Concrete issue 249 07 12 2010

Billy Bragg

Joke Humphrey

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Tuesday 7th December 2010 • Issue 249 • UEA's Independent Student Newspaper

SI MO SAYS ruNDIN~ ouR FuTuRE 1 I~ ~-·· NO' TO TOP ToVoTEACAINSTUP RISE ANY INC~EASE INFEES Susanna Wood

News Correspondent Simon Wright has announced his intention to vote against a rise in tuition fees.

His decision was made public less than 24 hours before appearing at a public debate held at UEA. The Union-organised debate, · which also featured NUS President Aaron Porter and former Labour MP lan Gibson, took questions on the subject of tuition fees from students and the general public.

His announcement followed swiftly after a statement that the vote for a rise in fees will be put to the House of Commons on December 9th.

Speaking to the packed lecture theatre on Thursday, the MP for Norwich South made it clear that it was the discussions he had had with students and parents over the past few weeks that had prompted his decision. He explained to Concrete that he "was won over by what constituents actually had to say".

He added: "I would not say there was any one demonstration or one particular campaign tactic that won me over. It was all the face-to-face meetings, small groups, letters I received, which put the points

clearly across to me and helped me make my decision ."

Aaron Porter publicly thanked Simon Wright for confirming that he would vote against the proposals, calling it a "victory for student votes". Having signed the NUS's pledge against a raise in fees prior to the election, Wright has regularly been criticised

by NUS for his ambiguous stance. However, Porter seemed satisfied with Wright's response after the debate, saying: "I think the organisation of the debate helped make up his mind but I also accept that Simon has been looking at the proposals and I feel he has genuinely taken the time to consider the merits or otherwise of the package."

Responding to criticism over how long the decision has taken, Wright emphasised that the subject of tuition fees was "not a simple issue", telling this reporter that he is "very much committed to the coalition; I don't take any pride at all in voting against a commitment I made in signing up to the coalition agreement so I felt it was only right to discuss with my colleagues in Parliament why I was going against it".

in Ule nexl parlianenl nd ~o pressure lhe governMent t AFAI~

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S13ned:

Continued on page 2

NEWS: UEA law lecturer found guilty

NEWS: UEA occupied

NEWS: UEA scientists uncover biod iversity hots pot

FEATURES: Concrete speaks to author, Rose Tremain

SPORT: it's snow joke for UEA's sports clubs

UEA criminal law lecturer, Julian Myerscough, is found guilty of possessing indecent images of children.

Page 4

UEA's Council House occupied by 13 protesters as security guard sustains minor injuries.

Page3

Breckland, an area of outstanding biodiversity has been discovered by the ENV school.

Page 6

AJex Ross catches up with UEA graduate and former lecturer Rose Tremain.

Page 14

UEA sport endured a torrid fortnight as the wintery conditions decim<1ted the fixture list Page24

2

UEA's Independent Student Newspaper Concrete Newspaper Unio n Ho use UEA Norwich NR4 7Tj concrete.ed itor@uea.a c.uk Editoria l: 01603 59 3 466 Advertising: 01603 592 507 Editor:

Da nny Co li in s

Deputy Editor:

Steph McKe nna

Chief Copy Editor:

Mia Wecker

News Editors:

Davina Kesby Eel Leftwich

Comme nt and Opinion Editor:

Emma Parrott

Interna tional Editor:

Nishavitha Murth i

Features Editors:

Adam Fenwick Samantha Lewis

Turf Editor:

Anna Tomson

Lifestyl e Editor:

james Dixo n

Trave l Editor:

Tom Hunt

Food Ed itor:

Kyle Spencer

Spor ts Editors:

Chris Kin g Rob Schatten

Chief Photogra pher:

Greg Mann

De puty Chief Photographer:

La ura Smith

Adve rtising Ma nage r:

jean Will s

Distributor:

Ross Grant

Ja mes Hughes News Re porte r Th e beautiful winter sce nes in East Anglia have bee n marred by seve re logistical prob lems caused by the ea rliest s nowfa ll in seve nteen years, bringing havoc to tran s port co nn ections within the region.

For s tud e nts of UEA the poor weather on the ro ads meant that many lecture rs co uld not ma ke it to into unive rs ity last wee k, leadin g to th e ca ncell ation of lectures a nd se minars . This may have put a dd ed press ure on to those stud e nts in th e ir final years whose assignment and dissertation d ead lines are looming.

Co mmute rs travelling on many of th e train networks in a nd out of No rwich we re di srupted at th e beginning of last w eek as th e ir journeys were s ubj ect to ma ny delays a nd ca ncell ations. The bad weather had led to s igna l delays at Colchester a nd thus had mass ive repercussions o n the route from Lo nd on to

brunt of the traffic. Drivers will have to take extra caution in th ese co nditions as s tee ring a nd bra king distances will be severely impai red.

The fr eak snow is not a ll

Wri g ht a lso made it clea r that w hil e he wou ld

su pp ort fr ee ed u catio n in an id eal world, there a re "p os it ive" e le m e nts in the fees package, citi ng

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Contributors: Susa nna Wood, james Hughes, Li zz ie Marge rcson, james Schofield, Tim Bates, Joshua Reso un, Becky Hazlewood, Racha el Lum, lsabelle Carty, Sean Henry, Barbara Orth, jack Brind ed, jess Collctt, Alex Ross, Zoe Tibb les, Larry Ali, Tas h Ga unt, Ruth Furn ess, Carmina Maso liver, Emma Gala!, Gabriella Colasurdo, Christine O'S ulliva n, Oli Platt, Toby Martin, Kirsten Wade, Matt Scrafton, lan Hobbs, Li sa Stevens, Sam Tomkinson, Chris Tea le, Dominic Smith, Ri chard Brookman, Kristina Stephens, Has in a /\lien, Emma Williamson

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bad news, however; as the yo un ge r ge ne ratio n wi ll have been particularly happy with the news th a t schoo ls all ove r East Angli a were closed due to the adve rse weather.

WRIGHT GETS IT RIGHT Co ntinu e d fr o m front p age

Proofreade rs: Amy Adams, Milly J-lumphrey, Ha rry Knapp, Helen ]ones

No rwi ch. On th e morning of November 30th, during th e height of th e snowfa ll, three of the ea rly m orning tra ins w e re ca ncell ed.

Passe ngers who were fortun ate to not have th e ir trains cancell ed w e re s ubj ect to delays of up to 45 minutes, howeve r; th ose whose trains were ove r 30 minutes late were e ntitl ed to a refund und er th e Na tion a l Express 'd elay re pay' sche me.

Itwas a s imil a r sto ry on the coach se rvi ce from Na tion al Express also. A statement on the w ebs ite has addressed the in conve ni ence s uffered by its cus to m ers, say ing: "We are doing everythin g we can to keep Britain m ovi ng during th is bad w ea th e r". lt is not only public tra nspo rt that has bee n a ffe cted by th e freeze, as th e main road s in and out of Norwich turn ed into areas of huge risk after th e initi a l snowfall turn ed to s heet ice.

As Norwi ch has no motorway link, it has to rely o n its two largest d ua l carriageways, th e All a nd A12, to bear the

Stacey

Large ly dry ith sunny spells. Fee li ng quite co ld.

Sunny sp ells, with wintry showers later. Quite co ld.

Sunny spell s and a few sno 1 showers . Quite co ld

Rather cloudy

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A rather cloudy and gloo my wee end with a chance of drizzle at times . So e bri ght sp ell s are poss ible. Fee ling rat her chill

n ild and largely dry but be co ing progress iv e! cold again ith fu rt her sleet and sno v at times. inters persed vith sunny spells and o emight frosts . Fairly breezy. www .concreteweother .co.uk

progressrve payback sys te m" for t he loans a nd the w id er availability of loa ns for p a rt -tim e stud e nts.

He also claimed that the Liberal Democrats helped to e nfo rce a potential cap o n fees, w h ich wou ld prevent univers iti es from cha rg in g w hat they want.

The rest of the debate fo cuse d on di sc ussi ng a lternatives to a rise in tuition fees. All of t h e speakers app lauded the passion cl isplayed hy s tud e nts, cla iming th at apathy was a thing of the past and that they shou ld co nt inue to lobby politicians to get their voices heard.

Towards th e e nd of the debate, the Student Un ion President of Norwich Univers ity Co ll ege of the llrts (NUCII), Po ll y Wilson,

hi g hli g hted th e fact th a t NUCA w ill lose a ll of its funding in the w a ke of government spending cuts.

Speak in g after Wr ig ht's a nn o un ce m e nt, Co mmun icat io ns Officer of the Union o f UEA Students, Tom Dolton, said: "We a r e really pleased that Simo n Wright has sa id that he wi ll vote against a rise in tuition fees . It is reassuring th a t the actions the stud e nt unions across Norwic h have taken have co nfirmed Simon's status as r epresen tin g hi s consti tu ents".

The Union of UEA Students is running coac h es to Lond o n on Thurs d ay 9th to join the NUS in t h eir second national protest.

There wi ll also be a demonstration on campus o n Tu esday 7t h December, starling in The Sq uare at 1 2pm.

ISSUE 249

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Tuesday 7th December

1,000 MARCH IN NORWICH

UEA OCCUPIED Danny Collins Editor

On Saturday December 4th in the freezing cold winds of Chapelfield Gardens, hundreds gathered in order to demonstrate against the cuts proposed by the coalition earlier this year. This event took place after a mass write-in by the organisers to all Norfolk MP's over what are widely considered to be unacceptable budget cuts.

Organised by Norfolk Coalition Against the Cuts, the protest began in Chapelfield Gardens with speeches from various figures affected by the cuts, including Liam McCafferty, a nonportfolio officer far the Union of UEA Students, crying out for protection for the vulnerable.

The demonstrators then took to the streets of Norwich. More man power was added, bringing the marchers up to a total of around 1,000 people.

The protest is said to be the largest march of its kind since demonstrators took to the streets in the 1990s to campaign for the closure of the Nestle factory in Norwich.

The rally follows the predominantly student-led activity against the planned cuts which began with the NUS-organised march in London on November, 11th, covered in the last issue of Concrete. However, the march on Saturday attracted more than just students protesting against the proposed changes to university fees. Chapelfield Gardens was not only full of university students, but also workers, school and college students and those protesting for the rights of the vulnerable.

This march brought together the cause of students and nonstudents alike, and therefore had a far weightier atmosphere than was experienced in the November 11th marches. With another march planned on the 6th at City College, the campaigns are gathering momentum.

Lizzie Margereson

UEA was the latest campus to experience a student occupation last Thursday as a group of 13 protesters occupied the Council House building for 12 hours.

A female security guard was taken to hospital after sustaining bruising and grazes when knocked to the ground as the protesters entered the building.

Following their entry, the group proceeded to chain the front doors of the building and hang banners on the windows and doors.

Council House is currently undergoing renovation work, and with the toilets facilities subsequently out of order, the protesters ended their protest at 8pm. As a result of the occupation, several meetings between university bodies had to be relocated to other buildings on campus.

The protest, which was in reaction to NUS President Aaron Porter's stance on non-violent

student protest, coincided with the attendance of Mr Porter and Norwich South MP Simon Wright at the Big Fees Debate in Lecture Theatre 1. Despite a request from the protesters for Mr Porter to enter the ocwpation and discuss their grievances, the head of NUS was unable attend due to time constraints.

The UEA occupation is the latest in a series of protests held by students across the country. Earlier last week, Oxford students occupied the landmark Bodleian Library, and further occupations took place at universities including Manchester, Edinburgh and London. Elsewhere, the University of Sheffield have obtained a High Court injunction to remove students from a lecture theatre that has been occupied since last Tuesday.

Speaking to Concrete, protester Matthew Taylor said: "When we entered the building, there were builders in the room. At first they threatened to cut our D-locks. We managed to talk them around and they left amicably through the fire

door. We later lost Council Chamber to security."

He continued: "We haven't issued any demands. To an extent this is just a publicity stunt".

Annie Ogden, Head of Communications,said of the protest: "The University understands that many students will have strong views about the likelihood of

changes to fees and to the funding structure, and acknowledges their right to peaceful protest, as long as it does not disrupt the rights of others who wish to get on with their studies and work.

"We are very concerned and disappointed that a member of our security staff was hurt when students entered the building."

DEMONSTRATIONS CONTINUE James Hughes News Reporter Enraged students continued nationwide protests, culminating in 153 arrests made in yet another demonstration, turned riot, in Central London.

