Concrete 361

12 February 2019 Issue 361 The official student newspaper of the University of East Anglia | concrete-online.co.uk

News:

Estates employees ‘scared to walk to work’ as UEA plan to remove free parking Matt Nixon Deputy Editor

University staff said they are scared to walk to work after UEA announced plans to remove free parking for employees.

From 2020, the university’s estates employees will be expected to pay up to £70 per month for parking, despite having previously been exempt from charges due to working unsociable hours and earning lower rates of pay.

An estates employee for UEA, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: ‘If we don’t pay for the new charge, we will have to walk here early in the morning.’

They said, ‘I would be scared to walk to work, as I would have to leave at 5am.’

According to the employee, there is a free bus available, however ‘it’s after our hours start, so it’s not an option’.

They added, there is ‘a real sense of anger’ about the decision, and expecting cleaning staff to use alternatives such as the First Bus service if they can’t afford parking is not enough.

Continued on

pg3

Global

Moonpig warns Valentines’ shoppers not to submit ‘racy images’

pg9

The custom card manufacturer has warned customers ahead of Valentine’s Day to not upload images which are too risqué.

Science:

The rise of antibioticresistant STIs Antibiotic-resistance occurs when the bacteria adapts and

develops a slightly different strain that cannot be destroyed by the usual antibiotics.

pg18

12th February 2019

2

Editorial

UEA’s at it like rabbits Matt Nixon

Photo: Matt Nixon

Concrete - a labour of love Sophie Bunce Editor-in-Chief

Happy (almost) Valentine’s, Galentine’s, or Tuesday to everyone.

Well done for making it this far in the year. In this issue, I’m delighted to share our Sex Survey and all of UEA’s scandalous secrets. I’m also delighted to have made it through the week; it’s the little victories that matter.

While 14 February brings fears to many, I would like to thank St Valentine for getting decapitated and giving Concrete the excuse to ask UEA students everything from their age to whether they prefer to give or receive oral sex. (UEA prefers to receive). Our main story this issue titled ‘Estates employees ‘scared to walk to work’ as university announces plans to remove free parking’ by Matthew Nixon reports on the parking changes that will cost campus estates staff £70 a month.

Find the full story on pages 1 and 3.

Last week, Warwick University hit the headlines for allowing students who participated in a group chat threatening to rape female students to return to campus.

Following protests, challenges to the Vice Chancellor, and excellent

reporting by The Boar, the decision to let the students return has been retracted. You can read more about it on page 4 in News by our News Editor, Shannon McDonagh.

"Science’s piece on page 18 by Jake Walker-Charles discusses the new strain of antibiotic resistant STDs. So wrap up guys - and not just for the ghastly weather we’re having."

The issue of misconduct, particularly regarding sex and consent, has never been more prevalent. With this in mind, I am proud to announce that UEA is overwhelmingly in favour of consent with ‘respect’ and ‘honesty’ dominating the answers to ‘what

makes good sex?’ in our latest survey of students. Speaking of dominating, consensually of course, UEA likes that too - find out just how much in the survey.

From our thousands of respondents, my only concern is for the 22 percent of students that admitted they don’t use contraception. Science’s piece on page 18 by Jake Walker-Charles discusses the new strain of antibiotic resistant STDs. So wrap up guys and not just for the ghastly weather we’re having. Let us know what you think about the Sex Survey @ Concrete_UEA on Twitter or Instagram and find us at Concrete, UEA’s Student Newspaper on Facebook. Heart reacts only?

If your Valentine’s week is sparse, come along to Post Pub Pub on 12 February at 7pm in the Red Bar to celebrate the new issue with us.

Come and chat to editors and writers, whether you’ve written for the latest issue or not. I want to hear your thoughts on the Sex Survey stats! Concrete is a labour of love and this week it’s been less of the latter and more like hard work. So if anyone wants to declare their undying love for me, I drink a gin and tonic. Double.

Valentine’s can be one of the most sincere, sentimental, or annoying times of the year. At Concrete, we have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the romantic holiday. While the joys of the new Sex Survey never fail to get us excited, it’s hard work putting the pull out together. There has been over 1,300 respondents to sort through, not forgetting our regular newspaper and arts supplement - or our degrees. As Sophie has written in her editorial for this issue, Concrete is always something of a labour of love.

The Sex Survey is always one of the big ones for us each year. It’s personally close to my heart as, in my first year, it was the first issue I wrote for Concrete. Two years and 26 issues on from then, as I think (perhaps with more romance than usual) of all the work myself and the rest of the team have put in over that time, I can only describe our writers’ passion and love for student journalism as one thing: unconditional.

Moving steadily on from unconditional love to unconditiona offers, this issue of Concrete covers the latest news of threats to unconditional offers across the country. Max Pleasance has written about the University of Nottingham’s decision to eliminate these offers on page 5, and on page 12 Features Writer Jake Goddard has gone into the national picture, explaining the Office for Students’ concern.

Elsewhere in this issue, the anticipation of 14 February got our Comment Editor, C.E Matthews, feeling romantic. He’s penned a very sweet love letter to Prime Minister Theresa May (with only a pinch of derision).

Whether you’re in the mood for Valentine’s-y reads or not, today’s issue of Concrete definitely has you covered. I really recommend you check out the Sex Survey as well though, and finally settle the age old question of who gets it on more at UEA: the students or the rabbits?

concrete-online.co.uk Concrete_UEA

Clarifications and corrections Regrettably this was not the Concrete is pleased clarify the In Issue 361 of Concrete, published on 29 January an article headlined ‘Students wait months due to prescription shortages’ said the UEA Medical Centre had been contacted for comment.

case and Concrete apologises for any confusion and distress caused.

This article also appeared on the Concrete website with the headline ‘UEA Medical Centre leaves students waiting for prescriptions.’

medicine shortage is not the fault of UEA Medical Centre, but national shortages, and the headline has been updated to reflect this. Concrete again apologises for any confusion and distress caused.

concreteuea concrete_UEA Front page: Matt Nixon, emojiisland in Sex Survey

The University of East Anglia’s Official Student newspaper since 1992 Tuesday 12th February 2019 Issue 361 Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593466 www.concrete-online.co.uk

Editor-in-Chief Sophie Bunce concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Deputy Editor Matt Nixon concrete.deputy@uea.ac.uk Online Beth Bacon concrete.online@uea.ac.uk News Shannon McDonagh Senior Writer: Jake Morris concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Global Global Editor: George Goldberg Senior Writer: Jake Morris concrete.global@uea.ac.uk Features Features Editors: Chloe Howcroft and Mia Shah Senior Writer: Roo Pitt concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Comment C. E. Matthews concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk Science Science Editor: Anna Jose Senior Reporter: Hannah Brown concrete.scienv@uea.ac.uk Travel Amy Newbery concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk Sport Spot Editor: Tony Allen Senior Writer: Meyzi Adoni concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk Chief Copy-Editors Holly Purdham Izzy Voice concrete.copy@uea.ac.uk Social Media Beth Bennett

Editorial Enquiries Complaints & Corrections concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk

No part of this newspaper may be reproduced by any means without the permission of the Editor-in-Chief, Sophie Bunce. Published by the Union of UEA Students on behalf of Concrete.

Concrete is a UUEAS society, but retains editorial independence as regards to any content. Opinions expressed herein are those of individual writers, not of Concrete or its editorial team.

News

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12th February 2019

concrete-online.co.uk/category/news/ | @Concrete_UEA

Estates employees 'scared to walk to work' as University removes free parking From 2020, pay grade 1 and 2 staff will have to pay parking charges

Fees will reach up to £70 per month

Matt Nixon

Another estates employee said, ‘I felt there would be a more reasonable figure, such as £25 [per month], which I would have been fine with. The reason given to us is that the new fee is to help pay for new buildings which I think is really ridiculous. It’s not like we’ll use them’.

Deputy Editor

Continued from front page Currently staff with a disability, staff earning between between £15,583 and £17,408 annually, nonstipendiary staff, and those who are deemed to work unsocial hours are exempt from parking charges.

A spokesperson for the university said that from 2020, ‘these groups will be required to pay parking at a discounted rate, if they wish to use UEA car parks, with the exception of the Park and Stride car park’.

There are currently five bands of parking charges applied as pay increases. As of 2020 there will be just two. Standard parking will cost £4.20 per day, while discounted parking for will cost £3.20 per day.

Discounted parking will be available for the group of staff, students, some Sportspark employees, and those with ‘D’ permits. There will also be a 50 percent reduction on cost for stays of up to four hours.

From 2018/19, UEA staff paid between £15,583 and £17,408, which amounts to between £8.27 and £9.24 per hour, could lose between 4.81 to 5.39 percent of their annual salary to parking fees despite the proposed discounted rate and reduction.

The estates staff felt censored over the matter, and added: ‘we should be allowed to speak up’. ‘[The new charge] is okay for lecturers, but the cost is more difficult on the lower pay employees’, they said.

In April 2018, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), which negotiates the pay of staff at nearly 150 higher education institutions in the country, offered all UK university staff a pay increase

"They give us a pay rise and then they take it away"

of 1.7 percent for the year 2018/19.

Commenting on this and the new charges at UEA, the estates

employee said ‘They give us a pay rise and then they take it away’.

Charges will be automatically

Photo: Matt Nixon

deducted from staff salary (for UEA payroll members) or taken from a bank account via direct debit.

UEA said any staff in the categories currently eligible for free parking who have been charged should contact the Transport Team, who will be able to investigate any issues, on 01603 592352.

They added: ‘There is flexibility on when the Park and Stride car park is opened and UEA security will now open it for people starting work at 6am. For those who would like to change to walking or cycling or to the park and stride, but do not wish to travel alone, the university operate a message board where people can find a ‘buddy’ to share journeys.

‘Alternative options include the First Bus 25 service, the cycle to work scheme and car sharing. To find out more about the travel and transport options available to you, download the ‘myPTP’ app or visit: https://portal.uea.ac.uk/estates/ travel-and-transport’.

The university spokesperson said the new policy ‘was agreed with a UEA stakeholder, Unions and the Student Union’.

History graduate on the run arrested in London Abi Steer

News Reporter

UEA History graduate Angela Davey, 38, was arrested by police officers in London, having been on the run for several months after being caught in an underground drugs operation. She had since been on Norwich’s Most Wanted list. She appeared at Norwich Crown Court last Friday for a short hearing in custody but failed to be sentenced.

Davey graduated from UEA in 2003 and went on to become a teacher, marrying and having two children. It is thought that Davey became involved with drugs when she started a relationship with a County Lines gang member through Tinder after the breakdown

of her marriage.

"We are just so, so pleased she is somewhere safe and off the streets" Three other members of the gang were trialed at the same time as Davey and were charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

They were given a total sentence of 11 years.

Earlier this month Davey’s lawyer, Andrew Oliver, announced

that due to withdrawal symptoms from her drug usage, Davey was not well enough to have any discussions regarding her bail offense However he stated that it was likely that she would plead guilty in future. He remarked that ‘It is inevitable she is going to be remanded into custody’.

Whilst in custody, Davey will be looked after by a medical team and given the appropriate treatment.

She is currently recovering in Peterborough Prison whilst awaiting sentencing.

The family of Davey are relieved to know that she is now safe in the hands of the police. Davey’s father, David Wilkes, has been fearing for her safety and wellbeing since he last saw her in August 2016. He stated ‘We are just so, so pleased she is somewhere safe and off the streets’.

Photos: Norfolk Constabulary

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12th February 2019

News

Warwick group chat students will not return to campus Yasmin Scott-Gray News Reporter

The two remaining students embroiled in Warwick’s group chat scandal will not be returning to the university.

There have been protests on campus and calls for Warwick’s Vice Chancellor Stuart Croft to resign following the university’s handling of the situation, where the pair’s ten year bans from campus were reduced to just a year.

Following the exposure of the messages of the group chat and the apparent return of those involved, many students at Warwick University have expressed their upset and feelings of disgust towards what has been revealed.

Many female students have come forward to reveal they feel threatened on their campus. One Warwick student, who wishes to remain anonymous said: ‘An online petition condemning the decision making of the university had reached

over 78,000 signatures prior to this decision, including that of Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western who wrote an open letter addressed to Croft. Western claimed that ‘the disciplinary process has failed all the students and, by extension, the university’.’

Last May, a group chat was exposed in which 11 boys from the university had comments that included rape threats, racial slurs and anti-semitic language. The University made the decision to suspend 11 students on a temporary basis based on their involvement within the chat and until a further decision had been made on their future at the University.

The decision which was made by the University was one which stated that five of the eight group chat members were supposed to have a punishment which required them to leave Warwick for at least a year.

However, it was reported that six of the eight returned to the University in the academic year which began in September.

In an update posted onto Warwick’s website last week, Stuart Croft said: ‘We are committed to ensuring the safety of our community. I have today spoken Shannon McDonagh to the two young men concerned Comment Writer and confirm that neither of them will be returning to the University.

I am continuing to listen to the I remain stumped as to how the views of students, staff University of Warwick and all members of our believed the decision community here to backtrack on at Warwick and their initial support them disciplinary so that we can m e a s u r e learn from this would slip experience’. under the Additional radar. wellbeing It is support is clear that being offered the initial to students decision affected by Warwick SU was made the events Photo: Wikimedia by people surrounding the who have never chat, with sessions experienced any real held on Wednesday and threat of sexual violence.

Thursday evenings that do not It is no secret that universities require an appointment. are ill-equipped in dealing with matters that address the intersection between where students conduct themselves both on and off campus, but this was not a one-off incident.

The leaked chats reveal a sustained pattern of disgusting behaviour that cannot be excused in the name of humour.

