER REFERENDUM FAILS TO REACH QUORUM Georgina Wade

UEA Women's Lacrosse took on Northampton University in a home BUCS game on Wednesday. Northampton are known for their roughness and undermining tactics, and previous games had resulted in high tensions between the players. After a narrow loss last time, UEA knew it would be a tough fixture.

However, with UEA's all-star American, Patsy McNeil, leading the way in attack, the home side were first to change the score sheet. A few more goals from her and Kirsty Mclean ensured they took a comfortable lead. By quarter-time UEA were 4-1 up due to great defending work from Charity Winfield, Elaine Rogers, and Rachel Hardy, who formed a solid back three. Fast paced attacking skills were a feature of the home side's game, ensuring UEA held a comfortable 10-2 lead at half-time. With more goals from Kirsty

Mclean and Patsy McNeil, who was the match's top goal-scorer with a total of nine goals, and with many assists from Lena Shulze, UEA were unstoppable and the ball continuously hit the back of their net. This was much to the frustration of Northampton, who failed to make their presence known on the pitch. UEA eventually prevailed with a convincing 19-3 win. Unfortunately, one UEA goal was disallowed, so they were unable to reach the rounded figure of 20. Nonetheless, the team worked

well together and newcomers showed immense potential, meaning UEA Lacrosse continue to go from strength to strength . Goalkeeper Alice Flower was awarded 'player of the match' with some amazing saves and good clears. UEA Lacrosse has improved throughout the year, with the women's team now placed third in their BUCS league. The games they were unfortunate enough to lose were all extremely tight affairs. The team next travels to Birmingham University on February 17th.

Athletics

Football

Netball

Women's Football

UEA Athletics travelled to London for the annual London Games at Lee Valley last weekend . The event gave the athletes an opportunity to warm up for the upcoming BUCS Indoor Championships in Sheffield. The performance of the weekend came from third year medic Nikki Smith, who broke the 60m club record with a time of 8.47 seconds.

The UEA Men's 1st XI suffered a 4-0 defeat to rivals Cambridge on Wednesday. The defeat leaves the team third in the Midlands 2B table, four points adrift of leaders Bedfordshire. Elsewhere, the UEA Men's 2nd XI snatched a 3-2 victory away against the Nottingham 3rd XI. Oliver Kisby, Ben Angus and Adam Moore were on target in a result that takes the team to fourth in the table.

In a closely fought contest, UEA 2nds were unlucky not to snatch victory in the final moments, losing out to Staffordshire 33-35. Kirsty Young, who received player of the match, tried to push UEA to victory but they fell just short. lt was UEA's first defeat since the opening game of the BUCS season. Elsewhere the 1st team lost 20-34 to Warwick 2nds.

UEA Women's 1st XI thrashed their Cambridge counterparts 12-0 in a Midlands 2B game on Wednesday. UEA's superior skill and fitness was abundantly apparent as the team moved to second in the table on 21 points with a +68 goal difference. Lauren Hosking scored four, Aisha Shuaibu and Christy Haynes three each, with Vaina Alves and player of the match, Beki Fisk, netting one each.

Beccy Bownas UEA Women's 1st - 19 Northampton Women's 1st - 3

A Union referendum for the proposed Activities and Student Development Officer failed to receive enough votes to reach quorum last week. The post would have combined the part-time positions of the current Sports and Societies Officers into one full-time position along with other current full-time officers. Extensive discussions have been taking place over the past months as to the rearrangement of the Student s'Union, and it was concluded that the part-time positions were. simply not adequate to deal with the volume of work. The idea behind the referendum was to allow students to have their say after Union Council and the University agreed that the position could be an option. However, due to a low turn-out over the two days of voting, and the minimum quota not being reached, the result could not be binding either way. 500 votes or more were required to make the result legitimate, but the votes cast came to 493. Although the ratification of the position by the students proved unsuccessful, it did provide vital information about students' opinions. The position was proposed to represent the numerous UEA sports clubs as a whole when dealing with bodies such as the Sportspark. Other ideas suggested for the role included the introduction of a 'sports blue' system similiar to that of Oxford and Cambridge. Communications Officer Natasha Barnes believes, despite the low turnout, it has been very informative, stating: "it is a highly complex issue that goes hand-in-hand with the passing of the new University Constitution. "The University asked if we would hold this referendum to Âˇascertain whether students would be happy to pay for the position, which, although unsuccessful, gave us an idea as to what the students do want."