The riot, which once again incurred thousands of pounds of criminal damage, was directed at the government's well-documented proposal to increase tuition fees to a cap of up to ÂŁ9000. Police once again attempted to utilise the controversial 'kettling' action, but were thwarted as demonstrators countered this force by running from the police through the streets of London. Kettling is the act of surrounding a group to contain it in one area.

A 19-year-old student told the BBC that their strategy was to avoid being contained by police: "Whenever the police block us off, we turn round and go the other way". This provokes questions into the methods used by the police whilst dealing with large crowds.

The student added: "We also do not want to be panicked into violence. Smashing up windows

was necessary in the beginning to get the demonstrations on the front pages, but now any violence would be counter-productive."

The protest ended in a stand-off with police as activists gathered in Trafalgar Square. The arrests included 139 for breach of the peace and seven for violent disorder.

The effect of the demonstrations has now brought the government vote into disarray, with senior Cabinet ministers unsure of how to vote over the proposals. How this action may be viewed by the public remains a point of contention. The outrage of the student public has no doubt been felt at Whitehall, but to bow to pressures of violent reaction could be seen a potential weakness in this coalition government.

Protests were not restricted to the nation's capital, with sit-in protests held in Leeds, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Belfast, Brighton, Manchester and Bristol. A further 30 protesters occupied the city council's offices in Birmingham.

The brunt of this latest demonstration has been focused mainly towards Liberal Democrats, as many students feel betrayed

by the party for reneging on their party promises. The Lib Dems had previously stated that they opposed any increase of students fees, but now seem to be bowing to the Conservative majority in Parliament. Around 200 students protested outside Nick Clegg's offices in Sheffield in the latest round of demonstrations.

The President of the National Union of Students, Aaron Porter, described the anti-Lib Dem sentiment of the student

population: "The anger felt at this betrayal is real, justified, and desperately disappointing to those who placed in you their hope for a different politics".

Younger students, particularly those from further education colleges, also joined the marches in protest at the abolition of Education Maintenance Allowance, or EMA. As well as this, these younger students are those who will be hit first by the rise in tuition fees.

4

ISSUE 249

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UNION NEWSPAPER BOYCOTT The Unio n of UEA Students recently voted to remove certain newspapers from the shelves of the Union Paper Shop, due to con~rns about the hand li ng and reporting of the vio lence at Mi ll bank.

The motion came about after some students complained that the three newspapers in ques_tion

- The Daily Ma il, Daily Telegraph and Daily· Express - had gone on something of an "inaccurate witchhunt" to identify the students that were involved in the ugly scenes on November lOth. A campa ig ner in the move to boycott the newspapers was Matthew Taylor, a 3rd year PSI student. He said: "What we are not doing is restri cting anyone's free speech; we don't have the power or the inclination to do that. All we are doing is refusing to take part in the persecution of students by the newspapers in question. As long as students are under attack, we don't feel there is any obligation to fund these publications."

Although the newspapers have been removed from the shelves, copies can be purchased by asking a member of staff. The Union commented that the newspapers "could not be boycotted in their e ntirety beca use the Un ion Pape r Shop has its papers ordered t hrough a contract which stipulates that all papers must be purchased together as a package deal. As such, were we not to stock t he Ma il, Telegraph and Express, we would get none at a ll."

The vote itself was narrowly passed in Union Council, with 32 votes in favour and 29 against.

Ja mes Schofield

WILBERFORCE SEXUAL ASSAULT Police are appealing for a good samaritan who disturbed a sexual assault to come forward.

A ma le jogger interrup te.d a young ma le who was sexually assaulting a 19-year-old girl walking along Wilberforce Road towards the Rockingham Road junction.

The suspect is described as being 16 to 19 years of age, 5'6" ta ll, of slim build and wearing a jacket with bright yellow /high visibility patches on.

The po lice are keen to speak to the jogger or anyone who may have witnessed the incident. Contact Det Sgt Gary Dack at Norfolk Constabulary on 0845 456 4567 or Crimestoppe rs on 0800 555 111.

UEA LECTURER FOUND GUILTY I

Tim Bates News Reporter

UEA criminal law lecturer, )ulian· Myerscough, was last week found gui lty by Ipswich Crown Court on three charges of making indecent photographs of children, and two charges of possessing indecent pictures of chi ldren after more than 1300 images and videos, some containing children as young as eight years old being sexually abused, were found on computers in h is Lowestoft home.

He was also found not guilty of a further thirteen counts of making indecent images of children, and two counts of possession of indecent images of chi ldre n.

Mr Myerscough still denies al l charges, and said outside of the court: "I fully intend to appeal.

I am angry and baffled by the accusations <Jga inst me".

Speaking after the verdict, Detective Inspector Terry )ones said: "Despite denying knowledge of the indecent images of children, he failed to give a plausib le

explanation for why they were on his computer or how they had been looked at between subjects he would have been interested in".

He went on to say: "V iewing these images is far from a victimless crime. The fact that there are those who would look at them creates a market for the ab use of ch il dren and anyone who does use such sites can expect to be traced and prosecuted regardless of their profession or social s tanding. Today's verdict has come as a result of the investigating officers' work to ensure sufficient evidence was gathered to secure his conviction." judge John Devaux granted Mr Myerscough conditiona l bail prior to his sentencing, which is due to take place sometime after December 13th. He also told him he cou ld not give any indication of the type of sentence to expect.

UEA spokesperson Anne Ogden said that the University was "implementing appropriate internal procedures following the outcome of the case".

ANNUAL BUDGET REVEALS £116K 11 EXCEPTIONAL EXPENDITURE'' Davina Kesby News Editor The presentation of the accounts to Uni on Council o n Thu rsday 25th November revea led an "exceptional expenditure" in excess of £116,000.

The sum relates to the cessation of a me mber of staff's emp loyment

trade', in line with the rest of the country.

The grant budgets for clubs and societies were also revealed.

Club gra nts have increased from £14,639 to £21,000 . An extra £5,000 has also been included in the budget in line with the "Focus Sports Policy" passed at the last Un ion Co un ci l. Society grants

appear to have decreased from an actual figure in 2009/10 of £5,612 to a budgeted figure of £5,000.

An increase in staff costs has a lso been included in the budge t, to cover the cost of a new Membership Services Manager. The Union also hopes to employ another advice worker for the student support serv ices, specifica lly the adv ice

centre.

The commerci a l income of the Union topped nine and a half mil lion pounds last year. This money, a long with other sources of income, goes back into student representation, welfare and student support, clubs, societies and peer support groups and communications.

and reaches a total of £116,435. , . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ _ , Rob Bloomer, Finance Officer of the Union of UEA Students, said: "Staff at the Union are protected by t he Staff Protoco l - wh ich means we can't make comments re lating to any individual member of staff.

This is so that staff, who can't take part in the Union's democratic processes, are not exposed to criticism that they can't "reply to. Due to this, the Union can't comment any further than what is included in the budget".

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Council, which includes an expected decrease in turnover Just give us a call or send us an email, tell us what you're after and we'll give you · from Union services. This is owing our best price! Simple! This could be your best decision after coming to UEA! to a projected decl ine in 'wet

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ISSUE 249 co ncrc te.news@uea.ac. u k

6

GOLDEN TRIANGLE HIT

BY SPATE OF VANDALISM Th e re ha s bee n a ri se in th e numb e r of cases of va nd a li s m in th e pas t mo nth in the So uth Norw ich a rea.

One in cid ent took pl ace on Mi ll Hill Roa d, be twee n 2a m a nd 7a m on Thursday 25 Nove mb e r, w he n th e w ind ows of severa l ve hi cles we re broken . A sep a rate incide nt too k pl ace o n Th e Ave nu es betw ee n 1:3 0a m a nd 8:3 0a m.

In t hi s case, a Suzuki Swi ft was dam aged, w ith o ne of the win g mir ro rs be in g to rn off.

Th e rece nt rise in crimin al da mage is th ought to have bee n ca used by s tud e nts returnin g fro m a ni ght o ut a t th e LCR o r th e city ce ntre. Th e re has bee n a n increase in activity ove r pas t wee ks in the Golde n Tri a ngle a r·ca , wi th Pa rk La ne s pec ifi ca lly see in g a n in creas e in ac tivity.

Th e No rfolk Co ns tabu la ry a re a ppea ling for informat io n.

Anyo ne with inform at ion a re as ked to co ntac t PC !a n Betts 0845 456 4567 o r Cr imes top pc rs a nonym o us ly on 08005 55111 .

Jo shu a Re soun

UEA SCIENTISTS DISCOVER BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT Becky Hazlewood News Reporte r Scienti sts from th e UEA Environme ntal Science School have discovered a new bi odi vc rsity hotspot in Norfo lk.

UE/\ wo rked with a num be r of partners, including Natural England, in th e £28,000 resea rch pro ject whi ch has foun d Breckland to hold a staggering 28% of the UK's ra re species.

A me re 19 mil es away from UEA, Brcckl and co uld soo n beco me th e fo cus of co nse rvation efforts in the Ul<.

Lecturer in ENV, Dr Paul Dolman, led th e project, along with resea rchers 1-l;:mna h Moss man a nd Chris Panter. The team ca rri ed out th e long and laborious process of bringing toge th er over 83 0,500 records, ra nging fro m Norfolk co un ty reco rds to the reco rds of individuals to find out what th e bi odi ve rsity of Breckl and was.

1\ study of this sca le had neve r been attempted a nywh ere before, and the scientists were shocked by the resu lts. The bi odi vcrsity of th e area was not what peo pl e thought it was. Co nse rvationists knew the area was importa nt fo r 'B reckla nd ' specialities, but no one had eve r looked into exactly how many of these specialities there were.

The resea rch has discovered Breckland to be key for about J 80 regiona l spec ialities and im po rtant for more than 1500 oth er nati onal rarities whi ch were not previous ly recognised.

If regional speciali ty species arc not conse rved in Breckl a nd, then they will risk being los t fro m the U.K. "/\ !though much ofwh at co nservati on has ach ieved is excell ent, new approaches are urge ntly needed or we ri sk many of th ese species dri fting towards extin ction," sa id Dr Paul Dolma n.

So what is it that makes Breckla nd so special? On e factor is its unu sual

co ntin ental climate, which mea ns it so metimes experi ences frosts in th e summ er. It also has Thetford Forest, th e la rgest lowland woodla nd hab itat in th e UK, a; ' •ell as a range of oth er hab itat t} pes including grazed hcath lant( pin e forests and wetl ands. It also fea tures the UK's only inl and sa nd dun es. Thi s is quite a staggering va ri ety, see ing as Breckland accounts for only 0.4% of th e UI< 's area.

Surp ri singly, it is actu ally th e way Breckla nd has bee n cultivated by

humans which is now crucial to the su rviva l of ma ny rare species. Th e area was one of th e first in th e UI< to be farm ed, and s pecies now rely on th e fields bei ng pl oughed and grazed.

Th e inform ation from the study will help shape the futu re co nservation efforts for the area.

However; at prese nt, only 40% of Breckl and is protected. Saving spec ies wi ll in vo lve working with la nd own ers a nd fa rm ers to ens ure ha bitats arc managed effectively for co nservation.

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8

INTERNATIONAL

ISSUE 249

www.concrete-online.co.uk

concrete. in tc rn at ion aI~D uea.ac.u k

What can you do this ~inter?

The toils of this Autumn semester have almost come to an end and you will soon be rewarded with four weeks of Christmas hol iday. Stuck w ith w ha t to do2 Concrete has a few useful ideas ...

Rachael Lum Inte r nat iona l W r iter With the winter break arriving, international students have to decide on their plans for those four weeks. Some wou ld have hooked the ir Oight tickets by now, eager to return home to celebrate Christmas and New Years with their family and friends. Some might be travelling to other countries. Then there arc those who remain in the UK for the ho li days.

If you fall into the last category, here are several things you could do to make that month bearable.

1. Pay a visit to a frie nd Whether a home student or another international student, it would be a good idea to discuss with

them on whether they arc wi ll ing lo show yo u arou nd the town. Tra in tickets shou ld be booked early for cheaper rates.

2. Explore the city centre There is much to explore in the city centre as we ll. Apart from the various theatres, museums and shopping areas, the festivals and lwliday-thcmed events such as the many Christmas markets, should gel you into <1 gleeful mood.

potluck dinners would bri ng a ll of you toget her:

4. Spice up your CV The visa specification limits international students to twenty hours of work a week dur ing ter m lime. T he number of hou rs a week is doubled when there is a term break.

This is a great way to earn some extra allowance and allow your CV to grow. Also, depending on what charitab le orga n isatio ns you ge t invo lved in, you can devote your Lime to making others happy this winter.