The people responsible for making the initial punishment saw it fit to ban the greatest offenders by ethnicity, gender and socio- for ten years - what has changed economic background’.

The in order for them to only do ten measure was one amongst many proposed by the government seeking to address concerns related to diversity.

Comment: The damage is done

MP's call for league tables to consider diversity failures Samuel Woolford News Reporter

Cabinet Ministers David Limington MP and Chris Skidmore MP have called on universities to address their ethnic disparities or face negative consequences within league table standings.

Speaking on the failings of universities to tackle a lack of diversity in the student body, Universities Minister Skidmore said ‘It cannot be right that ethnic minority students are disproportionately dropping out of university and I want to do more to focus on student experience to help ethnic minority students succeed at university’.

In an effort to

Photo: Foreign Office

address the issue of a lack diversity, the government is proposing new policies, namely that of pressuring university league tables to include considerations on ‘access and attainment disparities’ and as a result, some universities’ positions in said tables would be threatened.

This year’s Guardian University Guide illustrates a mere ten points between being ranked a top 10 university and being r a n k e d below 30, indicating a potential threat to many elite establishments failing to provide adequate support.

Moreover, a government press release stated that ‘universities will now be required to publish data regarding admissions and attainment broken d o w n

“It cannot be right that ethnic minority students are disproportionately dropping out of university” Others proposals included: gathering evidence of improvements and the successes of ethnic minority students, encouraging universities to increase diversity in their workforce, tackling the gap with regards to funding for research and innovation and making the information on diversity in universities easy to access for students of said institutions.

percent of this?

The collective action of both Warwick students has been admirable and speaks to the emotionality of this issue, but it should not have taken protests, petitions and open letters to enact change.

Moreover, it should not have taken a national news story and threats to the university’s prestigious reputation.

Vice Chancellor Stuart Croft should not have had to be shamed into making the right decision.

"It is clear that the initial decision was made by people who have never experienced any real threat of sexual violence" No matter where this story takes us, the message is loud and clear; the University of Warwick cared more for advancing the educations of these boys than the safety of the rest of their student body.

UEA cleaner, aged 72, fulfills lifelong dream of becoming an author Beth Bacon News Reporter

Jim Moore, 72, has been working at UEA for 11 years and has recently self-published two books, and a third is pending. He hopes to complete the trilogy by the end of this year.

The books are a mix of fantasy and history.

He was first inspired to write them when he would tell his children bedtime stories but forget the plot he had come up with the next day when he was supposed to continue the story.

So, with great encouragement from his kids, Moore decided to record his ideas.

The characters are mainly animals, which are inspired by walks he went on with his two dogs in the Yare Valley.

Moore suffered from a stroke in July last year, which spurred him on to make his lifelong dream a reality

by turning his notes into books.

Moore’s son has done the graphics for the front covers and his wife has helped with editing.

Moore has three children and four grandchildren, some of which didn’t know about the publishing endeavour. For Christmas, Moore surprised them with signed copies of the books.

Moore hasn’t decided whether to sell the books, but if he does, he says he wishes to donate any profits made to the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, Norfolk Sands.

This charity is close to his heart, as he and his wife lost a stillborn child.

We wish the best to Moore and his family and look forward to the final book release!

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12th February 2019

Norwich market named best in Britain

Photo: Mia Shah

Rachel Crockart News Reporter

Norwich Market has been named the ‘best large outdoor market in Britain’ at the Great British Market Awards 2019.

The judges of the Great British Market Awards said that Norwich Market ‘demonstrated the power of social media’, as seen in popular Instagram pages such as @eatnorwich which have gained traction in the past few years, showcasing the large variety of independent eateries in Norwich and paying particularly close attention to the 25 food stalls available in the market.

Not only does the market offer food but its vintage clothing stalls have proved to be a hit for students, especially at Taxi Vintage Clothing.

Previous threats of the market’s closure have prompted changes to its current ten year plan, proposing to ‘add value to the economic, social, environmental and cultural fabric of Norwich, create a dynamic experience that is diverse, vibrant and adds value,’ and ‘promotes the future whilst remembering the historic background.’

Having been founded in the late 11th Century, the market has continued to flourish and has received many upgrades over the years; most notably in 2006 where the market was transformed into

what it is today. It is one of the oldest and largest outdoor markets in the country, and its 189 stalls are open Monday to Saturday.

“Both the market and the lanes have seen a revival in recent years ” This, along with the Lanes’ excellent financial Christmas

performance, are indicative that the role of independent businesses in the city remains prominent.

Whilst the retail environment has seen a drop in footfall and sales as well as some high streets across the country seeing multiple store closures, both Norwich Market and The Lanes have Photo: seen aUEA(SU) revival in recent years as it has become more ‘trendy’ to shop local.

One owner of a shop in Norwich Lanes has said they had the ‘best Christmas season for 27 years’. The Norwich Lanes Association has said that they try to ensure that chain stores are kept out of The Lanes so that the local business market seems like a ‘village in a city’; this idea proves to be working.

News

News in brief PPL film festival to return in March

UEA’s Philosophy Society will be hosting the second annual PPL film festival, set to take place in March.

The PPL film festival is a weeklong event comprised of a series of film screenings followed by a 20 to 30 minute discussion led by a member of staff or external speaker.

Running from the 11-16 March, the event will be free to all UEA students and refreshments will be provided.

The festival will cover a range of differing themes and topics across varying disciplines.

Last year’s festival included talks on Lacanian Psychoanalysis, non-human personhood and the UCU lecturer strike.

The society’s Secretary, third year Film and Television student Salah El Oweidy, said that in 'presenting different ideas through film, we want students to discover more about both cinema and the different fields it touches.'

Samuel Woolford

University of Nottingham to eliminate unconditional offers Max Pleasance News Reporter

The University of Nottingham has confirmed that it will end the controversial admissions policy of unconditional offers from this September.

This follows the release of statistics showing that Nottingham is the second highest provider of unconditional offers throughout Russell Group universities, with over 11 percent of offers standing as such.

A spokeswoman for the university has said ‘with many applicants now receiving three or more

unconditional offers from different universities, Nottingham’s use of unconditional offers to demonstrate the university’s faith in particularly talented applicants is no longer relevant’.

"Nottingham

is the second highest provider of unconditional offers throughout Russel Group universities" The

practice

was

criticised last summer when it emerged that nearly a quarter of applicants received such offers nationally.

The Office for Students (OfS) has expressed particular displeasure in the ‘conditional unconditional’ offer, whereby the university will offer a place unconditionally if the student makes that university their first choice. One in three sixth-formers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland now receive at least one unconditional offer.

As many as 117,000 unconditional offers were made

last year compared to just 5,000 three years ago; the University of Nottingham made 2,925 in 2018.

The use of unconditional offers is controversial among school leaders, who say they disrupt pupils’ efforts.

However, these concerns are not necessarily supported by UCAS data which shows that students holding unconditional offers were only marginally less likely to achieve their predicted grades than those with conditional offers.

UCAS justifies the use of unconditional offers on their website citing ‘those applying for creative art courses’ would benefit as ‘artistic flair is likely to be viewed as a

better indication of potential than traditional grades’.

Furthermore, holding an unconditional offer would ‘reduce the stress some students may feel during the high-pressure exam period, supporting students with mental health difficulties’.

The proposed alternative to the unconditional offer is to have students select their choice of universities after they receive their A-Level grades ensuring offers are made based on ability and not predicted capability.

Trent Building, University of Nottingham Photo: Wikimedia

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12th February 2019

News

BBC broadcaster joins staff in new biology role Annabel Gibson News Reporter

Award-winning broadcaster Ben Garrod has been appointed as UEA’s Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Science Engagement.

"Bringing a strong narrative to research helps bring science alive and can inspire everyone" The biologist and conservationist will involve teaching undergraduate students and has ‘a strong focus on engaging with the wider public to inform and inspire people about UEA’s research.’

‘I’m so pleased to be part of the UEA team,’ Garrod said. ‘Bringing a strong narrative to research helps bring science alive and can inspire everyone from governments to school children. I want to help show how UEA combines world-leading research, brilliant students and a second-to-none location in reaching every level of our local, national and global community. I can’t wait to get started.’

Over the past decade he has lived and worked around the world; he spent several years in central Africa developing and managing

Photo: UEA a chimpanzee conservation field site for the renowned chimpanzee scientist Dr Jane Goodall.

Most recently, Garrod featured in the Natural World documentary Red Ape: Saving the Orangutans

on BBC Two. Previously Garrod has appeared in BBC television programs including The One Show and Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur.

He has a Bachelor of Science

degree in Animal Behavior from Anglia Ruskin University, a Masters degree in Wild Animal Biology from the Royal Veterinary College and a PhD from University College London and the Zoological Society

of London.

Garrod is currently filming a new science series with the BBC and is also the author of a series of six books titled So You Think You Know About... Dinosaurs?

Freedom Soc campaign for zero tolerance on FGM Charlie Hunt News Reporter

The Freedom Charity Society has been established at UEA to allow students to pledge their support for zero-tolerance of female genital mutilation (FGM) worldwide.

FGM is recognised as any procedure which alters or injures the female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is widely recognised as a severe violation of human rights, and can lead to long-term physical, psychological and social consequences for its victims.

FGM has been illegal in the UK since 1985, though just this month a woman from east London became the first UK citizen to be convicted of the crime, for mutilating her three-year-old daughter. However, the NSPCC estimate that 137,000 women and girls in England and Wales have been affected by FGM. The United Nations have reinforced their commitment to its worldwide eradication following last week’s International Day of Zero-Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.

In a statement, UN security

general Antonio Guterres called for ‘increased, concerted and global action’, to ensure FGM is banned in all nations by 2030. The UK government announced support for this target in 2018.

"The campaign is twofold: it aims to forbid all practice of

FGM worldwide, and dispel the stigma" According to the World Health Organisation, FGM is largely concentrated in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It is often motivated by strong beliefs about maintaining premarital virginity and marital fidelity: thus, almost all victims are girls from infancy to age 15.

The UN campaign for zerotolerance of FGM culminates on International Women’s Day (8 March). The campaign is twofold: it aims to forbid all practice of FGM worldwide, and dispel the stigma around its public discussion. It rests on the work of charities to raise awareness at local and national

levels, and train professionals to recognise its signs.

According to the World Health Organisation, FGM is largely concentrated in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It is often motivated by strong beliefs about maintaining premarital virginity and marital fidelity: thus, almost all victims are girls from

infancy to age 15.

Students can support UEA Freedom Society by either joining on the SU website or wearing the Red Triangle Badge (the national symbol against FGM) during this month.

nominations open now officer elections full time positions: activites and opportunities officer campaigns and democracy officer postgraduate education officer undergraduate education officer welfare, community & diversity officer part-time positions: environment officer ethical issues officer ethnic minorities officer international students - eu place international students officer - non eu place lgbt+ officer (open place) lgbt+ officer (trans & non binary place) mature students officer non-portfolio officer postgraduate education officer students with disabilities officer (invisible disabilities place) students with disabilities officer (physical disabilities place) women’s officer

su

8

Global

12th February 2019

What you should know on the Venezuela crisis Katie Tsappas Global Writer

The Venezuelan crisis began in 2010 under the presidency of Hugo Chávez and continued through the to that of Nicolás Maduro’s. Known as the worst crisis in Venezuela’s history, it has caused significant economic, political, and social hardships, including hyperinflation, huge levels of emigration, and increased rates of disease, crime and hunger. By 2017, 90 percent of the population were living in poverty, and over 2.3 million Venezuelans have left the country. Venezuela has had the highest murder rates in the world, with 90 per 100,000 people killed in 2015, making it one of the most violent countries globally.

After Chávez’s death in 2013, president Maduro was elected into government. However, his ineffective policies intensified the crisis. In 2013, the government’s strategy of using profits from oil production to boost public investment failed due to a limited increase in the amount of oil produced.

“By 2017, 90 percent of the population were living in poverty” Maduro was re-elected as president in the 2018 presidential

In brief

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Tut’s tomb DIY SOS After nine years of work, the tomb of Tutankhamun has been restored to minimise damage by visitors. Egypt’s boy king now has luxuries such as barriers to prevent tourists from touching paintings, and a ventilation system to remove dust and carbon dioxide brought in by each person. The work also consisted of repairs to existing damage, including the marks of curious hands. Originally discovered in 1922, Tutankhamun and his tomb now have a future of significantly reduced cleaning requirements. Andrew Ferris

election, but the results were disputed. In January 2019, the National Assembly of Venezuela stated that the results of the election were invalid and declared Juan Guaidó as the acting president while citing several clauses of the 1999 Venezuelan constitution. In January 2019, Guaidó swore himself in as interim president and was recognised as Venezuela’s legitimate president by the United States and many neighbouring nations. The United States then implemented sanctions, preventing state oil companies from collecting profits on crude exports to U.S. Refineries, therefore cutting off the main

source of government revenue in Venezuela in order to place pressure on Maduro to resign.

Guaidó first came to prominence in 2007, as a member of a group of students who organised protests against Chávez’s administration, despite his presidential victory in 2006. During Maduro’s time in office, Guaidó’s opposition never stopped challenging Maduro’s government.

In February 2019, the National Assembly declared that Maduro’s reelection was invalid and that Guaidó would become acting president.

Maduro’s government claims that the current crisis is a coup d’etat led by the United States to topple

him and control Venezuela’s oil reserves. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the Arab League are leading the support for Maduro, whereas the Organisations of American States (OAS) and the European Union support the National Assembly decision. The United States was the first nation to recognise Guaidó as acting president. In Europe, the European Union has imposed an arms embargo and further sanctions on Venezuelan officials and, on 5 February 2019, UK, France, Spain, Germany, and other European countries recognised Guaidó as de facto president of Venezuela.