3. Misery loves company There arc always students who are stay around Norwich during the holidays. By look ing o ut for frie nds who do not intend to go travelling, you can ensure that you are in the company of people w ith similar circumstances. For one, organising

Whatever it is that you eventually choose to do lh is festive se;1son, the most important thi ng is to not lock yourself up in your room, all by yourself and in self-pity. Holidays, after all, arc never meant to be spent alone.

Touring Europe: A guide for international students lsa belle Carty Inte rnation a l Write r

ll co uld hard ly have escaped any st ude nt's no ti ce t hat t he Ch ristmas ho li days a rc rapid ly approaching.

So me m ay have pl ans to rc l u rn ho m e a nd o th e rs may ha ve made new h o mes for th emse lves here in No rw ich , but for those who are uncertai n about w hat to do over the mo nt h-long break, tr;wclling aro und Eu ro pe wou ld be one exciting way to pass the l ime .

T he co ntinent boasts many unique treasures, ranging from historical and cultura l landmarks to seaso nal festivals and an ex trao r d in a ry heritage, so th ere is su re to be so met hin g for everyone.

Ma ny a rc draw n to cerlai n countries for t heir his tory, where a fusion of both the a ncient and the modern wor lds is clearly evident.

Why no t rid e a Ves pa (scoo te t-) t houg h th e s t ree ts of Ita ly to vis it the begi n n ings of true competi t ion at the Colosseum in Rome, regale at t he appeasing renaissance b uil d ings a nd art of Florence o r be cha rm ed by th e ro m a nti c ca na ls of Ve nice?

If hi story is what appea ls to you, you wou ld be rem iss not to pass though Paris to catch a glimpse of the city in its Napo leo ni c g ra ndeur.

Though Europe certainly revels in ils extraordinary heritage, it is not limited to it. For trave ll e rs less interested in his tory, there is an array of attractions and activities that a ll contribute to making Europe a must-see destinat ion. Fine cuisine and exclusive shopping arc two particu lar ly a llu r in g optio ns for t he modern tourist; with Italian dishes, French pastries and f-rench and Italian couture being rated as some of the best in the world.

"Why not ride a Ves pa (sco ote r) th o ugh th e streets of Ita ly to vis it th e beginnings of true co m petition a t the Col osse um in Rom e" In addition, the continent is a lso known for its glorious scene ry; from Norway's nort hern lights to the volcanic dramat ics of Iceland to the breathtaking Alps in France, Switzerland and Italy. However, if loung ing on a beach is more yo u r speed, beaches arc rea dily ava il ab le on f.'rancc's Cote d'Azur, Spain's Costa Brava or Portugal's Algarve and of course on the gem-like islands of Greece and Croatia.

Th ough Europe stretches

from the frozen Arctic to the tip of Africa, the continent is now more united tha t ever and a single curre ncy is now used in t he ma jor ity o f Eu ropean states.

This can make travel ling between countries incredibly simple. llowever, the similarities between the differe nt European countries end at th e cur rency. In deed, each

boasts un ique cultural values and traditions developed over centuries, and a traveller would be hard pressed to fin d such an extensive array in an a rea so close together anywhere else in the world.

The best way to absorb as much as possible and zip through a number of destinations would be to pack lig ht, trave l wit h a backpack

and stay in hostels or cheap hotels wherever possible. This may take a little planning but the result wou ld ulti mate ly be very rewarding. W ith over 45 extraord inary desti nations lo choose from, each offering a host of exciting sights, sounds and tastes for any visitor to experience, the only problem should be figuring out whe re to start!

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ISSUE 219

10

concrete.opinion@uea.ac.uk

The media, the myth, the marketing In a week dominated by news headlines about Wikileaks and Sarah Palin gaffs, Concrete questions the role of the media in modern day Britain, and asks how far our democratic press can go in efforts to inform the electorate.

Jack Brin ded David Cameron is 'a lightwe ight', Pri nce Andrew is rude, Argentina's pres ide nt is cons idered menta lly unstab le, a nd Colo ne l Gadclafi has a blonde mistress.

These fascinating tit-bits of 'intelligence' are not gleaned from the latest edition of Hello magazine, but are in-fact some of the 'major' points from th e latest Wikileaks scanda l deemed worthy of scrutiny by our p ri nt-med ia.

Re legated to the midd le-pages of the papers meanwhile, were the less severe stories: those of kidnapping, torture and abuse.

Hilary Clinton described the leaks as "a n attack on the international co mmunity, the a lliances and partners hips, an d the conventions and nego ti <Jtion s that sCJ fegua rd g lobCJ I secul"ity ".

Of course, what she really meant by 'globa l security' is th e security of he r government, a nd those like it across th e world, as pub lishing inconveni e nt truths a bout an

executive ca n often lead to its downfall.

So far th e U.S. Secretary of State has had little to justify he r fears, however. The analysis of the leaked mate ri a l, wh ich governments were worri ed would lead to a security crises, has for the mos t part been li mp, toothl ess and utterly vap id. it has been a comp le te waste of an opportu ni ty of our 'free-press' to question internationa l policy and to hold governments to account.

So where did it a ll go so wrong?

What ha ppened to investigat ive journalism a nd brutal press c ritiqu es?

T he esse nt ial e le m e nt requ ired for a functioning democracy is a n inform ed electorate, a nd the necessa ry co nditions for this are a co nsta nt a nd reliable stream of informat ion re levant to importa nt top ics. A free press is required to prov ide thi s.

Unfo rtun Jte ly, to the contra ry of what DJvicl Cameron s uggested repetitively last week, we do not have a free press, we have a press confi ned to opera te in a ce rtain way clue to basic economics.

A large portion of a ny news pape r's in co me co mes from

advertis ing, and so even without a billionaire medi a baron di ctating the direction a newspaper's co nte nt ta kes, the print-medi a is ultimately res tricted in what it can print by each pap e r's quest for su rvi va l within the market.

Unfortunately we live in a wo rl d w he re profit takes pr io ri ty; so meth ing's im po rta nce is sad ly determined by what advertis ing reve nue it will generate. In order to attract certain advertisers, a paper cannot take too prominent a critical stance on the esta bli s hed order, for the fear of upsetting market-forces (often depe ndent on government p rotectio n) w h ich ul timate ly it re li es on to afford to publi s h.

From observing the fro nt-pages of the dailies s in ce the documents were released, it would seem to the casua l observer that a ll that occurred was some mild bitchiness, as diplomats and leaders gossiped about th e ir forei gn co unte rp a rts in a ma nner s imilar to that of guests at a dinn e r party, who might go hom e a nd make comments like "My, has n't s he put o n weight?"

Is thi s rea lly informing th e e lectorate, and if not, to what ex te nt is our appa rent d e mo cra cy a s ham?

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Wikileaks and the plight of the hacktivists So, what problems does Wikileaks pose for governments around the globe? Should the website be treated as a 'foreign terrorist organization'? Concrete weighs up the evidence ... â&#x20AC;˘

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Wiki\ ea ks, a whistle- b lowing website, and five majo r ne wspapers, inc lu di ng Th e Guardia n a nd The New York Ti mes, this week re leased 291 documents that d e tail ed betwee n the co rrespondence U.S. government a nd Am e ri ca n e mbassies across the globe.

The cache of confidential do cuments (251,287, which are planned to be released over severa l months) date from 1966 to the

prese nt day.

They resu lt in a un iq ue in s ig ht, with ungu a rd ed co mm e nts on ten s ions in the Middl e East, efforts and res istance against nu clea r d isa rm a me nt, actions in th e war on terr01~ assessments of other threats around the world a nd U.S. inte ll ige nce a nd cou nter in te lli gence.

Na turally, mos t governme nts around the wor ld have d eclared this to be absolutely deplora bl e a nd putt ing both lives and national secu r ity at risk.

The Am erica n government e ven wanted to dec lare Wikil ea ks a 'foreign te rrorist organization' so t hJ t they co ul d seize t he ir assets.

Sa rah Pa lin, fo r one, decla red t he lea ks as co m parab le to an act of wa r.

Which begs the qu esti o n: really"~ Really?

of the information is the mundane reality of a diplomat's life" Let us examine the facts : non e of the information that has been re leased was top secre t. That's right.

Non e of the documents which are a ppare ntly oh -so vital to na tion a l security, u po n w h ich p eo p le's lives depe nd, were top sec re t.

130,000 of t he docum e nts were unclass ifi ed. They were accessible to three million people through The Dep a rtm en t of Defense's pri vate internet. Anyone could have logged on a nd s hared this information with th e world.

Mos t o f th e information is t he mundane rea lity of a di plomat's li fe, and t he o nly thin gs th at are sensationa l a re the reactions and the fra nkn ess of what th e docum e nts contain.

From the reaction you would have bee n ri ght to believe that Wikil eaks ha d revealed Bush's u ltra-sec re t information-gathering technique of ill egal torture ... o h, wait, he a lrea dy d id t hat h imse lf!

Of co urse, th is makes peop le ques tion that buzz topi c of the 9/11 wor ld: freedom of s p eech.

Did Wikileaks have th e right to release co nfidenti a l information that wasn't es pecia lly secre t o r parti cul a rly world changii1 g?

We already knew th e America ns fear te rrorists. We a lready knew Cameron was a 'ch il d of Thatc her'.

We already knew that there are dodgy m e mb e rs of th e British royal famil y.

Essentially, it boil s clown to: did this put a ny lives in clanger? Or is thi s just an example of peop le overreacting to so mething that'll blow over a nd be forgotten a bo ut in a mont h?

· ISSUE 249

11

Tuesday 7th December

Can Simon's vote change much?

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Cartoon by Amanda Gosling. Written by Sean Henry

Last week the news came in that everyone hoped for but no one believed would happen: Simon Wright, MP for Norwich South, has agreed to vote against a rise in tuition fees.

The question does need to be asked though: how many other Liberal Democrat MPs will follow suit?

We know Bob Russell, MP for Colchester, and Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge are both going to vote against the rise. Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk. on the other hand, will be voting in favour.

Vince Cable, he who we all optimistically believed would be the saving grace of the economic depression, has yet to decide whether or not he will abstain from the vote on _Thursday.

Could it be that Bob, Julian and Simon are only being allowed to do this because it is unlikely to change anything?

The 305 Conservative MPs will most likely vote in favour of the rises which will see students paying much more for much, much less.

Hopefully there will be more Simon Wrights who see the joke of a room, mostly full of people who did not pay for their university education, condemning future students to life changing levels of debt.

Emma Parrott

Tequila shots and working lots?

Ever feel like you spend more time in the LCR than the li brary? Do you know every rule to ring of fire, but have no idea when your next deadline is? Concrete questions whether student drinking 1s just the expected rig ht of passage, or has it gone too far?

Barbara Orth A bunch of new people for the first time away from home, starting a new phase of their life - of course Freshers' Week is a massive party.

But here we are, almost at the end of term, and the party continues, marginally d isturbed by a few nasty deadlines or tests - and I have a feeUng it will never end.

Peopl.e get trashed any day of the week, not just on weekend,

while still being able to get on with the laid-back coursework of the first year.

Marks don't really count, people are not challenged and so no one (with the obvious exceptions) takes it seriously. People can easily neglect their coursework and party instead without any consequences.

Even most activities of sports clubs and societies revolve around drinking - pub crawls, dinners and clubbing etc. What I don't get is why people are so eager to not remember conversations they have had with other members of their society the next day. Sometimes I wonder if parties are the only

reason why people are here.

(/take a gap year

- go wild, go crazy, have fun. But then start university and get a bit more serjous with it."

Maybe the Conservatives are right in thinking people would take it more seriously if they had to pay more in tuition fees.

Yes, GCSEs, followed straight

by A-levels is hard work, and yes, we all deserve a break. That is fair enough. So take a gap year - go wild, go crazy, have fun. But then start university and get a bit more serious with it.

School is compulsory, but university isn't. We should be here because we are passionate about a subject or because we are mature enough to understand that a degree will get you further than A Levels. This is university not kindergarten and if you are not adult enough to prioritize learning, then maybe university is not for you. So get on with it.

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ISSUE 249

ISSUE 249

concrete.features@uea.ac.uk

Tuesday 7th December

13

The student rights edition Do over-zealous ID checks penalise thousands of innocent customers and infringe on our Tash Gaunt considers the pros and cons of work experience and asks wheth er the recess1on is forcing students to work for free? civil liberties? Zoe Tibbles and Lorry Ali explore the surrounding debates. ·

D checks are considered to be an effective way of deterring minors from drinking and preventing access to buying alcohol. Underage drinking is against the law and the coalition government has aimed to increase the penalty to as much as £20,000 to establishments which are serving d r ink to those who are under the age of 18. All British citizens have to show some form of identification when purchasing alcohol whether it is a passport or a driver's licence.

The concept is comprehensible, however, is it really effective and should every age group be targeted?

There have been an increasing number of reports recently stating

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that ID checks performed in supermarkets and off licences have become so far-reaching that now underage children accompanying an adult pur.chasing alcohol must also present valid ID. To many parents this is hugely insulting when cashiers assume they would be irresponsible enough to ply a child with alcohol, and this has led to an increasing number of cashiercustomer disputes and customer complaints in several of the larger supermarket chains.

According to an article featured in The Guardian, the likelihood of adults being asked to provict'e

ID during a routine trip to the supermarket is 'infantilising' older adults, who are embarrassed in front of their companions and peers when asked to provide ID in their la te 20s and early 30s.

A study carried out by civil liberties group Manifesto Club a lso found that campaigns under the slogans of 'Think 21' and 'Think 25' have led to great confusion about the drinking age and in some cases people over the age of 18 have been refused alcohol by checkout staff. Its director, Josie Appleton, said: "Producing your passport should not be a routine part of the checkout procedure. There is little point in :he government abolishing ID cards while backing policies that mean we have to show ID whenever we go shopping."

This embarrassment also applies to the teetotal contingent of society, who when visiting a supermarket or off ltcence with friends who consume alcohol are routinely asked to provide ID. For an adult who has made the conscious decision not to drink, the idea of taking a form of ID to the supermarket is completely alien and often forgotten. A few years ago, it would be fair to say that the idea of every member of a group being asked to provide ID in order to buy a lcohol or cigarettes was almost completely unheard of.

Those in favour of ID checks would argue that constant checks on those aged 18 and above should be more rigorously carried out, however, this is not going to stop alcohol consumption, or for that matter underage drinking. This is a primord ia l example that, a lthough we claim to live in a liberal society, it could be said the act of asking for ID is more authoritarian. If we look to other Liberal Democratic societies, including France, Spain and Germany, these countries carry out very limited ID checks and yet have a reduced rate of underage drinking. Why then is the UK so committed to performing such thorough checks?

Of course, ID checks not only apply to purchasing alcohol, cigarettes or other age-restricted items such as DVDs, glue, medication and cleaning s upplies, but are also a monotonous part of an otherwise enjoyable night for many young adults. When entering a club or bar, ID checks are performed scrupulously. Many people are asked when handing over their driving license, for example, to provide their postcode, full address, date of birth and middle name to an intimidating bouncer on the street in full view of other club-goers.

Both men and women who choose to wear their hair in a style with a fringe are often asked to hold this up so that bouncers can get a fu ll view of their face. This relentless questioning is often feared and dreaded, even by those who present a valid form of ID to bouncers. lt is also a huge inconvenience to have to carry ID with you at all times. Take passports for example.

For many people this is their only form of identification, and if this was to be lost on a night out it could lead to others accessing your personal information. Not the mention the stress this would cause, having to apply for a replacement, leaving you without ID for around three months. Perhaps then the ideal solution would be to allow the use of NUS or universjty campus cards as sufficient ID that is far cheaper and a Jot less precious.

Additionally, in larger clubs and bars across the UK, the photo on a person's ID is scanned and posted on a digital screen, in order to better aid the staff should any criminal activity take place. However, this not only provides staff with an idea of who is inside the club or bar, but also passers-by, as these screens are usually displayed at the entrance.

Does providing your name, locat ion and photograph to strangers not go beyond the role of ID checks? When is it that we stop being treated as customers and start being treated as criminals?

s students we are forever being told we need something that makes us stand out in the job market. With more people graduating each year and the number of graduate jobs in the cur rent economy decreasing, competition is certainly fierce. But help is at hand: cue the internship.

Th is may just be the answer to all our troubles and instantly make us more employable, but when we look a little closer we begin to question when a great opportunity turns into exploitation?

Students considering an internship may envisage spending a month or two getting stuck into

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tasks and experiencing what their everyday life could be like after university. However, the types of menial jobs interns are asked to do, although maybe one step up from making tea, s till remain at the less desirable end of the spectrum. Dom Potter, the Director of Internocracy, an organisation that aims to raise the quality of UK internships, states that "we now have entire industries that rely on the willingness of young people to work for free." Entire sectors, particularly journalism, have come to depend on unpaid interns to act as voluntary dogsbotlies.

Instead of working to furthe r inspire unde rgraduates to join their sector, in some cases, this type of mundane experience of the workplace can actually be offputting for students. Moreover, some companies appear to be using students and interns as free labour to. avoid hiring more staff.

The Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) estimated that more than one in five employers planned on hiring interns between April and September of this year, a distinct increase on previous years, proving tnat one way companies are digging their w_ay out of recession is to cut staff in favour of unpaid interns.

Of course, there are advantages to this type of work experience; students are afforded the

opportunity to gain experience and skills, as well as an understanding of how a given company works. The mantra we have drummed into our brains throughout our education is that we need as many achievements as possible to put on our CVs, and work experience does look good to prospective employers.

Speaking about her own internship experier.ce, student Charlotte Pugh said: "Working unpaid for various companies allows you to build a portfolio, exchange numbers, and if you're lucky it could be the start of your career." Indeed, it does no harm to build contacts, and you never know if you impress an e mployer during work experience this could open doors for the future.

If you were wondering quite how much the undertaking of work exper ience can help you in the modern day job market, the 2010 Learning and Talent Development Survey found that 76% of

is the Jack of pay. As you may well know, the majority of internships and work experience placements are unpaid, something that can be a contributing factor to putting students off undertaking one. The reality of giving up time during your holidays when you could be undertaking paid employment is a bitter pill to swallow.

The Institute for Public Policy Research in fact claims that most interns are entitled to minimum wage, as they fall under the definition of being a 'worker'. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills decrees that "if an intern is contributing to a n organisation, if they have a list of duties and if they are working set hours " then they should be paid the National Minimum Wage. This makes sense, as often an intern's contributions are very valuable.

However, companies manage to avoid this by affirming that their interns are actually volunteers, which by Jaw can remain unpaid.

It has been suggested that all companies offering work experience should pay their interns a minimum 'training wage' of £2.50, the same as that received by apprentices.

However, this would undoubtedly reduce the number of placements, as businesses would not be able to afford to take on as many interns.

Also, the culture of the internship seems rather exclusive, with the majority of placements

existing in London. Travel expenses are often not covered by companies and this may deter many people.

Work experience in this regard could create greater inequality w ithin the jobs market.

So we can conclude that, whilst long hours combined with expensive travel costs and days spent doing the coffee run isn't ex';!Ctly appealing, in this economic climate work experience is proving to be more vital than ever to increasing our employability prospects. Unfortunately, as long as there are students out there willing to work for free, businesses are going to continue taking advantage of them.

respondents saw internships as a way of testing potential new staff.

Wo rk experience could therefore be seen as a kind of informal interview process and very beneficial to those who have had access to this opportunity.

So there seems to be no argument that the idea of work experience is a bad one, the issue lies with the organisation of it in this country, and the seemingly grey a reas concerning the Jaws surrounding it. The biggest of those concerns

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14

Q&A with Norwich Famous Faces An ideal dinner party hosted by novelist Rose Tremain would see Pepys, Coleridge and Dickens as guests, as Alex Ross found out when he spoke to her before her performance at the Literary Festival.

~rea Lestrange

Returning to campus for first time in three years, it's clear that Whitbread Award winning novelist Rose Tremain feels at home amongst the concrete, having spent ten years as both a student and lecturer at UEA. Braving the cold to speak to Concrete before her appearance

Earliest me mory: Lying on a rug in my grandparents' garden and seeing birds flying back and forth.

~ ) In a not h e r life I' d b e: 29 again.

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The best t hing a bout unive rsit y was: Meeting rea l, living writers, Angus Wilson and Malcolm Brad bu ry.

a t t he Literary Festival, Tremain is eloquent, polite and talkative and more tha n happy to explain her reasons for choosing UEA in 1964 as one of the first students on the now renowned Creative Writing masters course, something she describes as "incredibly exciting ... all of a sudden the idea of the

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Three people (dead or alive) I would invite to dinne r : Three of Britain's greatest-ever talkers and raconteurs: Pepys, Coleridge and Dickens.

Mos t treas ured possessi~n: My house .

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university experience was not like it was before at Oxford and Cambridge; it was something completel)( different."

In a career that has taken in a james Tait Black Memorial Prize, a Prix Femina Etrange, an Orange Prize for fiction and two offers to judge the Booker Prize as well When my daughter, Eleanor was born.

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Great est fear: The loss of those I love.

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1 Ove rrated public figure : Baroness Warsi.

1 0) If I coul.d pa ss a new law tomorrow it would b e: An end to catast rophic Papal rulings on birth control.

'7) My mos t overus ed word or phrase is : "It seems to me ..."

11) Guilty pleas ure: Champagne cocktails.

1 In the yea r 2050 I expect or hope t o find : A cleaned-up planet.

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The wors t thing a bout unive r s ity was: Trying to commute to Norwich from Paris, where my exotic Corsican artist boyfriend lived.

5 ) Favourite book: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

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Of a ll the places I have be en in my life l would recommend: Paris.

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Thing I like most a bout Norwich is: Its familiarity.

Fa vourite film : Tootsie

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Most importa nt lesson life ha s t a ught me so fa r : The importaqce of empathy.

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1" To a fancy dr ess party I would go as: An ageing Cleopatra.

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Proude~ mome nt:

To a UEA student I would say: Burn effigies of the late Denys Lasdun for · giving you such miserable buildings.

Such accomplishment has as the Whitbread Award for best novel, Tremain can boast countless given her plenty of food for accolades. But her career has not thought on the modern literary been without crises of faith. After market, and despite having seen a returning to UEA to lecture on number of well-regarded authors the course that she herself had come through her class at UEA graduated from, Tremain "became (among them bestselling novelist very censorious of the ideas that Tracy Chevalier and literary my mind threw up - 'that's not editor of The Times Erica Wagner), funny enough, that's not serious Tremain is skeptical of the enough'. But if you keep doing prospects for young writers today that you end up just not writing and the attitude of publishers anything. And I really thought a lot towards them. about that, it troubled me."

She said: 'They are likely to Tremain doesn't devalue the be dropped after two or three impact that her students had on books that aren't commercially her, though in what she says was a successful ... I started writing in the "true dialogue", she concedes that 1970s and none of my books had her natural instincts are that of a any real success until Restoration novelist and not a lecturer. and that was my fifth book. If I'd Since the success of her been writing in today's climate, I'd 1989 novel Restoration, later have been dropped." adapted into a movie w ith Robert So why, with things so difficult, Downey Jr. and Hugh Grant, should the young wr iter e mbark almost everything Tremain has ·on a university degree at all? touched has turned to gold, with Suddenly, Tremain is a lecturer her historical novel Music and again- "The dreaming side of your Silence, as well as ,more recent mind can fo rget things ... and the contemporary novels such as The dreaming side of your mind knows Colour, garnering critical and absolutely nothing ... you need a commercial success. knowing side."

ISSUE 249

15

Tuesday 7th December

UEA ioins Ylith Shanghai university to fight climate change Rebecca Hazlewood Turf Reporter UEA is entering into a partnership with Fudan University in Shanghai, where a new hub of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change research will be established.

The importance of the partnership was highlighted by the Prime Minister at the recent UKChina summit.

The Tyndall Centre carries out research into sustainable options for climate change, it is lead by UEA. but there are centres in other areas of the country, at the Universities of Manchester, Oxford, Sussex, Newcastle, Southampton and Cambridge. The Tyndall Centre has established world recognition for its research, which provides an evidence base for international policy making.

Fudan University has an outstanding reputation, and rates as one of the top three universities in China. UEA is rated third in the world for its environmental science publications over the last ten years.

Bringing together the strength of the two universities is expected to be an important step in finding answers to the challenges of climate change. The institutions will carry

out research on reducing emissions in all sectors of the economy and how to adapt people and places to the impacts of climate change.

China is the world's second largest economy, with high levels of activity in science and technology.

Future research carried out in China is likely to become a major global force in many disciplines.

The investment China is putting into the collaboration is "the clearest indication of how seriously the country is taking climate change", according to pro vice-Chancellor, Professor Trevor Davies, who will be the director of strategy for the Shanghai Tyndall Centre. He continues: "Together, developing this approach in China is of world significance to international research."