Italy’s recession raises concerns of eurozone contagion Jake Morris

Senior Global Writer

Italy’s economy has entered a recession after posting a contraction of 0.2 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) in the final three months of 2018. This follows a 0.1 percent negative growth in the previous quarter.

The Italian coalition government of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, and the far-right League party, had promised to stimulate GDP growth when they took office in March last year.

The government has recently been involved in a standoff with the European Commission after their new national budget gave a budget deficit of 2.4 percent of GDP, in violation of EU rules. In

December, the EU and Italy announced an amended budget seeing the deficit reduced to 2.04 percent of GDP, with the inclusion of some, if not all, of the government’s Images: pledges such as a Pixabay, citizen’s wage to lower stux income families and tax cuts to self-employed individuals.

Guiseppe Conte, the Italian Prime Minister, blames the recession on the impact of the escalating USChina trade war, while Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said that the recession was proof that the EU should relax its budget policy to allow Italy to stimulate economic growth.

Italy is faced with deep economic problems. With

a youth unemployment rate of 30 percent and rapidly increasing government debt, the EU is watching Italy with concern. The European Central Bank published figures recently showing that Italy’s public debt is estimated at $2.6 trillion USD, which is 131 percent of its GDP. This is twice the EU limit and the second highest of all EU members. If Italy were to default on its debt, the subsequent crisis would hit the global banking system, and some economists say that a bailout deal would be relatively unfeasible due to the size of the Italian debt. During the previous eurozone crisis, the ECB and International Monetary Fund agreed on a bailout fund to

Greece of $300 billion to cover some of the country’s deficit, but this is insignificant compared to Italy.

EU statistics agency Eurostat has reported that the eurozone as a whole is seeing a slowdown in growth. The region’s GDP grew at only 0.2 percent for the final quarter of 2018, and the year as a whole saw growth of 1.8 percent, the lowest since 2014. Germany, the largest eurozone economy, reported a contraction in the third quarter of 2018, which was blamed on changes to EU emission standards and a reducing export market for cars in China.

Photo: Pixabay, Openpics

Godly blessing for Trump US Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has said that God ‘wanted Donald Trump to become president.’ Mr Trump has been a vocal supporter of Christianity throughout his campaigns and presidency, with a recent Washington Post survey finding that 80 percent of white evangelical voters supported him in the 2016 election. Speaking on the Christian Broadcasting Network, Ms Sanders also criticised the Democratic Party saying it would be ‘very hard’ to take morality lessons from them after Democrats described Mr Trump’s border wall proposals as ‘immoral.’ Jake Morris ‘Record’ bus at US-Mexico border The US Customs and Border Patrol seized a record amount (114kg) of fentanyl in late January, at an official crossing on the Arizonan border. Found alongside 179kg of methamphetamine, the synthetic opioid was below a false floor in a produce lorry, whose Mexican driver has now been charged with drug dealing.

Involved in most US cases of fatal overdoses, the drug is lucrative for dealers – the seized cargo had a black market value of £2.6 million.

Andrew Ferris Dog ownership under attack in Tehran Tehran, the capital city of Iran, has banned dog walking in public spaces as part of an ongoing campaign to discourage dog ownership. The chief of Tehran Police Brigadier-General Hossein Rahimi said the ban was caused by fear and anxiety amongst the public towards dogs. Dog ownership and dog walking have been controversial in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with owners sometimes losing their dogs through confiscation. For more on this story, go to concreteonline.co.uk. Rassul Merali

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12th February 2019

concrete-online.co.uk/category/global/ | @Concrete_UEA

Moonpig warns Valentines’ shoppers to not submit ‘racy images’ Matt Nixon Global Writer

The custom card manufacturer Moonpig has warned customers ahead of Valentine’s Day to not upload images which are too risqué, adding that it is real people and not computer algorithms which have to sort through photos uploaded to the site.

In what The Guardian has jokingly described as what might be the world’s worst job, Mick Perry, Moonpig Production Manager, has explained the company receives an annual influx of ‘nudes and amateur erotica’ ahead of 14 February, which real people have to approve.

The company said nudity is not banned by their service, but ‘it’s more actions and contraptions that are monitored.’

To be clear, they added: ‘Penetration is when things have gone too far’.

“Let’s say there are things I wouldn’t want my wife or mum to see” Last year, Mick Perry’s team had to cancel 368 orders which they deemed were too explicit for them to print and send.

‘Most of our customers are

Images: Pixabay, stux

Brexit Box

well-behaved, but the odd one does try to push the boundaries,’ Perry told The Guardian. ‘We have people who are particularly adept at spotting racy images.’

Perry was reluctant to give specific examples of cards which have been cancelled because the company takes the privacy of its customers, including their sensitive photos, very seriously.

‘We do see all sorts, I’m not going to be specific – these are people’s memories – but let’s say there are things I wouldn’t want my wife or mum to see,’ he said.

Perry added he believed people would be embarrassed to take these sort of photos to high street shops who offer a similar service, and pins people’s more risqué submissions to the seeming facelessness of the online service.

‘I think some people believe their greeting cards are manufactured without human intervention,’ Perry said.

However, unlike tech giants such as Facebook or Twitter, the company

does not use algorithms, and real people make decisions about what is appropriate.

Regardless of whether or not an order is cancelled, any photos sent to Moonpig are kept in secure cloud storage orders were for 30 days before cancled last year being deleted.

Perry did add, however, that ‘if it makes you and your loved one happy, it can’t be that bad, can it?’

So if you’re thinking about getting a naughty last minute card for a loved one this Thursday, have some discretion, and spare a thought for the staff that have to approve it, who I can only imagine are thankful that they don’t sell pop-up cards.

368

US hit by frosty polar vortex

Jake Goddard

William Warnes

Global Writer

Global Writer

On 15 January a ‘Meaningful Vote’ was held in the House of Commons on Theresa May’s draft EU Withdrawal Agreement. The agreement was rejected by MPs by a majority of 432 votes to 202, leading the government to revert to cross-party discussions.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn initially refused to engage in crossparty talks until the possibility of a Brexit no-deal had been ruled out. Several members of his party however, including senior backbench MPs Yvette Cooper and Hilary Benn, chose to ignore this and met with the government. On 30 January, Mr Corbyn eventually met with Mrs May to voice concerns over the backstop and to press for a comprehensive custom union. Future talks between these party leaders are set to continue.

Mrs May’s government has also begun to have separate meetings with Labour backbenchers, offering cash benefits for the constituencies of MPs who vote in favour of the next scheduled vote on an amended draft EU Withdrawal Agreement.

This has been met with criticism with Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell, who has urged MPs to judge Mrs May on her history of austerity rather than one-time offers.

Another ‘Meaningful Vote’ is scheduled for 14 February, and the usual Parliamentary Recess has been cancelled by Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, in order for this vote and further Brexit discussions to

continue. Mrs Leadsom has stated that the processes of getting all Brexit legislation passed by 29 March (the current EU withdrawal deadline) are ‘all very much under control’.

Not everyone shares this enthusiasm. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, and Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, have both expressed concerns; Mr Hunt outlined that with the complexities of the Ireland border may require additional time to put proposals together. Mr Hammond’s civil servants at the Treasury have been so occupied with Brexit that they have been unable to devote much time to ‘The 2019 Spending Review’, problematic in so far as Mrs May requires this to demonstrate her claims to the ‘end of a decade’ of austerity.

Brussels have also warned that further amendments to the draft Withdrawal Agreement will not be tolerated, though have said that an extension to the withdrawal date may be considered.

However, unless a renegotiation or a withdrawal extension can be agreed, the chances of a no-deal Brexit remain high.

45

days before Britain is scheduled to exit the European Union

Image: Vecteezy

Hospitals in the US have been treating patients for frostbite as temperatures drop to -17C and lower. Chicago saw lows of -30C and -37C in North Dakota, as the ‘polar vortex’ hit the American Midwest in one of the worst cold snaps the regions has seen.

The death toll has risen to at least 21, with homeless people being particularly at risk. Warming shelters have been set up across the country, however some are attempting to face the temperatures without them.

For example one woman, aged 60, was found dead in an abandoned house in Lorain, Ohio. A hospital in Chicago has reportedly treated 50 patients for frostbite, with half of those being homeless. It has been reported that some citizens have been found dead a short walk from their homes. Roads have been a serious danger and have been a factor in the death toll.

Schools and businesses have been closed, flights cancelled and post services suspended. Chicago has been using fire to melt snow and ice on the railway to keep trains running. The US National Weather Service has warned that a wind chill of -32C could freeze a person’s skin within 15 minutes. More than 30 temperature record lows have been broken throughout the region.

With the weather, stories of charity and kindness have emerged.

After an explosion of about 100 propane tanks in Chicago, that were being used by homeless people to

Photos: Wikimedia Commons keep warm, an anonymous donor pledged to cover the cost of hotel rooms for all 70 of those affected. In Cleveland, Ohio, people have been tying warm clothes to a ‘wall of love’ for the city’s homeless population, and local restaurants in Kansas City, Missouri, delivered hot food to a family of nine with a broken boiler, who crowded around an electric heater. One woman kindly offered to pay for a hotel for the family, something they gratefully accepted.

Andrea Cusack, a pharmacist in Lake Odessa, Michigan, has been

asking her 15-year-old son to drive their family snowmobile in order to ensure her customers receive their vital medication.

Temperatures are now expected to rise to as high as 10C in Chicago.

David Hamrick, a National Weather Service Forecaster, told Reuters news agency, ‘It’s going to be at least a 60-degree swing for Chicago’. The US National Weather Service has now warned people over massive temperature swings, something that the US media have labelled a ‘thermal backlash’.

Features

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12th February 2019

Masters student with rare genetic condition fundraises for wheelchair to pursue career Features Co-editor Chloe Howcroft reports You can visit the page and donate via: https://www. gofundme.com/allterrainwheelchair-funding

The thought of being told at the ripe young age of 21 that you’ll be needing a wheelchair for the rest of your life is somewhat disconcerting, unfathomable, premature for most.

But this isn’t hypothetical for Environmental Assessment and Management student Gemma Bailey-Smith who was recently diagnosed with a rare, genetic condition called Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), which affects her mobility.

“Just by touching me, my legs literally looked like dalmatians” Prior to starting university, Gemma considered herself to be a very active individual. However, in her first year, she experienced pronounced symptoms.

I joined UEA Cheer in first year but by second year I stopped because I realised that I just couldn’t keep up. I sprained my ankle and broke my thumb. I was a flyer because I’m quite small; they hold your legs and just by touching me, my legs literally looked like Dalmatians. They were just so bruised, and again we questioned why? Of course in Cheer, you get dropped; that’s the nature of it, but all of that didn’t help. Now it’s the norm, and I bruise like a peach.

‘I got quite depressed from it all. Just realising that my body can’t do what it used to be able to do or

Photo: Gemma Bailey-Smith what I want it to do anymore is quite disheartening, so I took a lot of time out of second year because I wasn’t really coping with it all. I hadn’t had a solid answer and I didn’t know what was going on. Just being in pain all the time is quite difficult for people to comprehend unless you’re in that position.

‘Because my ligaments don’t work properly, I get a lot of muscle spasms because they are overworking to hold everything in place. I lost muscle mass and then all these other symptoms started to show. My shoulders like to pop out when I sleep which is always fun. It’s a catch 22 because when I’m in my wheelchair, it’s really hard work on my shoulders, but when I’m on my crutches, it’s a lot of hard work on my legs.’

In essence, EDS is caused by faulty genes inherited by one or both parents, which make connective tissue weaker. There are several types of EDS, which can affect different people in different ways. Gemma’s specific type is Hypermobile EDS (hEDS). However, as Gemma admits, ‘it’s very misdiagnosed.

Before, I was always diagnosed as hypermobile because there are a lot of overlapping symptoms. When my knee was unstable, the doctors told me it was growing pains and my ankles because I was so sporty.

Whereas actually, it was because my body’s make up wasn’t correct.

It wasn’t until they put everything together when they actually diagnosed it. So it took nearly ten years to get the official diagnosis, which is frustrating.’

It was November 2018 when Gemma was officially diagnosed with hEDS, but this hasn’t prevented

her from trying to maintain her busy lifestyle in spite of the challenges she continues to face.

‘It’s a big juggling act between going to lectures, going to appointments, meetings, a lot of hospital time. You learn to be your own P.A., even just planning out a lot of things that you know are going to take up a lot of your energy.

Travel and transport is a nightmare.

Thinking about how I am going to get there: am I going to take my crutches or my wheelchair? Is it accessible?’

Indeed, the meaning of ‘accessible’ differs according to each individual need and disability.

As Gemma suggests, ‘it isn’t just a tick box. If someone asked me before if UEA is accessible, I would have said ‘Oh yeah, they have the orange lines, it’s really good’; now being in that position, sometimes I’m like ‘Help! I don’t know what to do’.

‘Sometimes you have to take your care into your own hands.

The main thing is learning when to say no, when to say ‘actually, I need to look after myself’. You don’t know your limits until you push them, which I have done so many times [and this] results in days in bed, or having my friends round watching Mamma Mia to cheer me up, because I have overdone it and today I am really hurting. It’s a massive learning curve. It’s hard work and it’s frustrating, but you’ve just got to deal with what you’ve got. There’s no point having a pityparty over it.

On the mention of her friends, Gemma expresses how ‘amazing’ they have been in providing her the support that she requires. ‘Just

knowing that if I’m having a rough day, I can call them and they’ll be there. From saying ‘I’m getting a new wheelchair’, the first thing one of my friends did was say ‘Just made a Pinterest board. This is how we can pimp it out’. We deal with it with a lot of humour, which I think is important. If I’m not laughing, I think I would cry a lot more than I do.

‘I do think my family have found it quite hard. I used to be so active and sporty and go on hiking holidays with them, and now I’m in a wheelchair. I think because I’m here (at UEA), they didn’t necessarily see the deterioration; they knew what was happening but they don’t see it every day, so that was quite difficult.

I call them up most days now and try and go home when I can.

“It took nearly 10 years to get the official diagnosis” The biggest challenge Gemma currently faces now is buying a specialised wheelchair worth £12,000 which will allow her to take part in a field trip to Devon in April. Here, she’ll be able to collect data for her work. She explains how she chose the specific wheelchair.

‘I tried out a few, this one is very specialist in what I need it do be able to. For me, it needs to be foldable to get in and out of the car and electric, so I don’t have to tire myself out or

put my shoulders at risk of injury.

It’s really clever and will do the job across any land I come across.’

Gemma started a crowdfunding page via gofundme on News Year’s Day. ‘When I set it up, I thought this could take a few years. But everyone has been so kind. Even people with EDS have been in contact. Not only am I fundraising and helping to get myself that target and do the job I want, but also raising awareness about a condition which isnít well known, and to see the struggles of it.

‘I’ve always wanted to do environmental consultancy and decided to do my BSc [which I] struggled through for three years.

Now I’m struggling to do my Masters and I feel like I don’t want to trip at the last hurdle and not get the career I want because of accessibility issues. It’s trying to find a way around that, and for me that’s the chair.

‘If I don’t reach my target, I probably would work out ways to still be involved, whether it’s getting a minibus to a certain spot or being Skyped in, a suggestion from Student Support, but it just isn’t the same as being in the actual environment… I need to be out there doing things. I’d hate to not be able to do that.’

When asking her what else the wheelchair could help her with should she reach her target, Gemma replied: ‘UEA has such nice scenery and itís such a shame to be missing out on that aspect of uni life since first year. I think that going around the broad is going to be one of the first things I do.’

Read the full article online

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12th February 2019

concrete-online.co.uk/category/features/ | @Concrete_UEA

Beth Bacon on publicly speaking about private school I attended a Catholic boarding school for most of my education – from the age of 10 to 18 – and recently decided to write about this period of my life on social media.

I would like to explain what prompted the decision to write so publicly about my experiences.

I realised, probably in my first year at university, that I existed in a bubble throughout my school education.

This bubble contained my friendships, morals, and understanding of current affairs.

After leaving Stonyhurst, my peers and I soon realised we had been very sheltered. However, this was not necessarily a bad thing. I am grateful to have spent my weekends at school playing hockey matches and rehearsing for dance and drama productions. What I didn’t know about sex, drugs, and rock and roll didn’t hurt me. In fact, it gave me more opportunity to focus on friendships, study, and extracurricular activities. I wouldn’t have an array of interests in arts, science, and sport if it wasn’t for the incredible societies at Stonyhurst.

Besides, partying was soon discovered in my gap year.

To give a short overview of Catholic boarding school, I will begin with a few stereotypes.

The rumours are true: many of us were prudes. I was 15 when I realised women do not have sex out of their urethras. I vividly remember the hockey captain sitting me down in the corner of the library and sketching out a vagina, urethra, and anus with her splodgy blue fountain pen.

Sex education consisted of a clinically described animation depicting a man and woman taking part in ‘sexual intercourse’. The voice was scripted, the movements were robotic, and yet we were led to believe that this couple were ‘in

Photo: Beth Bacon

love’.

We were then shown the ‘miracle of birth’, displayed as a sweaty, screaming woman bringing a child into our precious world with her caring husband by her side.

This was the story we were told time and time again. We were not informed about possible birth complications, STIs, or even condoms. Extramarital sex was reserved for the ‘sluts’.

“Sex was morally more wrong than stealing” One day a boy in Year 10 was found with a condom in his blazer and was given a detention.

A couple in sixth form were caught in the languages department having sex by one of the members of the chaplaincy. They boarded at the school, and it would have been more dangerous to have sex in their own bedrooms than in a classroom due to the likelihood of them being caught. But nonetheless they were found and both pupils were ‘asked to leave’.

Students were not expelled from Stonyhurst. If they were involved in a misdemeanour terrible enough to warrant an expulsion, they were asked to not come back, in a calm and collected manner. This punishment was perhaps designed not to teach the child a lesson or set an example to others, but rather, to prevent the school getting a bad name from these stories making their way to the media.

This couple was asked to leave, yet when a number of rugby

scholars in my year were caught stealing hundreds of pounds worth of audio equipment from HMV, they were simply given a short suspension and a proverbial slap on the wrists – possibly because losing such assets to the sports department could be detrimental to the 1st XIV’s winning streak. The message was clear: sex was morally worse than stealing.

With hindsight, in some areas the school was absolutely topsy-turvy.

Looking back, I hope to become more grateful for what I was born with through the new perspective I have gleaned since leaving and I hope now to focus on the incredible opportunities I was given.

School filled up my entire world, and I would not have had it any other way. Three meals a day were included in my fees and I took full advantage of them. Full English breakfast, four course lunch, and dinner with more than three options was on the menu every day.

We had the choice to live at the school or at home. Boarders slept in dormitories – these were divided by gender and the size of rooms varied. In sixth form, boarders were given private rooms, which usually included a single bed, a sink, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, and a desk. I was a day pupil, but I effectively lived at the school. I had three meals a day at Stonyhurst and spent most weekends there too. My parents moved up to Lancashire when I was ten, for the sole reason of sending me and my brother to Stonyhurst College.

We arrived at school at 7:45am and didn’t leave until nearly 9pm, seven days a week.

Our friends, teachers, cooks, and cleaners were our family.

Everyone knew everyone.

I went on a school geography trip to Morocco, a big band trip to Hong Kong, and hockey tour to

Lake Garda, to name a few.

We were encouraged every Thursday at singing practice in the church to sing our hearts out. And the toughest rugby players would shed floods of tears during the Pater Noster at leavers’ Mass.

“I am glad I have made the most of what I have been given” The boys were aught the importance of respect, particularly to women. Doors would always be held open for one another and if a teacher was struggling to carry their books, there would be a rush to be the first to help them.

Not everyone at Stonyhurst was Catholic, but the Jesuit values of respect, being proactive, and always trying your best were instilled in every pupil from a young age.

This is why I write at the end of my post, ‘Time to be a ‘woman for others’’. St Ignatius of Loyola spread this message. Furthermore,

everything we did was ‘ad majorem dei gloriam’ – ‘for the greater glory of God’ – and thus we did the best we could do for other people, as God intended.

To this day, I hold respect as the highest virtue. When I visited Stonyhurst in January, many aspects of the building had been renovated, a lot of the teachers had changed, and I didn’t know any of the pupils.

But in essence, they seemed similar to the ones I used to know.

At the end of the day, I acknowledge the great advantages I was born with. I am incredibly privileged to have had the childhood and support through university that I have had. After leaving Stonyhurst, I have been more exposed to education than the majority experience. Sadly, it was only through seeing the juxtaposition between different lives have I realised quite how lucky I was. And so, perhaps in writing this, but also in the way I continue my adult life, I hope to speak to people from similar backgrounds to me and make them aware of the incredible possibilities they are provided with at private school. I intend to make the most of what I have been given, rather than squander it away and I hope to pursue this further for years to come.

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12th February 2019

Features

‘I lived in constant fear’ Mia Shah Features Editor

These are the words of Nazma Khan, who founded World Hijab Day, which was on 1 February 2018.

Khan immigrated to New York from Bangladesh when she was just 11.

‘Wearing a hijab was a direct sign that I was Muslim, I lived in constant fear. I was called names such as Osama Bin Laden and terrorist. During 2011, I received many messages from women across the Globe with similar situations, and I kept on thinking how can I help these women? How can I help myself?’

“How can I help these women? how can I help myself?”

The World Hijab Day campaign encourages women of different faiths and ethnicities to wear a hijab to create empathy and a better cultural understanding of what it’s like for Muslim women to wear a Hijab, and thousands of women from around the world did. ‘If they were to walk in my shoes for just one

day perhaps things would change.’

Jaya Shah, Canterbury Christchurch University student, is one of the many who I decided to participate in World Hijab Day. ‘Living in a very multicultural city can open your eyes. Before university, I lived in a white middleclass area and was never really exposed to different faiths or ways of living, but once in Canterbury, it all changed. My friends came from all different religions and backgrounds.

I wanted to understand more about what it is like to be different from what is perceived as the norm.’

A Muslim student at UEA shared some of her experiences of wearing a hijab and her thoughts on World Hijab Day itself. ‘In my first year here there were barely any Muslims, I always wished to see someone wear the hijab so that I wouldn’t feel left out. I think World Hijab Day is a step forward, but I don’t think it means a lot because the people already doing it are already educated, so I don’t think it influences those who have submitted to the stereotypes, who do believe in all of those racist thoughts.’

Aliya Schmid, on the other hand, thinks that ‘it is amazing that women who aren’t Muslims are wearing it to show support. It encourages other young Muslim girls and women in general to wear it and to know that it’s okay to feel comfortable.’

Aliya has had a different

Galentines day? xoxo Abi Steer

Features Writer

experience of being a young Muslim woman in the UK. ‘I choose not to wear a hijab only because I grew up in an environment where there were not a lot of Muslims. A lot of people do not know that I am a Muslim as I don’t wear one. I was taught the reason behind wearing a hijab, but I was given freedom of choice. And that’s what Islam teaches.’

“I wanted to understand what it is like to be different” However,

many

disagree

with this and World Hijab Day has become quite controversial, particularly on Twitter; the Hijab is often symbolised as a tool for oppression and exclusion. As a result, many people have opted out of using #worldhijabday and instead are using #nohijabday.

Melissa Chen tweeted ‘Genuinely not sure why we need a @ WorldHijabDay. As long as there are women who aren’t #FreeFromHijab, why shine the light on being #FreeInHijab? It means nothing to be free unless you can be free *from* it. This Feb 1st, until everyone can choose, #NoHijabDay’.

Whilst it divides opinion, World Hijab Day is meant to celebrate and foster discussion on why some Muslim women decided to wear a hijab, and to some extent, it has done just that.

Universities set to clamp down on unconditional offers Jake Goddard Features writer

grades by two grades or more than those who accept a conditional offer.

The research comes as part of a new statement by OfS to crack down on ‘so-called pressure selling tactics [by Universities that] could be a potential breach of consumer protection law’. OfS have noted a

“A quarter of 2018 applicants received at least one In a previous article, Concrete revealed that less than half of UEA students actually meet their offer.

Now, research from the Office for Students (OfS) and UCAS shows that applicants who accept an unconditional offer are five percent more likely to miss their predicted

unconditional offer” significant increase in unconditional offers to students over the past few years that they say have often ‘applied psychological pressure, or

created an impression of urgency in decision making’, which can interfere with the ‘opportunity and freedom to make an informed choice’.

OfS are currently monitoring the situation and have stated that they will intervene where necessary.

The 2018 End of Cycle Report published by UCAS shows a steep increase in the percentage of unconditional offers being made, from 0.4 percent in 2013 to 7.1 percent in 2018. Almost a quarter of 2018 applicants received at least one unconditional offer. This could highlight an inconsistency across institutions as different universities attempt to fill places.

Fiona Nugent, a third year student in Education, thinks that ‘it takes a lot of pressure off young people at a very stressful time

[but] should be reserved for nontraditional students who might have more pressure on them than other students when applying to university.’

Others such as Alex Hiepko, a second year Psychology student, adds that ‘receiving an unconditional would make you less inclined to work towards your target grades, whereas with a conditional you are actually driven to achieve those grades, and it reflects well on you when you do.’

The future of unconditional offers remains unclear. With a new statement by the University of Nottingham confirming it will cease to award unconditional offers from this September, and increased scrutiny from the Office for Students, there may be further significant decreases to come.

Created in the most consumerist fashion, the celebration of female friendships that is Galentine’s Day comes from the second season of Parks and Recreation in which Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) explains it as ‘the best day of the year. Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style. Ladies celebrating ladies’.

It sounds great in theory, but in all honesty, I just don’t know what to make of it. Sure, the show has given us the hero that is Ron Swanson, some incredible gifs, and let’s not forget the rise of Chris Pratt, but I don’t think we need to add a holiday to that list.

Stealing another pointless holiday (you’ve got to admit Valentine’s is a pretty pointless holiday) from something as consumer-driven as a tv show is somewhat baffling to me.

Valentine’s Day already provides UK retailers with an extra £650 million, do we really need to double that over the two days period?

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of a day to celebrate my friendships - a day spent hanging out and having fun with my friends is an ideal situation as far as I’m concerned - but I feel that this would perhaps be better suited to a day that is special to us as friends. In having a day forced upon me to celebrate my friends intrinsically makes it less of a celebration; I wouldn’t be doing it because I wanted to but because I felt that I should.

But I think the biggest hole in this is that the majority of my friends are guys. I love my female friends, and I’d be completely lost without them, but I’d feel weird having a day just to celebrate them specifically. I’m all for boosting female friendship and women empowerment, but I don’t want to do that if we aren’t also celebrating male friendships, which we do not do nearly well enough. This does not help with the intense toxicity we are seeing as a part of masculine culture today and excludes men from what could be a really brilliant celebration.

If we are going to really get on board with this whole platonic celebration, we need to make it a celebration of friendship as a whole, not specific friendships.

In fact, I think that would actually be a much better idea – when is international friends day, eh?