UEA will be using its expertise in low carbon buildings to help Fudan build its new Tyndall Centre, following the award winning success of the Zuckermann Institute Building in 2005, which was winner of the first ever Low Carbon Building Award.

Many other benefits are expected to come of the partnership, including research exchanges, joint appointments, PhD and MSc training.

Carbon Conversations: a chat that needs to be had?

UEA students attend a series

of carbon-cutting

workshops that encourage individuals to fight climate change m their daily lives

Anna Tomson Turf Editor We all know what climate change is, and most of us vaguely know that it's a bad thing. So we recycle our old cereal boxes and try to remember to switch off the light when we leave the room and then hope that the government is going to come up with some clever new scheme that will make all the doom and gloom go away. How many of us really believe that washing our clothes at 30C rather than 40C is actually going to make a difference in the world?

But, as Gandhi so wisely put it: "we must be the change we want to see in the world", which is why Carbon Conversations, a series of six workshops designed to help you make small changes to your

life which shrink your carbon footprint, is such a clever idea . In partnership with the Transition Town (TT) movement, a community development initiative which encourages the shift away from oil dependency, Carbon Conversations is an outreach project in which participants are encouraged to look at their own lives and the lifestyle changes they can make to reduce the amount of carbon they produce, both through small things like not overfilling the kettle, and big things like investing in solar panels.

Although much of the program was useful and empowering (who knew draught-proofing your windows could be so fun!), the course is not student specific and there is a large focus on reducing the emissions of your house and

your car- things that the majority of students, who live in rented accommodation and do not own their own car, can do very little about.

"Much of the program was empowenng but it still seems a largely middleclass movement" But perhaps the biggest criticism is that the Transition Town movement, and by extension Carbon Conversations, still seems a largely middle-class movement.

It is the middle classes who can afford to buy solar panels and

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electric cars, who have the time to work on a community allotment and do their week's shopping at their local grocers, butchers and bakers rather than heading to Mornsons, and who can afford to take the train rather than a short haul flight. And while there is a focus on the monetary incentives of reducing your footprint (if you heat less, your bill is obviously going to be smaller), the movement has not yet tapped into a wider social circle.

As the impending doom of climate change creeps ever closer it's clear that Carbon Conversations is defin itely a chat that needs to be had; the question is, with whom?

ISSIJ I·: 249

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co ncrete.]ifestyle@uca .ac.u k

X marks a well plundered treasure trove A guide to Concrete looks at Simon Cowell's musical and television sensation: The X Factor Kristina Stephe ns Lifesty le writer

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]{eal ity TV is big bu s in ess. Love il or hate it, th e ongoing popularity of the X Factor franchise is undeniable. The ITV se ri es is now in its seve nth series, and sti ll att ra cts million s of viewers week in, week out. La st week's e pisode drew in a mas s ive 13.6 mi ll ion, a 45.5% s hare of the tota l TV audience.

Despite its hu ge popul ari ty, it has a ttrac ted heavy criti cis m fro m the outset. There a re recurring a llega tion s that Simon Cowell's the profit-driven anti cs and excess ive commercialism of the show d etra cts from its purpose of unearthing musi ca l talent. ll see ms to pigeo n-ho le art ists into the S<l lll e o ld mund a ne, but ultimately commerc ia lly-viab le mould, with the accompanying sob story.

Music is va lu ed as a business, not an art; and perh a ps artistic integrity is continua lly trumped by co mm erc ial monoto ny.

There are questions over the d~grec of man ipul ation and exp loitation involved in the pro cess, a nd concern over the way th e potential 'stars' are treated.

Elton John ha s rece nll y voiced hi s worries about the potential "psyc holog ical damage" faced by contestants on th e program.

The singer said th e show treated co n testa nls Ii ke "products", expressing concern about th e lon g- term prospects of sta rs like Al cxa ndra Burkc, who won in 2008.

She was "ge nuin e ly talented", he said, but should be encouraged to pl ay li ve to "lear n her trade".

If artists a re not see n to have e no ugh s uccess within a fairly short period their contracts will not be extended, and the attention

Has in a Ali e n

and funding given is far from equa l. While Leona Lewis has s uccessfully broke n America under Cowe ll' s ca reful me ntori ng, who re memb e rs Stevc Brookstein and Lean jackson'? Brookslein, 2004's winne r, has been particularly vocal about hi s disillusionment w ith th e who le pro cess, in the process of writing a tell -a ll hook, entitled: X Factor Nightmares: The Manipulations. The Greed. ?'he Deceptions.

However, there are signs the publi c arc nol amused; disil lus ionm ent with th e s how's co mm a nd ove r the Chri stmas number one spot led lo a successful Facebook ca mpaig n in 2009 to get Rage Agai nst The Machine's Killing in the Nam e there in stead. Th e popul a rity of the clearly unconventional Wagne1~ who departed la st week perhaps suggest some viewers intent on

jeopardizing the proceedings away fro m the in ev itab le outcome which will furth e r lin e Simon Cowell's pocke t. UEA st ud ents definitely seem to ha ve found some a ll eg ia nce with the eccentric si nger: 139 students currently 'like' 'Wagner for LJEA Grad Ball 2011 '.

th eir Errin (LJEA LARPers' fa nta sy world) charac ters . Live Action Role Play a ll ows gamers to aban d on th e day-to-clay humdrum most ordinary students have to face, letting th e m put co ursewo rk and la undry to one s id e a nd in stead re pl ac ing s uch mund ane daily rituals with ex hil arati ng battles, tribal disputes and epic quests for revenge, justice and honour.

Enigmatic as it might he, the prese nce of LARPin g on UEA's Glmpu s is und e ni ab ly on the in crease. Th e LJEA GameSoc, open to students of a ll background s and leve ls of expe ri e nce, is quickly becoming a promin ent feature of th e us ually quiet weekends on this

East An glia n ca mpu s.

Next time yo u see the s hadows of swordplay moving in t he forest o r see a sk irmi s h taking place in The Square, reminisce back to your childh oo d games of cops a nd robb e rs. Reme mb e r th e t hri ll a nd exc iteme nt of steppin g into the shoes of a so ldi er in the trenches or policeman in hot pu rsuit. Live Actio n Rol e Play is a gateway into lost wor ld s of peril an d danger, mystica l dragons a nd mythi ca l beasts. So, next time you see a man wit h a wooden swo rd or a woman holding a shield on The St reet, step back and imagine the elaborate wo rld in whi ch they a rc participating.

Lifes tyle writer

Students' lifestyle labels: Live Action Role Players {Larp) Lifestyle explores a side of university life that is often overlooked but 1s, nevertheless, prominent Emma Williamson Lifestyle writer Once a week, an a ncient presence takes over the University of East Anglia . It ca n be heard in Lh e be ll ow ing of warrio1· cries outs ide the Sainsbury Centre, see n in the glint of an imitation swo rd in the Sunday morning s un s hin e, o r id e ntified by the medieval dress co des of those participating.

LARPing, otherw ise known as Live Action Role -Pl ay in g, is a grow in g phenomenon at LJEA, hut its sweeping popularity is not just limited to our uni ve rsi ty camp us.

Although ma ny sec LARPin g as an evolutionary form of childhood ro leplay ga me s, s uch as cow boys and incli a ns a nd doctors a nd nurses, cri ti cs cite th e I 970s as th e dawn of the ac tivity. The offset of fantasy ga ming and films suc h as Dungeons and Dragons in th e late

tw enti eth ce ntury spa rked the initi a l growth of LARP, while the re-e na ctm ents and rol e-p lay tha t ca n be seen on our very ca mpu s today arc a ll influenced by film, lite rature and video gaming.

Many pa rtic ipants enjoy the freedom th eir a lter-egos offer them. Normal und ergra du ates in Tu es day's ma th s sem inars may fi ncl

IILARPing on UEA's campus is undeniably on the •

Increase

11

co mfo 1'l in the ro le of a medi eva l warrior e lf . Thursday's philosophy lecture cou ld co nta in people w ho e njoy nothin g more than ste ppin g away from Rolancl Barthes and diving stra ight into th e mincl sc t of

self-help Asscxualitybccomesan in crcas i ngly norma li sed s ubject in society, mastu rhation has thankfully left the realm of an activity only undertaken by the co mpul sive ly sexual and perverse; however, th e blanket of euph e mi s ms, jokes and si len ce surroundi ng th e subject se rves to maintain the taboo. As a funlovi ng and open mind ed stud e nt, the cha nce to write a n a rti cle exploring masturbation see med an opportunity not lo be mi ssed.

H oweve 1~ writing this articl e turned out to be a cha ll enge. University is the time where we are at our most free from the restraints of societa l norms a nd taboos th a n at a ny oth er time in our lives. Yet while being aware that masturbation is not a shamefu l or unu s ual activity, and regular ly joking about 'hairy-pa lms' with friends, for some reason having lo approach the topic from a non·humorous pers pective made this repol'ler blush.

Masturbation is a lot more co mmon an activity than polite conversation suggests; statistics, gathered hy the British national probab ility s urvey, s how th at al le<lSl 95% of men a nd 62<J;iJ of women have masturbated at so me point during th ei r lives. ll ea lth and psychological benefits of masturbation include relief from stress a nd depression a nd in creased self-esteem, as we ll as increased fertility in women. Links have eve n been found between m as tu rbation and a reduced risk of prostate cancer in me n. A controversial sex ed ucation leaflet published

by NHS Sheffield in 2009, s ported th e slogan "a n orgasm a day keep s th e doctor away." Orgasms were presented as a basic hum an right a nd masturbation was given as one of the most effective and sa ti sfyin g W<lys of attaining a n o rgas m.

Obvious ly, masturbatin g is as mu ch a personal choice as any other invo lvement in sex ual activity. Nevertheless, as the week twelve deadlines begin to pile up and stress levels increase, this writer thinks it is important th at peo pl e don't forget one of th e most effective (and cheapest) methods of stress relief that we a ll have. We all know an orgas m can work wonders a nd it is a gift we sometim es forget we ca n give ourselves.

ISSUE 249

17

Tuesday 7th December

Slovakian surprise Tom Hunt revea ls the hidden side

of Bratislava , encou nteri ng

On arriving, the train station may appear lacklustre after the grandeur of the Viennese one, but don't be put off, as the charming little city hides a scintillating spirit.

The old capital of the now defunct Hungarian Empire, the city currently finds itself at the beating heart of newly-emerging Slovakia, positioned right in the centre of Europe. Younger than most undergraduates today, Slovakia only became independent in 1993 and the outlook is optimistic for Slovaks after years of Communist rule.

This optimism is reflected in the neat little streets criss-crossing the city centre, opening up into a small square bordered by the Old Town Hall and teeming with people going about their everyday business, to a back-drop of clean roads and well-kept houses. It may be hard to appreciate that you stand at the centre of a European capital, as crowds aren't exactly a problem here, even at the height of summer.

As a result, the locals are happy to welcome you into their bars and restaurants; some may even express surprise that you bothered to stop by at all.

But there is plenty to see, the majority being situated to the north of the glittering Danube. Here is St. Martin's Cathedral, which is free to explore and provides cool relief from the outdoor heat. Take a moment

Adam Fenwick Travel Writer

w elcoming people, a concrete UFO,

neat streets and a multitude of roller skaters as the city adjusts to its new ro le as the Slovakian capita l.

Ever thought of getting your skates on for a holiday to Bratislava?

Chances are not, but you shouldn't dismiss this little capital city, situated a stone's throw away from its well-known neighbour; Vienna.

Hop on a train from the buzzing Austrian capital and you'll cross the border into Slovakia, trundling into the city of Bra lis lava within an hour.

Helsinki's chills and thrills

in the centuries-old haven, which has witnessed copious coronations of Hungarian kings and queens before descending down into the earthy crypt, to explore the church's ancient underbelly, stuffed with the dust of people past.

Also on the north side lies the less convincing Bratislava Castle (or hrad in Slovak), which doesn't look as old as you might expect. Indeed, the building has been restored from scratch, beginning in 1953 ,and was draped in luminous green scaffolding in 2009. However, as an emblem of the city, it still stands out on the skyline, as its predecessors did for a millennium, and is a source of pride for the citizens. From this vantage point, you can take in the view over the river of the Nary Most (New Bridge), topped by a bizarre UFO-Iike restaurant, unfortunately Communist in architectural style.

Nevertheless, the best views of the city can be obtained from way up here.

As for accommodation, the best bargains are to be found in the university buildings and trusty student halls, five minutes from the city centre. Hundreds of vacant rooms over several storeys are to be cheaply had in the summer months, though it can be a time-consuming process to find your allocated dorm. Wandering round deserted corridors, up and down quiet staircases to the accompaniment of your own echoing footsteps and the distant drip of taps is not the best way to explore Bratislava, but it is certainly something different.

For pastimes more invigorating, try some of the city's music festivals.

Bratislava hosts free open-air orchestra and opera performances

in the central square, bringing out the very best Slovakia has to offer.

We grabbed some seats and held on.

As the sun faded away behind the rooftops and darkness descended, music pulsated from the floodlit stage, until suddenly the lights went out mid-symphony. Unperturbed, the players pressed on for several minutes in total darkness to a flourishing conclusion. The crowd went wild and leapt to their feet, the conductor keeping his composition to the last in an impressive display of brash confidence.

"... descending down

For travel on a budget, the Nordic countries are not always the most affordable ones to visit- and at ÂŁ6 a pint, this writer regrets to say that he remained mostly sober for the best part of five days- but Finland's capital Helsinki has much to offer.

Perhaps one of the most interesting attractions of Finland's capital is Suomenlinna, a collection of six small islands at the bottom of Finland that used to be the country's main defence against enemy attacks in the eighteenth century. Nowadays, locals hop on one of the many short boat rides to the islands for picnics in the summer.

Driving is prohibited for all tourists but walking leads to many interesting spots; located

into the earthy crypt. .. explore the church's ancient underbelly, stuffed with the dust of people past."

Likewise with Bratislava, the show goes on. One final display of vibrancy came as we crossed the motorway to the dorms. From out of nowhere, all traffic ceased as thousands of people came hurtling down the road, shouting, cheering, blowing trumpets and waving flags. They were all on roller skates. The road became a river of rollers, stretching on into the distance, disappearing in the night somewhere beneath the UFO. Perplexing, bizarre, but definitely worth a visit, Bratislava should no longer dwell in the shadow of its better-known neighbour.

around the various islands are the discarded cannons and it is easy to spend a day exploring the many secret passageways and tunnels.

Although a tourist-trap, the Ice Bar is a must-see. For around ten pounds you can visit the bar, which is completely made out of ice, and enjoy a free cocktail. The wearing of the supplied warm jackets make perfect photo opportunities.

Helsinki Cathedral is one of the most iconic images of Finland and is located in the Senate Square.

The Square hosts many outdoor events and, most recently, was the home of the United Buddy Bears exhibition, a collection of over 100 life-size bear sculptures, each representing a different country to promote tolerance between nations.

Helsinki on a budget can be hard, but low-price flights, cheap hostels and getting around on .... foot all make the trip a lot more affordable. Food can be pricey, but most restaurants offer special lower priced menus at lunchtime.

Check out Cafe Bar 9 on the Uudenmaankatu street which offers low-cost meals at lunch and is a great way to mix with the locals .

Top travel tips: lnterrailing Emma Galal Travel writer There is no better time to go interrailing than as a student. It is a relatively cheap way to travel, with the opportunity of exploring the European continent in a short period of time, meeting people from all over the world along the way.

There are several types of passes that you can choose from, starting at ÂŁ25 for a single country pass, to ÂŁ325 for one month's unlimited travel in up to 30 countries.

Once you have purchased your pass at www.interrailnet.com, you will have to decide where to go. The InterRail website offers a map with journey times and possible routes for your travels; if you are not going for long, focus on one region of Europe to see it properly.

It's best to discover cities that don't initially spring to mind rather than visiting places that you will undoubtedly see throughout your lifetime. A good example is the Polish city, Krakow, which has an incredible hostel scene, with nightlife that revolves around a series of underground caves yet still has elements of social, cultural

and historical importance such as Auschwitz, which is less than two hours away by train.

Interrailing is easy to budget beforehand. Aside from the pass, beware of a small fee payable, predominantly in Western Europe, when making train reservations.

The quality of hostels in Europe is high and if you are on a tight budget, make use of added extras such as free breakfasts and bike hire.

Ask locals for their recommendations on where to go for an authentic experience and listen to advice from fellow travellers who will often be coming from your next destination.

Because of the easy manageability and large freedom you enjoy when interrailing. no trip is the same, making it an experience not to be missed while you have the time.

Join our fantastic La Tasca Club and be the first to hear about our irresistible offers, news and events! Plus, sign up today and get ÂŁ5 off your next visit, when you spend ÂŁ20. * Simply fill in your e-mail address and details.

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Offer not valid on Bank Holidays

ISSUE 249

Tuesday 7th December

www.concrete·onlin .co.u

VegetC.ble crumble Christmas traditions I The candy cane:

Christine O'Sullivan

Food Writer

The chocolate advent calendar:

I

Gabriella Colasurdo Food Writer

A savoury twist on traditional crumbles, this recipe is brilliant for sharing with a friend or freezing for another time. Eating this many vegetables cant be bad either!

You will need:

• One onion • One red pepper • One courgette • One carrot • Carton of passata or chopped tomatoes • Basil (optional) • 100g of flour • 40g of diced butter • 65g of gra ted cheese Method:

• Chop the onio n rough ly and saute it in a good sp lashing of olive oil until it becomes clear.

• Add the chopped carrot first (these take

longest to cook), and keep stirring for about five minutes.

• Add the chopped courgette and pepper.

• When the vegetab les look like they are beginning to brown, empty the entire carton of chopped tomatoes over it and mix it all up together, bring the tomato to the boil.

• Turn the heat down to low and simmer adding the basil and seasoning.

• Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200°C and put your diced butter and flour into a large mixing bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the flour and butter together, lifting the mix high in the air and letting it fall into the bowl as tiny bread crumbs. Keep going until all of the butter has been rubbed into the flour.

• Then mix in the cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

• Pour the contents of the frying pan into an oven proof d ish.

• Sprinkle the cru mble eve nly over the tomato a nd vegetables, pushing it r ight up to the corners of the d ish.

• Place in the oven for about half an hour, or until the top looks go lden brown.

Now being December 7th already, Concrete Food knows you're well into your chocolate advent calendar that Mum sent up to you.

They haven't always been chocolate though . The first known calendar made from handwork dates back to 1851. The first printed advent calenda r, although without windows to open, was pro du ced in 1908, and at this time one com pany began producing calendars with bible verses behind the doors instead of pictures.

It was only going back to the late 1950s that the advent calendars with chocolate we know nowadays became available. Some modern calendars have up to 31 doors to include the Jewish festival of Hanukkah and New Year's Eve, sometimes not containing a chocolate for New Year's Day for the reason that people will be on diets by then!

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Hundreds of years ago sugar was an expensive food of the wealthy. For other people, it was saved for holidays, including Christmas and Easter, and other special occasions. Many of these traditions remain today, hence candy canes at Christmas. ""(' It is believed that the candy cane's first origin is in a story of a German choirmaster who handed these out to his young singers in 1670 to keep them quiet during a long church service.

Mincemeat and mince pies: Mincemeat pie dates back to the Medieval times, when the recipe did include meat. It also often contained dried fruits, sugar and spices, as was the tradition of the day.

The distinction between mincemeat and mince was drawn in the mid-nineteenth century, when meat began to disappear from

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This reci pe makes great use of all those annoying leftovers from Christmas Day, and will be perfect for feeding any post-Christmas visitors.

You will need:

• Your Christmas leftovers. (Anything from leftover meat, potatoes, stuffing to the vegetables, and even the gravy and cranberry sauce) • A packet of pre-rolled puff pastry • One egg Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C • Cut the meat, vegetables, and roasted

vegetables into cube sized chunks, and place in a large bowl.

• Crumble the stuffing over i€, and add a couple of teaspoons of cranberry sauce, pouring a little of the gravy over the whole mix so that it has the consistency of a thick stew.

• Grease a muffin tray with a knob of butter; (how many pies you make depends upon how much filling you have) .

• Unroll the pastry, and using a cutter; make circles 1cm in diameter larger than the muffin tin spaces.

• Fit the pastry into the muffin tin spaces and then fil l with the leftovers mix.

• Cut further pastry circles to make lids for your pies.

• Seal the edges with a fork, and brush the lids with a beaten egg.

• Place in the oven and e<>ok for 20-25 mins, or until golden brown ..

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ISSUE 24<J eo n cretc.ed i tori<1l@ UC<L1C.U k

www.concrete-online.co.uk

UEA Music Society Ruth Furness Mus ic Society

,..

Many students at UEA have been playing an instrument for years, often just for fun and never anything too serious- and that's where the Music Society comes in. Playing in an informal ensemble alongside a few pub crawls is the perfect way to maintain your musical ability. The society is entirely student run from players and singers to conductors- and a lot of work goes into making sure you have a wide range of music to play and have fun whilst doing so .

The society has t hree ensembles: Orchestra, W ind Band and Big Band. Eac h

we also run a Barbershop ensemble (think Ted's band from Scrubs). Rehearsals are after choir at 8:30pm, and both take place in LT3.

We hold concerts at the end of each semester, and our Christmas concert is taking place on the lOth December (see our Facebook page for more details), so the opportun ity to perform is always there.

There are no auditions and we we lcome players and singers of any abi lity, so if you have

plays t heir ow n type of music, w hi ch di ffe rs

an in strument lying around tha t has n't bee n touched since pr imary schoo l, dust it off and

between each group- from classica l to j azz t o film scores. There's something for everyone,

come and have a go.

We are always on the lookout for new

even if you're not keen on the traditional classical pieces. Rehearsals run back to back

players of any instrument; however, we are currently looking for a percussionist to join our ensembles next semester. If you are interested,

on Thursday nights, starting with Orchestra at 6pm, followed by Wind Band at 7:15pm and Big Band at 8:30pm. All rehearsals take place in the concert room of the Music Department {the building down the stairs next to the UFO).

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If you don't play an instrument, we also run a choir on Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm.

The choir perform a variety of music with opportunity for any type of voice. However, if you're looking for something a bit different,

you can email ueamusicsociety@gmail.com or have a look at the Facebook page "UEA Music Society 2010/11".

Literature Society Carmina Masoliver LitSoc Secretary In 2009, UEA students Alys Elphick, llelen )ones and Carmina Masoliver-Marlow stro ll ed around SocMart only to realise

Next term you can expect more of the same, but the society is always open to more suggestions. There will also be collaborative events with the Creative Writing Society, possibly including a slam poetry event - if anyone's brave enough' There will also he a repeal of last year's Sp r ing Ball, which the

there was no Literature Society. As one of the largest schoo ls at the University, it was

committee hope to he bigger and better than

a shock to find that there was nobody to represent the students for this subject. The

ever.

If you would like to join UEAs Literature

three girls decided to take it upon themselves

Society, please contact: litsoc.uea@gmail.

to recreate the society. Since then, they have doubled in committee members, with jake

eo m.

Miller, Caro lina Bodmer and Liam Parkin joining them. Their aim for the society has been to increase social interaction between students while also celebrating a love of dil kinds of literature, no matter what subject students actually study.

This term, LitSoc has organised the<llre trips with subsidised tickets, fancy dress socials, and an eve nt to celebrate Nationa l Poetry Day. Most recent ly, an evening was held in the !live with music, poetry and comedy, including the likes of Joshua )ones (current third year student, already published), llannah Jane Walker and Russell J Turner~ as well as other amazing student

..

ISSUE 249

Tuesday 7th December

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SPOirl 21

FIFA blow hot and cold on World Cup vote Sports Correspondent Chris Tea le analyses the highly controversial decision to award the 20 l 8 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Oatar Following the allegations made against several key FIFA figures

by BBC One investigative show Panorama, it was expected that England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup would suffer, particularly because two of the accused, jack Warner and lssa Hayatou, were key voters on the panel.

This did not stop hundreds gathering across the country in front of big screens, hoping to see football 'come home' for the first time since 1966. England's 'Three Lions' - Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham lobbied on behalf of the country's bid at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, and were similarly optimistic to those watching back home.

England's final day presentation was described

by FIFA President Sepp Blatter as "remarkable", whilst Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin didn't

even feel the need to travel to Zurich.

Even before the announcement, unconfirmed rumours began to circulate that the England bid had been eliminated in the first round of voting. Such a conclusion indeed came to pass, with Blatter announcing that the 2018 World Cup would be hosted by Russia.

The tournament will be the first behind the old 'Iron Curtain', with FIFA evidently not put off by the inherent problem of Russian Premier League, and t h e

Silver lining for UEA athlete

I

Richard Brookman Sports Correspcmdent

Rising UEA athletics star Lee Calderon displayed the full extent of his potential at the recent BUCS duathlon event, taking a silver medal and finishing just 15 seconds behind Loughborough's Mark Threlfall, who is on a world class performance programme. The result was a tremendous boost and personal best for Calderon, an international duathlete in his own right.