Many cultures have mothers’ and fathers’ days, but in Western society, we are sorely lacking in a space to celebrate friendships as one of life’s greatest joys. I love the message that Leslie is trying to put across here, but I also think that all friendships are worth celebrating. All Photos: Vecteezy

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12th February 2019

Features

Feeling hanxious?

Jess Barrett explores the rise of hangxiety Hangxiety has become a regularly used term within the student vocabulary, combining your hangover with anxiety about the events of the night before.

When you black out or have a patchy memory of the night before you become nervous about what you might have said or done after you wake up in the morning. The money missing from your bank account, and the number of bruises you acquire seem to correlate with the amount of serotonin and sanity you lose.

Hangxiety seems to result from nights out mostly, when you may lose track of how many drinks you’ve had and are way past your limit. Some students love to be told of last night’s antics and see it as something funny and part of university culture.

However for many, not knowing what you have done, where you have been and who with raises lots of issues, particularly for their mental health.

Student Megan L-Moran has

something

different

festival

All Photos: Unsplash

commented that ‘the mix of alcohol and not remembering what has happened constantly leads me to question if I’ve embarrassed myself, and it’s just not worth the hassle.’

L-Moran has stopped drinking as a result of the hangxiety she experiences after every night out.

Jess Cappi noted that hangxiety leads her to feel more insecure.

‘Things that don’t usually affect me when I’m sober seem to affect me so much more the morning after a night out, and I always worry about what things I got up to the night before.’

There seems to be large correlation between hangxiety, blacking out, and not remembering what happened. Perhaps monitoring your drinking is one way to prevent feeling hangxiety on a regular basis.

It is important to experiment and see if you can enjoy yourself without having to depend on alcohol to have a good time. Battling with the struggles of hangxiety can be tricky because stopping drinking can lead to losing out on some of the

social aspects of university. There is an expectation to drink and a lot of social situations at university do involve drinking – going to the LCR, going to the bar for a pint, or going out for cocktails, to name a few.

Our excessive university drinking culture emphasises drinking high volumes of alcohol, which can consequently lead to experiencing hangxiety the next morning.

Many find comfort from the pains of hangxiety in their duvet and usually a takeaway. This often leads to an unproductive day of worrying and needing reassurance from those around you.

For these reasons, monitoring your alcohol consumption on nights out can lead to less of a hangover, less hangxiety and more productivity.

Do you get hangxiety? Let us know @Concrete_UEA

18 feb - 24 feb fInd out more: ueadifferent.com

Photo: Vecteezy

Hey UEA

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#UEA

@ueatennis

12th February 2019

@uealdc

@ueapf

Media Collective News ‘Have you done any of the Five Ls?’ 35.1% 64.9%

UEATV have a brand new weekly politics show. Catch up with it now on their UEATV Youtube channel!

Here that? Sounds like the sound of UEA! Livewire is officially back and live from Monday with a funky and fresh new schedule! Tune into livewire.com for the newest music, campus news, competitions and more!

“The Laundrette was definitely the hardest...

You would be surprised

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12th February 2019

The archive:

For this issue’s archive, we’ve celebrated our special sex survey pull out (pardon the pun!), by selecting results from one of our earlier Sex Surveys: Issue 135, published in February 2002.

In what was only our third annual sex survey, exwriter Adam Chapman said he was ‘sickened’ to see how much, how often, and where UEA students were having sex. He might be shocked reading this year’s sex survey (our twentieth ever!), and seeing exactly how much more you all get it on.

Once you’ve read it too, let us know your thoughts online @Concrete_UEA, and get featured in #HeyUEA!

students transfo rming

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Comment

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12th February 2019

Jake Goddard: Homelessness is a nationwide problem that needs a viable solution

Back in August 2018, the government unveiled a £100 million plan ‘to end rough sleeping by 2027’.

Of this, £30 million was to be invested into mental health and prevention of substance abuse, along with £50 million on ‘homes outside London for people ready to move on from hostels or refuges’.

The plan may look like a step in the right direction, but in reality it’s not so much.

The pledge addresses a target of ‘up to 6,000 people’, compressed and contained within the definition of ‘rough sleeper’. It’s not really targeting the wider issue of homelessness; the 320,000 people Shelter reports as legally homeless who may not be sleeping ‘rough’ in public spaces.

But even Shelter’s estimate doesn’t account for the full phenomenon of ‘hidden homelessness’, which includes those who should technically be able to access support, but are stopped from doing so largely owing to the local authorities’ limited resources. So that number is

likely much higher.

In England, local authorities have a duty to help anyone termed as statutorily homeless.

However, as anyone who has grappled with local authorities knows, just because you are entitled to support doesn’t mean you’ll receive it.

Council budget cuts, as well as extremely tight eligibility for classifying people with ‘statutory homelessness’ in the first place, are both serious restraints on providing the assistance homeless people often require.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as of 2018, there were only 21 rough sleepers in Norwich during the entire year. But there are no public guidelines on how this process was carried out or what exact area of Norwich was surveyed to create this number. All we know is observations are made around autumn on an annual basis. It doesn’t exactly sound professional, does it?

Let’s combine this figure with

some knowledge of the Vagrancy Act, a piece of legislation older than both photographs and the discovery of aluminium. It’s an Act still used today to criminalise rough sleeping or begging. It allows for the arrest of people sleeping rough and is often used to threaten people to move on.

Only last semester do I remember seeing a police officer yelling threats at a homeless man on Prince of Wales

Road.

The government’s approach is wrong, and we need a much better answer for this growing problem.

As for the suggestion only 21 people in Norwich were actually on the streets last year, I can say with almost certain conviction that if my local authority bombarded me with harassment and arrest, I’d be weary to show my face too.

Photo: Unsplash

‘It’s time to reform the Commons’ Jake Morris Comment Writer

I love politics. But I’m worried we’re drifting into dangerous territory.

A poll by NatCen in 2017 found 56 percent of UK citizens felt no political party represented their view. That’s even though 80 percent of the electorate backed Labour or Conservatives in the general election.

I asked a friend, who classed herself as one of the 56 percent, how she would vote in the next election and her response baffled me.

‘I’ll vote Labour, I always vote Labour.’

She clearly missed the irony in this, and it got me thinking; is this blind loyalty to political parties dangerous? I’m concerned it will create a chasm in British politics.

In my head this is a very dangerous road. By refusing to read manifestos objectively without party bias, coupled with unwavering party loyalty, I fear we risk sleepwalking into a politically aggressive and uneducated society.

For this reason, I am a huge advocate of the need for reasoned

debate in politics. A person has the right to express their viewpoint (unless it inflicts harm) and not be subjected to hostility.

We are all guilty of this primal

“We all need to take responsibility and promote reasoned, mediated debate” aggression when someone’s views do not align with our own, but we must learn to calmly debate issues instead.

Easier said than done I know, but I cannot stress the importance of the need for politics to calm down.

People’s use of social media is perhaps the best way to see what I refer to. With the increasing anonymity of the internet, it is possible to write abhorrent abuse to political opponents with no consequence, and no reflection on the impact inflicted on another human being.

Even more alarmingly, this aggression appears to be creeping into everyday life. The police recorded a 17 percent increase in hate crimes in the year following the Brexit referendum, and the increase has not fallen back down again.

To me this is terrifying. As debate toxifies, with Brexit being an excellent example, and each side shouts louder than the other, we create enormous division.

Hatred blossoms and that scares me. We all need to take responsibility now and promote reasoned, mediated debate.

I actually believe the entire political establishment is partly to blame for this divisive nature through their refusal to support cross-party collaboration.

One glance at the House of Commons and you can see a physical problem. It’s almost unique worldwide in that the two largest political parties physically face each other in an environment designed for confrontational debate.

With heckling allowed- and almost encouraged- how can we, the public, expect to have a reasoned debate when politicians can’t manage to do so? Watch

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

any episode of Prime Minister’s Questions and it’s like a low budget pantomime. The whole system is archaic, based on an etiquette guide published in the late 19th century.

Can we really have confidence in a political system where the Speaker of the House is physically dragged to their Chair upon election, or where debate has to be stopped when a

ceremonial mace is picked up (done

by MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle late last year). I understand the need for tradition, but it’s time we set down some new modern rules to end this farce. We need to allow the Commons to be the home sensible debate. Only then as a society, can we all embrace responsibility and heal division.

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12th February 2019

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The verdict A tongue-in-cheek love letter to Theresa May on Huel Chris Matthews Comment Editor

Sam O’Dell Comment Writer

Huel needs to be hurled into hell.

It’s a vitamin powder you blend with water to substitute your entire diet. It’s liquid lunch. And breakfast. And also dinner. I do of course realise I’m not exactly the target market for this food smoothie, which by the way, looks like wet cement. It’s mainly for those of us either trapped in office cubicles with only five-minute lunch breaks or all those caloriecounting gymaholics out there.

I suppose the legitimacy of my opinion is hindered somewhat by the fact I’ve never tasted the stuff.

But when I’m walking down the street and see a pile of dogshit on the pavement I don’t need to give it a lick to know what it is. Besides, my main point of contention with the trend Huel is setting and what it says about where our collective food habits may be heading.

Dear Prime Minister, Cheer up - it’s almost Valentine’s Day - and if you didn’t realise, people love you. Yep, when those Brexiteer backbenchers from the European Research Group (ERG) schemed against you, it was out of love. See they’ve lived in a posh, male-dominated bubble for too long, and it’s their secret kink for you to put them in their place.

Rees-Mogg may be the Tories’ political pinup, but you have the power and you’re not letting go: dominatrix-style.

Then there’s the DUP. They appear to hate you for effectively proposing a border down the Irish

Sea. But we all know that’s a front and they can’t bring themselves to vote against you when it really counts. They’re undying loyalists, and like our friends in the ERG they love a dominant Conservative woman showing them what’s what.

Labour is a problem. Their supporters don’t love you yet, but only because they’re still coming to terms with their relationship with Jeremy. (It turns out he may be a sly sexist, even though he denies calling you or even saying the phrase ‘stupid woman’).

But forget all of them - I hear congratulations are in order! Project Fear is flourishing, and you are the architect. You won’t take it off the table but you are fanning the flames, creating a picture of the total chaos you reckon a no-deal [Br?]exit would

create. People up and down the country are getting really worried about it, and all because you appear to be bullying them into submission.

The thing is, although you’re slightly out of your time, you understand how to retain power.

And power is the secret craving of all these liberal lefties at university.

Securing student support is easy. We’re young, dumb, and full of outrageously preposterous ideas.

Promise us free tuition and you’ll have us wrapped around your little finger regardless of the fact you may or may not mean it. We too need someone powerful to protect us; we are snowflakes after all!

So listen, Theresa: forget about Nissan and Dyson and Sony – you don’t need them in post-Brexit Britain. Forget parliament and

forget anyone who doesn’t bend the knee. In our heart of hearts we know with all the power in your hands (and kitten heels) you’ll make the best possible decisions.

Enter Supreme Leader May – a new type of leader for the modern era. Not stubborn, but devoted.

Not clueless, but cunning. Not desperately clinging on to power without regard to Britain’s future, but calm, collected, and lovable.

Everyone loves a power play, and you’ve mastered it. In fact, think no more of ‘Supreme Leader’. Your title should be Supreme Mistress May, an empowered, modern day woman, bending the country to her will.

Happy Valentine’s Mrs May, and let’s hope you can get us out of this mess. xx

Cartoon: Chris Matthews

“When I’m walking and see a pile of dogshit I don’t need to give it a lick to know what it is” Perhaps it’s unfair to place all the blame on Huel – there are several other companies within the meal replacement market, such as Ambronite and Soylent to name a few. But the Facebook algorithms are insistent on shoving Huel down my throat – so I’m not too sorry.

Look, we don’t always have the time or patience to cook. That’s a fact of life, but there’s no chance Huel will ever win me over with the single promise I can become a more efficient worker.

No. Food is when you lean back and bite into a sandwich and, even if just for a moment, that sandwich is the only thing in the world that matters. Food is waiting for that dough to rise overnight so the house can smell of freshly baked bread in the morning. Food is sitting around a table. It’s sharing with loved ones or just stuffing your face for the sheer joy of it.

Yet mostly, food is culture. It’s a hotchpot of vibrant colours and flavours that can be a reflection of not just communities, but our own personality. What’s Huel if not a sad grey substitute in comparison?

It’s bland and it’s as disinterested in you as you are in it. Is being time and health-conscious really worth sacrificing flavour? I say no. There is no way Huel is the future of food. And yeah, I know they come in flavours – but why not just eat a damn banana?

‘Meghan is the spark the royal family needs’ Oliver Hancock Comment Writer

The monarchy is an outdated, irrelevant institution in the fastmoving modern era. At least that’s what some people would have you believe. It’s an argument gaining more traction as we move ever closer to the next generation of royals. People used to hear ‘the monarchy’ and think of the Queen, dressed up to the nines and planted firmly on her gilded throne. Now we think more about the younger generation of royalty. The issues that faced the British people when

the Queen was in her 30s are vastly different to those looming over us in 2019. The unfortunate part is that the senior royals aren’t necessarily in-touch with these issues. But now we have Meghan Markle a new and outspoken royal figure dedicated to animal rights and giving a voice to the vulnerable amongst other causes. Since Meghan Markle, now the Duchess of Sussex, entered the royal family, she’s stirred things up a bit. Prince Harry has missed the past two Boxing Day hunts along with the rest of the royal family, respecting Meghan’s activism and love of animals. Only a few weeks ago she exclaimed ‘oh my God’ when

shown the lack of BAME university professors in the UK, actually asking for the publication of the data to expose this issue of higher education. Perhaps most radically of all, the Duke and Duchess made an unannounced visit to One 25, a charity dedicated to pursuing the wellbeing of vulnerable woman working as sex workers on the streets of Bristol. A video emerged from the meeting showing Meghan watching volunteers packing food parcels for the women, her eyes lighting up when she writes ‘You are loved’ on bananas in the parcels.

The image of Diana shaking the hands of AIDS patients springs to

mind. Both women were radical in the charities they visited, and both shook up the establishment from its very core. Meghan’s candid attitude to sponsoring charities that tackle typically taboo matters is a breath of fresh air in the musty, royal household. She’s slowly and steadily blowing away the cobwebs spun over an institution that’s fallen into insignificance in the modern era. Naturally, as things change at the top of British society, the makeover will filter down into the masses (that’s us). Meghan is the spark of change that the royal family desperately needs. Thankfully, she shows no signs of stopping.

Science

12th February 2019

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The rise of antibiotic-resistant STIs 2

Jakes WalkerCharles Science Writer

The first case of supergonorrhea has been reported in the UK. The case has now been treated, however it does highlight a worrying global increase in antibiotic-resistant STIs. Gonorrhea is a sexuallytransmitted disease which causes inflammatory discharge from the genitalia. Super-gonorrhea is a variant of the disease which is highly difficult to treat because it is resistant to the antibiotics that are commonly used to treat the infection.

Antibiotic-resistance occurs when the bacteria adapts and develops a slightly different strain that cannot be destroyed by the usual antibiotics. All the bacteria will die except the new strain, leaving more nutrients and room for this strain meaning it will flourish and the disease will persist.

A cause of the rise in antibioticresistant bacteria is due to people using antibiotics ineffectively: not seeing the whole prescription through or not taking the medications at the prescribed

times.

It can also attributed to the increasing global use of antibiotics in farming and medicine. Surveys suggest that around four in ten people expect to be prescribed antibiotics when they visit their GP for illnesses such as coughs and colds; these are both most commonly caused by viruses, and therefore cannot be aided by this drug treatment. It is estimated that around 700,000 people die of drugresistant infections every year. In the UK, it is estimated that more than 2,000 deaths a year in the UK are caused by antibiotic-resistant infections.

“There has been a 22 percent increase in reported cases of gonorrhea within the last year” A possible solution is to cut reliance on antibiotics. The Chief Medical Officer warns that without this, Britain could end up

in ‘the dark ages’ where common operations become too dangerous to perform: operations like a hipreplacement and caesareans could become life-threatening. The risk of super-gonorrhea transmission is significantly reduced by the consistent and correct use of condoms. Anyone who thinks they are potentially at risk of getting an STI should immediately seek help by going to an STI screening at a sexual health clinic. If left untreated the infection can lead to infertility.

Taking the initiative to go to the doctors is essential as one in ten men and three in four women show no recognisable symptoms even when they have the infection. There has been a 22 percent increase in reported cases of gonorrhea within the last year (with almost 45,000 diagnoses in 2017, England).

This trend has been observed with other STIs including syphilis, which is perhaps more worrying considering the fact that the levels of syphilis have been not been higher in the past 70 years (last year there were 7,137 reported cases).

These issues have caused scientists and doctors to have to rethink their approach to drug prescription in the hope to prevent the rise of these super-bugs.

Photo: Pixabay

Hyposexuality and asexuality: what’s the difference? ? ? ?

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Lucy Burrows Science Writer

In the words of Salt ‘n’ Pepa, ‘Let’s talk about sex, baby’. But what if sex was the last thing on your mind and even the thought of it made you uneasy?

In today’s society, people are very open to conversations about sex, especially the younger generations who often share with friends details of their sexual preferences and encounters.

Perhaps you give details about your latest flame and openly disclose your sexual orientation whether it be heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual or other.

Yet, some people may be less ready to approach the subject as they may be experiencing a medically recognised condition called hyposexuality, often incorrectly referred to as ‘frigidness’.

The term frigid originates from the medieval period and is linked to witchcraft. There was a belief that witches put spells on males

to disrupt their sex life by making them unable to get erections.

Even in the 19th century, the term was associated with women choosing not to engage in sexual activities. Medical journals of the period state a lack of desire for a women to have sex with her husband as a pathological condition called Frigidity.

In the late seventies, textbooks on the subject began to label low sexual desire as a sexual dysfunction.

It is around this time that sex therapy formed as a profession and sexual dysfunctions were categorised so that appropriate treatments could be developed.

Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (Hyposexuality) is the lack of desire to engage in sexual activities which causes distress in the person experiencing the condition.

There are different types including general (general lack of sexual desire) and situational (still has a desire but not for their current partner) which can be acquired or lifelong. It is often mistaken

for asexuality, which is an sexual orientation where someone doesn’t experience sexual desire.

The difference with asexuality is that the individual is comfortable with not having sexual desires and therefore define themselves as such.

Some members of the asexual community criticise the use of the term hyposexuality as it suggests that a lack of sexual desire towards others is a disorder which can be treated. Yet those experiencing the condition may feel upset and wish to gain their sex life back and so treatment would aid them.

Hyposexuality can develop due to a number of causes, including depression, alcoholism and drug abuse.

Symptoms can include decreased libido, lack of orgasm and pain during intercourse. However, medical help is available in the form of counselling and sometimes the prescription of medicines to treat the condition.

Therefore it is essential that those experiencing the condition speak to a medical professional.

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12th February 2019

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The plant whose sex life fascinated Darwin Hannah Brown Science Writer

Genetic transformation of the Common Primrose (primula vulgaris) could inform researchers even more about one of the world’s most renowned reproductive systems.

“For those of us who aren’t scientists, it means that the plant cannot mate with itself” The primrose has one of the best examples of heteromorphic flower development in the agricultural world.

Heteromorphic flower development is a phenomenon

where plants ‘exhibit two or three distinct forms of flowers based on the position of the male and female sex organs’.

For those of us who aren’t scientists, it means that the plant cannot mate with itself. It means that no seed formation takes place, so, unlike plants such as orchids and sunflowers, which self-fertilise, the primrose must look elsewhere to reproduce. The current research is being conducted at the John Innes Centre at UEA and the Earlham Institute, and was published in the Plant Methods scientific journal. The research could mean implications for commercial crops, and the creation of hybrid plants - another form of genetic modification (GM).

In a 2016 UEA research paper, Professor Philip Gilmartin’s team from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences identified the S-Locus supergene that controls heteromorphy. Thanks to the school’s research, scientists can continue to learn about heteromorphy. Prof Gilmartin said: ‘The development of a Primula transformation system is an important component of our lab’s long-term study to identify and characterise the genes that control development of the two forms of

Primula flower studied by Charles Darwin.’

In 1862, Charles Darwin published a paper working out the functional significance of different anatomical formations, concluding, as aforementioned, that the plants were self-incompatible. Darwin observed that the primrose needs cross-pollination and this helps to maintain genetic variation. You may remember that Charles Darwin is famous for both his theories on evolution and natural selection. The heteromorphic flower developments in the primrose is one of the latter; it means that only the strongest plants will survive.

Co-author Mark Smedley of the John Innes Centre said: ‘It is not every day you get to work on a paper that references Darwin. This is a fundamental story that scientists have been trying to unravel for 200 years.’

Darwin, who died in 1882, would likely have been just as excited as the scientists today are.

Towards the end of his life he once remarked: ‘I do not think anything in my scientific life has given me so much satisfaction as making out of

the meaning of the

structure of these plants.’

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Pixabay

Will England be HIV-free by 2030?

Emily Hawkes

Science Writer

During the 1980s, an AIDS diagnosis was seen as a potential death sentence with treatments only able to slow down rather than stop the disease from manifesting.

It was a highly stigmatised disease with societal discrimination causing many patients to also suffer from depression and social isolation.

In the modern era, the diagnosis is now not only manageable but much more socially acceptable.

The introduction of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and h i g h l y a c t i v e antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 1996 revolutionised treatment

of the disease.

Measuring viral load and T-cell count allows the severity of the disease to be calculated, and the introduction of PREP meant that individuals could be primed if they are at

risk of potential infection.

Public health campaigns and better education have also helped alleviate social stigma associated with the disease.

Developments are still continuing with the 2014 UNAIDS global 90-90-90 targets being exceeded: 92 percent of UK sufferers are b e i n g diag-

nosed and 97 percent of global sufferers are unable to pass the virus on.

Many demographics have benefited from this. The estimated accounts of infected gay and bisexual men have more than halved from around 2,700 in 2012 to 1,200 in 2017.

There is around a 77 percent fall in new diagnoses within black Africans and Caribbeans, and a 31 percent decrease in diagnoses within white heterosexual men has been seen.

Not only is progress currently taking place but projections by the Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock suggests that these

imp r o v e ments will continue to increase throughout the 21st century, with eradication of the disease from the UK by 2030.

This is said to occur via better prevention, detection and treatment, as well as £600,000 in funding from Public Health England’s HIV Prevention Innovation Fund into 13 innovative UK schemes to aid reduction in the risk of HIV infection and stigma.

The government has also put £1.2 billion in the Global Fund to f i g h t AIDS, TB and M a laria which is said to prov i d e access to treatm e n t within the most needed areas such as Nairobi and Maputo. UNICEF also predict a substantial diminish in the effect of the disease globally with currently three million children and adolescent sufferers to decrease to 1.9 million by 2030.

With a continuous decline in HIV rates in the UK, innovative treatments, societal campaigns, and an increase in funding for services that are determined to combat the disease, it is likely that the government will succeed in their fight to eliminate a virus that has contaminated society for years.

Photo: Pixabay

Travel

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12th February 2019

Apps to map your trip: the latest start-up travel companies Beth Bacon Travel Writer

Travel companies give advice and provide inspiration for planning a holiday. However, which ones can we rely upon?

Recently, a number of new travel startups have been created.

This could be due to the influx of blogging and travel content on social media, with Instagram being a prime example.

For students looking to travel, budget and an interesting destination are of the most importance.

The company that I have used time and time again has been STA Travel. Particularly when looking for the cheapest internal flights in Australia, STA provided the best price comparisons for a student traveller like myself.

They also offer deals for students, groups, and families.

However, there are lesser

known companies that are worth having a look at.

I have often found myself looking for a mini break in the U.K. Snaptrip, a travel company started in April 2014, provides options for short getaways in holiday cottages, without having to spend lots of money on plane tickets.

Snaptrip’s fundamental selling point is being a lastminute service, and so deals that would have disappeared on other websites remain available on theirs.

Snaptrip pride themselves on being a trustworthy, inspirational company which provides good value to all their customers.

I would personally consider this website for future plans, particularly for a Valentine’s break with my boyfriend.

For those looking to holiday further afield, check out Holidu who say, ‘We compare 15,016,089 vacation rentals from hundreds

of travel sites… so you don’t have to.’ If you need a little inspiration, they also have options such as, ‘Most popular vacation rental countries’ and ‘Family friendly seaside destinations’. That way not only are you likely to save up to 55 percent, due to the price comparison, but you also don’t have to spend hours researching where you’d like to go.

"Trustworthy, inspirational, valuable" One of the most unique travel websites that I have stumbled upon has been nixi1. Their slogan, ‘You say hi, we say fly’, describes how this interactive

service replies to a WhatsApp message that you send to the company asking about your travel desires. They then search the internet for you and find your best options without you having to lift a finger. nixi1 claim, ‘With nixi1 you can find your flight and hotel room anywhere in the world. Tell us your preferences and we will find your best option!’

They say, ‘Book your trip, via Facebook Messenger, Telegram, SMS our App or through web chat and share the results with your contacts.’

There are many ways to use the service, you can even simply send a voice note. nixi1 say, ‘Search your flight and hotel by sending a voice note, a text or by completing a form, to get your results.’ nixi1 seems simple to use and reliable, particularly as their principles state they are comfortable, fast, and transparent.

A travel app that everybody should download is Flio, particularly if you will be taking several flights and using many airports.

Flio describes themselves as the ‘global airport app’. They say, ‘Covering all important air passenger needs: always know your flight status with our unique flight tracking plus guidance on more than 5,000 airports around the world.’

Airports can often be quite intimidating, especially if you’re new to travelling or are going on a solo trip.

However, Flio contains flight schedules, coupons for restaurants and shops, lounge access, and airport maps to take the stress out of flying.

Forethought and organisation are key for safe and enjoyable travel. So, if you are a planner then I would definitely recommend checking out these travel companies for future trips.

Lunar New Year across Asia 新

年

快

乐

새해 복 많이 받으십시오 Erica Thejab Travel Writer

As an Indonesian of Chinese descent, Lunar New Year is a celebrated holiday close to my heart. Red pockets, lots of cakes, traditional meals, family gatherings and paying respect to deceased family members are among several of the many things we do during this festive occasion.

Lunar New Year itself simply refers to the beginning of the year for those who use the lunar calendar, or the cycles of the moon, to keep track of months.

Many countries and cultures celebrate their own Lunar New Year, but one of the most widespread celebration of Lunar New Year across Asia is Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year is a major holiday not only in mainland China, but also in other Asian

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới countries where there are large populations of Chinese descents, such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines.

"It is also common to serve various sweets"

One of the most prominent traditions - that has become almost symbolic of this celebration - is the giving and receiving of red pockets. It is a particularly favourite tradition

for young people and children, because inside these little red envelopes is money given for good luck, health, success and other wishes.

Traditionally, grandparents, parents and married couples would give red pockets to the children and unmarried relatives. I have seen, however, some married couples give their parents red pockets as a sign of gratitude and respect.