Improving on fifth place in last year's competition, Calderon has confirmed his status as a British athlete certainly worth keeping an eye on. He is now focusing on medalling in his next three major events: the British, European and World Championships respectively.

Despite being a natural runner, Calderon professes that it is his cycling that is now becoming his stronger suit, but says he "can't let the gap become too wide as ft is usually the best runners in the race that come out victorious."

If you're interested in taking up the duathlon, whether competitiv~y or jus~ for fitness, Lee's advice is to "make sure you don't mistake it for a mini-triathlon: it's a real event in its own right". Another key is to "avoid putting yourself under unnecessary pressure". The duathlon is similar to the triathlon, with the swimming leg replaced by another running leg.

Concrete Sport would like to wish Lee all the best for 2011 and hope to see him continue his ascent to duathlon domination .

fact that the vast majority of stadia and infrastructure is yet to be built, almost certainly at significant cost.

Alexsey Sorokin, CEO of the Russian bid, asked Fl FA to "let us make history together", but huge excitement amongst the Russian delegation was in stark contrast to crushing disappointment in the England camp.

Instead of returning to the birthplace of ~he game, a country with stadia of the highest calibre and enthusiastic fans in every host city, the 2018 World Cup will be hosted by a country widely perceived to be corrupt, plagued by organised crime, with a state-controlled media and undemocratic political system.

The announcement was greeted with devastation and outrage amongst English spectators, but bemusement was to follow as the 2022 tournament was surprisingly awarded to the tiny Gulf state of Qatar. unbearable summer With temperatures of around 40 degrees in a country with a population of fewer than two million, stadia concentrated

within a 60 kilometre radius, and a dubious human rights record as well as an unrepresentative absolute monarchy kept in power by the enormous revenues derived from vast oil and gas reserves, the decision certainly came out of left field.

FIFA were once again not deterred by the weight of evidence, describing the bid as 'high risk', whilst quietly ignoring the calls that Qatar had used its 'petrol dollars' to 'buy' the World Cup.

The failure of the England bid marked yet another defeat in a disappointing year for the national game, and the country will now be unable to bid for the tournament until 2030, due to FIFA rules on host continent rotation.

Time will tell as to whether Russia will be able to deliver on its many promises, but for England and the legions of passionate supporters up and down the country, the agonising wait to host the World Cup goes on.

Cook reduces Aussies tto ashes

I

Dominic Smith Sports Correspondent

Alastair Cook left Australia tasting sour grapes after serving up a mouth-watering 235 to save England from defeat at the Gabba in Brisbane for the first test of the 2010/11 Ashes.

Cook and the rest of the Three Lions' batting line-up were hungry for success after being bowled out for just 260 in the first innings as the

home .side looked set to go one up in the series. England looked as if they could match the host's impressive bowling form with Graeme Swann, james Anderson and Stephen Finn taking five wickets between them for,143.

Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin soon put ends to these hopes, both scoring impressive centuries to guide Australia to a lead of 221.

Frustrating third and fourth days for Strauss and co left many thinking England were yet again to be thrashed down under, and this time against a poor Australian side.

Yet, against all odds, England broke several records to humiliate the Australians so much that on Monday, the final day, practically the only fans in the ground were those of the travelling Barmy Army. Andrew Strauss was th.e only =-n-. .~-

batsman to fall at the hands of the Aussies as he was stumped out by wicket keeper Haddin for 110. jonathon Trott replaced him, waltzing his way to 135, but it was Cook who left the home side at boiling point as he scored h s first double century in testtcricket, beating Australian cric et icon Sir Don Bradman for he highest test score at the Gabba. England rescued a draw as they saw themselves reach 517-1 before declaring.

Cook's recipe for success now leaves the Aussies simmering. with Mitchell johnson dropped from the bowling line up for the second test in Adelaide, the fast bowler himself acknowledging that he was a "little out of form in the last test".

Doug Bollinger replaced him for what has turned out to be a pulsating second test.

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SPORT

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Ian Hobbs Sports Corres pond e nt

it is ra re to hea r No rwi ch City a nd Ip swich Tow n fa ns sin gin g from the sa me hymn s heet - bu t as th e 96 th Ea st An gli a n derby reached its cli max, the cha nt 'You're getting sac ked in th e morning' co uld be hea rd reverb e ra ting a round (a rrow Roa d. Thi s cha nt ca me afte r a s ublim e fi ni sh from Wes ll oo la ha n gave th e sco reli ne a n e mph ati c look of 4- 1 in the Ca na ri es' favo ur.

Th e chant was ce rtainly not ai med at Ca na ries ma nage r Pa ul La mb e rt, wh o has re-bu il t City ove r th e las t 15 month s, but a t Ipswi ch boss Roy l<ea ne, who in a s imil a r t imefra me see ms to have ac hieve d ve ry littl e.

Wh e n hi s s id e we nt dow n to 10 men, already 2- 1 be hind, l<ea ne pro cee ded to make a numb e r of nega tive substitut ion s th at d idn' t

give Ipswic h a ho pe of sa lvag in g a nythin g fro m the ga me.

With defens ive Ga reth injured, Tracto r Boys' bac k fo ur rea lly str uggled

No rw ich a nd pa rti cul a rl y Gra nt ll olt, wh o gra bbe d hi s firs t eve r leag ue ha t-tri ck a nd the man of the matc h awa rd .

Fo r th e first go <JI Holt cap italised o n a Darren O'D ea e rror befo re fin is hin g we ll ove r Mar ton Fu lop.

Th e seco nd ca me as a res ult of <1 n exqui s ite He nri La ns bury through ba ll a nd the t hird was a fin e tea m goa l involving build -up from Chris Ma rtin a nd Wes Hoo la ha n.

Th e only Ipsw ich defe nd e r ma ke so me kin d of pos itive co nt ri buti on was Da mien Dela ney, who scored Ipswi ch's o nly goa l of th e ga me to equ a lise at 1-1 - but Dela ney soo n turn ed from he ro to villa in as he was sen t off minu tes late r fo r a cha ll enge o n Holt with th e Norwi ch stri ker brea kin g thro ugh o n goa L it was ha rd to fin d a n Ipswi ch pl aye r who put in a so lid pe rform a nce - a pa rt fro m ca pta in

Dav id No rri s - and t hi s wil l sure ly be of co nce rn to bot h l<ea ne a nd loya l Tow n s upp orte rs.

With th e co ns istin g of loa n players, ac q ui s it ion s ra ll o n a nd Gi a nn i Zuive rl oo n in clud ed, it see ms th e have n't ge ll ed.

Ca n a ri es fans may we ll be r e mind e d of th e days . of Gle nn at Roede r No rwi ch in th e 08 / 09 seaso n, wh e n a string of unin s pirin g loa n s ignings we re un a ble to help th e club avoid

th e drop into League One. So me hope was res to red at Po rtm a n Road w he n Tow n beat Wes t Brom 1-0 in a Ca rling Cup qu a rte r fi nal on Wedn es day. In th e se mi- fin als Ipswi ch wi ll face Arse nal ove r two- legs a nd this s uccess mi ght well be kee pin g I<ea ne in the job.

However, Ip sw ich fe ll to th ei r fifth league defeat in a row at ho me to Swa nsea. Des pi te ta kin g th e lea d th ro ugh And ros Tow nse nd , th ey los t 3-1 , furth er putting press ure o n e lu s ive chairm a n Ma rcus Eva ns to s how I<ea ne t he door.

The Ca na ri es had co ntras tin g fortun es as th ey too k o n fell ow hi gh-fli e rs De rby Co unty at Prid e Pa rk. No rwi ch fl ew into a 2- 0 lea d in th e first qu a rte r of a n hour th anks to a fortun a te Dav id Fox goa l and Chri s Ma rt in 's bull e t l< ris Co mmons re pli ed fo r th e Rams almos t imm ediate ly but Pa ul La mbe rt's sid e held on in an e nte rtaini ng ga me to gra b the th ree poin ts. Thi s w in moved Norwich up to a ha nd so me 4th pos itio n in the Cha mpi ons hip .

Five-star Barca triumph

at BUCS Southerns

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UEA l<orfballl battled to th eir mos t making th e korfjust as th e full-tim e impress ive res ult in rece nt yea rs, bu zze r so und ed to win th e ga me fo r fini shing a dese rved seco nd at UEA, in a dra matic 4-3 vi ctory over th e Southern Qu alifi ers hos ted by Oxford . Coaches jimmy Seym our th e Sportspa rk. Nin e tea ms were and Paul Ashworth decl a red involved in th e tourn a ment, all of themse lves to be "delighted with whom were aiming for th e coveted the res ul t", add ing: "we cou ldn't top fo ur pos ition s in ord er to be have wi shed fo r anything more." seeded fo r th e Natio nals du e to ta ke UEA were devastated to crash pl ace in Ma rch of next yea r. out of las t year's Nation als, having Firm favourites Birmingham bee n forced to compete in what un surpris ingly troun ced all oth er has come to be popu larly referred eight tea ms in th e 'round ro bin' to as the 'gro up of dea th', following format, demonstrating with their initial poor showing at the ruthl ess effi cie ncy exactly why Southerns. many a re anticipating th at their Howeve r, pres id ent Ashley domin a nce wi ll continue in th e Camies, speaking to Concrete, Nationals in Ma rch. affirm ed her optim ism fo r the UEA were somewhat of a forth co min g Nation als: "N ow that s urprise success story, performin g we're seeded we ca n definitely supe rbly to win five of th eir e ight have a s hot at winning th e BUCS ga mes and pu sh out close riva ls . Nati onals. Brin g on Birmin gha m!"

Kent on goal differe nce, des pite The South ern qu alifi ers we re los ing th e hea d-to- hea d co ntes t. dee med to have bee n a hu ge success, Moritz Reinh ard 's stunnin g s hot not only" for UEA but korfba ll was undoubtedly th e goa l ofth e day, gen erally, with th e introducti on

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concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk

Korfball enioy success Sports Corresponden t Lisa Stevens docu men ts a weekend to remember fo r UEA Kmfbol l

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ISS UE 249

www.concl'ete-online.co.ul(

Sa m Tomkinson Spo rts Corres po nd e nt

Th e rece nt El Clasico showd own between arch-rivals Rea l Madrid and Barcelona at the Ca mp Nou had been talked about fo r weeks in adva nce, yet few were expecting a S-0 demoliti on for the hosts to be the end res ult The way Pep Gua rdiola's side imposed th eir sublime pass ing style upon a lacklustre Madrid was mes merising. The home sid e we re immedi ately on the back foot, wh en just 10 minutes in Xavi latched . onto a defl ecti on to loo p a classy finish over Cas ill as. Moments later a goalmouth scramble, from which Rea l were unabl e to clea r th eir lin es, presented Spani sh yo ungster Pedro with an irres istibl e cha nce to doubl e Ba rcelona's lead.

Frustration was clea rly beginning to get th e better of the vi sito rs - half an hour in, Cri sti ano Ronald o pushed Gua rdiola in a n atte mpt to re trieve the ba ll fo r a throw- in . A bri ef scu ffl e ensued, but the break in play fa il ed to stem the Ba rce lona ti de.

Desp ite Jose Mourinho's seco nd half substi tutions, th e goa ls

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of a new s id e from Glou ces ter Unive rs ity, demon strating its evergrowing popul a ri ty as a unive rs ity spo rt.

UEA's fines t will now be hopin g fo r a stro ng Norfolk Leag ue ca mp aign in th e sprin g to sta nd th em in the strongest poss ibl e stea d a hea d of th e Nati onals.

continu ed to fl ow fo r the home side.

Twice the irresistible co mbi nation of Lionel Mess i and Dav id Vill a sliced open Rica rd o Ca rvalho and Pepe at the hea rt of the Mad rid defence, before substi tute jeffren co nverted a cross fro m substitute Bojan I<rki c to co mpl ete the ro ut.

Des pite Ba rce lona's imperious display, Mourinho must ac knowledge his tactics were partly to blame for Rea l's defeat Des pite the vi sitors' high defensive lin e th e Madrid · forwards were on ly forced to press when Barcelona threa tened to cross th e half- way line.

In practi ca l terms, attempting to limit space in the micl field aga inst th e most ass ured central mid fi eld triumvi rate in club football - Xavi, Andres lni esta and Sergio Busquets - was practi ca lly un achi evabl e from th e start To make matters worse, maintaining such a high lin e all owed th e tri o to slip passes behind the defe nce with ease, as witnessed for Villa's seco nd goa L it was a magica l pe rforma nce from Los Ct.t!es, yet wh ere this defeat leaves Madrid, and more importantly Mourinho, in terms of his pos ition at th e club, remains to be see n.