Regarding what kind of foods are eaten during Chinese New Year, I would say it really depends on each family and their tradition. Some classic festive food might include tangerines, dumplings, noodles, spring rolls and nian gao (glutinous rice cake). It is also common to serve various sweets and cakes on living room tables, that guests

Image: Denise Chan, Flickr would nibble on while they sit around and chat.

In the days leading up to Chinese New Year, people are often busy deep cleaning their house; scrubbing windows, sweeping floors, dusting furniture and repairing broken fixtures. Traditionally, this is meant to sweep away the bad luck of the previous year. It is also common to refurbish and redecorate, like repainting walls, getting new curtains and bed linens, hanging up red lanterns and posters. Another tradition that is still held up by most is cutting hair. Like the act of cleaning, this is symbolic of ridding of bad luck and can only be done before the New Year, as doing it on the day is believed to be equivalent of sweeping away

good luck.

At the heart of these celebrations is family reunion.

It begins the night before, or on Chinese New Year’s Eve, when families would come together to have a dinner feast, much like Thanksgiving or Christmas. The next day, siblings and relatives who live far from one another would gather in one house, usually of the oldest grandparent or living relative, and spend the day together. It is quite a special time, especially for grandparents to see all their kids and grandkids together in one place, enjoying one another’s company during that festive day. Ultimately, what Chinese New Year means to me is spending time with the people I love and cherish.

Happy Lunar New Year!

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12th February 2019

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£

Rachel Glaves Travel Writer

Valentine’s Day: an excuse for couples to take off somewhere romantic, new and exciting.

There is an endless list of romantic locations for that perfect getaway, both close to home and far away.

For me, I associated Budapest and Vienna with romance. Two places I longed to visit, and my boyfriend at the time was my ticket to go.

Cities like Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Paris are the perfect romantic destinations with their stunning parks, river cruises and wonderful atmosphere. Sadly, they are not perfect for school and university students who want to get away on a budget.

Travel, hotels and activities all cost money, meaning staying closer to home for a Valentine’s Day trip is the perfect option for a budget romantic getaway.

City breaks are always a delightful option. London, York, Bath, and Cambridge - these are just a few cities in the UK that are perfect for Valentine’s Day. London, whilst expensive to visit and stay in, is abundant with romantic restaurants and hotels.

You can take a river cruise, walk along the banks of the Thames and stroll through Hyde Park.

With just a little research, you would be set for a truly romantic time.

How about a historical city small, with old cobbled streets and quaint little tea rooms. York is the perfect destination for this.

Take afternoon tea at Betty’s Tearooms or a walk along the old city walls. York is a place for exploring and why not do this on Valentine’s Day? And it isn’t necessary to only explore cities, nature is just as fun! The Cotswolds, the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands make wonderfully

romantic destinations for those among you who like a walk in nature. These places are abundant with cute little cafés and tea rooms, delightful hotels and beautiful walks allowing you to admire the countryside.

Mountain walks, lake walks, and night-time strolls through little country towns creates a different sort of romantic atmosphere to a city getaway. An atmosphere which could feel a lot more personal.

As students in Norwich, there are numerous places to visit for Valentine’s Day. Train travel is easy and relatively cheap. A day trip to Cromer, Great Yarmouth, or Cambridge is affordable and a relaxing day away from a stressful environment.

A short drive away from Norwich is Castle Rising, or Wells-Next-The-Sea. Both are small, delightful places. Castle Rising is abundant with history, nature and cafés. Wells-NextThe-Sea has a wonderful sea

breeze, charming English seaside town streets, and a beach loved by dog walkers (heaven!). They both have a wonderful atmosphere and are perfect for Valentine’s Day. Most places can be ideal for a romantic getaway. An overnight trip to a city or the countryside or day trips to nearby cities and sites are both great options.

Although Valentine’s Day is a perfect excuse to get away and go somewhere, trips to these places can happen at any time of the year.

You don’t need to visit them as a couple either; personally I have visited Cromer, Castle Rising and many others with my family and friends. Locations shouldn’t be associated with a specific time of year, in fact prices are more likely to rise because of the holiday. Whilst getting away for a day is nice, don’t subject yourself to it once every blue moon - treat yourself more often!

Interested in ethics? Try these companies Sam Hewitson Travel Writer

In modern society, there is a tendency to not ask questions.

Not much consideration is placed on some aspects of life and, as a result, a common disregard for consequences and effects is present.

People flock to countries in far off lands for the bragging rights, experiencing unique sights and activities that many friends cannot compete with. In doing this, travel has become increasingly unethical as the Western world chase Instagram likes.

A tunnel vision mentality is adopted; a photo opportunity is presented and most would not think before snapping away, but was it acceptable to take that photo? This thought needs to happen before an action, not afterwards, herein demonstrating the lack of ethics within travel.

An article written for The Ethical Travel Guide titled ‘Should I ride an elephant?’ increased my awareness for ethical travel. Elephants are not domestic animals and on average die younger in captivity than they would in the wild, a fact that astounded me as someone who previously had an elephant ride on their bucket list.

The article also points out that their size is misleading, their massive backs falsely fostering the assumption that their spines are equally as strong and enduring. Permanent spinal injuries can be acquired from years in the tourism industry, and that is something that I personally want no part in. I was unaware of the extent of this problem until reading this article, which highlights the fact that the insider secrets of the travel industry that we all love to heavily exploit are not as public as they ought to be.

What The Ethical Travel Guide

should also be commended for is their directory of ethical tour operators. The companies listed all commit to ensuring that there is as little environmental impact as possible and actively promote conservation through activities and their daily operation on tour. Cultural exchange between tourists and locals is set up in a manner that is mutually respectful for both parties, and the benefits of the host communities is focused on. For instance, five ethical tourism operations work out of the United Kingdom including Fresh Eyes - People to People Travel, an operation that hones in on trips to rural areas in order to enhance interaction between peoples, and Choose a Challenge, an operation aimed at students.

This stresses that ethics can be implemented into travel without subsequently reducing variety, a fact that most travellers could do with knowing.

Companies that focus on ethical travel as part of their

ethos and unique selling point will naturally do a much better job of fulfilling this effectively and to a high standard, because companies that place other objectives as a priority will, of course, focus on these at the subconscious expense of ethics, a reality that can be attributed to many companies and groups.

Being aware of ethics while travelling does not have to be a hindrance on experience, as most would believe (I certainly did).

Granted, certain activities may be thrown into question when addressed from an ethical perspective, but by not partaking you are doing good. No one is denying that it is very tempting to get sucked into travel and forget about the consequences, but awareness will not hurt anyone, literally.

Enjoyment and enriching experiences can still be found, and if ethical values can be upheld whilst travelling, it’s a win win.

a

Budget Valentine's Day locations

2019-60s?

Amelia Rentell

Hello, I know, long time no see.

How was your Christmas? Or is it passed acceptable to ask that when you’re in the second month of the year? What did I do? A quick trip home, a brief interlude in Dallas and New Year’s in New York. Busy, I know. Spoilt, I know. Now that January, the slowest month of the year is over, we can take time to reflect on our opening act.

I arrived back in Oklahoma with three new roommates and seemingly less cockroaches than in 2018.

My classes are good, more social studies based and taught by energetic young people who are still passionate about doing something in the world. But enough about me.

Anyone who’s ever turned on the news or picked up a newspaper knows there’s a race problem in the States. We can all imagine the race rallies, segregation and violence from the pictures we saw in history class or the biopics on the screen.

In the first month of this year, two female students at OU were caught in a Snapchat with one wearing blackface and another joking about it and making racial slurs. The girls were not expelled but chose to withdraw.

This is not the first racial incident on the campus, when a few years before a fraternity was shut down for a video in which they were singing a racially derogatory song.

A race rally was set up, with key staff members and an open mic for students to voice their concerns.

The President, newly assigned after a secretive hiring process (he’s a big donor to the school, this is America of course), attended and sat in the front row.

His actions, behaviour and response were unacceptable but typical of a white man in power.

Now, I bet you’re wondering, where is the funny?

Where is the normal selfdeprecating tales of a very well spoken British woman in the land of oil, BBQ and Buffalo - well, this seemed a little more important. For the past few weeks, living here has been like living in the 1960s.

Hearing my peers sing the black national anthem on the steps to the President’s office, I am unable to comprehend how there has been little change. There should be no tolerance for racism.

I just thought you’d like to know, to keep you in the loop - to give you a real understanding of the kind of State and state they’re in.

In better news, I am headed to New York. It’s my Birthday you see and I’m a terribly spoilt child. Au revoir!

Image: Vecteezy

Sport

12th February 2019

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Dodgeball league success for UEA Falcons Leah Bassett Sport Writer

On Saturday 6 January, the UEA Falcons Dodgeball Club awoke early to attend round three of the University South League. With one women’s team and two men’s teams, the club set off with high spirits, excited to see how their eight games would play out.

The women begun in the morning, and due to some scheduling issues in the league, they were to play an astonishing four games in total, which was vastly different to the usual two game days.

Although, having won a medal last term at the Aylesbury Open, the Women’s Team always manage to keep positive. At this league meet, they played the best they had all season, they dodged seemingly everything and played quick-paced and with a tactical mindset. One teammate, Becca De Freitas, even managed to secure thirteen catches across the day.

Though Hazel Williamson was awarded Most Valuable Player that day, for her ability to ‘catch on demand’.

Leah Bassett, the Women’s Team Captain, commented on the day, stating: ‘The women’s team that I took today were incredible, I could not have been prouder of their efforts and stamina through four difficult games! With three wins from the day, and one loss against the team top of the league, we are

100 percent strong contenders for a medal this year!’

Team Selection – Leah Bassett (Captain), Becca De Freitas, Hazel Williamson, Holly Edison, Natalie Attisha, Amy Fretwell, Emma Sheen and Jenny Hutton.

The Men’s Second Team were next to play, they were to take on UCL’s First and Second team.

Playing against teams with such experience would be extra difficult, especially considering the Men’s Second Team was inclusive of three players who only joined the club this year!

“We are 100 percent strong contenders for a medal this year!”

However, this experience was quickly overcome by the two’s incredibly high jumping tactics and quick-hands catches. One of their newest players, Nathaniel Ducuru, made eleven catches across two games! The Men’s Second Team now sit 3rd place in the league and look forward to their next league meet on 9 February, where they will come face-to-face with the UEA Falcons Men’s First Team. Alex Wootton, the Men’s Second’s Team Captain

noted that: ‘The team succeed due to their high team morale and their respect for teammates, meaning they play as one team and win as one team!’

Team Selection – Alex Wootton (Captain), Nathaniel Ducuru, Jamie Agar, Igor Pestrikov, Tom Bee, Nick Wyatt, Chris Ellis & Dan Mitchell.

The Men’s First Team, as always, attended with high expectations of the day. However, with one brand new university team to play, they could not possibly know the calibre of their opponent in their first game.

Adopting their usual fast-paced and agile gameplay, the first team secured an astounding result of 34-2 against the newly formed LSE Snakes; dropping only one set to their opposition. They continued on this streak and brought home another win in their second game.

Elliott Jones, the Men’s First Team Captain, who sadly could not be there, commented on the day: ‘Unfortunately, I was unable to make this fixture, but the boys held their own and showed why we are title contenders this season. Very proud!’

Team Selection – Matthew Mcstea (Vice Captain), Oscar Finney, Jacob Poyser, Charlie Halliday, Cosmin Mititelu & Ben Meaden.

The Falcons have started the league strong and the end result is looking promising. If these players can keep up the standard of League Meet Three, coming away with 7/8 wins overall, all three teams will be looking at a high likelihood of medal finishes! #GoFalcons

Trampolining place well in the Cambridge Open

Claire Bilsborough Sport Writer

Trampolining took part in the Cambridge Open in the first weekend of February, which is our most popular competition of the year next to BUCS Championships.

After an early start, we arrived at Cambridge for 8:30am ready for our first competitor’s routine at 9am.

We had a total of 15 competitors for UEA, and everyone exceeded themselves. Sarah Hambling, our Competition Secretary, said ‘It was a really great day and I’m super proud of everyone who competed. We had six competitors finish in the top ten and one medalist (our first SUTL medal in three years) and loads of people improved on their placing from last year!’

After a very long day we eventually got home in time for our pyjama social, which made a very comfy A-List night. Maya Omri, our President, says: ‘Overall it was a successful day for UEA Trampoline Club. I’m so proud of everyone who competed for doing so well!’

Cambridge is one of our more competitive competitions, so this was such a brilliant achievement.

UEA Cricket’s resurgence continues James Knight Sport Writer

Following on from their success in the first and second rounds, the UEA Men’s First Team secured a place in the quarter finals of the BUCS indoor championship for the first time in UEA history.

With three games to play, and two victories required to progress, UEA defeated both Edinburgh and Loughborough in their first two encounters to book a place in the business end of the championship.

UEA’s initial clash with Edinburgh’s Second Team set the precedent for the day. After winning the toss, UEA scored 77 from their allotted ten overs, with Harry Bailey top-scoring with 30.

With runs perhaps not as freeflowing as in previous games, some excellent UEA bowling and fielding ensured that 77 remained a competitive total. Edinburgh succumbed to the pressure, falling to 55 all out from nine overs, with some particularly clever work behind the stumps from Richard Ewart. Captain Jake Lawrence and Brendan-James Smith were the pick of the bowlers, claiming two wickets apiece to seal victory for UEA and set them up nicely for the next match.

Next up was an in-form Loughborough Second Team, who traditionally make it difficult for the opposition. UEA rose to the challenge; batting first again, they scored 102 runs from ten overs.