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ISSUE 249

SPORT 23

www.concrete-online.co.uk

Tuesday 7th December

So You Think You Know Ultimate?

Sports Correspondent

Matt Scrafton previews one of the world's fastest-growing sports and almost certainly UEA's most peculiarly nicknamed club

For most of us who enjoyed throwing a frisbee around the garden when we were younger, ultimate, formerly known as ultimate frisbee, is most

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probably an alien concept. Relatively few are actually aware of a sport which happens to be enjoyed by millions across the world.

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atch me if you ca n: UEA Ultimate train every Friday a t th e Spo rts pa rk

Ultimate is an exciting, noncontact sport which mixes the best bits of football, basketball and American football into an elegantly simple, yet fascinating and demanding game.

Boasting 4.9 million players in the US since its formation at college level in the 1970s, Ultimate also enjoys representation at the quadrennial World Games, a multisport event first held in 1981.

The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a team-mate in the opposing 'end zone', similar to the end zone found in American football. UEA Ultimate, nicknamed 'Aye-Aye', is one of the more popular sports clubs with almost 70 members.

Speaking to Concrete Sport, UEA Ultimate president Ben Hutton offered the following explanation of the club's unusual moniker: "Popular myth has it that the students who founded the club were studying the Madagascan Lemur known as the Aye-Aye at the time, so they thought it apt to adopt the name."

One of ultimate's primary benefits is that most people have never played it before, so members are able to begin on an even footing and learn together at a similar pace.

Although competitive ultimate doesn't involve weekly fixtures as such, Aye-Aye participates in tournaments held over a number of weekends during the academic year. In the final week of October,

UEA Ultimate entered the Midlands Indoor Regional tournament, and, following a great performance, managed to finish second out of 24 teams.

In doing so the club qualified for Division One of the Nationals, held on the weekend of 27-28 November: despite not finishing as well as they had hoped, Aye-Aye still managed a creditable 12th place, bringing a highly successful indoor season to an end.

UEA Ultimate train on Wednesdays at Colney Lane from 2-4pm, and on Fridays in Hall 1 of the Sportspark from 5-6.15pm.

For more information, or to join a fast-growing sport and club, email RH utton@uea.ac.uk.

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From local boy to the_world stage Sport Editors

Ch ris King and Rob Schatten speak to youngest ever Match Of The Day presenter and face of BBC Formula One, joke Humphrey

The past decade has seen the inexorable rise of Jake Humphrey from hosti ng Fame Academy in 2003 to presenting the afternoon show for the BBC during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, becoming its first American Football host for Superbowl XLII and XLIII in between, among other notable achievements.

Naturally, with such a busy schedule, and almost continual travel between race venues across the world, Humphrey is unsurprisingly a little tired now and again. "The jetlag has died away now though': the 32-year old confessed.

"The adrenaline in jenson's eyes in 2009 -that's what being a sports journalist is all Whilst the fatigue factor may be a constant, this year's Championship was particularly hectic. Asked what it was like to be on the scene, Humphrey said: "It was brilliant. I think the thing about my job that is particularly special is the chance to bring to the audience at home the atmosphere, the emotion and the adrenaline of a sport as amazing as Formula 1. ''I'll never forget seeing the

adrenaline in Jenson's eyes in 2009.

That's what being a sports journalist is all about - making sure that you're in the eye ofthe storm at that moment."

On whether he thought it was Formula One's best ever season, Humphrey replied: "When Murray Walker, who's seen and might even have commentated on every year of Fl, is telling you this is the best year ever, then you have to believe him."

Having grown up as a motorsport fan in Norfolk, Humphrey professed his happiness at having Lotus back in Formula One: "It does feel special to see them return, partly because of what they meant to me as a kid, but also because of what it means to Norfolk."

Away from Formula One, Humphrey, an ardent Norwich City fan, recently presented the BBC's live coverage of the East Anglian derby.

"If I'd been in the stands I'd have absolutely let my emotions go but I had to maintain a modicum of professionalism", he said. "I will reveal to you and you only that I did celebrate wildly in the studio when Norwich took the lead. The guys thought that was quite funny!

"I thought it was fantastic Norwich played brilliantly. It was one of those special days to be at Carrow Road."

Whilst some may see the 'Old Farm' as a 'lesser' derby, Humphrey vehemently disagrees: "They're

important teams with great histories, and I think if you ask most people how many go and watch Norwich every week, they'd probably say about five or six thousand! They don't realise we have 21,000 season ticket holders every game."

Following a mixed sporting year,

was a classic example of that - it was almost a lifetime achievement award, really."

Humphrey acknowledges that the field is wide open this year.

"You've got A.P. McCoy, Phi! Taylor and Amy Williams, who was almost an unknown last year, but has been

The lads: (from left to right) Jordan, Coulthard and Humphrey hard at work it is fair to say that the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show, which Humphrey is set to eo-host for the third consecutive year, will be as unpredictable as ever. As Humphrey states: "I think people are thinking 'am I voting for the greatest public figure or someone that's had a great career and really engages people at home?' Ryan Giggs winning last year

propelled into the limelight. Then there's David Haye, Graeme Swann and the Ryder Cup golfers, who've all had stellar years, so it's hard to call a winner. I always say I'd rather be presenting it than voting on it."

Humphrey is no stranger to personalities, of course - he shares the paddock with Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard, undoubtedly two

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of Formula One's biggest characters.

"It's etllightening, let's put it that way," he laughs. "They're a funny old pair, and both have a very interesting fashion sense. l think they've started to collaborate on their trouser choices, because for the final race of the year they both turned up in white jeans on the Saturday and _, electric blue jeans on the Sunday.

That is too much of a coincidence!

"Part of the love I have for Eddie is that he has an incredible passion for Fl - he still runs around the paddock like he's a seven year old kid and he's in his sixties, it's incredible.

"David and I aren't brave enough to run into a garage and grab a team boss - but Eddie's more than happy to do it. The man has no fear and that's very helpful to us."

Humphrey was quick to identify a focal point in his incredible career to date: "I think the moment for me was after I'd done my first year of Fl, and it had been a difficult one.

When I first got the job I had my wife in tears because the reaction was pretty negative, so it was a case of proving people wrong. Then at the end of 2009 my broadcasting hero Des Lynam named me as the best sgorts presenter in his annual Desmoncl awards in The Telegraph.

That was incredible, that he even knew who I was, let alone that he thought I was the best sports presenter of the year- magic."

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201 8 World Cup Concrete Sport looks at the fa ll -out from FIFA's controversial decision to send the 2018 and 2022 World Cups east

KITESURFING, DODGEBALL AND MMA CLUBS APPROVED

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TENNIS SERVE UP A THRASHING

Oli Pla tt Sports Correspondent

UEA's already s izeable a rray of sporting opportunities co ntinu es to expand, with th e introduction of ne w dodgeball, kitesurfing and m ixed martial arts (MMA) clubs ava ilable to stud e nts .

The introdu ctio n of MMA is s ure to be met with s ignifica nt e nthu s ias m, as the spo rt has seen tt"' its popularity take off in the last few years, a nd has begun to ma ke a dent into the hu ge fighting market currently domin ated by boxing and wrestl ing through its bigges t promotion company, the Ultimate Fighting Champion s hip (U FC).

No less exciting is kitesurfing, with professional boarders able to reach s peeds of up to 50 knots on the water. Kitesurfing, as the name suggests, involves us ing a kite to propel the s urfer through the wa ter on a small s urfboard. 1\ popula r aspect of kites urfing is 'control led lly ing', where the hoarder is a bl e -r to pu s h off a wave a nd become airbo rn e.

Last, but not least, is dodgchall, a team sport co mmonly played in North American schoo ls that many will associate with the enduringlypopular 2004 Vince Vaughn and Ben Sti ller comedy DodgeBa/1: !I True

Update East Anglia Sports correspondent !an Hobbs looks at a ste llar performance from Grant Ho lt, which he lped the Canaries triumph. in the derby

Gr udge ma tch : Neither could afford to lose as Tenn is I and 11 squ ared off

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Toby Ma rtin Sports Correspondent

The tension was palpable at Easton College as UEA Men's Tennis I a nd 11 squared off aga in s t each other

UEA Men's I UEA Men's 11

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competitively for the first time in the club's hi story. Despite a series of closely fought matches, Men's I

infli cted a cr us hin g 12-0 defea t on their fellow club members.

Men's I captai n, Henry Durrant, and James Basey-Fisher got proceedings under way against Dominic Noakes a nd Al ex ll oward.

After a fairly eve ntful start, the firstteam pair secur ed a crucial break of serve in the fifth game and went on to clo se out the first set (6-4).

Noakes a nd Howard m a nage d to claw back and win the second set (63), thus setting up a championship tie break.

After an enth ralling e ncounte r, Durrant and Basey-Fisher proved too strong, co ming through (I 0-8) to hand the initiative to Men's I. The two players, who ha ve bee n doubles partners for three yea rs, remain undefeated with a total of 13 wins in their time at UEA .

Luke Bennitt-Driver and Men's 11 captain Chris Thompso n were handed a harsh lesso n, losing (6-2, 6-2) to Ross Culley a nd club vicepresident james Carn . Cu ll ey's domi nance cont inu ed in the si ngles, UEA's number one comfortab ly

defeating Th eo clore Chakos (6-3 , 6-1 ).

Thompson proved to be a far tougher co mpetitor for BaseyFisher~ th e former grinding out a victory (6-4, 6-4) after many breaks of serve from both players.

Nathan Briscoe proceeded to eas ily dispatch Men's ll's Alex ll owarcl (62, 6-2).

It took over tw o hours to sepanlte Durrant a nd Noakes in what was undoubtedly the day's showpiece match, Durrant edgin g through in the deciding set ( 4-6, 6-4, 6-3), following a n intense battle.

The rather one-sided sco rc line was arguably not a completely fair rerlection on a day of great tenni s from both s id es, featuring <1 numb er of close ly-fought m atches.

The result has prop ell ed the Men's I to the s ummit of BUCS Division 2A. leading by just a single point, a nd ensured the co ntinu at ion of an impress ive unb eaten run.

The Men's 11, meanwhile, remain rooted in mid-table going into the Christmas break.

A FORTNIGHT IN UEA SPORT Sports Corresponden t Kirsten Wa de describes a BUC S sporting ca lendar plagued by the snow and icy weather

DERBY DAY DATE SET

Grcg M ann

SNOW MEANS NO

Cold shoulder: Snow-covered pitches have put paid to UEA's BUCS fixtures

UEA's BUCS sc hedu le was d ea lt a death ly blow by the fr eezing wea th e r (see left) and incessa nt s nowfa ll which has plagued the cou ntry over the past couple of weeks.

While all outdoo r matches, both ho m e a nd away, were uns urpris ingly cancelled, it had been thought that the midweek indoor ties would still be able to go ahead.

It wasn't to be, however, with matches d ue to take p lace at the Sportspark and other indoor arenas postponed due to th e treache rous travelling conditions.

With no indication of any significant improvem e nt to the inclement weather~ more BUCS fixtures could be cancelled over the nex t fortnight, leading to a potential back-log heading into the busy January period.

Underdog Stoty.

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With two tea ms on opposite s ides of a court, the aim of dodgeball is to eliminate opposition team members by hitting them with a ball, catching one of their throws, or forcing them out of bounds.

Des pite having been set up in September, Dodgeball already has jus t under . 50 m e mbers, who m eet for training on Mondays from 6-Spm at Earlha m High Schoo l.

Dodgeball president, Sam Gillespie, sa id: "Our coach is the head of women's dodge ball at the UK Dodgeball Association (UKDBA) and coaches several other teams. We plan to start playing soo n competitively agains t the other teams that our coach knows in the Norfolk area."

Further detai ls of all thre e clubs can be found on SocWeb (https:/ I www.socweb.org.uk).

The dat e for De rby Day, the annual s porting competition betwe e n UEA and th e Univers ity of Essex, has been announced as Ma rch 23, 2011.

With Essex hosting the tournam e nt last year~ and proceed ing to triumph 30-15, Derby Day again return s to UEA. UEA will once more be hoping to make the most of home advantage as they did in 2009, and conti n ue a trend which has seen the last five competitions go the way of the hosts.

Boasting a 7-3 overall lead, the press ure will be on UEA to stop Essex from further closing the gap.

Essex mea nwhile will be looking for a back-to-back victory, competing in 25 sports for not only t he Derby Day title, but the intense bragging rights t hat go w ith it.