This time, Theeshan Satkunaseelan and Richard Ewart stepped up with the bat to help post an imposing total. In reply, Loughborough faltered early on, losing clusters of wickets and failed to establish any meaningful partnerships. 47 all out

was their final total – a dominant display from the UEA bowlers, in particular Jake Lawrence who picked up another three wickets, saw another comprehensive victory secured for UEA. The victory guaranteed progression into the next round of the tournament with one game remaining. UEA’s final match of the day saw them pitted against a strong Manchester First Team. Although technically a dead rubber – both teams had assured qualification from the previous two matches – UEA looked to end the day with a flawless winning streak.

Having batted first, UEA scored 72 with helpful contributions from both Lawrence and Ewart, which at first glance certainly appeared a few runs too short. However, this was far from the case – some restrictive bowling kept UEA in the game, but ultimately failed to unsettle the Manchester batsmen, managing to grab only two wickets. With cricket being a game of such small margins, this match lived up to those expectations, with Manchester chasing down UEA’s total with only two balls to spare.

Despite ending the day on a loss, UEA confirmed that they have the quality in their team to keep their indoor campaign hopes alive. Speaking to Lawrence after an enthralling day, he praised the attitude and performances of his team, claiming that ‘at our best we can beat anyone, despite knowing what a tough group we had.

‘When asked about the mindset of his players he asserted that the team ‘can’t wait for the next round.’

With such a great opportunity to progress to the finals of the championship, there can be no doubt that this run of success is the greatest revival of UEA cricket in recent memory.

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12th February 2019

concrete-online.co.uk/category/sport/ | @Concrete_UEA

Concrete meets... UEA Basketball!

Meyzi Adoni Sport Senior Writer

Growing up, two sports touched my soul and helped me figure out the kind of person I wanted to be. The first of which was tennis, which I played for seven years. The other was basketball, which changed my life in only two years. These two sports are still a huge part of my life, and there isn’t a day that goes by without me talking about a basketball game that I saw or mentioning how much I love a certain tennis player. So the interview you are about to read was a really special one for me. It took us a while to arrange it and meet up, but I am so glad it happened.

Last week I met up with UEA Women’s Basketball Team’s President Giulia Corsetti Antonini.

Months ago I contacted her for another article, but based on the answers she gave I thought there were a lot more questions I could ask her about the team and basketball in general. As a person who spends so much time watching and talking about sports, I really enjoyed the conversation with Antonini. It wasn’t only about basketball and the team; we also discussed tennis, netball, our own sports careers, and in the end she convinced me to go to an open session and play basketball again.

Antonini didn’t start playing basketball at UEA, in fact, her love of basketball goes way back. She said her dad and brother used to play basketball and that when she was five she ‘was this little male girl who just wanted to be like her brother’, so she started playing with him. Throughout her life, she played in many teams in different countries, including America, which is where she went to boarding school. However, there were many times in her life where she had to stop playing for a while for several reasons. She tells the story of how

she joined the team at UEA, ‘I didn’t even go to try outs, because I was thinking, ‘What if they are better than me, I don’t want to go, it is a lot of pressure.’ So I went the week after, and didn’t even look at anyone because I was shy, went to the other side of the court and started shooting by myself. And then the coach approached me saying, ‘Who are you?’ And he just put me in the team. It was the best decision ever.’

While talking about the season in general, she sounded positive.

She described the ongoing season as, ‘good but bad’; mainly because they are competing in several leagues with two different teams, so they perform differently in each league. ‘In BUCS we just moved up from Division II to Division I, and the difference is massive. We have gone from winning every game last year, to losing every game this year.

The preparation of the other teams

is incredible, and we have a whole new team. Me and the other 2-3 girls are the only ones left from last year. It is a whole new team and everybody has to learn how to play with each other.’

Apart from BUCS, in the local league they are on top and Antonini says it is going great. This year they also created a second team with mostly girls who have never played basketball before. She says, ‘they have been losing, but also improving quite a lot. They’ve gone up from scoring ten points a game to scoring 30.’ In general this year is all about development and improvement for the women’s basketball team, and they sound happy about their performance.

Even though they couldn’t reach their goal of staying in Division I

Dancesport’s UEA friendly competition Claire Bilsborough Sport Writer

Dancesport’s UEA Friendly, held in the last weekend of January, is one of our most anticipated competitions of the year and was a huge success this time round.

The committee, led by the Team Captain, worked incredibly hard to make this spectacular event.

Dance competitions cannot run without officials, which include adjudicators, compères, scrutineers and music organisers.

We had the advice from one of our alumni Gurdas Singh Sually, who is invaluable to the club.

Sam Griffiths, Team Captain, says: ‘Each year we design the specifics of the rounds and events based on how previous comps

have run and the yearly-changing rounds used in the uni circuit; however, it’s always standard ballroom in the morning, Latin American in the afternoon and the ‘fun’ rounds and all-important Team Match(es) in the evening! It’s a day that takes a lot of organising but always one that’s enormous fun and gets a huge positive reception every time.’

We had 121 couples take part, from universities including Cambridge, Imperial, Kent, and London.

From our own team we received 45 callbacks in Ballroom, 43 callbacks in Latin, and 22 finalists which was an amazing achievement!

Did you attend? Let us know @ Concrete_UEA or Facebook, UEA, Concrete’s Student Newspaper.

next y e a r, when I asked Antonini whether t h e s e results were affecting the atmosphere within the team she said, ‘We keep losing in BUCS but at the same time we don’t let ourselves down. We lose on BUCS but we win on local league. So it’s not like we lose all the time. We don’t let ourselves down, because we know that those teams are not completely new like us. So we focus on what we achieved, not on losing a game. We know that we have given everything we could and that’s what matters. Next year we are not going to lose anymore.’

When I asked her about Derby Continued from back page UEA enjoyed a successful first tournament in Leicester at the start of December, bringing home ten points from fifteen with three wins and a draw, leaving them with a good chance of promotion.

They beat Trent 2s, Nottingham 2s and De Montfort, picking up a point from a goalless draw against Trent’s first team and narrowly losing 1-0 to Warwick.

Their next BUCS tournament is at the University of Nottingham on 23 February.

UEA Futsal have every reason to be optimistic for the rest of the season. Both Men’s Teams are looking good in second in their leagues (Midlands 1A and 2A respectively), with the seconds having several games in hand on the rest of the division and hopes to go all the way in the Conference Cup. And of course, after UEA’s successful campaign so far, the team are confident of another Derby Day

Day, she said that they are still focusing on their league games, so they are not thinking that far ahead yet. For them, Derby Day is for having fun and enjoying themselves. I also wanted to know if she felt under pressure on Derby Day, and I was a bit surprised by her answer because she said yes. ‘I feel under pressure for Derby Day, because there are more people watching you. We don’t usually get a lot of people supporting us. But Derby Day is so crowded.’

Talking about the support they get and basketball in general, I wanted to ask her how it feels to do a sport that is mostly associated with males.

Find the full interview on concrete-online.co.uk win after last year’s 8-2 victory in Colchester.

Home games, usually on Sunday afternoons, see a healthy crowd on the Sportspark balcony and the club are hoping for even more UEA support as they head into their season-defining fixtures.

Club President Spurling added: ‘We’ve got a lot of home games this semester, it’s nice to have a good crowd.

We’ve had good support all year, we’ve been posting on social media and it’s all about getting people along – people have been enjoying the games, especially this semester we’ve had some crackers.’

The Women’s Team have a big game coming up this Saturday (16) as they host the University of Suffolk in the first round of the BUCS Trophy, with kick-off at 16:40 in the Sportspark’s Haydn Morris Hall.

The next day, the men’s 1s host Surrey in the first round of their trophy at 15:20.

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12th February 2019

Sport

It’s a happy New Year for Futsal Tony Allen Sport Editor

It’s been a great start to 2019 for UEA Futsal, with league and cup success at the Sportspark.

The Men’s Seconds are through to the semi-finals of the Midlands Conference Cup after a thrilling 4-3 extra-time win over Anglia Ruskin, while a perfect 2019 record of three home wins from three has seen the firsts climb to second position in the Midlands 1A league.

A popular indoor, five-a-side form of the game, Futsal has been played since the 1930s. It is an entertaining, fast-paced game of end-to-end action with rolling substitutions and kick-ons instead of throw-ins.

Played with a size 4 ball, the goalkeeper can easily throw it to the edge of their opponents’ area to start an attack, and the small court means players need to be technical, with good short sprint speed, and be equally comfortable attacking and defending with forwards tracking back and defenders able to make attacking runs and take shots from open play.

Halves are 20 minutes in length, but the clock is stopped when the ball goes out of play. Each side can call one time-out per half, with the total length of matches not that much shorter than 90 minutes.

To begin the semester, UEA firsts took on Bedfordshire in the Haydn Morris Hall. After conceding several matches, the visitors were a much tougher prospect than their lowly league position suggested,

but UEA came away with the three points thanks to a 4-2 win.

UEA went ahead from a nicely worked goal and had several close chances, but were pegged back to 1-1 by half-time. UEA were soon ahead after the break and although there were a few nervy moments, goalkeeper Tom Wright made several superb saves and the defence, led by Ed Spurling, put bodies on the line to hold on to the lead. Soon it was 3-1. The visitors tapped in a reply and could have equalised, but UEA grabbed another to secure a useful win, which could have been even more comfortable but UEA couldn’t convert a penalty with the last kick of the game.

The following Sunday UEA played another home fixture against Leicester, winning 5-1.

In the fairly even opening exchanges, Spurling, a rock at the back for UEA, made his mark with an excellent sliding tackle. Wright had to be alert to palm away an effort destined for the top corner before he was called into action to make an incredible triple save, first with his feet, then with his midriff, then with his feet again to keep Leicester out. The visitors had several more opportunities, but the lively Nathan Edden put UEA ahead. Leicester soon restored parity but UEA were 2-1 up by half time. Leicester began playing with a sweeper keeper when UEA made it 3-1, and a carbon copy fourth followed before UEA took advantage to net an opportunistic fifth and final goal.

Sam Ballard and Ethan Scott were superb in a pair of great team performances.

Last week saw a rare Wednesday afternoon game for UEA 1s, their third consecutive match at the Sportspark. And UEA made it three from three as they beat Oxford Brookes 8-5.

Captain Wright told Concrete: ‘We were a bit disappointed with some of the results in the first semester, but we’ve got better throughout the season and I’m really happy with the recent games.

This team has a lot of character and desire, like when we had a man sent off in the second-half against Leicester.

‘The togetherness in the club is massive, and it really comes on to the pitch sometimes when we’re playing games. The boys have been class, there have been some real team performances.’

Wright was modest about his triple-save against Leicester. ‘I got a bit lucky with where the ball landed and just dived at it. But that’s my job sometimes, throwing myself in front of things. The boys’ shape was brilliant, defensively we’re so solid.

We’ll put bodies on the line, that’s the desire and camaraderie we have, everyone doing their jobs and we’ve got some good wins.

‘We spoke after Christmas and said we wanted to go unbeaten in the second half of the season, and I believe we can do that. We’ve got a cup game coming up soon and hope to emulate what the 2s have done and get as far as we can in the cup.

We’ve got a few more home games, we love playing here.’

After the firsts played Leicester, it was the seconds’ turn to host something of a local derby against

Anglia Ruskin seconds in the Conference Cup quarter-final. The stakes were high for UEA after previously seeing off Northampton 11-2 away in the round of 16 and dispatching Derby 12-4 at the Sportspark in the last 32.

UEA were 3-2 up at half-time thanks to a brace from Myles Phillips and a finish from Theo Martin after his initial free-kick was blocked.

Joseph Okusaga and goalkeeper Brad Chilvers were both excellent at the back for UEA to deny several dangerous first-half Anglia Ruskin chances.

Josh Billingham was a constant menace for UEA with a series of smart runs and stinging shots, Harry Emler was lively at both ends of the pitch, hitting the post and getting stuck in defensively, with Mitch Kwo also a major threat for UEA going forward. However, Anglia Ruskin equalised with a piledriver past Chilvers, who then had to make a smart save as the visitors seemed revitalised by their goal.

As the second-half clock ticked down, both sides had chances as they pushed for a winner. Martin could have sealed it for UEA, but the sides went into five minutes each way of added time.

And after a nail-biting extra time period which saw Chilvers make several crucial saves for UEA and Billingham see several rasping shots miss by the tiniest of margins, with just 40 seconds left on the clock UEA were awarded a penalty.

Martin stepped up to calmly slot it past the diving Anglia Ruskin goalkeeper (pictured) and spark wild celebrations among UEA’s

players and fans.

Captain Matt Ladd called the win ‘incredible’.

He continued: ‘That game had absolutely everything. Both teams had a lot of good chances, [Anglia Ruskin] came out and played well, but when we got on top we created a lot of chances and deserved to go through. It could have gone either way, I’m really pleased.’

In the league, UEA seconds are still to host unbeaten leaders Nottingham seconds, which could be a very interesting last game of the season.

Ladd said: ‘We’ve played seven [in all competitions], won six and lost one, we’re second in our league at the moment behind Nottingham and we’re through to the cup semifinals which is really impressive. The consistency, effort and character shown from every single one of the boys was brilliant.’

Meanwhile, the women’s side took part in the futsal FA Cup for the first time. They picked up a win and a draw in the regional round, at Leyton Orient’s Score Centre.

Captain Kathryn Stanley reflected: ‘It was good experience for us all, the FA Cup’s a big thing.

It gave some of the ladies more minutes on the pitch, and leads on well to our next BUCS tournament and our first cup game which we’re looking forward to.’

This season, women’s BUCS Futsal is taking place as a series of tournaments rather than home and away fixtures.

Continued on Page 23